Building a U.S. Coast Guard for the 21st Century - Center for ...

effect on USCG operations in a press conference in March 2010: “I’m not a scientist,
so I’m agnostic on the science. But I do know that there’s water where there
didn’t used to be, and I’m responsible for it.” 92
As the Arctic becomes more accessible to seaborne trade, scientific exploration,
tourism, and other maritime activities, the Coast Guard will face greater demand
for its services there. In 2007, the National Research Council identified a number
of areas where Arctic and Antarctic USCG operations may increase in response to
the changing climate. These include increased search and rescue, vessel monitoring
and domain awareness, icebreaking, and protecting natural resources. 93
This expanded operation set will be constrained by a dangerous and unfamiliar
operating environment. The USCG’s FY 2008 “U.S. Coast Guard Polar
Operations” report notes that greater mobility and increased operations in the
Arctic will bring unexpected safety risks. “While there may be more ‘ice free’ days
in the Arctic, this does not equate to an inherently safe environment,” says the
report. “The combination of large ice floes and higher waves presents an extremely
hazardous operating environment for vessels.” 94
Moreover, USCG maritime safety, environmental, and other operations in the
Arctic will be made more challenging by the need for specialized ice breakers,
as well as by the lack of permanent USCG facilities above the Arctic Circle. The
report noted that the Arctic environment can be particularly challenging for Coast
Guard operations because “given transit times, cutters (other than polar icebreakers)
and aircraft are only able to operate for a few days or a few hours on scene
before they have to return for fuel” to far away facilities. 95
The warming of the Arctic also may put increased pressure on the USCG’s already
relatively new and demanding homeland security responsibilities. The United
States is one of eight countries with territory bordering the Arctic region (Canada,
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden make up the rest of the
octet), but is the only one of the group who has not ratified the U.N. Convention
on the Law of the Sea. As other nations begin to assert their rights in the Arctic
region, having a common legal basis for understanding territorial and resource
rights will become vital.
This will be all the more important as the Arctic environment draws more political
and military interest. In 2007, a Russian expedition planted a titanium national
flag on the seabed under the North Pole, and Russian leaders have been outspoken
45 Center for American Progress | Building a U.S. Coast Guard for the 21st Century
“I’m not a scientist,
so I’m agnostic
on the science.
But I do know
that there’s water
where there didn’t
used to be, and I’m
responsible for it.”
—Former USCG
Commandant Thad Allen