There easily could have been some monies provided to begin to take the actions that the Russians have been taking for 3-4 years now. I suppose there may be, but I doubt it. Of course, it has to begin with our ratification of the UNCLOS Treaty. Otherwise, we're no more than a bystander as the other seven nations bordering the North Pole split up the Arctic pie and its huge reserves of oil and natural gas. While Russia's planting of their flag on the seabed under the North Pole was greeted with curiosity for an instant, their claims for about half the Arctic, which will be settled within the jurisdiction of the UNCLOS Treaty later this year, are serious.

As far as GatbTester is concerned, did you read what my original post said? I have no idea how you jumped from the issues presented there to Al Gore. I'll simplify it for you...

• There's no question that the Arctic polar ice cap is shrinking and shrinking quickly and dramatically, and has been for thirty years.
• The newly exposed open water has exposed the Arctic seabed, which has huge and rich deposits of oil and gas, to exploration and drilling.
• The new open water has also opened new and much shorter shipping routes between Europe and Asia. The traffic of foreign ships will pass within 12 miles of the U.S. landmass thru waters which we have considered our territory, the Alaskan Northwest Passage.
• Neither the U.S. or Canada have any surface ships capable of navigating the open but ice-filled waters to assure the safety of shipping and the security of our northern borders.
• The Russians and six other countries bordering the Arctic have entered into a treaty providing for splitting up the surface and underwater landmass, oil and gas resources, and the shipping lanes that until now we have considered our own. The U.S. has refused to enter into the treaty. Russia has already claimed about half the Arctic Ocean, above and below the surface, as their sovereign territory.
• Russia has also begun an extensive program of producing ice breakers, drilling platforms, and oil and gas tankers capable of operating in the Arctic, being produced by a government-funded shipbuilding and construction company.
• Russia has already entered into contracts with China to sell them oil and gas extracted from the Arctic seabed, from areas which the U.S. certainly would not agree belong to Russia. They would ship the oil and gas on their new Arctic-capable ships thru shipping lanes close to the Alaskan coastline, which we consider to be our own. We would have no jurisdiction over the movement of such vessels or establishing assurances that an environmental catastrophe could be avoided within sight our our shores. Moreover, we have no ships capable of operating in those waters to protect our interests anyway.
• There is little the U.S. can do about the situation until it both ratifies the treaty with the other six bordering nations and makes the expenditures to produce both military and commercial ships, equipment and facilities to secure our interests in the oil and gas, and secure our northern borders from terrorists and smugglers, who have already been observed entering North America from the new, ice-free northern borders, and establish our "ownership" of the Northwest Passage.

If you think that has anything to do with Al Gore, GatbTester, drop in another moving icon and go on to another post. But if you feel there may be some things to be concerned about here, you might read up on the situation and possibly write your representatives in Congress with your opinion.

I hope the little summary helps differentiate this issue from anything having to do with Al Gore.