The Obama-effect on the Arctic
Barrack Obama’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections could make it harder for Norway to develop oil and gas fields in the High North, a Norwegian researcher says.
Researcher Indra Øverland from the Norwegian Institute of International Relations (NUPI) says to NRK that the administration of Barrack Obama will introduce a far greener U.S. climate policy, which will make it harder for allied countries like Norway to expand industrially into the vulnerable Arctic.
-In Norway, we have very big climate gas emissions, perhaps bigger than what Norwegians themselves know, he says, adding that Norway will have to adjust to the changing global climate policies. The new president will make the USA more willing to sign binding international climate treaties, Mr. Øverland says to NRK.
According to the Washington Post, Mr. Obama should appoint Nobel Prize winner Al Gore as new Secretary of State as a sign of the new course.
“Can you imagine a bolder statement about a new direction when it comes to global warming and the general care of our abused planet?” columnist Richard Cohen writes.
