New Year's Eve in D.C. Becomes More Likely for Congress. With the continued impasse on forging a year-end budget deal, C-SPAN might want to look into acquiring the rights to "Auld Lang Syne" for coverage of a New Year's Eve congressional session. The House and Senate are already scheduled to return to Washington on Dec. 27, but lawmakers on Sunday expressed a wide-range of opinions on what their leaders should do next and resignation that their holiday will likely be truncated, if practically non-existent. Roll Call

Earmarks' Demise Adds to Spending Panel Woes. Earmark opponents couldn't help but feel a little satisfied this week when Democratic Sens. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont and Tom Harkin of Iowa turned down the previously much sought after post of Appropriations chairman. "Without earmarks, it's not nearly the power that the committee had before," Sen. John McCain said. The Arizona Republican is a long-time critic of member directed spending to pet projects tucked into spending bills. Roll Call

Two Species of Seals Join Polar Bears on Threatened List. Two types of ice seals joined polar bears Friday on the list of species threatened by the loss of sea ice, which scientists say reached record low levels this year due to climate warming. Ringed seals, the main prey of polar bears, and bearded seals in the Arctic Ocean will be listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced. Anchorage Daily News

Begich Slams FDA on Salmon. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, has criticized a recent draft report by the Food and Drug Administration finding that genetically engineered salmon holds "no significant impact" on the environment or public health. "The notion that consuming Frankenfish is safe for the public and our oceans is a joke," Begich stated in a news release last week. Begich is chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries. Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

Polar Bear Trade, Hunting Spark Controversy. The polar bear was a mile away and began running toward the dog sled, quickly closing the distance on the frozen Arctic waters of Canada's Resolute Bay. One of Mark Beeler's Inuit guides released two dogs to distract it while Beeler, a skilled bow hunter, quickly shot three arrows, piercing the animal's heart and lungs. "You're thinking, I can't believe I paid this much money to be this close to a dangerous bear," said Beeler, who was less than 15 yards from the nearly 10-foot-tall adult male when it came down. Washington Post

Alaska Forests in Transition. In almost every patch of boreal forest in Interior Alaska that Glenn Juday has studied since the 1980s, at least one quarter (and as many as one-half) of the aspen, white spruce and birch trees are dead. "These are mature forest stands that were established 120 to 200 years ago," said Juday, a professor of forest ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences. "Big holes have appeared in the stands." Alaska Native News 

Setting Up International Arctic Governance. The Arctic zone is extremely rich in mineral, hydrocarbon and biological resources. The U.S. Geological Survey states the "extensive Arctic continental shelves may constitute the geographically largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum remaining on Earth." The survey also estimates that the Arctic holds 30 percent of the world's natural gas and 13 percent of its oil. Russia Beyond the Headlines

Russia to Grant Unprecedented Tax Cuts on Arctic Exploration. Russian authorities have agreed to lift all export duties for new projects in the Arctic shelf to boost investment in the area. The new tax breaks are expected to come into force by the end of this year. "We managed to come to the agreement with the Ministry of Energy and with the Ministry of Economic Development. We settled all the differences and agreed how the new legislation will work," Deputy Minister of Finance Sergey Shatalov said in a statement. Under the new legislation operators of shelf projects will be granted tax relief from 5 to 15 years, including tax breaks on export duties as well as import duty and VAT for purchased equipment. The Ministry of Energy proposed to classify shelf projects in four levels from basic to Arctic so as to implement proper tax breaks. The same tax policy will be applied to oil projects, launched from 2016. RT

Editorial: A US Presence in the Arctic. Changing environmental and political conditions in the Arctic reinforce the need for the U.S. Coast Guard to have the equipment and vessels appropriate to the hazardous conditions. U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Lake Stevens, joined forces to secure passage of a Coast Guard authorization bill that maintains the nation's capacity to deploy icebreakers to represent U.S. interests. Melting polar ice caps are creating a new commercial and political dynamic, with the prospects of greater Arctic access as a trade route. Seattle Times

Canada Prepares to Focus Arctic Council on Increased Development. Canada will use its two years as leader of the circumpolar world to promote development and defend its policies, suggest federal politicians and documents. But Arctic experts and those involved with the Arctic Council worry that's the wrong approach at a time when the diplomatic body is dealing with crucial international issues from climate change to a treaty on oil spill prevention. The Arctic Council consists of the eight countries that ring the North Pole, with participation from aboriginal groups. Alaska Dispatch

No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.

Arctic Observing Summit 2013, April 30- May 2, 2013. The Arctic Observing Summit is led by the International Study of Arctic Change (ISAC). It is a Sustaining Arctic Observing Network (SAON) task and part of the broader SAON implementation process, which is led by the Arctic Council jointly with the International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). AOS is a high-level, biennial summit that aims to provide community-driven, science-based guidance for the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long term (decades) operation of an international network of arctic observing systems. The AOS will provide a platform to address urgent and broadly recognized needs of arctic observing across all components of the arctic system, including the human component. It will foster international communication and coordination of long-term observations aimed at improving understanding and responding to system-scale arctic change. The AOS will be an international forum for optimizing resource allocation through coordination and exchange among researchers, funding agencies, and others involved or interested in long term observing activities, while minimizing duplication and gaps.