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Today's Events
The Senate reconvenes for legislative business at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, with a roll call vote expected to occur at 5:30 p.m. in relation to the FISA bill or the emergency supplemental appropriations measure.
The House reconvenes Dec. 27.
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Media
 Arctic Navigation Training Center Opened in Russia. OAO Sovcomflot opens its Saint-Petersburg captain & senior officer training & engineering centre (TEC) for Arctic offshore operations. The opening of the modern training centre in Russia's maritime capital marks an important milestone in the implementation of the SCF development strategy which provides for an expansion of company participation in oil & gas projects in the Arctic and sub-Arctic. Sovcomflot vessels provide year-round support for large offshore energy projects. MarineLink
President's 2014 Budget Request Likely to be Late, Experts Say. The turmoil over this year's spending levels means that the Obama administration likely will delay submission of its fiscal 2014 budget request well past the early February due date, experts said Friday. "I fully expect it to be late," said Thad Juszczak, a former federal budget officer who predicted that the delay will probably run into March. Another former federal official, who asked not to be named because he was citing sources within the government, confirmed that agencies are also expecting a March submission date. Federal Times
 Compass: Alaska's Arctic is Key to North American Energy Self-Sufficiency. [Opinion] In 2002 a gallon of regular gasoline cost U.S. consumers $1.44. Ten years later that same gallon cost $3.65, a 160 percent leap. U.S. median household income increased 20 percent during the decade. A recent "Frontline" TV show on PBS noted that some families in America are choosing between food for the children and gasoline for the family vehicle. Energy costs are taking a larger share of the family budget than ever before. Anchorage Daily News
Bred to Survive, Canada's Iconic Sled Dogs Face Their Greatest Threat. Long a fixture of the Arctic and critical to Inuit hunting and survival for generations, Canadian Eskimo dogs like Ms. McNair's are now threatened with extinction. Ms. McNair's dogs are among the few hundred that remain of one of North America's oldest indigenous canine breeds and one of the world's rarest. Once the top dog in the Canadian North, this iconic animal has been squeezed to the sidelines by settlements and snowmobiles and a changing way of life. For those that remain, crossbreeding with strays is among the latest threats to their survival. Globe and Mail
New Northwest Alaska Mayor has Work Cut Out for Him. Nearly three months after his election to the Northwest Arctic Borough's top seat, mayor Reggie Joule is in some ways still working through the logistics of transitioning into his new position. He's pretty much got all the borough heads in place, and a recent retreat with the assembly was productive, he said. But in other, arguably more long-range arenas, Joule said he feels well prepped. Joule, a 16-year state representative, said he is watching issues on Arctic policy and development very closely, with eyes honed by years on various committees focused on the Arctic. It was his observations about the rapid pace of developments in around his hometown of Kotzebue that inspired him to run for mayor. Alaska Dispatch
 Greenland Premier Backs South Korea's Bid for Arctic Council Membership. Greenland's top government official has shown support for South Korea in its bid to become the newest member-state in the Arctic Council.
Prime Minister Kuupik Kleist's comments came on Thursday (13 December) in an interview with the Yonhap South Korean news agency, in which he said that Greenland has a "very positive view" of Korea's approach to membership.
However, Kleist cautioned that Korea and other potential members must abide by the group's current policies: "Yes, Greenland supports South Korea's bid to join the Arctic Council in principle. But, there are some principles that we need to uphold, the principles to take part in the Arctic Council." IceNews
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Legislative Action
No Arctic legislation was formally considered yesterday.
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Future Events
Alaska Marine Science Symposium, January 21-25, 2013. Since 2002, scientists from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, and beyond have come to the Symposium to communicate research activities in the marine regions off Alaska. Researchers and students in marine science re-connect with old colleagues and meet new ones. Plenary and poster sessions feature a broad spectrum of ocean science. Hear the latest in the fields of climate, oceanography, lower trophic levels, the benthos, fishes and invertebrates, seabirds, marine mammals, local and traditional knowledge, and socioeconomic research. The Symposium also features compelling keynote speakers, workshops and special sessions.
Development of a 5-Year Strategic Plan for Oil Spill Research in Canadian Arctic Waters, January 28-29, 2013. This workshop is sponsored by the Environmental Studies Research Fund (ESRF), a research program which sponsors environmental and social studies pertaining petroleum exploration, development, and production activities on frontier lands. The ESRF is directed by a joint government, industry and public management board and is administered by the secretariat, which resides in the Office of Energy Research and Development, Natural Resources Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The workshop is held in an effort to produce a 5-year strategic plan for oil spill research in Canadian Arctic marine waters.
Alaska Forum on the Environment, February 4-8, 2013. Hosted by The Alaska Forum, Inc. the 2013 Alaska Forum on the Environment will follow up on previous forums by offering training and information, includes plenary sessions, on: climate change, emergency response, environmental regulations, fish and wildlife populations, rural issues, energy, military issues, business issues, solid waste, contaminants, contaminated site cleanup, mining and others. For 2013, the forum will expand forum content to provide information to help better understand issues surrounding coastal communities. This will include tsunami impacts, marine debris, and coastal erosion.
 28th Wakefield Symposium: Responses of Arctic Marine Ecosystems to Climate Change, March 26-29, 2013. This symposium seeks to advance our understanding of responses of arctic marine ecosystems to climate change at all trophic levels, by documenting and forecasting changes in environmental processes
and species responses to those changes. Presentations will focus on collaborative approaches to understanding and managing living marine resources in a changing Arctic, and to managing human responses to changing arctic marine ecosystems. Hosted by Alaska Sea Grant and sponsors.
Arctic Science Summit Week, April 13-19, 2013. Krakow, Poland. The ASSW is the annual gathering of international organizations engaged in supporting and facilitating Arctic research. Its purpose is to provide opportunities for international coordination, collaboration and cooperation in all fields of Arctic science and to combine science and management meetings. Side meetings organized by groups with interest in the Arctic science and policy will also be held within the week.
One of them is already planned: The Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS) will offer a one-day career development workshop during the ASSW 2013. Details will be published closer to the event:http://www.apecs.is/apecs-meetings-a-events/assw-2013.
American Polar Society 75th Anniversary, April 15-18, 2013. The American Polar Society will hold a meeting and symposium at Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This meeting and symposium is titled "The Polar Regions in the 21st Century: Globalization, Climate Change and Geopolitics."
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.
International Conference on Arctic Ocean Acidification, May 6-8, 2013.
The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), the Institute of Marine Research, the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research, and the University of British Columbia, Canada, host a conference to consider Arctic Ocean acidification. Topics will include
response of Arctic Ocean to increasing CO2 and related changes in the global carbon cycle, social and policy challenges, Arctic Ocean acidification and ecological and biogeochemical coupling, implications of changing Arctic Ocean acidification for northern (commercial and subsistence) fisheries, and future developments.
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