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United States Debates Joining Law of the Sea. The United Nations treaty that governs the world's oceans is once again being discussed in Congress. It's been 30 years since the U.N. Law of the Sea was first established, and the United States still hasn't ratified the treaty. The Law of the Sea defines a nation's rights and responsibilities in, on and under the world's oceans and has global implications for national security, commerce and the environment. Currently, 162 countries have ratified the treaty, including nearly every major developed country except the U.S. Democratic Senator John Kerry is once again taking up the treaty as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He recently began holding hearings on the Law of the Sea, the most recent of which was earlier this month. PRI  

Canada's Arctic Defense Policy: Grand Theory, Stunted Practice [Opinion]. Canada's current government made a lot of noise in 2006 and 2007, calling for a total overhaul of Canada's military presence in the Arctic. Is Canada really on its way to becoming an Arctic military power, or was that all said in the heat of the electoral moment asks Zachary Fillingham of the Geopoliticalmonitor. A Canadian politician poses in front of the Arctic survey ship currently featured on the Canadian fifty dollar bill.There is a wide scientific consensus that the Arctic climate is changing, and the only question that remains centres around the exact time when seasonal ice will recede enough for the Northwest Passage to become a major international trade route. According to polar scientists like Dr. David Barber of the Circumpolar Flaw League, this may happen as soon as 2017. Eura Review

We Should be Following Denmark's Lead. [Opinion] The level of atmospheric carbon dioxide hit a record 400 parts per million in May 2012, a milestone that should send a chill of concern through anyone who is remotely concerned about the disturbing ramifications of global warming. Little solace should come from the fact that this concentration of greenhouse gas was only reached in the Arctic regions of Alaska, Iceland, Norway, Greenland and Mongolia, and will dip slightly as plants in the Northern Hemisphere absorbs some of it during the summer months of growth. As for the rest of the planet, however, levels have risen during the last year from 391 to 395 ppm, up from the pre-industrial reference number of 280 ppm. We are now at the highest known concentration in at least 800,000 years, according to scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Earth System Research Lab in Boulder, Colorado. The rest of the planet will probably reach the 400 ppm milestone within two years as carbon dioxide concentrations increase and equalize. The NOAA reports that the decade from 2000 to 2009 was the warmest ever recorded in human history. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency recently announced that global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels in 2011 hit a record high of 34.8 billion tonnes, up 3.2 percent from 2010. The Windsor Star

Greenpeace Asks Court to Stay Injunction; BSEE calls for more tests. As Shell moves closer to drilling in the Arctic this summer, Greenpeace is asking a court to stay an injunction against the environmental group while an appeals process plays out. In March, federal District Court in Alaska banned the environmental group from occupying any of 19 vessels Shell plans to use for exploratory drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas this summer. In May, the court amended the injunction, banning Greenpeace from occupying the vessels not only in U.S. ports and waters, but also in the U.S. exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, and to certain facilities in the town of Barrow. Greenpeace has already appealed the injunction, but said that allowing the ruling to remain in place while the appeals process plays out would have "an improper chilling effect on the free speech rights of one of the environmental advocacy organizations most uniquely situated to comment on Shell's potentially disastrous Arctic drilling campaign." Petroleum News 

NATO in the Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities. The Arctic region is becoming increasingly important for a number of geostrategic reasons. Thawing ice allows lucrative shipping lanes to open and increases the possibility of natural resource exploration. Since four of the five Arctic littoral countries, in addition to Iceland, are also members of NATO, the alliance cannot afford to ignore the Arctic. The U.S. should make the Arctic a higher priority for NATO while working to allay the concerns of Canada, which is wary of a stronger NATO presence in the Arctic. The Heritage Foundation 

Murkowski: Administration's Consultation Policies Failing Tribes: Tribal consultation a "legal, fiduciary and moral obligation that must be honored." Senator Lisa Murkowski today urged President Barack Obama to follow through on the federal government's commitments and fulfill the expectations surrounding tribal consultation - enumerating the core frustrations and federal agency shortfalls she is hearing from many of Alaska's 229 federally recognized Tribes. In her letter to the White House (attached), she stresses that the requirements of notice and meaningful consultation with Alaska's Tribes appear to be being violated by numerous federal agencies.  Of the promise of essential government-to-government consultation, she writes: "Consultation is a term that has been said to embody your Administration's approach to federal Indian policy. Let us not regress to an era where the federal government made systematic promises to Tribal governments that it had no intention of keeping." Senator Lisa Murkowski 

Murkowski: Whaling Defines Alaska Natives as a People. Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke at a Capitol Hill event hosted by the Ocean Caucus Foundation to educate embassy officials from many countries active in the International Whaling Commission on the importance and role of subsistence whaling in Alaska.  As the Senate considered over 70 amendments to the Farm Bill, Murkowski shared with the attendees that in Alaska, a harvest critical to northern coastal communities comes not from our land but our water, saying: "The whale has sustained a people, a culture since time immemorial... I think it is important to recognize that to the Inupiat, whaling is not just about the physical sustenance having something to eat, it defines who they are as a people." Senator Lisa Murkowski

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