New 'Gang of Six' Vows 'Balanced' Deal to Avert Sequester. A new group of six Senators committed Monday to working on a "balanced" package to avert the year-end budget cuts required by sequestration. Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and ranking member John McCain (R-Ariz.) led the letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Roll Call

Icebreakers Would Be Protected from Decommissioning in Coast Guard Bill. The Coast Guard reauthorization bill advanced by the Senate over the weekend would reverse House-passed language that would have forced the service to decommission two of its three icebreakers. Indeed, the new language would bar the agency from doing away with those vessels. When the House began consideration of the legislation (HR 2838) last fall, lawmakers in charge of Coast Guard issues homed in on a section that would have mandated the decommissioning of its only two heavy-duty icebreakers. The language had gone largely unnoticed until floor debate, so House legislators concerned about the requirement opted to let the measure move forward while they talked over changes with Senate leaders. Congressional Quarterly

Ranking Democrat on House Armed Services Praises Obama's Russia Policy. The ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee on Friday offered a strong defense of the Obama administration's Russia policy, while also taking a realist approach to future prospects for cooperation between the two former Cold War foes. Speaking at the Center for American Progress, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., said President Obama approached "it exactly right" when he entered office in 2009 - "we should reset the relationship; we should look for ways to work with Russia on things where we can agree." Congressional Quarterly

Arctic a Sea of Opportunity for Maersk Drilling. Maersk's oil drilling subsidiary is investing heavily in Arctic-ready drilling rigs, a move that is concerning environmental organizations. Maersk Drilling is going to be a key player in opening the Arctic to oil exploration by developing rigs that can drill for oil year-round under extreme conditions.Speaking to financial daily Børsen, Claus Hemmingsen, head of Maersk Drilling, said the company was investing heavily in developing the technology to unlock the Arctic's bounty. The Copenhagen Post 

Fuel Crisis Threatens Remote Alaskan Island Village. While Shell Oil searches for petroleum riches beneath the Arctic Ocean north of Alaska's coastline, the fate of a remote island located a bit south in the Bering Sea hinges on obtaining fossil fuel. Where Shell seeks resource extraction, the tiny Native village of St. George needs the consumer products that come after crude is refined. Where Shell is looking for long-term gains, St. George is looking to survive next month and through the winter.  There is an urgent need to make sure the remote village 750 miles west of Anchorage will have fuel this winter to heat homes, power vehicles, and sustain the diesel electric plant for the some 100 residents of the island. After two decades, the island's only fuel business is dissolving. But this isn't the first time the people of the Pribilof Islands have faced uncertainty. Alaska Dispatch 

Could Arctic Oil Shipping Revitalize Economic Fortunes for Aleutians? Signs of a huge investment in the past abound here in this Aleutian Islands community more than 1,000 miles from Anchorage, Alaska's largest city and center of commerce. The huge storage buildings, long docks for ships, and stylish suburban housing for thousands of military personnel and families are nearly all empty, following the end of the Cold War between the United States and former Soviet Union. The Naval Air Facility closed in the 1990s because of the absence of an enemy that made the remote site's high maintenance costs worthwhile, thanks to fear as a funding source. Now, the new owners see a model for the future in Memphis, Tennessee, and they're not talking about going to Grace Land, even though some skeptics might consider hopes for the future of Adak as about as realistic as sightings of Elvis Presley. Alaska Dispatch 

Ice Study Measures Melt. A University of Calgary researcher is looking into the behavior and composition of Canada's Arctic ice pack and is concerned about the speed with which it is changing and melting. John Yackel compared this years ice levels to historical records and he is convinced that the Arctic ice cover is disappearing and there is almost nothing that can be done about it. "This is the smallest extent of ice cover we have seen in the last 33 years, possibly a million years," said Yackel."There's likely not a lot we can do to stop the feedback loop, I'm talking about where the sun melts more ice, exposes more water, allows more sunlight to be absorbed and that feedback loop is well underway and it will be very hard to stop it with any changes we make in the near or midterm future." CTV 

Russia, World's Worst Oil Polluter, Now Drilling in Arctic: Climate change creates new opportunities, risks in Russia's north. As climate change alters the Arctic landscape, shrinking the ice cover on sea and land, it opens up more of the region to resource exploitation. On Sept. 16, the ice cover in the Arctic Ocean reached the record for the smallest area since satellite tracking began. For decades, Russia has been the pioneer in Arctic development, and it continues to forge ahead. Some of the consequences of that development can be gleaned from a Russian government report that outlines its program for protecting the Russian Arctic Environment. "The concentration of heavy metals in soils, plants, and animals, in water and snow, in sea ice and bottom sediments is increasing nearly everywhere" according to the report, released in 2009, with an English edition. CBC News