Marine and Coastal Monitoring. Talk of Alaska considers marine and coastal monitoring issues with Craig Matkin (Director of North Gulf Ocean Society), Kris Holderied (Director of NOAA's Katsina Bay Laboratory), and John Piatt (researcher for the US Geological Survey- Alaska Science Center). From local weather conditions on the other side of the point, to plankton blooms, to current changes, to ice changes, it's all becoming more available to mariners, researchers and subsistence users. APRN 

4 Centrists Get Money Seats in Appropriations Gavel Shuffle. The unusual midyear switching comes on the heels of departures by three senior Republicans: C.W. Bill Young of Florida died last month, and Louisiana's Rodney Alexander and Alabama's Jo Bonner both resigned their seats over the summer to begin alternative careers. Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey and Mike Simpson of Idaho are being promoted to more influential subcommittee chairmanships. Ken Calvert of California and Tom Cole of Oklahoma are getting gavels for the first time. Roll Call 

Balash Appointed Natural Resource Commissioner. Gov. Sean Parnell has named Joe Balash as his Natural Resources commissioner. Balash has served as acting commissioner since September, and he was previously a deputy in the department. He was one of the governor's point people on the recent overhaul of the state's oil tax system. APRN 

Cantwell and Kirk Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Yesterday, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) introduced legislation that would designate 1.56 million acres of land in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as wilderness. The wilderness designation would protect the Arctic Refuge's coastal plain and preserve subsistence hunting and traditional uses. The Arctic Refuge's coastal plain is the last remaining portion of the original Arctic Refuge without a wilderness designation. It provides critical habitat to migratory birds, polar and grizzly bears, and more than 100,000 caribou. The coastal plain is also crucial to the culture and way of life of the Gwich'in tribe, an Alaskan Native people who hunt on the land. Senator Maria Cantwell 

Iceland Aims to Increase All-Round Sustainability. Iceland has detailed its new sustainable initiatives as it prepares to take over as president of the Nordic Council of Ministers in January. Eygló Harðardóttir, Iceland's minister for Nordic co-operation, said the programme identifies various opportunities utilising local resources including the environment and the expertise of the Nordic community. Arctic Journal 

Learning How to Die in the Anthropocene. [Opinion] This March, Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, the commander of the United States Pacific Command, told security and foreign policy specialists in Cambridge, Mass., that global climate change was the greatest threat the United States faced - more dangerous than terrorism, Chinese hackers and North Korean nuclear missiles. Upheaval from increased temperatures, rising seas and radical destabilization "is probably the most likely thing that is going to happen..." he said, "that will cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other scenarios we all often talk about.'' Locklear's not alone. New York Times 

This Senator is Going to Keep Talking About Climate Change Until Somebody Listens. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has been on a one-man quest to get the Senate to talk about climate change. And talking is exactly what he's been doing, delivering a floor speech on climate change every week the Senate is in session. On Wednesday afternoon, he delivered his 50th speech. "There's literally no way to exhaust this topic," Sheldon told The Huffington Post Wednesday before his speech. "I can exhaust my staff doing the research, but there's no way I can exhaust this topic." Huffington Post