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This week on Focus Earth, Bob Woodruff takes a close look at two important events: the election of Barack Obama as the next president of the United States and record melting of ice in the Arctic. Both of these events signal big changes for global environmental policy and new approaches towards climate change.
First, Focus Earth looks at how energy and environmental policy will be handled by the Obama White House. What decisions must be made in the face of climate change? Who will be the new EPA administrator? Andy Revkin, a columnist for the New York Times, offers an analysis of the next administration's green challenges and likely initiatives.
From Washington, DC, Focus Earth travels to the Arctic where scientists report a record loss of ice. As the Northwest Passage melts, becoming more accessible to ships, a race is on to gain control of energy, transport, and fishing resources in the area. Bob Woodruff joins the Coast Guard in Alaska, where ships must keep a close watch on fishermen from Russia who have been following schools into U.S. territorial waters.
This raises a question: who owns the Arctic? With no international law currently dealing with the issue, the answer is not an easy one. Bob Woodruff talks with Scott Borgerson, Visiting Fellow for Ocean Governance at the Council on Foreign Relations, who argues that establishing a law for the Arctic is a matter of national security. In addition to supporting United Nations sponsored laws dealing with the area, Borgerson has petitioned Congress to allocate money to better equip the Coast Guard for operating in this last frontier.
Finally, Bob Woodruff explains that simply getting to the Arctic is no easy matter. Follow him on his long journey to the top of the world, a place that has become central to the rapidly growing issues of climate change and global warming.
Checkout the Planet Green Schedule to see these stories and more on Focus Earth.
Don't miss Focus on Focus Earth: Barack Obama's Green White House and Focus on Focus Earth: Opening of the Arctic.
Read more about politics and the Arctic:
Barack Obama Faces Environmental Clean Up After Two Centuries of Bingeing: Bill McKibben
Write Your Congressman—Make a Positive Eco Impact
Get Local Politicians to Go Green
Arctic Climate Tipping Point Happening Now! Sea Ice in Its "Death Spiral" Scientist Claims
Record 10-19% Declines Seen in Arctic Sea Ice Thickness Last Winter, Satellite Data Reveals
Green Glossary: ANWR
Help Save the Polar Bears without Leaving Home
