ARCTIC: Alaska's Education Funding Bill & more – 27th May 2025

Bures from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 27th of May twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

Peace in the Arctic continues to be at risk. On Monday the 19th, The New York Times published a series of satellite images showing that Russia has significantly expanded its military infrastructure along the Finnish border, with personnel, vehicles and aircraft all increasing in the far north.

According to a story published by The Guardian on Wednesday the 21st, the Finnish government is preparing for a sudden increase in Russian military activity once the Ukraine invasion is over, with the forces that went to Ukraine going back to Russia. Sami Nurmi, the head of strategy of the Finnish defence forces, said Finland is preparing for the worst-case scenario of a Russian invasion.

To see the satellite images, take a look at the link in the show notes.

NATO is also increasing its military presence in the European Arctic. On Tuesday the 20th, Jonas Gahr Støre, the Norwegian Prime Minister, announced that NATO has chosen to build its newest air command center in the Arctic city of Bodø. Støre said that NATO believes it needs to pay more attention to northern European defence, and that this base will act as a hub for Scandinavian nations to improve their response times to military threats.

The base is budgeted at almost $950 million US dollars, with NATO and the Norwegian government working together to finance this move towards European defence.

Another win for the European Arctic came this week from Greenland. On Wednesday the 21st, its government announced that it has handed a thirty-year mining permit to a Danish and French consortium to extract anorthosite, a key mineral in the production of aluminium.

With US President Trump eyeing Greenland’s natural resources and seeking to take control of the country, Greenland’s government choosing to make a deal with the EU rather than the US sends a clear message to Trump that Greenland will choose its own fate.

The American Arctic can celebrate its own victories, though. On Tuesday the 20th, the Alaska legislature finally completed the passing of a controversial education funding bill that has been trapped in a legislative spiral of negotiations for years. Even though there had been speculation that the bill would be passed back in January, Mike Dunleavy, the state governor, vetoed it.

However, on the 20th, a bipartisan collaboration of lawmakers voted to override Dunleavy’s veto and finally increase the state’s education budget. An additional $180 million US dollars will now be added to the annual $1.2 billion dollar budget.

However, lawmakers initially wanted an almost $300 million dollar increase, but in order to gain the votes needed to override the Governor's veto, a substantial decrease was negotiated.

School funding wasn’t the only legal battle in Alaska this week. On Tuesday the 20th, a lawsuit was filed by the local government of the Chickaloon Indigenous community and the National Center for Biodiversity against the US Army.

The suit challenges a permit that the Engineers Corp granted to a construction company to build a road and airstrip in the Tikahtnu inlet in southern Alaska, which is considered a critical feeding ground for the endangered beluga whale.

The complaint says that the Army didn’t properly assess the environmental impact of the project, which is likely to pollute the local water sources.

Last week we shared the story about the UK and the EU issuing a new round of sanctions against Russia. However, the EU wasn’t finished, as on Tuesday the 20th, it announced it is issuing additional economic sanctions against Russia, this time targeting the Arctic fishing industry instead of the usual oil and gas projects.

The European Council accused two major Murmansk-based fishery companies, Norebo and Murman Seafood Company, of conducting espionage operations within the EU. For instance, one of Norebo’s vessels reportedly demonstrated unusual navigation patterns near undersea cables that were later damaged.

Fishing might be on the decline, but elsewhere in northern seas, seaweed is flourishing. According to a study published on Monday the 19th, by the Indian Arctic Expedition in the Journal of Geophysical Research, warming seas and reduced sea ice are promoting the growth of seaweed forests, which could alter the carbon cycle in Arctic coastal ecosystems.

While this may seem a positive benefit to the ecosystem, the researchers found that these areas with large amounts of new seaweed also showed signs of oxygen deprivation. The scientists believe that the seaweed is attracting microbes that eat it, but also consume large amounts of oxygen.

Climate change is bringing a boom in seaweed, but also starving the Arctic Ocean of its oxygen, which could have deadly consequences.

Meanwhile, in Canada, on Tuesday the 20th, national broadcaster CBC reported that the Government of the Northwest Territories has moved forward with developing its procurement policy aimed at Indigenous-owned businesses. The new policy aims to give preferential access to government contracts to native businesses in the territory, as a form of economic reconciliation and inclusive development.

This idea has been under consultation since twenty twenty-one but the government believes they are in the final development stages and by the end of the year, Indigenous citizens will receive a welcome boost to their economic development.

Canada’s Indigenous communities are in dire need of development. For instance, the village of Puvirnituq in northern Quebec has been suffering from a complete lack of fresh water for the last ten weeks due to a burst water line.

On Friday the 23rd, the news agency Nunatsiaq News reported that members of the Canadian Rangers have been deployed to Puvirnituq to aid with the ongoing issue. They will assist with the transportation and distribution of drinking water and other essential supplies in the community. Since the parts needed for the repair haven’t been sourced yet, some locals have taken to drinking water from the local lake, spreading illnesses. The Rangers hope to bring relief until a solution is found.

Frustration and delays are causing trouble in northern Sweden, too. On Thursday the 22nd, Swedish news agency, SVT, reported that the Malmporten project, a massive dredging operation to expand Luleå’s harbour, has been paused due to soaring costs. The project aimed to transform Luleå, Sweden’s largest northern city, into Sweden’s second-largest port, crucial for exporting renewable technologies and materials that Sweden specializes in

Carina Sammeli, Luleå’s mayor, expressed frustration over the lack of national support, warning that local governments are being left to shoulder the financial risk alone. Without expanded port capacity, key green projects risk delays or relocation, threatening the momentum of Sweden’s climate ambitions in the Arctic.

Over the border in Norway, a dispute over electricity supply has sparked protests on the remote island of Gåsvær in northern Norway. On Friday the 23rd, national broadcaster NRK reported that utility company Linea plans to cut power to the island, citing the $3 million US dollar cost of replacing a damaged undersea cable. Linea argues that no one resides permanently on Gåsvær, classifying it as a seasonal community.

However, local fisherman Jan Morten Bakkelid is contesting this allegation. Bakkelid, who operates his fishing business from the island, warns that losing electricity would force him to rely on diesel generators, hindering his operations.

Finally this week, an effort to promote sustainable tourism in the Arctic has gained an ally. On Wednesday the 21st, at the Indigenous People’s Conference in Inari, northern Finland, the Sami Parliament presented a draft of a certification system which it intends to award tourism businesses in Sapmi lands that align with Sámi values and environmental concerns.

This project has been fully funded by the EU and hopes to ensure that the recent explosion in tourist numbers in Arctic Europe can be managed more sustainably by highlighting which companies are caring for the Arctic in the manner of its Indigenous communities.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

We hope you’re enjoying the update! If you have questions, ideas, or feedback, send us an email at info@rorshok.com.

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