ARCTIC: Trump’s Economic Changes & more – 8th July 2025

Góðan daginn from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Arctic Update from the 8th of July twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what’s going down North of the Arctic Circle!

President Trump’s aims for transforming the US in his image took a huge step on Friday the 4th, Independence Day, when the US government announced Trump had signed his massive budget bill into law. The bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, promises sweeping changes for the Alaskan Arctic. Almost $9 billion US dollars of the budget are earmarked for nine new Coast Guard icebreakers, in order to establish US dominance in the Arctic Ocean.

The bill is also officially opening up swathes of protected natural areas for oil and gas development. The bill mandates that over the next decade, there will be fifteen oil and gas lease sales within protected land and coastal areas. More than 20 million acres, over 80,000 square kilometers, of public, protected lands in Alaska are now at risk of heavy industrial development.

The US President’s financial impact in Alaska doesn’t stop there. On Thursday the 3rd, the Alaska Department of Education confirmed that the federal government has just blocked almost $50 million US dollars of educational funding grants. Congress had approved the funding and was supposed to come into effect on Monday the 1st to fund programs such as migrant education, effective instruction, and student support. This funding was worth about fifteen percent of the state’s school budget for the year.

With the federal government currently giving no reasoning behind this funding restriction, Alaskan students face a year of poorly funded education.

The Canadian government’s funding efforts are hoping to protect the Arctic. The Housing and Communities Department announced on Thursday the 3rd that over $12 million US dollars are being invested in the northern Yukon territory toward reducing wildfire risk. The Whitehorse, Teslin, and Haines Junction communities have all suffered greatly from wildfires in recent years. This money is meant to create fuel breaks and reduce the amount of combustible materials in these communities.

With Canada’s wildfire season currently underway, northern residents will hope for wildfire relief to arrive soon.

Tourism is also getting a boost in northern Canada. On Thursday the 3rd, the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada revealed a new operational plan aimed at rebuilding an industry that has yet to recover from the Covid pandemic. The plan includes new funding of about $25 million US dollars a year for the next seven years, supported by private investors.

The plan will invest this funding in marketing, business development, workforce training, and major tourism infrastructure across Indigenous Canada to reverse the twenty-five percent decline in revenue since its peak in twenty eighteen.

The EU is supporting major infrastructure projects in the Arctic, too. On Thursday the 3rd, The European Commission announced that almost 100 transport projects across Europe will receive over $3 billion US dollars in funding to modernize transport links across the region, including in the far north. The Arctic projects receiving funding include the upgrading of five Swedish icebreakers and the construction of two new icebreakers, one for Finland and one for Estonia.

Also in Finland, the road networks of Finnish Lapland will get funds to improve their accessibility and ensure they can adapt to climate change in the future.

With this funding boost, The EU hopes to connect the Arctic more reliably to the rest of Europe.

Speaking of transport in the north, Sweden’s most important railway is facing a more dangerous future. On Friday the 4th, Bloomberg reported on the Malmbanan railway, which connects Sweden’s largest iron mine in the Arctic to the EU, supplying about eighty percent of European iron ore. Located near the Russian border, and with sabotage threats rising since Sweden joined NATO last year, defending the railway has become a national priority.

Magnus Stahl, Commander of Sweden’s Northern Military Region, called Malmbanan vital to Sweden’s security but warned it urgently needs repairs. The Swedish Transport Authority lists over twenty upgrade projects for the line, but with no work started yet, this crucial supply route for Europe’s industry and security remains dangerously exposed.

Away from fears of conflict, Northern Sweden is celebrating its unique food culture. On Wednesday the 2nd, Radio Sweden reported that the EU has given protected designation of origin status to kaffeost, a special cheese typically enjoyed in hot coffee in the north of Sweden. The tradition of melting cheese into coffee comes from the long, cold winters of Arctic Sweden. Any cheese they made earlier in the year would freeze in the winter, so to enjoy it, it would be cut into small cubes and thawed in hot coffee.

The EU’s designation recognizes the unique heritage of this tradition, and ensures that anyone else putting frozen cheese in their coffee must attribute this delicacy to its original inventors in northern Sweden.

To find out all about this unique food yourself, take a look at the show notes!

Over the border in Norway, the Sámi Parliament is facing a legal defeat. On Thursday the 3rd, the Oslo District Court delivered its final verdict in the Melkøya case, ruling in favor of the Norwegian government. This marks the first time in history that the Sámi Parliament sued the state.

The case centered on plans to electrify the Melkøya natural gas plant in northern Norway. The Sámi Parliament argued the project would require new energy infrastructure on traditional Sámi lands, triggering their right to be consulted.

However, the court found that, since no specific plans for those energy facilities exist yet, the Sámi cannot say their consultation rights were violated.

The President of the Sami Parliament has called this a major setback for Sámi self-determination.

Energy developments in Greenland are progressing smoothly, though. On Thursday the 3rd, the Greenlandic government announced they have granted a permit to expand the Utoqqarmiut Kangerluarsunnguat hydroelectric power plant.

The plant, in southern Greenland, is currently a small venture, but once the massive expansion is completed, the government predicts this single project will completely power Greenland’s energy needs for decades to come, all through renewable energy.

The new plant is expected to be completed and operational in twenty thirty-two.

On another note, a community in Iceland is reeling from an important closure. On Tuesday the 1st, national broadcaster RÚV reported that the company Arctic Fish will shutter its feed center in Þingeyri, in the west fjords, citing high operating costs. Even though the number of jobs being lost is only around ten, Þingeyri has only about 250 residents and is one of the few sources of year-round revenue for residents.

Several of the employees out of work also play key societal roles as volunteer medical responders and firefighters. If the affected residents are forced to move away from Þingeyri, a source of money, community, and safety will move with it.

Over in Russia’s northern Yamal region, a groundbreaking initiative is supporting Indigenous students. On Thursday the 3rd, the Yamal regional government announced that first-year students from low-income or nomadic families of northern indigenous peoples will receive a one-time enrolment bonus of just over $1,000 US dollars to help with their academic start. Authorities believe that investing in Indigenous students will nurture future professionals rooted in local traditions and culture.

Let’s wrap up this edition with some science news, as melting Arctic soil may be worsening climate change more than expected. On Wednesday the 2nd, the Autonomous University of Barcelona published a study revealing that warming soil not only releases greenhouse gases, but it also loses nitrogen permanently. Nitrogen is essential for plant growth and helps plants absorb carbon dioxide from the air.

The decade-long study in Iceland found that for every one-degree Celsius (or thirty-four-degree Fahrenheit) rise in temperature, Arctic soil loses over two percent of its nitrogen. Scientists had hoped that as the Arctic warms, new plant growth could help slow climate change. However, with nitrogen loss limiting that growth, the study warns that even a greener Arctic may fail to offset emissions, making the goal of reversing climate change even more difficult.

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

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