US pushes ambitious goals as Arctic Council convenes in Anchorage

Just six months into the United States’ chairmanship of the Arctic Council, events have “already moved the ball forward enormously” on one of its main Arctic goals, a senior State Department official said Monday.

The Arctic Journal reports: “Our goal is to raise the awareness of the American public about the Arctic while we have this bully pulpit for two years -- to make sure that, as much as we can, people on the street in any part of America in the middle of the country know that we’re an Arctic nation, know where Alaska is, understand at least a little bit about why the Arctic matters to everyone,” said Senior Arctic Official Julia Gourley, the State Department veteran who represents the U.S. at the eight-nation Arctic Council.

To guide its 2015-17 chairmanship, the U.S. delegation has settled on three broad goals -- improving Arctic Ocean safety, security and stewardship; improving economic and living conditions for people in the Arctic; and addressing climate change impact in the Arctic, the Arctic Journal writes.