Governments Claim Timeshare Rights in Melting Arctic

It's staggering to think of the ramifications of what this article reports on. A new land rush of governments to claim waterways and land for when you humans melt all that ice up on top (and bottom) of your planet. Just think, a timeshare on the beach with imported GMO palm trees planted outside a wonderful fake plastic igloo condo building! Now that's a place to party, eh? One giant step for mankind...

Sleep well. - Maltok 5

From OnThe Commons.org

Reclaiming a True Global Commons in the Arctic Melt

Posted by Kathryn Milun on Wed, 05/09/2007 - 1:22pm

New territorial claims on islands and sea-routes emerging as the Arctic icecaps melt might make you laugh if you could forget the last 500 years of Euro-American expropriation and colonization. (See “Arctic Ice Melts Create New Land Rush” by Robert J. Miller, May 7, 2007.) With global warming we have a ludicrous display of national patrimony along with the usual international theft. Denmark, Canada and Russia are dispatching warships to hoist flags on frozen tundra. Bottles of brandy have been buried as proof of discovery and claim. The U.S. is also making claims in the region on behalf of an international community eager to see the emerging waterways as “neutral,” open access global commons whose assets are ready for the taking by First World nations and multinational corporations. Folks, what is this nonsense of flag raising and bogus international commons all about?

In the wake of global warming there is a vast water and land grab now taking place under the guise of international law. Who are the rightful owners of the right-of-way, resources, and wealth potential now surfacing along with the disastrous effects of global warming in the Arctic region? Can the legal tradition of a global commons be invoked at the international level to secure justice in this new domain? [more]