Jordan Habenicht
12th May 2020, 15:34
When I was a child, I used to have a fascination with the annual Iditarod dog sled race. I would spend hours reading about the brave athletes, both human and animal, that braved these incredibly harsh conditions. Then, in my 20’s, I had the opportunity to go North myself. Not as an athlete, but as part of a multi-branch mission conducted by the US military to assist in relocating a town of people in Alaska (Kim 2019). For those of us that went, it was a difficult mission. We were far from home living with few creature comforts. The Marines on site doing the building slept in tents while my crew operated the landing craft to transport materials from Bethel. Despite still being in the United States, we felt very far from home.
A few years later during my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to take part in a research trip to Ottawa focusing on sustainable economic development of the North. One of the professors in my school focused on Arctic issues and was acutely aware of the work that had been happening in Newtok. For the people of that community, our arrival was the culmination of years of advocacy to the US government asking for help. This led to my interest in sustainable economic development. The more I heard the voices from the North, the more infatuated I became with their accomplishments and I wanted to do what I could to be a part of it.
However, the more I joined the discussion on development, the more frustrated I became. The Arctic is home to vast amounts of natural resources (Bender and Kelley 2014) which can help jump start a region’s development. Every discussion seemed to have the same theme around how to access these. Bring in southern firms and slap on some requirements on how many local citizens need to be hired and this will bring development. Yet the profits and resources generated from this aren’t staying in the community. That’s not to say there’s no benefit from this approach, but it seemed to be ignoring the community part of the development process.
One of the biggest challenges in the Arctic, and other rural communities, is energy production. In Newtok, for example, much of the power is created through household generators running on diesel. Even with the added shipping costs of transporting diesel to these remote communities, this is still one of the most cost-efficient methods of energy generation. At the most basic level, electricity is essential to many parts of development. While diesel generators are incredibly reliable and relatively cheap to operate, it doesn’t provide a long-term solution for a community.
Renewable energy generation offers some exciting prospects in creating more sustainable and cheaper energy generation for these communities. Not only does it move away from harmful diesel fumes, but it creates a growth opportunity for the community as well. By training individuals who live there on how to install, maintain, and expand sustainable energy solutions, the community can begin to grow as it needs. Those living there know their needs better than anyone. Rather than using our resources to tell them what they need, we should be using it to help them achieve their goals. The Institute of the North has used these principals as part of their Renewable Energy Network Academy (ARENA) (The Arctic Council 2017). Communities succeed when the people are empowered to grow and develop. Helping to create sustainable and reliable energy production removes one more barrier for them to find their success.
References
Bender, Jeremy, and Michael B Kelley. 2014. Business Insider. June 3. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-competition-for-arctic-resources-2014-6.
Kim, Greg. 2019. Residents Of An Eroded Alaskan Village Are Pioneering A New One, In Phases. Nov 2. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/02/774791091/residents-of-an-eroded-alaskan-village-are-pioneering-a-new-one-in-phases.
The Arctic Council. 2017. "2017 Arctic Energy Summit." Institute of the North. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.sdwg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AES_Finland_final_report_proof2.pdf.
A few years later during my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to take part in a research trip to Ottawa focusing on sustainable economic development of the North. One of the professors in my school focused on Arctic issues and was acutely aware of the work that had been happening in Newtok. For the people of that community, our arrival was the culmination of years of advocacy to the US government asking for help. This led to my interest in sustainable economic development. The more I heard the voices from the North, the more infatuated I became with their accomplishments and I wanted to do what I could to be a part of it.
However, the more I joined the discussion on development, the more frustrated I became. The Arctic is home to vast amounts of natural resources (Bender and Kelley 2014) which can help jump start a region’s development. Every discussion seemed to have the same theme around how to access these. Bring in southern firms and slap on some requirements on how many local citizens need to be hired and this will bring development. Yet the profits and resources generated from this aren’t staying in the community. That’s not to say there’s no benefit from this approach, but it seemed to be ignoring the community part of the development process.
One of the biggest challenges in the Arctic, and other rural communities, is energy production. In Newtok, for example, much of the power is created through household generators running on diesel. Even with the added shipping costs of transporting diesel to these remote communities, this is still one of the most cost-efficient methods of energy generation. At the most basic level, electricity is essential to many parts of development. While diesel generators are incredibly reliable and relatively cheap to operate, it doesn’t provide a long-term solution for a community.
Renewable energy generation offers some exciting prospects in creating more sustainable and cheaper energy generation for these communities. Not only does it move away from harmful diesel fumes, but it creates a growth opportunity for the community as well. By training individuals who live there on how to install, maintain, and expand sustainable energy solutions, the community can begin to grow as it needs. Those living there know their needs better than anyone. Rather than using our resources to tell them what they need, we should be using it to help them achieve their goals. The Institute of the North has used these principals as part of their Renewable Energy Network Academy (ARENA) (The Arctic Council 2017). Communities succeed when the people are empowered to grow and develop. Helping to create sustainable and reliable energy production removes one more barrier for them to find their success.
References
Bender, Jeremy, and Michael B Kelley. 2014. Business Insider. June 3. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-competition-for-arctic-resources-2014-6.
Kim, Greg. 2019. Residents Of An Eroded Alaskan Village Are Pioneering A New One, In Phases. Nov 2. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/02/774791091/residents-of-an-eroded-alaskan-village-are-pioneering-a-new-one-in-phases.
The Arctic Council. 2017. "2017 Arctic Energy Summit." Institute of the North. Accessed Apr 27, 2020. https://www.sdwg.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AES_Finland_final_report_proof2.pdf.