Arctic Yearbook 2014
494
The passages over the High North are opening and Maine’s ports are ideally situated
to play a large role in the future of global trade - Maine needs to participate in Arctic
conversations and build relationships throughout the region. This will require a
coordinated effort, which MENADO can help lead. Climate change in the Arctic
provides both promise and peril and Maine, and the country must prepare for the
new opportunities and for the new risks that we will face.
- Senator Angus King
Maine hosted two, major North Atlantic-themed events in Bangor, Maine in 2014. Maine
International Trade Day: ‘The New North’, with business intelligence presentations from the
Greenlandic and Canadian Governments, as well as panel discussions including businesses and
tourism officials from Maine, Atlantic Canada and Iceland. The audience consisted of over 300
of Maine’s most internationally-active businesses with a keen interest to increase trade activity
with the region.
At a second event, the Maine National Guard, University of Maine's School of Policy and
International Affairs and the United States Coast Guard collaborated to present “Leadership in
the High North; A political, military, economic and environmental symposium of the Arctic
Opening.” General Charles Jacoby, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense
Command and U.S. Northern Command headed up an international collection of experts to
discuss issues related to trade, changing environmental conditions, and the strategic geopolitical
situation in the Arctic. Major General Christopher Coates, Deputy Commander Continental
Canadian Joint Operations Command discussed issues specific to the Canadian military and their
ongoing operations in the High North. The Maine Port Authority and Iceland’s Eimskip
Shipping Line presented current trends and possibilities in trade among North Atlantic nations.
The University of Maine’s Dr. Paul Mayweski and Rear Admiral Jonathan White, Oceanographer
and Navigator of the Navy, and Director of Task Force Climate Change discussed changing
environmental conditions in the High North. Representatives from all of the New England
states, New York, Alaska, New Brunswick, Quebec, Iceland and Denmark particip ]Y[