In this podcast, part 3 of 3, Tom Fries talks with Ruth Davis, Senior Political Advisor to Greenpeace International, about the organization's "Save the Arctic" campaign. There are a couple of tough questions to answer: First; why does Greenpeace feel that non-Arctic people should have a significant say in what happens in the Arctic? Second; if subsurface development in the Arctic is to be stopped, what alternative industries does Greenpeace think might help Northern communities flourish? These and many other difficult issues arise when "outsiders" try to influence what happens in the Arctic.

Ruth Davis - Save the Arctic Part 1 by The Arctic Institute Bookshelf Podcast

Ruth Davis, Chief Policy Advisor for Greenpeace UK, discusses some details of Greenpeace's recent Prirazlomnoye action.

Leanne Robinson works with the Arctic Energy Alliance in Yellowknife in Canada's Northwest Territories. I had the chance to enjoy an in-depth conversation with Leanne about her work researching and, where appropriate, promoting the use of renewable energy in the Northwest Territories. She is a wealth of knowledge, and has a balanced viewpoint as to the advantages and the challenges that go along with renewable energy, particularly as a resource for remote communities. Listen to learn about the conditions that make hydrocarbon use necessary and affordable in the NWT, and about the renewable technologies that may one day supplant hydrocarbons in these communities, perhaps making life a more sustainable proposition.

In February 2012, The Arctic Institute contributor Tom Fries interviewed Yuri Sergeev about his work for the Bellona Foundation's offices in Murmansk, Russia. Yuri talks frankly about the many intractable challenges that confront the development of renewable energy in the Russian Arctic, and in Russia generally, focusing largely on regulatory uncertainty and simple lack of economic incentives to make the switch. Yuri's many stories paint a picture of a country with enormous potential, waiting for the right moment to become a formidable producer.

In February 2012, Arctic Institute contributor Tom Fries interviewed Nina Jensen, Conservation Director at WWF-Norway, about the challenges of pushing back against the habit of fossil fuel production and use in the high North. Her long time work with WWF has given her a sense of the daunting challenges that confront those who support an as-soon-as-possible conversion to renewable energy, but also of the deep value of such a change. You can find a non-flash version of the interview here.

During the Arctic Frontiers conference in Tromso, Norway in January 2012, Arctic Institute contributor Tom Fries had the chance to interview Jason Meyer, who works at the Alaska Center for Energy and Power. His work involves identifying and testing new and effective energy technologies for the Arctic - often with the goal of providing power to Alaska's remote communities - and assisting them through the development process. His interest in this field began in Vanuatu, an island in the South Pacific where the local communities have some surprising commonalities with Alaska's remote towns. These days, his work brings him into contact both with the complexities of intellectual property law and with the promise of exciting new developmental technologies.