June 13, 2018 — As the northeasternmost state in the U.S., Maine is geographically positioned as America’s gateway to the Arctic and North Atlantic – regions becoming increasingly important to global commerce and culture. We must cast aside our notion of Maine as a back door to the world and reimagine it as a front door, devoting the full force of our human and economic capital to making Maine a leader in the “New North.”
Geographer Mia Bennett has characterized Maine as the next “near-Arctic state,” and in 2015, Maine’s Angus King partnered with Lisa Murkowski of Alaska to form the Senate Arctic Caucus. The Arctic and the North Atlantic region have become increasingly geopolitically relevant. Characterized by political stability and celebrated for achievements in public health, education, civil rights and other important features of civil society, several North Atlantic countries have become global models. This has resulted in steadily increasing economic activity, trade and tourism.
At the same time, climate change continues to reshape our world’s geography and waters. And while we must do all we can as a global community to minimize the progression and effects of climate change, we must also be realists. As the North thaws, new shipping routes open, valuable temperate-zone fisheries move north, more land becomes available for cultivation and new opportunities for collaboration arise.