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Angus King Delivers Opening Remarks at Arctic Forum in Portland

Independent U.S. Sen. Angus King of Maine will deliver opening remarks at an arctic forum today at Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine in Portland.

The forum coincides with the Arctic Council meetings to be held in Portland Tuesday through Thursday. The event will bring together experts from the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and others.

King says Maine is already adapting to the effects of climate change.

“As the Arctic Ocean opens up to transportation, which it already is — a cruise ship went through this summer and, in fact, that cruise ship ended its trip in Bar Harbor, so that tells you how Maine stands to be engaged in this,” he says.

King says the U.S. lags behind Russia in the number of icebreaking vessels needed to keep Arctic waterways open.

“They’re now building, I think, four new icebreakers — they already have 17, we have one and a half,” he says. “It’s really pretty amazing. They are being very aggressive in their development of the Arctic and Arctic resources. We have one heavy icebreaker and another we’re using for spare parts.”

As a member of both the Senate Armed Services and Energy and Natural Resources committees, King has repeatedly highlighted dynamic security and environmental and commercial factors in the Arctic and has called for the U.S. to enhance its engagement in the region.