Greenland News and Discussions

[wjfox]

Greenland suspends oil exploration because of climate change

yesterday

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The left-leaning government of Greenland has decided to suspend all oil exploration off the world’s largest island, calling it is “a natural step” because the Arctic government “takes the climate crisis seriously.”

No oil has been found yet around Greenland, but officials there had seen potentially vast reserves as a way to help Greenlanders realize their long-held dream of independence from Denmark by cutting the annual subsidy of 3.4 billion kroner ($540 million) the Danish territory receives.

Global warming means that retreating ice could uncover potential oil and mineral resources which, if successfully tapped, could dramatically change the fortunes of the semiautonomous territory of 57,000 people.

“The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect we have much more to gain,” the Greenland government said in a statement. The government said it “wants to take co-responsibility for combating the global climate crisis.”

The decision was made June 24 but made public Thursday.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there could be 17.5 billion undiscovered barrels of oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Greenland, although the island’s remote location and harsh weather have limited exploration.

https://apnews.com/article/europe-busin ... 348b19e3a7



Credit: AP Photo/John McConnico

[wjfox]

Greenland island is world's northernmost island - scientists

15 hours ago

A group of scientists say they have discovered by luck what they believe is the world's northernmost island off Greenland's coast.

In July, the scientists flew to collect samples to what they thought was Oodaaq Island, that has been known since 1978.

But when they checked their position with the Danish official in charge of registering Arctic islands, they were 800m (2,625ft) further north.

The 60X30m island is the closest point of land to the North Pole, they say.

Greenland is a vast autonomous Arctic territory that belongs to Denmark.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58362752



image source: Morten Rasch, University of Copenhagen

[wjfox]

Billionaires are funding a massive treasure hunt in Greenland as ice vanishes

Updated 2217 GMT (0617 HKT) August 8, 2022

Nuussuaq, Greenland (CNN) – Some of the world's richest men are funding a massive treasure hunt, complete with helicopters and transmitters, on the west coast of Greenland.

The climate crisis is melting Greenland down at an unprecedented rate, which -- in a twist of irony -- is creating an opportunity for investors and mining companies who are searching for a trove of critical minerals capable of powering the green energy transition.

A band of billionaires, including Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates, among others, is betting that below the surface of the hills and valleys on Greenland's Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula there are enough critical minerals to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.

"We are looking for a deposit that will be the first- or second-largest most significant nickel and cobalt deposit in the world," Kurt House, CEO of Kobold Metals, told CNN.

The Arctic's disappearing ice -- on land and in the ocean -- highlights a unique dichotomy: Greenland is ground zero for the impacts of climate change, but it could also become ground zero for sourcing the metals needed to power the solution to the crisis.

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/08/worl ... index.html

[wjfox]

A new company is shipping Arctic ice from Greenland to chill posh drinks in Dubai

Published 4:00 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2024

Patrons of glitzy Dubai bars could be sipping beverages cooled by a cube of ancient Arctic ice carved from a Greenland iceberg and shipped to the emirate — destined no longer to melt into the ocean, but into a very expensive drink.

The startup company, Arctic Ice, shipped its first container of around 22 tons of Greenland ice to Dubai this year for sale to high-end bars and restaurants. Founded in 2022 by two Greenlanders, Arctic Ice has an interesting — and controversial — business model.

It scours the fjord near the country’s capital city of Nuuk for icebergs that have naturally detached from the ice sheet.​ “We are looking for the clearest and thereby also oldest and purest ice,” said Malik V. Rasmussen, one of the co-founders of Arctic Ice.

[...]

Arctic Ice claims it’s offering a novel way to harness a natural resource, carving out new economic opportunities and raising awareness of the Arctic.

To critics, it’s wasteful to ship a product thousands of miles on fossil fuel-powered ships when Dubai already makes its own ice.

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/clim ... index.html

[weatheriscool]

Greenland's leader steps up push for independence from Denmark

Source: Reuters

COPENHAGEN, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Greenland's Prime Minister Mute Egede emphasised his desire to pursue independence from Denmark, its former colonial ruler, during his New Year speech, marking a significant change in the rhetoric surrounding the Arctic island's future.

Egede's speech, which comes on the heels of comments by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump expressing his wish for "ownership and control" of Greenland, also expressed a desire to strengthen Greenland's cooperation with other countries.

"It is about time that we ourselves take a step and shape our future, also with regard to who we will cooperate closely with, and who our trading partners will be," he said.

An independence movement has gained traction in Greenland in recent years in part due to revelations of misconduct by Danish authorities during the 20th century, including an involuntary birth control campaign launched in the 1960s.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/greenland ... 025-01-03/

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

"patriot polling"

we can do better than that

[wjfox]

I will consider disabling Twitter embeds if stuff like this keeps being posted.

Use some common sense – do you really think a company called "Patriot Polling" is going to be non-partisan and reputable?

Please stop posting these obviously right-wing disinfo accounts.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot: France would be ready to send troops to Greenland if requested by Denmark to defend it against a bid by Trump to seize it militarily.

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politic ... 07520.html

[wjfox]

Greenland election: opposition Democrat party wins surprise victory amid spectre of Trump

Wed 12 Mar 2025 09.42 GMT

Greenland has voted for a complete overhaul of its government in a shock result in which the centre-right Democrat party more than tripled its seats after a dramatic election campaign fought against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s threats to acquire the Arctic island.

Tuesday’s election, in which the Democrats replaced Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA), the party of the former prime minister Múte B Egede, as the biggest party in the Inatsisartut, the Greenlandic parliament, also led to a doubling of seats for Naleraq – the party most open to US collaboration and which supports a snap vote on independence – making it the second-biggest party.

Both the Democrats and the second-placed party, Naleraq, favour independence from Denmark but they differ on the pace of change. Naleraq is the most aggressively pro-independence, while the Democrats favour a more moderate pace.

The result – an earthquake in Greenlandic politics – surprised even the Democrat leader, Jens-Frederik Nielsen. The party, which has never before secured so many seats – its previous record was seven in 2005 – was not considered one of the major players, with most attention on IA and Naleraq and the most recent coalition partner, Siumut.

IA lost almost half its seats – going from 12 to seven – making it the third-biggest party. With no party having won a majority of the 31 seats, leaders will next head into coalition talks to negotiate the formation of the next government.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/ ... e-of-trump

[weatheriscool]

Trump pushes annexation of Greenland during meeting with NATO secretary

Source: The Hill

03/13/25 1:48 PM ET

President Trump on Thursday expressed confidence the United States would annex Greenland, even suggesting the head of the NATO alliance could be a key player in facilitating the acquisition. “I think it will happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

“And I’m just thinking, I didn’t give it much thought before but I’m sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international security,” Trump said, gesturing to Rutte.

Rutte agreed that Greenland and the Arctic Circle are critical for security reasons, noting that China and Russia have a growing presence in the region. But he said any discussion about Trump’s attempts to acquire Greenland were outside of his purview. “I don’t want to drag NATO in that,” Rutte said. The comments came two days after the center-right Demokraatit party won Greenland’s parliamentary elections. The party favors a slow path toward independence from Denmark.

Trump has for months pushed the idea of the United States acquiring Greenland, which is a territory of fellow NATO member Denmark. The United States has a military base on the island.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administra ... secretary/

[wjfox]

Greenland's politicians unite against Trump

14 March 2025

Greenland's leading political parties have issued a joint statement to condemn Donald Trump's "unacceptable behaviour", after the US president seemed to escalate his campaign to take over the island.

The show of unity saw all leaders of parties in the Inatsisartut - the parliament - release a joint message saying they "cannot accept the repeated statements about annexation and control of Greenland".

It follows a meeting between Trump and Nato's secretary general Mark Rutte on Thursday, where the president seemed to double down on his annexation plan.

Greenland's joint statement was orchestrated by outgoing Prime Minister Mute B Egede, whose party was defeated in an election on Tuesday.

"Our country will never be the USA and we Greenlanders will never be Americans," Egede wrote on Facebook. "Don't keep treating us with disrespect. Enough is enough."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ljrjeqzq4o

[weatheriscool]

Trump Says The U.S. Will 'Go As Far As We Have To Go' To Acquire Greenland

Source: Huff Post

Mar 27, 2025, 10:53 AM EDT

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the purpose of Vice President JD Vance’s trip to Greenland is to reinforce the idea that the U.S. has to acquire the semi-autonomous Danish territory, warning that Americans will “go as far as we have to go” to get control of the island.

In an interview with Vince Coglianese, Trump said a U.S. delegation was traveling to the territory this week “to let them know that we need Greenland for international safety and security.” “We need it, we have to have it,” Trump said. “It’s a island that from a defensive posture and even offensive posture is something we need, especially with the world the way it is.”

“I hate to put it that way, but we’re gonna have to have it,” he continued. Asked if he thinks the Greenlandic public would be on board with his plans, Trump said he wasn’t sure. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t think they’re un-eager, but I think that we have to do it and we have to convince them.”

A recent poll shows the overwhelming majority of the people of Greenland oppose joining the U.S. This is not stopping Trump, who separately told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that the U.S. “will go as far as we have to go” to get control of Greenland.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-in ... 4d0580/amp

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

Major NYT report exposes Trump's 'formal plan' to seize control of Greenland

Source: Raw Story

April 10, 2025 2:17PM ET

The New York Times is reporting that President Donald Trump's administration has crafted a "formal plan" to take control of Greenland — although for the moment the plan does not involve using military force to seize the territory.

Instead, the Times reports that the Trump administration is crafting a propaganda campaign aimed at convincing Greenlanders that it would be in their best interests to join the United States.

"The U.S. messaging campaign will include an unlikely appeal to Greenlanders’ shared heritage with the native Inuit people of Alaska, nearly 2,500 miles away," the Times' sources say. "Greenland’s Inuit population is descended from people who migrated from Alaska hundreds of years ago, and the island’s official language is derived from Inuit dialects that originated in Arctic Canada."

Other ideas being kicked around by the administration include paying $10,000 for every Greenlander should they agree to join the United States. The Times notes that convincing Greenlanders to join the United States will not be an easy task, however, given how incredibly unpopular the idea has proven with the people who are currently living there. A recent poll showed that just 6 percent of Greenlanders approved of the idea while 85 percent said they were opposed.

Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-greenland-2671742286/

[weatheriscool]

Trump Suggests He Might Take Greenland by 'Force' in Wild Exchange With Kristen Welker: 'We Need Greenland Very Badly'

Source: MEDIAite

May 4th, 2025, 11:38 am

President Donald Trump refused to rule out using military force to acquire Greenland during an interview Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, telling anchor Kristen Welker, “We need that very badly.” The exchange took place during a wide-ranging interview on the economy, immigration, and foreign policy.

Welker asked Trump directly, “You and I talked, and I asked you if you would rule out military force to take Greenland. And you said, no, you don’t rule out anything.” Trump shared his thoughts on Greenland and Canada, which he has talked about becoming the 51st state for months:

WELKER: Would you rule out military force to take Canada?

TRUMP: Well, I think we’re not going to ever get to that point. It could happen. Something could happen with Greenland. I’ll be honest, we need that for national and international security.

WELKER: But not with Canada?

TRUMP: It’s highly unlikely. I don’t see it with Canada. I just don’t see it, I have to be honest with you.

WELKER: Okay, but you don’t rule it out for Greenland?



“I don’t rule it out,” Trump said. “I don’t say I’m going to do it, but I don’t rule out anything. No, not there. We need Greenland very badly. Greenland is a very small amount of people, which we’ll take care of, and we’ll cherish them, and all of that. But we need that for international security.” Leaders and citizens in Greenland have expressed no desire to join the US.

Read more: https://www.mediaite.com/tv/trump-sugge ... ery-badly/

[firestar464]

[firestar464]

US tells Denmark to 'calm down' over alleged Greenland influence operation

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0j9l08902eo