Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) said Thursday that global warming could generate economic benefits for Maine and the rest of the country by opening up the Northern Passage, according to the Bangor Daily News.
“Everybody looks at the negative effects of global warming, but with the ice melting, the Northern Passage has opened up,” he said at a transportation conference. “So maybe, instead of being at the end of the pipeline, we’re now at the beginning of a new pipeline.”
The Northern Passage, a sea route in the Arctic Circle that connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, makes shipping and trade between the U.S. and Asia faster, as it is shorter than the route through the Suez Canal.
A few ships have made it through the Northern Passage since 2009, according to the Bangor Daily News.
