President Obama’s recent New London address has been distorted by commentators from every aspect of the global warming spectrum. Nobody seems to savvy the extremely serious situation the president was actually addressing. Using the Coast Guard commencement as his forum, he zeroed in on the opening of the Arctic Ocean caused by an increasing multitude of record-breaking icebergs melting, a situation that will greatly increase the Coast Guard’s role in current affairs. His point is totally irrelevant to whether Earth’s warming is man-made or not. Americans seem totally oblivious to the staggeringly new world that will soon be upon us.

Arctic melting will dramatically affect international commerce and national defense because ships will travel azimuthally across the Arctic instead of traversing the vast Pacific, drastically reducing maritime time and expense. President Obama is wisely farsighted on this extremely crucial economic and military issue.

As a deep-water New England port we are perfectly positioned to profit immensely from this new maritime era. We should pay rapt attention to the coming opportunities the president is obviously inviting us, his hosts to seize. Imagine massive Obama-bergs of cold hard cash floating down from the Arctic into New London ports and you’ll get the picture.

Martin Crane

New London