Finally, Ice is Important Again

Much like the Cosco Busan incident brought back to the limelight the under-publicized environmental response mission of the Coast Guard (I'll have to remember to post some of the final decision documents detailing the Coast Guard's lack of fault in the incident), the melting of the polar ice caps and the potential for increasing vessel traffic and sovereignty issues in the upper part of North America has lead Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen to bring back into focus the aging fleet of US Polar Icebreakers. Wired (not David Axe) has the story...