U.S. Joins Arctic Oil Rush Race

Russia made international headlines when it planted a titanium flag on the floor of the North Pole, staking its claim to potentially oil rich undersea territory.

Now, the United States is making its own foray into the contested ice and water of the polar region, with a mapping mission off the coast of Alaska.

The U.S. is at a disadvantage, some say, because it has not signed the U.N. Convention On The Law Of the Sea, which governs international claims to waters distant from shorelines. At least five countries can reasonably make claims on Arctic territory, which is increasingly available for shipping, fishing and oil and gas exploration as global warming leads to an increase in ice-free water.

The scientific mapping mission isn't being viewed as political -- at least by scientists aboard the Coast Guard ice cutter. With attention so recently focused on colonial domination of the region, and jockeying position for potentially strategic energy resources, the world's view may be different.

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