Macron visits Greenland and criticizes Trump's threats to take it over
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Macron paid a visit to Greenland on Sunday, on his way to the G7 conference in Kananaskis, Alta. He became the first foreign leader to visit the region since Trump's recent talk of annexation, and was openly critical of those plans.
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Reuters reports that, when asked on his arrival about Trump's ambitions, Macron said: 'I don't think that's what allies do … it's important that Denmark and the Europeans commit themselves to this territory, which has very high strategic stakes and whose territorial integrity must be respected.'
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In a speech that was received by cheers and applause from locals, Macron said: 'Everybody thinks in France, in the European Union, that Greenland is not to be sold, not to be taken.' He added: 'The situation in Greenland is clearly a wake-up call for all the Europeans. And let me tell you very directly that you are not alone.'
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Referring to Greenland as a part of Europe, he said: 'We know our common flag and we know our long-standing choices, and this is why it's very important for French people and all the European people to convey very clearly this message of solidarity and the fact that we stand with you, now, for today, and for tomorrow.'
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A source at the Élysée Palace told Reuters that Macron's trip had a 'dimension of European solidarity and one of strengthening sovereignty and territorial integrity,' without directly mentioning the Trump administration's threats to purchase Greenland, or take it by force.
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Additionally, the source said the French president's six-hour visit would focus on Arctic security, climate change and Greenland's economic development, and would include a tour of a glacier, a hydroelectric power station and a Danish warship moored near the territory's capital, Nuuk.
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But since his re-election, he has been more bellicose in his musings. This month, U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth seemed to acknowledge that the Pentagon had contingency plans to take Greenland and also Panama by force if necessary, telling a congressional hearing: 'Our job … is to have plans for any contingency.'
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That said, U.S. designs on the world's largest island can be traced back over more than a century. U.S. senator William Henry Seward, who oversaw the purchase of Alaska in the 1860s, had a similar plan to buy Greenland from Denmark, going so far as to write that its incorporation into America would 'flank British America for thousands of miles … and greatly increase her inducements, peacefully and cheerfully, to become a part of the American Union.'
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This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. To be sure, it's not just Trump who considers renewables unsightly. Solar and wind farms have an enormous visible footprint, requiring significantly more land than nuclear, natural gas or coal to produce the same amount of energy. They also run the risk of sustaining damage from particularly fierce natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes. Plenty of projects in the United States have faced opposition from people concerned they would be an eyesore, hurting property values and tourism. The federal agencies that oversee permitting are obligated to conduct visual impact assessments and consider local stakeholders' feedback. But Trump's particular formulation raises the question: Which energy sources are least offensive to the eye? Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What surprises some energy experts is not the president's distain for renewables, but his argument that fossil fuels are somehow more beautiful. 'Everyone has their own view of what's beautiful and what's not, but I have a hard time understanding how people could think that solar panels are such a desecration of the land while mountaintop drilling or drilling for natural gas and crude oil is not,' said Severin Borenstein, faculty director of the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business Energy Institute. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Some experts who spoke with The Washington Post noted that much of the visual impact of renewables is localized at a single site, whereas fossil fuel production involves multiple sites, with potential for multiple eyesores. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 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Experts have found that people who oppose renewables on aesthetic grounds tend not to have lived near fossil-fuel sources. And just because a community is pushing back against renewable projects doesn't mean residents would prefer a nuclear plant, a mine or a coal-fired power station in their neighborhood. 'If you look at research on pretty much any energy technology, it's pretty rare that people are thrilled about having this big piece of industrial infrastructure in their backyard,' Jarvis said. But from a policy perspective, the energy has to be generated somehow. 'Everything we do is going to have a visual impact; most of what we do is going to have a noise impact – although solar farms are probably the least impactful in that area, and some of the things we do are going to have a health impact,' Borenstein said. 'None of this stuff is going to be entirely free from these spillovers, and we have to make a choice.' 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