I’m not sure what to make of this story in Foreign Policy. It seems like a textbook case of China’s nationalist capitalism trumping U.S. security interests. On the other hand, the writers of the piece might have a bad case of sour grapes (but they are upfront about their advisory role to a Western oil &…Continue Reading…
Here’s news and (a headline) that is sure to rankle many in the climate and environmental communities: Obama seeks to promote more oil drilling in Alaska, offshore But it shouldn’t come as a surprise, since this is what he said during his recent “energy security” speech in March: Meeting this new goal of cutting our oil…Continue Reading…
Over at Climate Central, I ask if the controversial Cornell study will undermine a tenuous alliance built on disparate interests.
As I mentioned last week, I’ll be flagging my Frontier Earth posts in this space with a link. My latest, asking if security concerns can be an enduring focal point for climate and energy debates, is up. If you have any thoughts to share, please do so over there.
That’s essentially what Michael Levi is saying in this smart post. His lament is that energy and related environmental issues are not viewed through a wider lens: Until we can think about security, economics, and environmental risk at the same time, we’re going to have a lot of trouble developing an energy policy that makes sense….Continue Reading…
One of the catch-phrases President Obama didn’t use in his much parsed Oval Office speech on Tuesday was energy security. He did, however, make a glancing, split-second reference when discussing the costs associated with a transition from fossil fuels to a clean energy economy (emphasis added): And there are some who believe that we can’t…Continue Reading…
The issue of climate security, which a number of experts discussed on this thread, is gaining prominence in U.S. policy and political circles. But as I wrote in this story last November, “a sense of urgency has been building in military and intelligence circles around the world” too. Climate security has also leaped to the…Continue Reading…
UPDATE: Be sure to check out the comment thread, where a number of top environmental security experts weigh in. I bet you you think this is going to be a continuation of last week’s discussion. Nah. This week, I’ll be talking to scholars and experts who study the linkages between climate change, energy, and security….Continue Reading…
Over the last year, Thomas Friedman has frequently promoted China’s green face to the world. Perhaps it’s time the esteemed NYT columnist and foreign policy specialist began paying attention to the other China, the one that’s been on a fossil fuel buying spree the past few years. There’s even a nifty climate change angle for…Continue Reading…
There was a time in the mid-2000s when it seemed that every other Thomas Friedman column was about the connection between U.S. oil consumption and terrorism. Here he is in 2005, in “No Mullah Left Behind”: By adamantly refusing to do anything to improve energy conservation in America, or to phase in a $1-a-gallon gasoline…Continue Reading…