The Carbon Brief, a UK website created in 2011, is a destination for many seeking non-partisan information and analysis on climate change related news and research. I like the neutral tone of the articles and the comprehensive perspective it offers on controversial issues, such as the state of the science on polar bears and, in a similar vein, the growing…Continue Reading…
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…
With stories such as this and this becoming more common, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone would show why energy security is no longer a winning issue for climate change advocates. Today, Michael Lind makes the case in Salon: As everyone who follows news about energy knows by now, in…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.
Cleo Paskal, whose book I reviewed last year, has a smart piece on what’s being left out in risk assessments for energy installations: First, due to changing environmental conditions (sea level rise, subsidence, changing storm activity, etc.), historical records may no longer be reliable predictors for future risks. For example, the summer of 2003 was…Continue Reading…
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…
Guess who’s asking the hard questions on climate science and policy. The U.S. military and geopolitical/security specialists. Earlier this week, an array of of defense, national security and climate experts took part in a conference hosted by the Scripps Oceanography Center for Environment and National Security. This was the symposium agenda and here’s the opener…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…