What We Are Reading

4 December 2012

With Senate’s Support, Advanced Biofuel Industry Ready for Takeoff

Nicole Lederer / The Energy Collective

When it comes to reducing the military’s dependence on oil, senators from both sides of the aisle have the Department of Defense’s back.

How to save $1 mln by renting a pair of nuclear-powered icebreakers

Steve LeVine / Quartz

Almost a month ago, a reinforced ship filled with highly chilled liquefied natural gas embarked from the Norwegian port of Melkoya for the Japanese port of Tobata. There are hundreds of such shipments a year, most of them through the Suez Canal, which saw 676 of them in the first ten months of this year.

Japan Scrambles the Planet Looking for Gas Deals

Tim Daiss / Energy Tribune

Since the March 11, 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and Japan’s subsequent shut down off all but two of its 50 nuclear reactors, the country is frantically trying to secure natural gas for electricity generation.

Resisted for Blocking the View, Dunes Prove They Blunt Storms

Mireya Navarro and Rachel Nuwer / The New York Times

Surfers railed against the project because they said it would interfere with the curl of the waves. Local businesses reliant on beach tourism hated it, too. Who would flock to the historic Boardwalk, they asked, if sand dunes were engineered to rise up and obscure the ocean view? s.

Obama seeks renewal of nuclear arms control deal with Russia

Christi Parsons and Paul Richter/Los Angeles Times

Hoping to salvage his arms control legacy, President Obama called Monday for the renewal of a major post-Cold War agreement between the United States and Russia to secure and dismantle nuclear weapons left over from the former Soviet Union.

World Faces a Fight from Behind to Keep Up With Rising Rate of CO2 Emissions

Gwen Ifill and Coral Davenport / NPR

For 18 years, the U.N. was intent on cutting global emissions to prevent a rise in the earth’s average temperature of more than two degrees. But new data shows the earth is on track to reach this point of no return. Gwen Ifill talks to National Journal’s Coral Davenport on the implications of rising emissions and temperatures.

Challenges persist in confronting growing threat of al Qaeda in Mali

Mike Mount / CNN

Military operations to stop the growth of al Qaeda’s influence in northern and western Africa will only make the violent situation there worse if done prematurely, said the top U.S. military commander overseeing operations in Africa.

Reports

Threat Finance and Financial Intelligence

Ashley Boyle

Threat finance is an enabling factor of crime and terrorism, and therefore, a challenge to both national and international security. The integration of global financial systems, as well as technological innovation and proliferation, has reduced barriers to threat finance and money laundering while making it difficult for authorities to detect or disrupt these illicit operations.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Tara Sonenshine on Measuring the Effectiveness of Public Diplomacy

Mathew Wallin

Yesterday at the Heritage Foundation, Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine spoke about the necessity of public diplomacy and the metrics being used and developed for its evaluation.

Complexity: World Food Prices, Fuel, Ethanol, and Conflict

Andrew Holland

A combination of weather, energy prices, and bad government policies are more responsible for price spikes than purely speculators. Oil price increases are more responsible for food price escalation than ethanol.

With military’s push, biofuels can grow

Andrew Holland

One of the most remarkable changes over the last five years has been the military’s ‘awakening’ on energy issues. Before the Iraq War, the Pentagon just ‘assumed’ energy was always available when it war-gamed conflicts. But we now know that availability of energy – especially liquid fuels – is critical for our ability to fight and win our wars….

The Nuke Review, November 26 – December 3

Mitchell Freddura

Read about the latest on Iran’s nuclear program, North Korea’s planned rocket launch, the hacking of the IAEA, Pentagon plans to modernize its B61 nuclear bomb, and much more!

Urgent Nuclear Decisions for Obama’s Second Term

Aaron Hesse

After the elections, policymakers have the opportunity to move forward on nuclear nonproliferation issues that were held up by partisan rhetoric. President Obama must use his second term to engage the tough decisions regarding nuclear security. Addressing these challenges will not be easy, but it can be done if policymakers move beyond partisan politics and take a strategic, nonpartisan approach.

Be Sociable, Share!

•