Yesterday, leaders from the Group of Eight (G8) concluded the 39th annual G8 Summit in Northern Ireland and published a final communiqué detailing their commitment to addressing food security and climate change. These issues were two of many points raised at the Summit, which also touched on foreign policy, the global economy, and nuclear safety.

Some pundits are predicting a precipitous drop in oil prices, but this is unlikely due to current trends which point to a rising cost per marginal barrel.

This week we discuss the latest reports from the Energy Information Agency and the International Energy Agency – on global energy production. The world energy outlook is changing drastically, and these reports give a new view on it. Find out what this means for oil, the market here in the United States, the future of production, and how this all effects the national security threats of climate change.

Monday, June 17 marks the United Nation’s “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.” The United States is not immune to the effects of desertification. Desertification in the American Southwest is a major concern for the United States as water resources decrease and arable land disappears.

In a highly anticipated meeting this past weekend, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed a series of important issues in the bilateral relationship, ranging from North Korea to cyber security, maritime borders to trade. One issue that was overlooked by much of the media accounts of the event was an agreement on climate change. The two nations agreed to decrease the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

ASP senior board member and former Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman was featured on last Friday’s The Daily Rundown to discuss the threats of climate change.