Center for a New American Security

With the help of Spencer Ackerman giving a nod to our use of music video to add a small glimmer of personality to the Natural Security Blog on what could have been a rather run-of-the-mill post about lithium (partially in homage to the master of that art form himself), the we saw some traffic from a few new sources last week. We like this. However, I’d like to clarify a few of the interpretations of what we’re saying about minerals and security: first, the description on the blog Manifest Destiny that we provided a “wishy-washy buy-in of the peak lithium frame,” the point that the author then goes on to argue against; and second, Matthew Yglesias’s description of us as advocating “‘war for lithium’ thinking,” and “an example of…the American foreign policy establishment’s ability to gin up ‘threats’ to our national security.” Both bloggers made several good points (and one good correction on batteries, h/t), but both writers read into our original post concepts that represent major departures from what I think on the minerals issue, and from what we’ve written on this blog in the past.

The Natural Security team has been very interested in critical minerals recently, and in the months to come we’re planning to look deeper into how minerals relate to U.S. national security. As part of our exploration, and hopefully because it informs blog readers like yourself, we will periodically take a good hard look at a particular mineral and issues related to its use and extraction. This week’s mineral of choice is lithium.

• Since yesterday morning, the death toll has doubled from flooding in the Philippines, and it appears that some 450,000 people have been displaced by the disaster, according to the BBC (and The New York Times, and The Washington Post). Meanwhile, a typhoon has hit Vietnam. The New York Times reports that 23 people are dead, but that number is likely to rise.
• Green Inc. reports that Exelon has become the third major power utility to withdraw from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in protest of the Chamber’s opposition to climate change legislation.
• The Times Online reports on one British company's decision to seek greater regulation of the Congolese tin trade, which is funneling money into the pockets of local warlords.
• Climate change officials in India are thinking strategically about the security implications of climate change for India—and editorializing in The Times of India.
• The Financial Times features a story about China's competition with U.S. companies over Nigerian oil resources. (login required)

Recent reports of China’s corner on current production of rare earth minerals have caused quite a stir. In the recent proliferation of authors and institutes looking at U.S. mineral dependencies, it’s no longer just natural security geeks who have taken notice; the coverage has been widespread and mainstream.

With that in mind, today I’m looking at the second article in a three part series published in The New Yorker by Richard J. Barnet. The articles were excerpted from his book, The Lean Years, which examined the worldwide status of natural resources.  A few weeks back, my colleague Mike “Ninja” McCarthy did a great review of the first essay, “The World’s Resources I- The Lean Years” that looked at “non-human energy sources.” The second part in the series, published on March 31, 1980, “The World’s Resources II- Minerals, Food, and Water” (subscription required), focused on the three distinct areas mentioned in its title. Although all sections of his essay are important and are clearly interrelated, I have chosen to look mostly at his first section on minerals, which echoes his own analytical focus in the essay.

• Reuters provides the section of the G20 final statement on energy and climate change, in which the parties agreed to phase-out subsidies for fossil fuels.
• The G20 plans to launch a new agriculture fund within the World Bank; Reuters provides the full food security section of the G20’s final statement.
• Xinhua News Agency and the AP report that as world leaders gathered to pledge money to combat food insecurity at the UN, they made explicit links to national security; Secretary Clinton unveiled a new U.S. plan to help prevent hunger as well, AFP reports.
• More than 140 people have been killed as severe floods sweep the Philippines, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times report.
• Mining Weekly reports that Australia has rejected China’s bid for a controlling stake of a rare earth minerals mining firm and other natural resource companies due to “security issues.” Concurrently, China’s sovereign wealth fund is contemplating starting its own new firm to invest in rare earth minerals mining.

This week has been full of major speeches—and some action—on natural security. President Obama addressed these issues not once, but twice at the United Nations. Meanwhile, the EPA is taking action on carbon emissions, and Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg discussed climate change in his keynote address at yesterday’s  launch of an awesome new CNAS report by some of our colleagues on U.S.-China relations.

President Obama addressed climate change and food security as two top global issues in his speech to the UN General Assembly on Wednesday. This marks a dramatic departure from a long-time focus on threats posed by other states and terrorism as the primary focus of such major presidential addresses. Indeed, the theme of his speech revolved around a “common future” where all countries take their “share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.”  An articulated policy on transnational threats that calls for integrated action is a step forward in successfully dealing with climate change, and other natural security issues as well.

“Pacific Gas and Electric considers climate change to be among the most serious issues ever for our company, our country, and the world.”

With those words, Peter Darbee, the Chairman, CEO, and President of Pacific Gas and Electric canceled his company’s membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In no uncertain terms, Darbee rejected the Chamber’s attempt to relitigate the scientific consensus about climate change. And I do mean relitigate – the Chamber has proposed that the EPA submit to a public “trial” on the science of climate change. Seriously.

It’s really encouraging that businesses, such as PG&E, are dispensing with such nonsense. As Darbee put it, the locus of the debate needs to shift to how to deal with climate change – “in our view, an intellectually honest argument over the best policy response to the challenges of climate change is one thing; disingenuous attempts to diminish or distort the reality of these challenges are quite another.”

• There was a flurry of activity at the UN as President Obama delivered a major speech on climate change, and many countries outlined plans for combating climate change not quite as ambitious as previously expected (a story reported by most everyone).
• UPI reports on a meeting between Secretary Clinton and the President of Turkmenistan on that countrys strategic place in the regions energy security, specifically in the development of new oil pipelines.
• Food security for IDPs in the Philippines is playing an important role in the government reaching a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the Integrated Regional Information Networks reports.
• A serious shortage of tantalum, a rare earth mineral mainly mined in the DRC and Rwanda, may occur in the coming years, Mineweb reports.
• BBC reports on the dangers of flooding that millions face as river deltas sink.

• The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Department of Transportation has studied the effects of climate change on air traffic, but we wonder if the Navy has considered this with regard to its aircraft carriers. Aircraft require longer distances to take off in warmer weather, and airports have had to cancel flights during especially hot summers.
• Locals in Iraq's Wasit province remain unhappy with a nearby Chinese oil drilling project. According to the BBC, several acts of sabotage have occurred at the site since The New York Times reported on this unrest two weeks ago, and American forces are also occasionally patrolling the area.
• In a country plagued by drought, U.S. soldiers in Iraq are helping Iraqi soldiers improve their water purification techniques, according to Multi-National Force Iraq.
• The New York Times reports that global carbon emissions have dropped significantly since the global recession began last year.
• Newsweek reports on the latest trade dispute between the United States and China, noting that it's probably more about rare earth metals than tires and chicken.

• Confronted by a weak national energy grid, soldiers in Iraq are turning to alternative energy sources to power medical clinics in an effort to greatly increase their hours of operation.  
• Following the death of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Sunday New York Times profiles food security and points to drought as one of the primary causes of global food scarcity.
• Stars and Stripes reports increased pressure on the new Japanese government to enforce better environmental stewardship from the U.S. military by cleaning up environmental damage at its bases on Okinawa before the property is returned in the future.
• After receiving criticism for purchasing cassiterite from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Amalgamated Metal Corporation, a British-based company, halted all purchases, Business Report explains.
• The Kurdish Globe reports concerns about Kurdistan’s water security and the political influence it gives Iran.
• Finally, The Onion discovered that hundreds of oceanic lairs in the arctic are being revealed as the ice melts.