Center for a New American Security

Happy President's Day from the Natural Security Blog. We will be taking today off, but we look forward to returning to our regular Natural Security business tomorrow!

Photos courtesy of Christine Parthemore/CNAS.

We're taking the day off the blog to observe the holiday. Thank you, Dr. King.

Photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. courtesy of the National Park Service.

Most everyone else has published a wish list for 2010. Why shouldn’t we?

Some on this list are more realistic than others, of course. The fun part of it is that we here at CNAS and the Natural Security Program can contribute to some of these items, and a few of them are pet interests of mine that I just haven’t written much about. We pledge to you that we’ll focus a bit more on these items on this blog, and look forward to contributions from our pals in this field as well. In no particular order:

1. Successful follow-up from the MEAT (i.e., fewer troops lost to attacks on fuel convoys than in previous years).
2. A more prosperous America – the foundation of security.
3. Greater overall attention to nuclear energy, but less attention that discusses energy while ignoring proliferation concerns.
4. Reduction in U.S. greenhouse gases from 2009, by whatever means.
5. Deeper work on the relationships among land use, climate change and security.
6. What Geoff said.
7. Greater visibility on minerals supply chains.  
8. More feedback from Natural Security Blog readers! Your feedback is invaluable: please keep commenting on the blog below, or hit us on Facebook or Christine/Will on Twitter.

Thanks to Mike & Will for their contributions to the list. Here’s to a good 2010!

A million thanks to Mike McCarthy and Amanda Hahnel, our two fabulous interns who provided you with news and analysis on this blog this fall. You're likely to still see a few pieces from them pop up in 2010, as they did more work than we had days to fill. They will be missed!

I'm skipping the news today - there is not much on the natural security front, but enough other important news for the nation to keep you all busy. If I see anything good today, I'll Tweet and Facebook it for you. We'll be taking tomorrow off to recover, so we'll see you all next Monday. Happy New Year!

We bloggers will be on a break starting today, but will return next week. Look for our weekend review, natural security news, our 2010 wish list, and more starting Monday. Happy Holidays everyone!

Photo from beautiful Columbus, Ohio courtesy of Flickr.

Following on our theme of blogging about last weekend’s visit to the USS Harry S. Truman, we offer a shaky and hopefully entertaining photo of two natural security bloggers – Christine on the left and Will on the right – as the photo of the week. Here we are strapped into a C-2 COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery), a critical logistics aircraft which they told us was the safest plane in which to land on the carrier.

We natural security bloggers will be taking the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving, but if we find any interesting news we'll post links on our Facebook page or Twitter (Christine or Will). Have a great holiday everyone!

Happy Veterans Day from the Natural Security Bloggers.

Photo: President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

• Defense News reports on the HEMTT-A3’s potential to be used as a hybrid tactical vehicle by the Army, which could cut fuel consumption by at least 20 percent.
• Navy News reports that its support facility at Diego Garcia is implementing a new recycling program that would reduce the use of fuel-burning incinerators and could generate fuel savings and recycling revenue upwards of $20,000 a year.
• Brazil criticizes the United States’ s sugar-ethanol tariffs saying that they are unfairly being shut out of the American renewable energy market, the Los Angeles Times reports.
• The Washington Post reports on the Army Corps efforts to prevent New Orleans from flooding in the next big storm.
• Nepal is planning to hold a cabinet meting on Mt. Everest to highlight the importance of melting glaciers to the country, AFP reports. This announcement comes on the heels of a study of the rapidly retreating ice caps on Mt. Kilimanjaro, the New York Times reports.

Tune in to C-SPAN this morning at 9 a.m. to watch Sharon Burke, Vice President for Natural Security, on the Washington Journal.