Energy
With the world more than 80 percent dependent on oil, coal, and natural gas to fuel vehicles, light and heat homes, and drive industry and agriculture, energy is essential for all aspects of human life. Global dependence on these fuels and the concentration of supplies in a limited number of countries mean that energy is a national security issue, and these resources are associated with geostrategic pressure, instability, and vulnerability, including for the U.S. military.
Our Work:
U.S. Energy Security and the Role of DOD Fuels
The Department of Defense's (DOD) fuel use constitutes a geopolitical, strategic, and operational vulnerability for the United States. CNAS is conducting a three-part study to determine what needs to happen technically, economically, strategically, procedurally, and culturally at DoD in order to reduce these vulnerabilities. This project will highlight ongoing efforts by the U.S. military to mitigate the well-documented fuel energy risks each service is contending with, and chart a path forward on improving DOD energy security.
Click here to learn more about our work on energy.
Author(s): Suzanne Goldenberg
Source: The Guardian
Date: 01/31/2010
January 31, 2010 - CNAS fellow Christine Parthemore discusses the Pentagon's consideration of climate change in the QDR, "The leadership of the Pentagon has very strongly indicated that they do consider climate change to be a national security issue...They are considering climate change on a par with the political and economic factors as the key drivers that are shaping the world."
| more |Author(s): Sharon Burke
Source: Defense News
Date: 10/12/2009
October 12, 2009 - CNAS Vice President for Natural Security Sharon Burke writes in Defense News on how the limited supply and access to critical minerals, including those used in cell phones and several U.S. defense systems, is a direct national security concern.
| more |Author(s): Zarrin Caldwell
Source: IPS
Date: 10/06/2009
October 6, 2009 - CNAS Vice President for Natural Security Sharon Burke discusses the link between critical mineral availability and national security. "The U.S. sends many of its minerals overseas to be refined," she said, but "very few people are looking at this issue in a strategic sense, or at what it means for the dependencies created in the U.S. economy and the defense industry."
| more |Author(s): Tabassum Zakaria
Source: Reuters
Date: 09/24/2009
September 24, 2009 - In his keynote address at the launch of CNAS's new report China's Arrival: A Strategic Framework for a Global Relationship, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg discussed a dispute over tire imports from China. "U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on Thursday he believed that China and the United States did not want a trade dispute on tires to spark a trade war."
| more |Author(s): Tom Ashbrook
Source: On Point
Date: 08/11/2009
August 11, 2009 - The Pentagon has begun to war-game the implications of climate change, which include famine, rising sea levels, and natural resource competition. CNAS Vice President for Natural Security Sharon Burke discusses these implications and why they are national security concerns on NPR's On Point.
| more |Author(s): Bryan Bender
Source: The Boston Globe
Date: 07/22/2009
July 22, 2009 - Bryan Bender of The Boston Globe discusses the congressional testimony of CNAS Vice President for Natural Security Sharon Burke. "The hearing was an important demonstration of the fact that global climate change is now taken seriously as a strategic challenge," said Burke.
| more |Author(s): Spencer Ackerman
Source: The Washington Independent
Date: 06/11/2009
June 11, 2009 - The Washington Independent's Spencer Ackerman blogs about the launch of the Natural Security project at CNAS's third annual conference and remarks by CNAS Vice President of Natural Security Sharon Burke.
| more |Author(s): Seth Myers
Source: CNAS
Date: 01/23/2009
As Russia’s recent gas cut off to Ukraine illustrates, Western European energy security will be concomitant with energy independence from Russia. If Western Europe is serious about achieving true energy security, rapid development of alternative energy sources, be they wind and solar power, an increase in gas imports from North Africa (which to some extent is underway) or even Iran should relations improve, or further development of nuclear power, heretofore largely anathema to the EU, will be necessary.
| more |Author(s): David Capezza
Source: Atlantic Council of the United States
Date: 01/09/2009
January 9, 2009-- As the New Year ushered in yet another natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine, an initially subdued European response turned lively as the effects of the cut began to be felt throughout the Continent. While the immediate crisis has apparently been resolved, it highlights the longer term question of how Europe (and the U.S.) can diversify their energy and avoid being held hostage.
Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
Date: 11/05/2008
The nation's reliance on oil for 96 percent of transportation fuel shifts power to governments unconcerned with or even hostile to U.S. interests, and its reliance on coal for half of the electricity produced is ravaging the environment and contributing to climate change.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 03/11/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore synthesizes how the maritime services are thinking about climate change and assesses potential policy implications.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore, Will Rogers
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 01/24/2010
In this working paper, CNAS Bacevich Fellow Christine Parthemore and Research Assistant Will Rogers provide observations about how the Department of Defense incorporated climate change into the QDR process in order to meet its congressional requirement and some potential outcomes of that process.
| more |Author(s): Sharon Burke
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 06/11/2009
In the 21st century, the security of nations will increasingly depend on the security of natural resources, or “natural security.” This concept paper outlines a new program of study at the Center for a New American Security to look at emerging natural resources challenges in six key areas of consumption and consequences – energy, minerals, water, land, climate change, and biodiversity – as well as the ways in which these challenges are linked together.
| more |Author(s): Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 06/11/2009
On April 29, 2009, the Center for a New American Security convened a group of scientists, investors, business executives, academics, nonprofit representatives, defense professionals, and federal, state, and local officials to discuss how to implement President Obama’s energy and climate security goals. This report is a compilation and analysis of the proceedings of this April 29 Big Energy Map conference.
| more |Author(s): Sharon Burke, Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 12/04/2008
In a speech on November 18, 2008, President-Elect Barack Obama defined the nation’s energy posture as an economic, strategic, and environmental vulnerability and reaffirmed campaign promises that his administration would place a high priority on improving the nation’s energy security.
| more |Author(s): Neil King, Jr.
Type of Publication: Working Papers
Date: 09/15/2008
While the concept of “peak oil” – the notion that the world is running out of oil – remains controversial, it is certainly realistic to think ahead about the national security and foreign policy consequences of a world in which there is not enough oil supply to meet demand. In a September 2008 CNAS working paper, Wall Street Journal reporter Neil King, Jr., addresses this issue.
| more |Author(s): Sharon Burke, Christine Parthemore
Type of Publication: Report
Date: 06/11/2008
To protect the American way of life and secure the future, the United States needs an energy security strategy that will cut both our dependence on oil and our greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the energy we use keeps our economy and security dependent on unstable and hostile states, vulnerable to natural disasters, and subject to the consequences of climate change. With a comprehensive strategy to change both our supply of fuels and our demand, the United States can win the energy war, just as the strategy of containment helped win the Cold War. This report gives an overview of the nature of the energy challenge, the main elements of a strategy for energy security, and then offers a plan of action for how to actually execute that strategy.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Dr. Kurt M. Campbell, Zoe Baird, Frank Verrastro
Type: Video
Date: 05/04/2009
On April 29, 2009, the Center for a New American Security brought together over 80 leading experts in the energy and defense industries to discuss energy security in the context of U.S. national security.
| more |Type: Audio
Date: 02/24/2009
In his new book, The GET, Robert Hefner shows that civilization is experiencing the last stage of what history will record as a brief liquid energy transition between unsustainable, dirty, limited solid forms of energy to a future epoch of sustainable, clean, virtually limitless gaseous forms of energy. He believes this natural evolutionary energy transition reveals which energy sources and technologies are the most likely winners that will accelerate energy use toward a sustainable future. Hefner proposes policies that will level the economic playing field among competing energy sources and technologies, and work to accelerate the GET. He believes that by implementing policies that result in natural gas use for a major sector of our vehicle fleet as well as most non-wind and solar produced electric power by 2020, America can accomplish many of its near and mid-term energy and environmental goals.
| more |Type: Video
Date: 02/20/2008
On February 20, 2008, the Center for a New American Security hosted "Solarium II: American Grand Strategy" at the Willard InterContinental Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event brought together prominent national security thinkers and practitioners for a one-day colloquium concerning America’s purpose and place in the world.
01/26/2010
As the Department of Defense (DOD) prepares to send the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) to Congress, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) today released a working paper by Christine Parthemore and Will Rogers, Promoting the Dialogue: Climate Change and the Quadrennial Defense Review, examining how DOD considered the effects of climate change during the QDR process.
| more |06/09/2009
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 9, 2009 - CNAS has released several new reports and working papers for its third annual conference, “Striking a Balance: A New American Security" on Thursday, June 11. Topics include Iraq, Afghanistan-Pakistan, Natural Security, and combating violent extremism. Each report offers strong, principled and pragmatic recommendations on how to strike a balance between immediate and long-term national security challenges facing the United States.
| more |04/06/2009
WASHINGTON, DC, April 6, 2009 - The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) and the Vice President for Natural Security, Sharon Burke, are pleased to announce the launch of The Big Energy Map, an interactive map that traces how the federal government is set up to make and execute energy and climate security policy.
Visit the site: http://www.bigenergymap.org
| more |12/12/2008
WASHINGTON, DC, December 10, 2008 - President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden have cited energy independence and tackling climate change as top priorities for their administration. The announcement of their energy and environment team will provide a fuller picture of what form his administration's energy security agenda will take.
But is the federal government up to the task?
09/23/2008
Washington, DC, September 23, 2008 - Yesterday markets witnessed the single biggest dollar jump in the price of crude oil in history. While the concept of “peak oil” – the notion that the world is running out of oil – remains controversial, it is certainly realistic to think ahead about the national security and foreign policy consequences of a world in which there is not enough oil supply to meet demand.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke
Date: November 18, 2009 - 8:30am - 3:45pm
The Defense Attachés Association, in consultation with the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), hosted their annual conference, Strategic Resources and Global Security Trends, on November 18, 2009, at the Embassy of New Zealand. This event, an effort led in part by Sharon Burke, vice president for Natural Security at CNAS, brought together defense attachés from over 40 countries, as well as U.S. military service personnel and civilian leaders at the Department of Defense, to discuss global security trends, including natural resource scarcity, energy security and climate change. Participants also included representatives from CNA, the New America Foundation, and the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
| more |Date: September 16, 2009 - 2:00pm - 4:30pm
The Center for a New American Security hosted Rear Admiral Philip Cullom and Rear Admiral David Titley for a discussion on how the Department of Defense is incorporating concerns about global climate change into strategic planning. The event was in response to the Navy's recent studies on how climate change affects its facilities, capabilities, and missions.
| more |Date: July 21, 2009 - 2:30pm - 4:00pm
Location: 419 Dirksen Senate Office Building - Washington, DC
Center for a New American Security's Vice President for Natural Security Sharon E. Burke will testify July 21, 2009 at a Senate hearing on climate change and global security. The hearing has been called by Senator John Kerry, D-MA, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing will be streamed live here.
| more |Speaker(s): The Honorable Judith McHale, Honorable Dr. Richard J. Danzig, GEN Jack Keane, Sharon Burke, Dr. John A. Nagl, Thomas E. Ricks, Nathaniel C. Fick, Dr. Kurt M. Campbell, Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, General David H. Petraeus, George Packer, Professor Andrew J. Bacevich, Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, Lt. General David W. Barno, Roderick G. Eggert, Peter H. Gleick, Dennis C. Wilder, Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie, The Honorable John Warner, Dr. Victor Cha, Colonel Christopher G. Cavoli, Commander Esther J. McClure, Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard, Nazar Janabi
Date: June 11, 2009 - 7:45am - 7:00pm
Location: Willard InterContinental Hotel - Washington, DC
Striking a Balance: A New American Security was an all-day CNAS conference highlighting the major foreign policy and national security challenges facing our nation in the critical time ahead.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke, Dr. Kurt M. Campbell, Zoe Baird, Frank Verrastro
Date: April 29, 2009 - 9:00am - 5:30pm
Location: The Willard Intercontinental Hotel - Washington, DC
On April 29, 2009, the Center for a New American Security held an off-the-record working conference on Mapping U.S. Energy and Climate Security. This day-long event included more than 60 leading experts in energy and climate security from the private sector, non-governmental organizations, academia, and federal, state and local government agencies.
| more |Speaker(s): Robert Kaplan
Date: April 15, 2009 - 12:30pm - 2:00pm
Location: Center for a New American Security - Washington, DC
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) was pleased to host an exclusive press briefing of Robert Kaplan's article in Foreign Policy magazine entitled "The Revenge of Geography" on April 15, 2009.
| more |Date: February 24, 2009 - 3:00pm - 4:30pm
Location: Center for American Progress - Washington, DC
In his new book, The GET, Robert Hefner shows that civilization is experiencing the last stage of what history will record as a brief liquid energy transition between unsustainable, dirty, limited solid forms of energy to a future epoch of sustainable, clean, virtually limitless gaseous forms of energy.
| more |Speaker(s): Sharon Burke
Date: September 26, 2008 - 12:00pm - 1:30pm
Location: The United State Capitol Building
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a congressional staff briefing on the recently published report A Strategy for American Power: Energy, Climate and National Security with Sharon Burke, Senior Fellow at CNAS, and special guests.
| more |Speaker(s): Honorable Dr. Madeleine K. Albright, Honorable Richard L. Armitage, Honorable Carol M. Browner, Honorable Dr. Richard J. Danzig, LTG Karl Eikenberry, Honorable Lindsey O. Graham, Dr. John G. Ikenberry, GEN Jack Keane, William Kristol, Dr. Suzanne Maloney, John Melia, Lt Gen Greg S. Newbold, Dr. Joseph S. Nye, Honorable Dr. William J. Perry, John Podesta, Dr. Mitchell B. Reiss, Ambassador Dennis Ross, David E. Sanger, GEN Charles F. Wald, Sharon Burke, Michèle A. Flournoy, Dr. Colin Kahl, Dr. Kurt M. Campbell, Dr. Michael Green, Robert Kaplan
Date: June 11, 2008 (All day)
Location: The Willard Intercontinental - Washington, DC
Pivot Point: New Directions for American Security was a one-day CNAS conference highlighting the major foreign policy and national security challenges facing our nation in the critical time ahead.
| more |Speaker(s): Honorable Carol M. Browner, Sharon Burke
Date: January 10, 2008 (All day)
The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) hosted the second of the Solarium II series events, “A Strategy for America’s Energy Security,” on Thursday, January 10th, at the Aspen Institute in Washington, DC. The Solarium II methodology, adapted by CNAS President Michèle Flournoy, is a competitive policymaking exercise based on President Eisenhower’s original Project Solarium, which helped define the strategy of containment.
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