This (Past Week's) News

As we are just getting back from a week of vacation - and I didn't see any particularly jaw-dropping natural security news over the weekend - I'll start the week by just pointing you to some of the news highlights from our time away. Back to regular blogging tomorrow.

• Congress has a new caucus focused on defense energy issues. Dan Nolan at the DOD Energy Blog runs through its members and purpose, and Military Times put the news into video. Several members also posted news releases on their websites. These policy makers get our big thumbs up.
• Late last week Scientific American produced a great overview of the great difficulties involved with mining rare earth elements from the seabed.
• In one quick-skim editorial, The Washington Post pointed to the EU's plan to reduce airplane greenhouse gas emissions - a debate that now includes whether regional or multilateral fora for negotiating these emissions cuts is best. 
• Finally, yesterday the Post's Outlook section hosted a review of 3 new books on water in a longish, front-page piece. I haven't read either book, but it sounds like they touch on the potential for water disputes igniting conflict. The main story from this, I gather, is that this particular challenge is growing more and more mainstream.

The Week Ahead

You may find yourself at CSIS quite a bit this week. Tomorrow it hosts a day-long workshop on "Arctic Oil and Gas Development" featuring some top speakers and a range of important topics. On the 13th USAID is hosting a talk on food security and development at 9:30 a.m., titled "A Greener Revolution: Improving Productivity and Increasing Food Security by Enhancing Ecosystem Services." And at 2:30  on the 15th CSIS is also hosting a talk on DOD operational energy.