This Weekend’s News: Continuing Saga of the Oil Spill

The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is still the dominant and more important story on energy nearly every day. This weekend, coverage of the massive oil spill included some useful infographics and photo spreads that I think provide as much insight into the oil spill and its recovery as many of the written pieces that appeared over the past few days. In no particular order:

• The Washington Post posted a good article by Joel Achenbach examining what is known to date on what caused this disaster. It was accompanied by a graphic of the parts of the drilling system that might have played a role. The Post has a long and wonderful online photo gallery as well.
•  Scientific American has a slideshow of images from the U.S. Coast Guard of the disaster and its cleanup attempts. See also Sci Am’s article on the use of robots in oil production.
• The New York Times had a large spread called “The Gulf, Before the Spill,” which serves as a good reminder of the other environmental and human factors actively degrading the Gulf’s waters and coastal areas.

Anyone else think we need to expedite transitioning to a more diversified energy economy? At this blog we normally focus on the geopolitical reasons for moving away from near-complete reliance on oil for our transportation sector, but the ecological and resulting economic reasons are seeming increasingly heavy these days.

This Week’s Events

This morning at 10:30 AM, Brookings will begin discussions on U.S.-China cooperation over global issues, including climate change.

On Tuesday beginning at 10 AM, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will be holding a hearing to discuss issues related to offshore gas and oil development.

Wednesday, check out what looks to be a pretty interesting event over at the Wilson Center on U.S.-China clean technology cooperation. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce will be receiving testimony over the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, starting at 10 AM. Later on that day at 1 PM, hear CNAS’s own retired Lieutenant General Dave Barno discuss the relationship between military and aid communities in theater over at SAIS. 

On Thursday, ADM Roughhead will be speaking at the Heritage Foundation beginning at 1:30 PM on future challenges to be faced by the U.S. Navy. If you recall from the CNAS Contested Commons event, Roughead voiced security concerns over fisheries; it'd be interesting to see if any other natural security-related issues arise.

Friday at 8 AM, SAIS will be discussing global food security, with a focus on private public partnerships.