Center for a New American Security

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.

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.

Decmeber 6, 2008--Sharon Burke, a former Pentagon and State Department official who is now a specialist at the Center for a New American Security, said the report was factually "wrong" and "out of line," saying that there is a wide consensus that human activity, namely the production of greenhouse gases, is responsible for global warming.

November 16, 2008 - The Wall Street Journal's Yochi Dreazen writes about CNAS, calling it a "media saavy" think tank with "middle-of-the-road policy views."

November 13, 2008 - According to Joshua Busby, non-resident fellow at CNAS and assistant professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, "More and more, climate change will require mass mobilizations of the military to cope with humanitarian disasters."

James Miller, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security, and S. Enders Wimbush, Director of the Center for Future Security Strategies at the Hudson Institute, were interviewed on C-SPAN's Washington Journal on challenges President-elect Obama will face.  Two main issues discussed were defense policy, particularly in Iraq and Afghanistan, and veterans affairs.

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.

Climate change is a threat to the nations security. Politicians and environmentalists who want to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions pumped into the atmosphere are using this argument to woo conservative skeptics to their side in the ongoing energy/global warming debate.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, is among those who are convinced. Shortly before a recent Senate debate on the issue, he and two retired military leaders held a press conference.

Is climate change really a national security issue?  We think so.

Last week Al Gore’s nonprofit organization, the Alliance for Climate Protection, launched the “We Campaign,” a $300 million public awareness campaign aiming to move climate change up the nation’s priority list and increase constituent pressure on decision makers in Washington. However, oil companies, utility representatives, and a variety of other organizations have all recently run ads strikingly similar in content and advocating countless “solutions” to this set of problems.