NATO leaders said yesterday that an Arctic thaw will create new security concerns for the Alliance — and they don't mean "security" in a postmodern sense in which any concern is labeled one of security to help argue for increased funding. 

Curious about the environmental impact of the web?  New research by Harvard physicist Alex Wissner-Gross found that a Google search generates around 7 grams of carbon dioxide, about half the energy required by a kettle to boil a cup of tea.  Google, however, begs to differ.

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. 

The Economist ran an interesting graph yesterday — car ownership per 1,000 people in select countries on both sides of the Atlantic.  And the U.S. didn't top the list...

On January 7, 2009, the Atlantic Council, in cooperation with LexisNexis, organized an afternoon symposium on the topic of Law and the Environment: Designing a Transatlantic Agenda.

As (somewhat) anticipated, Russia reduced the flow of gas to Ukraine on New Year's Day because of ongoing disputes over prices for 2009 and unpaid bills.  However, unlike the briefer affair in 2006, this spat has evolved into a full-scale crisis with news today that Russia has cut off gas to Europe entirely (see my colleague James Joyner's piece).  I've gathered some multimedia about the current gridlock.

The semi-annual gas war between Russia and Ukraine has ratcheted up another notch, with the announcement that all gas headed from to the rest of Europe through Ukraine — which is to say, virtually all Russian gas headed to Europe — has now been halted.

We are seeing a familiar pattern repeating itself. A dispute between Naftohaz and Gazprom leads to an interruption in Ukraine's gas supply. Deliveries to Europe are affected. Russia is criticized for its use of "the energy weapon". Then, everything is patched up, the gas flows again and the West loses interest in the matter until the next dispute flares up.

A smart energy policy is one that successfully integrates energy security (adequate, reliable supplies of energy at reasonable prices), national security and climate change policies so that they are not pulling in opposite directions.

Russia is threatening to cut off gas flows to Ukraine on January 1 if Kyiv does not fork over $2 billion in late payments and finalize new gas prices for 2009.  However, a stop in gas supplies now will be different than it was in January 2006; this time around Ukraine has amassed enough reserves to get it through the winter (as has Germany).