Journal of Energy Security

Energy and its availability cannot be taken for granted even in the best of times.  This issue of the Journal of Energy Security reflects this reality on a multitude of fronts.  We often take for granted those things best known to us.  In the energy sphere this includes the relationship of the United States with Mexico as its third largest supplier of oil.  The ability of Mexico to deliver ever increasing volumes of this liquid hydrocarbon to the US market is being thrown into jeopardy due to a variety of factors: geologic exhaustion, technical inefficiencies, managerial ineptness, and corruption which is often the bane of resource-rich nations.  Jeremy Martin enlightens us on the future of the US-Mexican relationship in oil with a studied look at the future of this relationship and what it means for US oil supply security.   

Another key energy issue often overlooked but altogether importa...

Rare earth metals are important to the world’s ability to pursue a low carbon future because many of the enabling technologies, such as wind turbines, advanced automotive batteries, energy efficient light bulbs, and solar panels require these select materials for their manufacture. For national defense purposes, a proposed bill in the US Congress entitled the Rare Earths Supply-Chain Technology and Resources Transformation Act of 2009 (RESTART ACT) reads that, “Many modern defense technologies such as radar and sonar systems, precision guided weapons, cruise missiles, and lasers cannot be built, as designed and specified, without the use of rare earth elements (REEs) and materials produced from them.” In short, rare earths are important not only for the production of environmentally sustainable products and technologies but for national defense as well. Rare earths elements are, alas, limi...