CFR Presents

Energy, Security, and Climate

CFR experts examine the science and foreign policy surrounding climate change, energy, and nuclear security.

Chinese energy statistics, take two

by Michael Levi Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Several commenters have thoughtful responses to my attempt to reconcile China’s claim that it’s cut its energy intensity by 14.38% since 2005 with the underlying GDP and energy consumption statistics. I also asked a friend who was visiting China last week to poke around, but without luck. My sense is that there’s a simpler explanation to all this: Read more »

Krugman on Climate: The Good

by Michael Levi Saturday, April 10, 2010

Paul Krugman’s essay in tomorrow’s New York Times Magazine is generating a lot of buzz. I like it more than most of what’s written on climate and economics these days, but I’ve still got a few reservations. I’ll write about those in a later post (whose title you should be able to guess). But first, here’s what I think Krugman gets right. Read more »

Nuclear Odds and Ends

by Michael Levi Thursday, April 8, 2010

Those of you who know me may know that I spend a lot of time thinking not just about energy and climate but about nuclear security issues too. And it’s a big couple weeks for that. If you’re interested, take a look at my thoughts on how START affects U.S.-Russian relations at Politico, my interview on the nuclear security landscape with CFR.org here, and my reactions to the Nuclear Posture Review at the Daily Beast.

Making Sense of China’s Energy Intensity Statistics

by Michael Levi Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Stephen Howes (via Roger Pielke) takes a look at recent Chinese statistics and calls recent Chinese claims to have cut energy intensity by 14.38% from 2005 to 2009 into question. I’ll be the last person to defend the integrity of Chinese government statistics. That said, I think there may be a way to understand the discrepancy – but I don’t think it resolves the fundamental problem. Read more »