Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of crude oil through curtailments and expansions of supply, and have only peripherally touched
on the possibility of the use of violence to resolve imbalances in the global distribution of natural
resources or of supply and demand.
Recently, a new literature of “resource scarcity” has begun to develop around the concept of
uneven distribution of natural resources in the world (Ophuls and Boyan 1992), raising the pros-
pect of “resource wars” both within nation-states (e.g., civil wars) and between nation-states over
access to scarce natural resources such as oil (Lahiri-Dutt 2006; Klare 1995, 2004; Butts 1994).
Some have asserted that such wars would be more common and more likely in the future between
developing countries rather than large powers and that they may exacerbate existing conflicts and
civil strife within states based on other factors rather than providing stimulus for new interstate
conflicts (Homer-Dixon 1993, 1999; Homer-Dixon and Percival 1996). Others have approached
the same issue from a different direction, noting that about a quarter of the roughly fifty wars and
armed conflicts active in 2001 had strong natural resource dimensions and asserting that “abun-
dant natural resources help fuel conflicts”; it has also been noted that “Where resource wealth is
a factor in conflicts, it is primarily non-renewable resources such as fuels and minerals that are at
issue. . . . On the other hand, where resource scarcity is a factor, it concerns principally resources
that cannot be looted and traded, such as farmland and water” (Renner 2002, 6, 9). Still other
participants in policy-making discussions have taken a broader view in identifying environmental
threats to U.S. national security (Butts 1994).
Under what circumstances might continued reliance on fossil fuels by one nation-state be con-
sidered aggression against other more vulnerable nation-states due to the effects of global climate
change? Although small nation-states have little ability to threaten the continued existence of large
powers like the United States, trade and security relations with some large nation-states may be
adversely affected if significant portions of their populations are perceived to be impacted by
continued emissions of atmospheric carbon and global climate change, especially if those nation-
states have taken action to reduce their emissions more than others. Moreover, no nation-state
today is beyond the reach of acts of terrorism that may inflict unacceptable damage on domestic
populations or economies. The extent to which U.S. concern for future relations with affected and
endangered nation-states might moderate consumption of fossil fuels is not yet evident. No increase
in U.S. foreign assistance to endangered nation-states or significant reduction in consumption of
fossil fuels is yet discernible.
Because international relations between nation-states may change over time due to numerous
factors within and beyond the control of human beings, preferences for particular foreign policies
and national security costs may also change over time. National security costs for some energy
fuel sources may change based on invention and utilization of new energy technologies, defensive
military technologies or strategies, regime change, or changes in foreign policy preferences of
relevant nation-states.
Environmental Costs
A political factor, the environmental costs of each energy fuel technology are based on physical
attributes of the fuel and the technologies used in several phases of a fuel cycle. Like dollar costs,
environmental costs may vary at different times due to changes in technologies and market con-
ditions. Environmental costs are losses by destruction or impairment of some desirable attribute
of the human environment and biosphere. Congress recognized the profound impact of human
activities on the natural environment, particularly the influences of population growth, high-
density urbanization, industrial expansion, resource exploitation, new technological advances,
 
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