Shade Shutters, Research Scientist, School of Complex Adaptive Systems in the College of Global Futures, is lead author on A U.S. clean energy transition can enhance national security but it’s not the bulletproof strategy you might think, a new article in Modern Diplomacy.
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In the article, Shutters explains that environmentalists and national security stakeholders now share a goal of transitioning the US to a clean energy system. One reason is to eliminate US dependence on other countries. However, a clean energy system will only shift US dependence to other countries for different raw materials.
"Key defense and intelligence stakeholders now view a clean energy transition as critical for national security – but they don’t seem to understand the deeper complexities of a transition," Says Shutters. "To inform those leaders, academics have to be willing to go beyond traditional publishing and write targeted, non-technical pieces for media outlets that those key stakeholders read every day."