Mark Iden

The Trump administration, seeking to justify its fascination with coal, a product that is increasingly out of favor with most other industrialized countries worldwide, is arguing that gas pipelines are too vulnerable to hacking, threatening American energy security. Therefore, the United States, it is argued, need more coal in the energy mix.

The Yalu River running through Manchuria has long served as the well-known border between China and North Korea. What is less known, but equally significant, is the short, aging 30 km Friendship Pipeline constructed in part under the Yalu.

This week the House of Representatives followed the Senate in voting overwhelmingly to impose broad sanctions on Russia for behavior deemed unacceptable to the United States, particularly the alleged cyber hacking of the US election.

As a general proposition, the longer the pipeline the more difficult it is to build it. This is related not just to technical issues surrounding construction. More than ever the success of a particular pipeline project depends on how well the pipeline operator can navigate the political thicket of interest groups along the proposed pipeline route.

Perhaps no issue better highlights the differences between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald Trump as candidates for the U.S. presidency than energy policy.

Ruling out sabotage, the Swedish military has successfully cleared a remote operated vehicle (drone) rigged with explosives found near Line 2 of the Nord Stream Natural Gas offshore pipeline system.