Last year, stating that it wasn’t advantageous for the United States to remain a part of the accord, Trump pulled out of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.
Despite the so-called “president’s” claims, and most recently those of EPA Administrator Nominee, Andrew Wheeler, who during his confirmation hearing two days ago told Senator Bernie Sanders that he would not call climate change “the greatest crisis, no sir,” scientists continue to issue dire warnings to the contrary.
And perhaps the most frightening report was this one. Watch:
Trump would have us believe that this is all “fake news” but the Pentagon has released its own report, going against what the “president” says, saying that climate change is not only a global threat but a threat to our national security.
According to the report:
‘The effects of a changing climate are a national security issue with potential impacts to Department of Defense missions, operational plans, and installations.’
The Department of Defense said in a statement to HuffPost that the report delivers a “high-level assessment of the vulnerability of DOD installations.”
Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb said by email:
‘DOD must be able to adapt current and future operations to address the impacts of a wide variety of threats and conditions, to include those from weather, climate and natural events. DOD will focus on ensuring it remains ready and able to adapt to a wide variety of threats ― regardless of the source ― to fulfill our mission to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.’
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Friday:
‘President Trump’s climate change denial must not adversely impact the security environment where our troops live, work, and serve. Whether the Trump Administration wants to admit it or not, climate change is already costing the Department significant amounts of taxpayer resources and impacting military readiness.’
One thing is for certain: Trump needs to wake up and stop worrying so much about his “caravans” of scary brown people and start worrying about the real issues at hand that affect our national security. Climate change is real and we have about 12 years to get ahead of the problem. His racist wall can wait!
Click here to read the Pentagon’s full 22-page report.
Featured image via Flickr/Gage Skidmore
