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Twenty-six lawmakers wrote a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis calling for both climate change mentions in military reports to remain intact and for strategic defense plans to recognize the effects of climate change on security national. quietly released last week, a bipartisan group of representatives called on Mattis to take immediate action to preserve climate reporting in national security plans. Posting a May report from the Washington Post, lawmakers have expressed concerns over revelations that the Pentagon had revised a report from the Obama era to remove references to climate change. we are disturbed that the revisions have intentionally targeted the mentions of climate change, "reads the letter dated July 16." The facts are clear: climate change threatens the ministry and the nation.
Elise Stefanik (New York), Carlos Curbelo (FL) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), members of the Climate Solutions Caucus, as well as Democrats Paul Tonko (NY) and Jackie Speier (CA), who are not caucus members
The Post found that a Department of Defense report submitted to Congress in January differed from a previous December 2016 draft that focused on climate change . The submitted version of the report removed several references to the threat that climate impacts, including sea-level rise, pose to military sites and bases around the world. In some regions, allusions to man-made climate change have been changed to simply refer to "extreme climate" or "climate" as an isolated word.
Lawmakers on both sides are concerned that such actions will jeopardize national security. Through the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2018, Congress recognized that climate change poses a serious threat to security and required a report on the top 10 military bases at risk and on the way to protect them. The letter of July 16, therefore, requests that the final report be submitted in accordance with the mandate established by NDAA.
"We hope that when this report is submitted to Congress later in the year, it will contain frank assessments in accordance with the clear instructions adopted by Congress and signed by the President," the letter reads.
Other signatories of the letter include representatives James Langevin (D-RI); Adam Smith (D-WA); Ted Deutch (D-FL); Gerald Connolly (D-VA); Derek Kilmer (D-WA); Scott Peters (D-CA); Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA); Jackie Speier (D-CA); Steve Knight (R-CA); Dave Reichert (R-WA); Steve Cohen (D-TN); John Katko (R-NY); Ryan Costello (R-PA); Mimi Walters (R-CA); Julia Brownley (D-CA); Seth Moulton (D-MA); Matt Cartwright (D-PA); Ruben Gallego (D-AZ); Bill Foster (D-IL); Jamie Raskin (D-MD); Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI); and William Keating (D-MA).
The study published by the Pentagon and submitted to Congress in January revealed that climate-related risks endanger half of all US military sites around the world. According to the Pentagon, about 1,700 sites, varying in size and importance, are threatened by drought, floods and wind. Although the submitted report never explicitly mentions climate change, a whole section discusses the "changing climate" implications for national security issues.
This report interviewed military personnel from each site who testified to the impact of climate change on water. and energy systems, in addition to aerodromes and other key military assets.
These findings largely contradicted President Trump's rhetoric at the time of their release. The president removed climate change from a list of threats to national security last December, against the advice of military leaders.
A separate study funded by the military and published in April revealed that more than a thousand tropical islands become "uninhabitable" in the coming decades due to the rise in the The Pentagon reportedly supported this study to learn more about the vulnerabilities of military installations in tropical islands, such as the Ronald Reagan ballistic missile defense test site in the Marshall Islands. accommodation measures where possible. The Department of Defense has not yet publicly responded to the lawmakers regarding the letter sent last week.
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