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The Pentagon and several federal agencies have repeatedly warned that climate change poses a threat to national security. Still, the White House would summon a group of experts to question it.
The Washington Post, quoting a discussion paper from the National Security Council (NSC) that it had obtained, says White House staff is preparing an executive order bearing President Donald Trump's signature, which would create a presidential committee on climate security chaired by a notorious denier of climate change. .
This man, NSC senior director William Happer, told CNBC in 2014 that "the demonization of carbon dioxide is comparable to that of the evil Jews under Hitler".
John Whitehouse of Media Matters took over the video:
The views of Happer are no less extreme since. While planning to play Trump's scientific advisory role in early 2017, Happer sent an email to a Jezebel reader claiming that the "demonization of CO2" "really differs little from the Nazi persecution of Jews." , from the Soviet extermination of class enemies. or the slaughter of infidels by ISIL. "
Media Matters has already explained how Happer, a retired professor from Princeton who was not trained as a climatologist, had tried – unsuccessfully – to conceal the fact that the interests of the oil sector had directly funded his "research". Nature Climate change noted that the fossil fuel industry has long been involved in campaigns in US politics "aimed at refuting, confusing and impeding the acceptance of the reality of climate change", using scientists like Happer to spread misinformation.
The Trump administration tries to blur the clues in climatology
The Post's report on the new White House panel is the latest indication that the Trump administration is actively trying to mislead the public about the well-established science of climate change.
As Umair Irfan and Alex Ward of Vox report, many agencies of the Trump government executive have warned the president and the American people of the serious threats of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
"The impacts and costs of climate change are already being felt in the United States, and changes in the likelihood or severity of some recent extreme weather events can now be attributed with increasing confidence in the warming caused by climate change. "According to the National Climate Assessment, published in November.
Asked about the national climate assessment by a reporter in November, Trump categorically said, "I do not believe it."
Last month, the Pentagon released a report detailing the threat that climate change poses to national security. A few weeks later, the intelligence community released its annual consensus assessment of the global threat. The document echoes the Pentagon's conclusion that climate change is a major threat:
Climatic hazards such as extreme weather conditions, higher temperatures, droughts, floods, forest fires, storms, sea level rise, land degradation and ocean acidification intensify, threatening infrastructure, health, water security and food security. Irreversible damage to ecosystems and habitats will undermine the economic benefits they provide, aggravated by pollution of the air, soil, water and marine.
The CNS discussion paper obtained by mail about the new group of experts suggests that it would be created with the aim of blurring the trail about the Pentagon and the discoveries of the intelligence community. While the document acknowledges that a number of federal government reports conclude that climate change is a major threat, it goes on to say that "these scientific and national security judgments have not made the difference." Purpose of a rigorous, independent and contradictory scientific peer review, intended to examine the certainties and uncertainties of climatology, as well as its implications for national security. "
Given the opinion of Happer, there is no doubt that he will accept Trump if he wants to use the panel to deny the well-established science of climate change. The consequences are serious: it would endanger the United States and future generations around the world.
The news goes fast. To stay up to date, follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter, and read more Political and political coverage of Vox.
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