Gan
04-10-2007, 11:48 AM
WASHINGTON -- The CIA and Pentagon would for the first time be required to assess the national security implications of climate change under proposed legislation intended to elevate global warming to a national defense issue.
The bipartisan proposal, which its sponsors expect to pass the Congress with wide support, calls for the director of national intelligence to conduct the first-ever "national intelligence estimate" on global warming.
The effort would include pinpointing the regions at highest risk of humanitarian suffering and assessing the likelihood of wars erupting over diminishing water and other resources.
The measure also would order the Pentagon to undertake a series of war games to determine how global climate change could affect US security, including "direct physical threats to the United States posed by extreme weather events such as hurricanes."
The growing attention to global warming as a national security issue could open new avenues of support for tougher efforts to limit greenhouse gases, according to specialists.
"If you get the intelligence community to apply some of its analytic capabilities to this issue, it could be compelling to whoever is sitting in the White House," said Anne Harrington , director of the committee on international security at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. "If the White House does not absorb the independent scientific expertise, then maybe something from the intelligence community might have more weight."
The measure, sponsored by Senator Chuck Hagel , a Nebraska Republican, and Senator Richard J. Durbin , an Illinois Democrat, comes as other international bodies are taking steps to designate global warming as a high international priority.
The United Nations Security Council has put climate change on its agenda for the first time, warning that global warming could be a catalyst for new conflicts around the world. The council said it would hold a high-level meeting on the issue later this month.
"The traditional triggers of conflict which exist out there are likely to be exacerbated by the effect of climate change," said Emyr Jones Parry, Britain's UN ambassador.
The push in the United States to treat global warming as a national security threat follows the same path as previous efforts to treat the spread of AIDS as a security threat. The disease was long seen as exclusively a health issue until intelligence officials warned that it could ravage military forces across Africa and draw the United States into conflict.
Growing concerns about the implications of global warming have also led some Republicans and Democrats to give the issue far more prominence in policy circles.
"For years, many of us have examined global warming as an environmental or economic issue," Durbin said in little-noticed remarks last month. "We also need to consider it as a security concern."
The intelligence assessment, or NIE -- to be drafted by US spy agencies -- would rely on the latest scientific data. It would identify places where nations or ethnic groups are most likely to fight over resources; where large migrations of victims will occur; how global warming would affect global food supplies; and the increased risks to humans from infectious disease.
more..
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/09/bill_ties_climate_to_national_security?mode=PF
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I changed the title because "global warming" isnt really accurate as to whats happening with the weather.
At first I thought, WTF? This is stupidity in action, then I read the rest of the article and think really that its a good idea for overall threat assessment and the protection of our national interests.
I guess the thing I want to impress is that by recognizing the need for this analysis of security, we are not recognizing nor validating any of the idiotic "global warming" hysteria that has been pressed upon us by Gore, the media, or the radical environmentalist treehuggers in general. Climate change affects nations and their ability to survive, thus a change in available resources is and has always been known to be a major cause for nations to go to war with their neighbors. By being on top of this, we can help prevent catastrophic consequences over a shift in weather cycles and patterns.
The bipartisan proposal, which its sponsors expect to pass the Congress with wide support, calls for the director of national intelligence to conduct the first-ever "national intelligence estimate" on global warming.
The effort would include pinpointing the regions at highest risk of humanitarian suffering and assessing the likelihood of wars erupting over diminishing water and other resources.
The measure also would order the Pentagon to undertake a series of war games to determine how global climate change could affect US security, including "direct physical threats to the United States posed by extreme weather events such as hurricanes."
The growing attention to global warming as a national security issue could open new avenues of support for tougher efforts to limit greenhouse gases, according to specialists.
"If you get the intelligence community to apply some of its analytic capabilities to this issue, it could be compelling to whoever is sitting in the White House," said Anne Harrington , director of the committee on international security at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington. "If the White House does not absorb the independent scientific expertise, then maybe something from the intelligence community might have more weight."
The measure, sponsored by Senator Chuck Hagel , a Nebraska Republican, and Senator Richard J. Durbin , an Illinois Democrat, comes as other international bodies are taking steps to designate global warming as a high international priority.
The United Nations Security Council has put climate change on its agenda for the first time, warning that global warming could be a catalyst for new conflicts around the world. The council said it would hold a high-level meeting on the issue later this month.
"The traditional triggers of conflict which exist out there are likely to be exacerbated by the effect of climate change," said Emyr Jones Parry, Britain's UN ambassador.
The push in the United States to treat global warming as a national security threat follows the same path as previous efforts to treat the spread of AIDS as a security threat. The disease was long seen as exclusively a health issue until intelligence officials warned that it could ravage military forces across Africa and draw the United States into conflict.
Growing concerns about the implications of global warming have also led some Republicans and Democrats to give the issue far more prominence in policy circles.
"For years, many of us have examined global warming as an environmental or economic issue," Durbin said in little-noticed remarks last month. "We also need to consider it as a security concern."
The intelligence assessment, or NIE -- to be drafted by US spy agencies -- would rely on the latest scientific data. It would identify places where nations or ethnic groups are most likely to fight over resources; where large migrations of victims will occur; how global warming would affect global food supplies; and the increased risks to humans from infectious disease.
more..
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/09/bill_ties_climate_to_national_security?mode=PF
________________________________________________
I changed the title because "global warming" isnt really accurate as to whats happening with the weather.
At first I thought, WTF? This is stupidity in action, then I read the rest of the article and think really that its a good idea for overall threat assessment and the protection of our national interests.
I guess the thing I want to impress is that by recognizing the need for this analysis of security, we are not recognizing nor validating any of the idiotic "global warming" hysteria that has been pressed upon us by Gore, the media, or the radical environmentalist treehuggers in general. Climate change affects nations and their ability to survive, thus a change in available resources is and has always been known to be a major cause for nations to go to war with their neighbors. By being on top of this, we can help prevent catastrophic consequences over a shift in weather cycles and patterns.