Following up on the front-page article from August 9, the New York Times has published a new editorial today about 'The Climate and National Security'. It is important that the newspaper of record has published this editorial. However, the editorial lauds the tactic of calling climate change a security threat, as a way to change the minds of wavering Senators.
Getting a strong bill through Congress is an important goal, but that alone won't stop many of the real security effects of cliamte change: the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere guarantee that we'll see significant warming in the coming decades. Even in a best-case scenario, this will cause droughts, floods, food shortages, and competition over scarce resources. That's why its important to begin to plan for climate-induced threats to security. We shouldn't make a specious arguments for short-term political points. Instead, we should make planning for climate change an important part of defense strategy.
Getting a strong bill through Congress is an important goal, but that alone won't stop many of the real security effects of cliamte change: the greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere guarantee that we'll see significant warming in the coming decades. Even in a best-case scenario, this will cause droughts, floods, food shortages, and competition over scarce resources. That's why its important to begin to plan for climate-induced threats to security. We shouldn't make a specious arguments for short-term political points. Instead, we should make planning for climate change an important part of defense strategy.
No comments:
Post a Comment