Listening to the military
by digby
All the Republicans are saying they would “listen to the military” and follow the Pentagon’s advice on how to keep America safe. (Ben Carson is pretty much saying now that he’d turn over all national security to the Pentagon, no questions asked.)
The 2014 Department of Defense Climate Change Adaptation Road Map report details all the ways our changing climate will impact international conflict and military operations. Sea level rise and more extreme weather events will exacerbate ongoing global conflicts. The effects of climate change will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic diseases, as well as disputes over refugees and dwindling resources.
The Pentagon report does not just allude to terrorism—it mentions it by name:
“We refer to climate change as a ‘threat multiplier’ because it has the potential to exacerbate many of the challenges we are dealing with today—from infectious disease to terrorism. We are already beginning to see some of these impacts.”
The report goes on to explain how climate change could topple fragile governments by creating an environment that fosters extreme ideologies and terrorism.
But Republicans on Tuesday (the same day the Senate voted to undo President Obama’s power-plant regulations) treated Sanders as if he had made a ludicrous claim. “There is a ballot initiative in Arizona concerning the substance that he must have been consuming,” Senator John McCain said, referring to a measure that would legalize marijuana.
Grown-ups.
.