Wesley Clark on Global Warming & National Security

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in the Clinton Global Initiative, a meeting of world leaders organized by President Clinton in New York City. It was a rare opportunity to focus international attention on some of the world’s most pressing problems and develop real commitments to take action.

During the “Clinton Global Initiative,” I participated on a panel to discuss a problem that many people are just starting to think about: the impact of global warming on national security policy. Today I wanted to share some of these thoughts with you — and invite you to join the dialogue.

Global warming is a fact. It is already visible. We see its effect on the melting of ice caps, rising sea levels, and increasing global temperatures. It is also an unquestionable fact that man’s activities have contributed to this. What will be the consequences if we do nothing and continue on the current course of human progress?

The mildest projections by experts predict a 10-degree average increase in global temperatures in the next 90 years. This will cause sea levels to rise approximately two feet, displacing more than 100 million people in low-lying areas of the world. Other estimates are less optimistic. For example, if the entire Greenland icecap were to melt, then sea levels could rise between 7 and 10 meters, making large areas of our world today uninhabitable.

The difficulty is that the carbon already trapped in the earth’s atmosphere will likely remain suspended there for 100 years or more. So global warming is in place — and according to scientists, it is unlikely to be reversed. What can we do to slow the rate? And how do we deal with the consequences?

To slow the rate of global warming is to reduce appreciably the greenhouse gas emissions. This is the familiar agenda of the global warming concern. However, with the consequences of global
warming already so severe, global warming has to be treated as a national security problem, involving not just the EPA but also the National Security Council and the top leadership of America. Global warming is a national security issue.

In my view, global warming’s impact will affect human populations in three key ways: displacement, disaster and political tensions. Global warming will displace millions of people. It will bring unusually destructive weather conditions — more powerful hurricanes like Katrina and Rita, more tornadoes, and extensive droughts. And finally, it will create regional tensions associated with migration, disease, and lower agricultural output, which could spark conflict.

Therefore, nations must not only take action environmentally to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, but equally important, they must be prepared to deal with the consequences of global warming — consequences so severe that they deserve national security consideration.

It is crucial that we begin exercising real leadership now to slow down and begin to confront the effects global warming will have on our national security. So how can you help?

First, join me in a virtual march on Washington to stop global warming, and invite your friends to join us too. Every new person will help us build a grassroots network across America to demand action on global warming.

Second, I hope you’ll join my online community on the WesPAC blog. Every day we work the major issues like global warming that are facing our country and brainstorm new solutions to our problems. In a vast nation like the United States, online communities offer critical new ways for like-minded people to join together and press for action in our democracy. So I hope you’ll become an active participant on the WesPAC blog.

Serious new problems like global warming call for leadership, hard work, and creativity. I ask you to be a part of that effort. Only by working together can we ensure that the United States remains the great nation that it is today.

Sincerely,

Wes Clark