This morning I gave evidence at the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change that climate change is real; it’s happening; and we need to do something about it. I noted that climate change is threatening our national security; and indeed the security of hundreds of millions around the world.

At the hearing, I set out the facts:

• Climate change, caused largely by the burning of fossil fuels, is real and already affecting America’s national security.
• The temperature record is indisputable. Over the past century, the average mean global temperature has risen about 1.4˚F .
• While it is true that the earth’s climate has always undergone periods of fluctuations, this period is notable because it is especially rapid and unprecedented.
• The effects of climate change are accelerating: the Arctic is increasingly ice free in the summers, extreme weather continues to get more unpredictable, and we are seeing rising seas – New York Harbor is almost a foot higher than it was in 1900.
• Climate Change threatens national security because it is a “threat multiplier” or an “accelerant of instability” that affects issues like food and water availability and energy security. It will drive migration and create economic challenges.

Climate change will effect our homeland security, our military base security as well as global security.

Even if you choose not to believe that human activity contributes to climate change, or even that the climate is changing, from my military experience I know that waiting for certainty on the battlefield can be disastrous.

Managing risk requires a measured response – the first step of which is an energy debate that addresses the full challenges of the 21st Century. The greatest danger lies in our being unprepared.

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