According to reports from the Washington Post and the New York Times, the White House recently suppressed a comprehensive intelligence analysis from the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), which has recently been made public.The analysis, which was to be delivered as written testimony to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on June 5, was allegedly quashed due to its description of climate science, and the unwillingness of INR to omit large sections of the testimony.
The Center for Climate and Security stands firmly in support of INR and its personnel, and their clear-eyed assessment of the significant security risks of a changing climate, and strongly condemns the attempt by individuals in the White House to prevent this analysis from being published. This analysis is the latest in decades-worth of intelligence analysis on climate change produced across both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Francesco Femia, Co-Founder of the Center for Climate and Security and Co-CEO of the Council on Strategic Risks, told the Washington Post:
This is an intentional failure of the White House to perform a core duty: inform the American public of the threats we face. It’s dangerous and unacceptable…Any attempt to suppress information on the security risks of climate change threatens to leave the American public vulnerable and unsafe.
Caitlin Werrell, Co-Founder of the Center for Climate and Security and Co-CEO of the Council on Strategic Risks, added:
The U.S. government’s job is to protect people from risks, not suppress information about those risks. The politicization of intelligence and security analysis is dangerous, as we know from the politicization of intelligence on Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and on Russia’s interference in our elections. Politicizing analysis of the security risks of climate change is just as dangerous, and will leave the American public fundamentally unprepared.
If you wish to speak with an expert at the Center for Climate and Security on this matter, please contact Francesco Femia at ffemia at climate and security dot org
