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Science suppression is a security threat – whether climate or covid
By A little over a year ago, the White House tried to block the testimony of a respected professional, Dr. Rod Schoonover – senior analyst and senior scientist in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the U.S. Department of State, and former Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the National Intelligence Council (and, full disclosure, a current member of the Center for Climate and Security’s Advisory Board). The reason? The White House thought the written testimony, which included widely-accepted descriptions of the state of climate change science, didn’t sit well with the President’s political take on the subject. And so National Security Council staff tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress it. In response, I 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.”
Last Friday, the White House once again attempted to suppress science. This time by blocking the testimony of the CDC Director, Robert Redfield, on how to reopen schools safely, from the CDC’s scientifically-driven public health perspective. Without any exaggeration, my words from last June on the suppression of climate science in intelligence analysis are wholly relevant today, by simply replacing “climate change” with “COVID-19.” The pattern is alarmingly consistent, and threatens many Americans with sickness and death – including members of my own family. And so I offer the following words in response to the blocking of the CDC Director’s testimony by the White House:
“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 risks of COVID-19 threatens to leave the American public vulnerable and unsafe.”
The suppression of science, particularly on the scale we’re seeing today, is – simply put – a security threat. Anyone who cares about the security of the American public, and the nation as a whole, should be deeply concerned. My colleagues and I at the Council on Strategic Risks certainly are, and will be raising a red flag anytime it occurs in the future.
Francesco Femia is the Co-Founder, Research Director and former CEO of the Council on Strategic Risks and the Center for Climate and Security.
Why the Nile Constitutes a New Kind of Water Dispute – and Why That’s Dangerous
By Ever since workers first broke ground on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in 2011, international commenters have fixated on the Nile as a possible harbinger of future ‘water wars’ to come. And almost since then, water experts have pushed back against that narrative. There’s no reason for such giddy pessimism, they say. Nor does precedent support the likelihood of conflict. As Addis Ababa and downstream Cairo have slowly hashed out most of the technical details, they’ve so far been proven right.
But though this dispute’s potential to spark inter-state violence may have been overstated thus far, at least for the near-term, the Nile and its GERD lightning rod nevertheless offer an alarming insight into just how dangerous future transboundary water disputes are liable to become, particularly in the context of a changing climate. This might be the new normal. Because while most previous cross-border water wrangles played out among neighbors with histories of water woes or sudden supply shocks, many current disputes are ensnaring a much broader, significantly less experienced, and worryingly ill-prepared cast of riparian states.
Building a Resilient Future Post COVID-19
While states partially reopen and begin taking the first steps to bring back the American economy, many are still feeling the damaging effects COVID-19 has put on the workforce. As of May 21st, almost 40 million have people claimed unemployment benefits, and those that have returned to work often do so at reduced hours and pay.[1] In response, Sherri Goodman and Greg Douquet have proposed the establishment of a Citizens Energy and Climate Corps (CEEC) that would “put Americans back to work building a sustainable and resilient advanced-energy future” once economic activity rebounds.
Sherri Goodman served as the first Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (environmental security), serves on the board of the Council on Strategic Risks and as a Senior Strategist for its Center for Climate and Security. She is also a senior fellow at the Wilson Center. Greg Douquet is a former Marine Corps colonel, co-founder and managing partner of Red Duke Strategies LLC, and co-Director of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center’s Veterans Advanced Energy Project. Their proposal for a Citizens Energy and Climate Corps is inspired by the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps that put Americans back to work following the Great Depression and built many of America’s critical infrastructure. Today, the CEEC would “train and educate workers so they can be on the front lines of the energy industry of tomorrow.”[2] (more…)
A Pesky Challenge to Global Food Security & International Assistance Programs
A new study published in Nature looks at how climate change is driving pests and pathogens into new regions. This migration of 612 different types of “fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects, nematodes, viroids and oomycetes” is marching toward the poles at a rate of around 2 miles a year, threatening food production along the way. This highlights a possible challenge to international assistance programs that mobilize food assistance to combat hunger and poverty, and to mitigate the impacts of climatic disasters. The issue also raises questions about how concerns over climate change and invasive species factor into the foreign policy and national security calculus of donor nations. (more…)