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Event: Center for Climate and Security Director to Speak to Congress Today on Climate Change Threats
John Conger, Director of the Center for Climate and Security, testifies before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis
UPDATE (7/15/2020): A recorded video of the event can now be found here.
At 3pm EST today, the Center for Climate and Security’s Director, the Hon. John Conger, will speak to the House Democratic Caucus National Security Task Force about climate change threats to security, in the wake of a new report from the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis. Mr. Conger’s comments will build from two major publications from the Center for Climate and Security that influenced the select committee’s work. The first, titled “A Security Threat Assessment of Global Climate Change,” highlights the potentially severe-to-catastrophic security threats of climate change even at plausible lower emissions scenarios, and the second, titled “A Climate Security Plan for America: A Presidential Plan for Combating the Security Risks of Climate Change,” proposes a comprehensive federal plan for addressing climate security threats, in terms of both prevention/ mitigation and preparation/ adaptation. Click here for the livestream, once the event begins.
Center for Climate and Security Director Conger Testifies Before Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis
John Conger, Director of the Center for Climate and Security, testifies before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Climate Crisis
On February 13, John Conger, Director of the Center for Climate and Security and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, testified before the U.S. Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis with Advisory Board Member Rear Admiral Ann Phillips, USN (Ret) and the Chief Operating Officer of the American Security Project Andrew Holland, discussing the implications of climate change on national security.
Here are links to the statements of Mr. Conger, RADM (Ret) Phillips, and Mr. Holland, as well as Senator Duckworth’s opening statement. While John Conger made a brief opening statement, he offered the Center for Climate and Security’s full Climate Security Plan for America as his submitted testimony. The hearing was summarized here by Hawaii Public Radio, but the full hearing video is worth a watch:
The Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis is a parallel to the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and is chaired by Senator Brian Schatz. The climate security hearing was led by Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Climate and National Security on MSNBC with CCS Director John Conger
Center for Climate and Security Director John Conger on MSNBC, September 16, 2019
The Hon. John Conger, Director of the Center for Climate and Security and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, appeared on MSNBC‘s Velshi and Ruhle show today, to discuss climate change impacts on the U.S. military, the geostrategic landscape (especially in terms of China and Russia’s activities in the Arctic), and migration and political instability. The interview was part of MSNBC’s week of climate change coverage, with Monday focusing on climate change and national security.
Conger: Why the Pentagon Cares about Climate Change
The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that takes its name from the birthplace of the Republican Party (Ripon, Wisconsin) and considers Theodore Roosevelt its intellectual guide, recently published a multi-author volume America’s Energy Renaissance as the July issue of its The Ripon Forum magazine.
For the issue, Director of the Center for Climate and Security, John Conger, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations and Environment, wrote a piece simply and pragmatically titled “Why the Pentagon Cares About Climate Change.” Within the article, Mr. Conger highlights the simple, pragmatic, mission-focused reasons why the Department of Defense takes this threat seriously. From the piece:
Secretary James Mattis – and at least fifteen other senior defense officials during the current Administration – have taken an approach that is pragmatic and mission-focused. From day one – in response to questions during his confirmation process – Secretary Mattis said: “[T]he effects of a changing climate — such as increased maritime access to the Arctic, rising sea levels, desertification, among others — impact our security situation. I will ensure that the department continues to be prepared to conduct operations today and in the future, and that we are prepared to address the effects of a changing climate on our threat assessments, resources, and readiness.” His words are hardly inflammatory, and yet they convey an unequivocal recognition of climate change and a determination to overcome its effects.
Read the full article here.