Buried on page A19 of the post-election Saturday print edition, and far down on the global page of their website, the editors at the times have decided to share this important information:
WASHINGTON — Climate change is accelerating, and it will place unparalleled strains on American military and intelligence agencies in coming years by causing ever more disruptive events around the globe, the nation’s top scientific research group said in a report issued Friday.
Here is a link to the 206 page study (which I admit I have not read in full yet): http://www.nap.edu/...
Discussion questions over the squiggle:
Many progressives see the biggest battles of Obama's second term as saving the planet, and demilitarizing the economy to provide for infrastructure jobs in our communities.
Is this our chance to engage with the defense industrial complex to move from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy? Can we turn the factories building parts for unneeded jets and helicopters into factories that produce solar panels, wind turbines, and new power sources?
The report mentions that climate change in other parts of the world can cause local unrest over ownership of resources used in supply chains. Sounds like the Military-Intelligence agencies want to be less reliant on foreign sources of food and energy - how can we work with them to increase sustainability here at home?
This report should help get rank and file Republicans interested in this issue so they talk to their members of Congress about the need to listen to the military and bring jobs to the community while saving the planet. The military wants to do it, all their Democratic friends want to do it, there's literally no reason not to support it.
Anyway, hope everyone has a good weekend and can celebrate all we've achieved on Tuesday. While this chapter is ending, the next chapter where we accomplish these changes is still being written.