President Biden warned military members yesterday that Pentagon leaders believe climate change is the “greatest threat” to the country’s security.
“When I went to the Pentagon when I was VP under President Obama, the military let us know what the threats were, the greatest threats,” he said. “This is no joke. The Joint Chiefs said the greatest danger was global warming.”
“There will be huge population movements, fights for land, millions leaving Indonesia because they’re literally sinking under the sea, or because of the war over what is left,” he said.
Biden issued his warning during his speech to Air Force members in the UK. The president will take part in meetings with G-7 and NATO this month during his first overseas visit since becoming President.
He made his declaration as GOP lawmakers pressure him about his policy on Russia after the ransomware attacks against vital infrastructure, including his decision to stop sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The president said he would talk to important European allies about a unified strategy to fight climate change, which he has said was a priority for his team.
“We must all focus on climate action if we are going to stop the worst affects of climate change, stopping global warming to only 1.5 degrees Celsius and leading the global move to clean energy technology,” Biden said.
The U.S. rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement back in February after Biden’s first-one executive order. The order reversed a Trump decision to remove the country from the agreement.
Biden has also suggested climate change is a threat to the U.S. military on numerous occasions. In February, he stressed that he had ordered the Pentagon to reimagine the nation’s strategy for handling climate change.
At this time, he said global warming was “already costing us billions.”
Author: Blake Ambrose