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John Kerry speaks about climate change in Hampton Roads, Virginia
Sec. Kerry, who has been at the forefront of environmental issues for more than 40 years, has made climate change issues - and their interconnection with international relations - a priority of his State Department.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kerry-says-climate-change-impacts-armies-as-much-as-polar-bears/2015/11/10/00a8c678-87db-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html
Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Tuesday he will integrate climate change analysis and its national security implications into all future foreign policy planning.
. . .
"Long story short, climate change isn’t just about Bambi. It’s about us.”
Kerry said he would convene a task force of senior government officials and outside experts to determine how to make climate change predictions a part of foreign policy planning.
. .
Kerry noted that he was speaking in Hampton Roads, where the land the city is built on is sinking as sea levels are rising twice as fast as the world’s average. He said political opponents who doubt the science of climate change are posing a threat to everyone.
"The science tells us unequivocally, those who continue to make climate change a political fight put us all at risk,” he said. “And we cannot sit idly by and allow them to do that.” Kerry called climate change more than a threat to the habitats of butterflies and polar bears. He said it has a direct impact on military readiness.
. . .
"Long story short, climate change isn’t just about Bambi. It’s about us.”
Kerry said he would convene a task force of senior government officials and outside experts to determine how to make climate change predictions a part of foreign policy planning.
. .
Kerry noted that he was speaking in Hampton Roads, where the land the city is built on is sinking as sea levels are rising twice as fast as the world’s average. He said political opponents who doubt the science of climate change are posing a threat to everyone.
"The science tells us unequivocally, those who continue to make climate change a political fight put us all at risk,” he said. “And we cannot sit idly by and allow them to do that.” Kerry called climate change more than a threat to the habitats of butterflies and polar bears. He said it has a direct impact on military readiness.
video and full transcript of the speech:
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/249393.htm
It shouldn’t be a hard choice, folks. We have a moral responsibility to protect the future of our nation and our world. That is our charge. That is our duty. And for our ship, for our shipmates, all of us, and for the generations that follow in their footsteps, we have to get this right.
