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Panetta Labels Climate Change a National Security Threat

skipkent writes "Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared global warming a national security threat [Wednesday] during a speech before an environmentalist group in Washington, D.C. 'The area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security,' Panetta told the Environmental Defense Fund last night. 'Rising sea levels, severe droughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.'"

5 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. Re:War On Climate by RebelWithoutAClue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And conveniently bypassing Congressional approval too.

    --
    "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results" - Winston Churchill
  2. War On Climate Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's the "War On Climate Change" ... get it right.

    The only "obvious" solution is a complete government take over of all things that produce CO2 ... in other words ... socialism. People, Factories, Vehicles, ect ... all property of the state and may only be used if they give the ok, but not before they make you feel horrible about it.

    Who cares that the US Debt:GDP has surpassed 1:1 and that true unemployment is well over 16% ... let’s focus on the climate and stop worrying about that whole economy thing.

  3. Re:No one sees... by artor3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Which side is the one lying about it for political gain?

    The side that is LYING!! Truth is REAL. I know that it's trendy to deny it these days, but there are such things as objective facts. All of the science proves that global warming is a fact. You don't like it? Too fucking bad, go cry me a river. Your opinions hold absolutely no sway over fact. You can disbelieve climate change, you can disbelieve evolution, you can disbelieve the moon landing, you can disbelieve that passenger jets brought down the Twin Towers, you can disbelieve gravity. But none of that fucking matters. Because truth is true whether you believe it or not.

    And tell me, how is there "political gain" for the Democrats in raising taxes and creating regulations? How does it help them? Cause from where I stand, they'd be able to win a lot more power if, like the Republicans, they simply denied objective fact and promised tax cuts for everyone. They don't do that. Instead they accept the truth and try to deal with it.

    Fuck you for waging this war on objective truth. We cannot survive without science, and we cannot have science without objective truth.

  4. Re:No one sees... by DogDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The financial gain/loss by the fossil fuel industry dwarfs any political or economic gains anybody else may have.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  5. Re:No one sees... by mellon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While your assumption is very simplifying, and thus attractive, I don't think it's correct. The reality is that politicians feel corrupt to us because they live in their own echo chamber, and they do believe a lot of things that are just plain stupid because of that. They listen to the wrong people, the people who have the loudest voices, and choose who to ally with based on what they think is right, or in some cases what they think is beneficial to them.

    Saying that they are just looking out for themselves is oversimplifying. Saying that nothing they say is ever valid is incorrect. It's comforting either to think that politicians are basically good, and looking out for us, or basically evil, and trying to screw us. It's much harder to live in the real world, where they are much more complicated than that, and require our involvement if they are to serve us.