Climate change will lead to war, vets warn
Coalition: They argue for green energy
JOHN DODGE | The News Tribune | 02/14/10
OLYMPIA – An energy policy that relies on green energy is good for the nation’s national security as well as the environment, a coalition of military veterans said Friday in Olympia.
Continued dependence on foreign oil puts U.S. soldiers at risk in unstable, oil-rich countries around the world and helps fund terrorist activities, members of Operation Free said during one of the stops on the Veterans for American Power Tour of 16 states.
Rolling on to the state Capitol Campus in a 45-foot bus, several veterans of the Iraq war joined with state legislators who are military veterans to make the link between fighting climate change and boosting national security through clean energy.
The tour stop comes on the heels of a Department of Defense report that climate change is a strategic threat to international stability. Recent national polls also show that voters see a strong connection between climate change and national security.
“This is everybody’s issue,” said Wisconsin National Guard veteran Robin Eckstein, who deployed to Baghdad shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. “Wars of the future will be created by climate change.”
The debate over global warming has moved beyond melting ice caps that threaten polar bears and other environmental threats to a bipartisan issue with links to national security, said state Sen. Steve Hobbs, D-Lake Stevens, a former infantry officer.
“Climate change is a national security threat that destabilizes governments and attracts terrorist organizations,” Hobbs said.
“We’re sending truckloads of money out of the country every hour to buy oil,” said state Rep. Larry Seaquist, D-Gig Harbor, a former Navy warship captain. “We need an energy-independent economy.”
Operation Free is a coalition of veterans and national security groups lobbying Congress to pass climate-change legislation. The two-month bus tour began in January and includes stops in 16 states and 60 public events.
Conservation groups welcome the veterans’ efforts, said Beth Doglio, campaign director in the Climate Solutions Olympia office.
“National security and climate change is not a new issue, but it’s moved up the list of issues we’re highlighting,” she said.
“The public gets it.”
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