This morning, Pentagon officials will testify during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on “Strategic Threats, Ongoing Challenges, and National Defense Strategy Implementation.” It has been reported that the hearing will likely focus on how the current Pentagon officials are Implementing the National Defense Strategy, a policy document that is a clear departure from previous administrations in many ways, not least in its omission of climate change as a national security threat. Read more >

Three Reasons why The Pentagon Must Address Climate Change as a National Security Threat
December 5, 2019 9:38 AM EDT

The State of the Union on Climate Change is Not Strong
February 1, 2019 10:02 AM EDT
Last Tuesday, Dan Coats, director of National Intelligence, spoke to the Senate Select Committee on National Intelligence about the annual 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community report. His testimony, which stressed the grave threat climate change poses to national security, was just the latest in a long line of warnings from intelligence, military and scientific experts who President Trump continues to attack. At his State of the Union speech next week, Trump is likely to continue this pattern, once again showing his disregard for the health and safety of Americans who are already grappling with the costly and harmful impacts of climate change.

PFAS Contamination on Military Bases Is A Scary Reality—And For Me, It’s Personal
November 1, 2018 9:00 AM EDT
Across the country, families are exposed to dangerous chemicals in their water—and the families most at risk are those living on or near military bases. This threat concerns me not just as a researcher, but as the child of a military family. Read more >

The US Military, Resilient Energy, and the Zombie Apocalypse
May 31, 2018 4:59 PM EDT
A recent analysis from my colleagues at the Union of Concerned Scientists showed US military bases aren’t just on the front lines of homeland defense. They’re also, in a lot of cases, on the front lines of climate impacts. Rising seas and storm surges don’t stop for checkpoints and can threaten the energy supplies that military missions depend on. To understand how the pieces all fit together for our armed forces, I checked in with Wilson Rickerson and Michael Wu, cofounders of Converge Strategies, LLC, a resilience and advanced energy consulting company, about the intersection between the US military, clean energy, and resilience. And about how the Zombie Apocalypse comes into play. Read more >

Would Chemical Safety Measures Under Dourson Protect Military Families? Probably Not.
November 8, 2017 10:35 AM EDT
Update (December 14, 2017): Michael Dourson has withdrawn his nomination to head the EPA’s division of chemical safety. Read the statement from UCS President Ken Kimmell, Dourson’s Withdrawal a Victory for Science, Health.
Dr. Michael Dourson, a toxicologist with a history of providing consultation to the chemical industry, could become the head of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP) at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dourson has consistently defended the use of several chemicals found to pose major adverse health effects, manipulating his research in favor of industry interests. This could spell trouble for public health and safety, particularly in low-income communities and communities where residents are predominately people of color—which often includes military bases. Read more >