An Air Force reserve pararescueman from the 920th Rescue Wing scans the ravaged Texas landscape in the aftermath of hurricane Ike. Photograph: Tech. Sgt. Paul Flipse/U.S. Air Force photo
Matt Smith, VICE News: The Pentagon Just Issued Marching Orders on Climate Change
A bit over a year after identifying climate change as a "significant challenge" for the US military, the US Department of Defense has given its top officials orders for handling the hazards posed by a warming world.
The boring-but-important 12-page document issued in January tells the armed service chiefs and top civilian officials to identify how climate change will affect their missions, figure out how to manage any risks it poses, and factor those into their planning. It gives specific tasks to various Defense Department offices and regional commands, from determining how higher sea levels or longer droughts affect US bases to what new gear might be needed to work in a thawing Arctic.
"Although this looks very bureaucratic in nature, I would actually give the department full credit for it," said David Titley, a retired rear admiral who served as the Navy's top oceanographer. "I think this is one of the more significant steps they've done, because they've linked that high-level strategy down to a daily to-do list."
Read more ....
Update: Pentagon orders commanders to prioritize climate change in all military actions (Washington Times).
WNU Editor: This directive only means one thing .... the creation of a new and powerful bureaucracy in the Pentagon.