“Promoting Prosperity with Climate Change Policy” February 7, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in energy, environment, national security.comments closed
Clinton Global Initiative: General Clark’s Statement on Climate Change
Climate Change Policy in the United States
PRESIDENT JOSÉ MARÍA FIGUERES: General Clark, your leadership is widely recognized in many, many fields, and of course one in which you are an absolute expert is in the field of national security. What are the linkages between climate change and national security? And if we were to continue on the course on which we now are, what would be the unintended consequences in terms of a national security policy?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, thank you very much for the question, President Figueres. Let me just say how pleased I am to be here in this group and on this panel, especially with Senator Clinton. We go back to the 1980s in talking about the Mediterranean Basin. And I remember ecological discussions there.
But President Figueres and I … when you were the President of Costa Rica and I was the Commander in Chief for the Southern Command, we had a conference down in Bariloche, Argentina. And I flew down on an aircraft one afternoon with Senator Bob Graham and his wife. And we flew down the … we landed in Peru, we refueled and we flew down the coast. And we looked at the Andes Mountains from the west as the sun was setting. It was absolutely spectacular.
And you know, the Andes are very, very high. Much higher than the Rockies. They’re 18, 19, 22,000 foot peaks. And then, we noticed that most of these peaks had no snowfall. None. And we were just coming out of the southern hemisphere’s winter. And that’s when I first began to take very seriously the discussions of global warming. Because before you see it, it looks academic.
We were at conferences. We went around South America which seems to have been affected more quickly, even than North America. And we learned about the impact of global warming and the ozone hole and the ultraviolet radiation in places like Uruguay, where people were warned not to be on the beach during daylight, during noon, between 11 and 2 p.m., because of extreme ultraviolet due to the movement of the ozone hole over Uruguay.
And when you see these things, you realize that man made conditions do impact the environment and how we live. So I take global warming very seriously. And if you look at all the scientific projections on where it’s headed, you have to view the consequences of it as potentially so severe, it has to be considered a national security problem. There’s just no other way to deal with it.
Statement on Clean Air Plan February 7, 2007
Posted by jenmarie in 2004 platform, environment, jobs, science/tech.comments closed
New Hampshire
December 9, 2003
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Today I would like to focus on one element of our environment – the air we breathe.
Our atmosphere sustains life. Though the atmosphere seems cast from the Earth’s surface it’s actually quite thin. If you walked ten miles, you will have walked the expanse of the atmosphere. Unfortunately, throughout most of our modern history, we have treated our atmosphere as a dump for airborne industrial byproducts.
America’s efforts to address air pollution are in many ways a great success story. In 1970, concerns about the health toll of air pollution led to the passage of the Clean Air Act. It was a landmark legislative achievement and a product of bipartisan cooperation, pushed by Democrats in the Congress and signed into law by a Republican president.
Under the Bush administration, the bipartisan cooperation that led to this landmark achievement has broken down. We lack the leadership necessary for such an outstanding environmental achievement. Instead, the President is moving relentlessly to dismantle environmental protections and undo a generation of progress.
His so-called “Clear Skies” legislation, for instance, would weaken public health protections against dangerous soot, smog pollution and toxic mercury.
Airborn mercury eventually settles in water, enters the food chain and is ingested by people. It attacks the brain and nervous system, poses special risks for pregnant women and damages the immune and cardiovascular systems of adults.
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My Clean Air Plan will improve America’s health and America’s economy. Compared to the Bush administration’s policies, my Clean Air Plan will prevent more than 100,000 premature deaths and more than two million asthma attacks through the year 2020.
Specifically, my four-part plan will:
- Set tough standards for the worst sources of air pollution, starting with electric power plants;
- Crack down on corporate polluters;
- Use American technology and market-based approaches to meet air pollution challenges with innovative, job-creating solutions; and
- Restore trust in the environmental stewardship of the White House.
Power plants produce huge amounts of air pollutants that threaten the health of millions. To protect the health of all Americans, I will set tough new standards for power plants, such as those in Senator James Jeffords’ Clean Power Act.
We must also act aggressively to reduce air toxins. I will fully implement the Clean Air Act, set new national standards for the most dangerous pollutants, and revoke the Bush Administration’s efforts to allow older plants to continue polluting at high rates even as they undertake massive expansion.
Plus, I’ll put the environmental cop back on the beat.
Global warming is a national security problem October 4, 2006
Posted by faithinwes in environment, national security.comments closed
“You have to see it that way and treat it that way in order to have an impact on it.”
Interesting viewpoint and one that should appeal to a broad audience. In this broadcast of the ClarkCast podcast, “Leadership & Global Warming,” Wes Clark warns of melting glaciers, a sluggish Gulf Stream, powerful storms like Katrina every five years, and release of spontaneously combustible methane into the atmosphere, eating up oxygen and smothering life. Loss of productive agricultural terrain and water resources worldwide leading to global disorder and geopolitical chaos. If you don’t think Global Warming is about national security, think again.
Download or listen on iTunes. If you would like to talk about it, here.
