Tuesday, September 8th

Today a group of government leaders issued a statement discussing climate change as a national security issue and calling for a bipartisan plan to address the U.S.’s role.

The group of 32 signatories – including eight former Senators, three former National Security Advisors, two former Secretaries of State, a former Secretary of Defense, and both the Chair and Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission – was convened by the Partnership for a Secure America (PSA). A panel of members discussed the need for a bipartisan bill to reduce emissions leading to climate change, in order to improve foreign opinion of the U.S. A video of Senator Joseph Lieberman’s remarks can be found on the PSA’s website.

The statement calls for “a clear, comprehensive, realistic and broadly bipartisan plan” that will allow the U.S. to lead the development of a global strategy to mitigate and adapt to the climate change crisis, according to the statement. One speaker said that the U.S. goal should be to “make oil like salt”: a valuable commodity but no longer the subject of war.

For more information, please see the news articles in Reuter’s, Security Director News, and the Miami Herald.