WATERTOWN, N.Y. (Tribune News Service) — U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, has reiterated her support for addressing climate change following a report that references to it were removed or played down in the Department of Defense report presented to Congress in January on climate related risks to military infrastructure.

"If the report is accurate, we would certainly want to know the reasons for the changes," wrote Tom Flanigan, Ms. Stefanik's spokesman,in an email to the Times. "Congresswoman Stefanik agrees with Secretary (of Defense James) Mattis that climate change is a national security threat and it should be treated as such in Department of Defense reports."

The story, first published in the Washington Post, compared a draft version of the Department of Defense report from 2016 and the final one presented to Congress this year.

According to the Post, the earlier version of the document contains numerous references to "climate change" that were omitted or altered to "extreme weather" or simply "climate" in the final report.

While the phrase "climate change" appears 23 separate times in the draft report, the final version used it just once.

Mr. Flanigan did not say whether Ms. Stefanik thought the revisions were due to a change in attitude by the White House toward climate change – under President Barack Obama in 2016 and President Donald J. Trump this year.

Mr. Flanigan did direct the Times to an open letter signed by Ms. Stefanik in January that protested the absence of climate change in President Trump's National Security Strategy.

The 2018 National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress did include references to climate change, something the letter made a point of noting.

___

(c)2018 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.)

Visit Watertown Daily Times at www.watertowndailytimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

