Full-page newspaper advertisement by ex-military and foreign policy leaders is aimed at Republicans who want to block action on cutting carbon emissions

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Nearly 50 leaders of America’s defence and foreign policy establishment are calling on political and business leaders to “think past tomorrow” and lead the fight on climate change.



In a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal the experts – 48 former secretaries of state and defense, national security advisers, diplomats and members of Congress from both parties – say it is time for America to claim global leadership on climate change.

The appeal is intended to apply pressure to Republicans in Congress who are trying to defeat Barack Obama’s plan to cut carbon pollution at home and seeking to limit US involvement in negotiations to reach a global deal on fighting climate change in Paris in December.

The letter, endorsed by Madeline Albright, secretary of state under Bill Clinton; Chuck Hagel, secretary of defense under Obama; George Shultz, secretary of state under Ronald Reagan; James Woolsey, CIA director under Clinton; and other prominent retired officials, declares that climate change is indeed a security threat.

“America’s elected leaders and private sector must think past tomorrow to focus on this growing problem, and take action at home and abroad,” the ad says.

“This issue is critically important to the world’s most experienced security planners. The impacts are real, and the costs of inaction are unacceptable.”

The ad hits back against Republicans who are trying to block a global climate deal, arguing that Obama should have to submit any agreement for approval to Congress – where it would almost certainly be defeated.

In the run-up to the Paris climate conference, the Obama administration has rolled out almost daily pronouncements and events – many involving business leaders – to try to build the case that a climate change deal would be good for the economy and the country.



Many of the 48 had made previous such appeals.

The security establishment has long recognised the threat posed by climate change. In 2006 a report by the influential Center for Naval Analysis defined climate change as a “threat multiplier”, adding fuel to conflicts.

The current thinking however sees climate change as a danger on its own – drought, sea-level rise, food shortages, provoking migration and armed conflicts.

“Climate change is certainly going to destabilise situations,” General Ron Keys, retired leader of the air force command, told a seminar at the Wilson Centre think-tank on Wednesday. “There are some countries out there that are just hanging on by their fingernails.”

Generals also fear a rise in deployments dealing with natural disasters – which would play a strain on resources and could potentially leave the US exposed.

“The real problem is what do we do if we are involved in a Fukushima or a hurricane Sandy times three and somebody like Isis decides to make a big push,” Keys said. “If I were a bad guy I’d wait until the US was involved in a big situation and then I would make my move.”