Congressman Jason Crow Introduces Bill to Create Permanent Climate Security Center

Statement

Under Republican & Democratic Admins, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Has Highlighted the Climate-Driven Global Security Threat
Congressman Jason Crow (CO-06) today introduced legislation to create a permanent Climate Security Advisory Center to help the intelligence community analyze climate-based security threats. Under both Republican and Democratic Administrations, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has underscored the ongoing security threat we face as the climate crisis worsens.

Acknowledging the long-term impacts of the climate crisis, Crow's Climate Security Intelligence Act makes permanent a temporary Climate Security Advisory Council, which currently exists under the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). The Climate Security Center will continue assisting with analysis of climate security and its impacts, facilitating the flow of climate data between intelligence agencies and non-intelligence agencies studying climate change, and ensuring that the intelligence community is prioritizing climate change in carrying out its activities.

"Under both Republican and Democratic Administrations, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has recognized the security threat we face because of the climate crisis. While we take meaningful steps to address this crisis, it's essential we also equip our intelligence community to study and prepare for increasing climate-related security challenges. Making the Climate Security Council a permanent fixture of ODNI will help keep Americans safe and secure as we address these challenges," said Congressman Jason Crow.

According to the ODNI 2021 Threat Assessment:

The degradation and depletion of soil, water, and biodiversity resources almost certainly will threaten infrastructure, health, water, food, and security, especially in many developing countries that lack the capacity to adapt quickly to change, and increase the potential for conflict over competition for scarce natural resources.

2020 tied for the hottest year on record, following a decade of rising temperatures from 2010 to 2019. Arctic Sea ice minimum coverage reached its second lowest level on record in 2020, highlighting the increasing accessibility of resources and sea lanes in a region where competition is ratcheting up among the United States, China, and Russia.
In 2020, six Atlantic storms passed a "rapid intensification threshold" because of warming temperatures, representing more damaging storms that offer less time for populations--as well as US military installations on the Gulf Coast--to evacuate or prepare.
The 2020 storm season hit Central America particularly hard. The region already was suffering from several years of alternating drought and storms, increasing the potential for large-scale migration from the region as pandemic-related restrictions on movement ease.
Environmental degradation from pollution and poor land management practices will continue to threaten human health and risk social unrest. Air pollution was the fourth leading risk factor for premature death globally in 2019, resulting in approximately 7 million deaths, and has been found to increase the susceptibility to and severity of COVID-19 infections. Despite temporary improvements in air quality globally in 2020 resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns, by September 2020 air pollution had returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The threat from climate change will intensify because global energy usage and related emissions continue to increase, putting the Paris Agreement goals at risk. Even in the midst of a global pandemic that shuttered countries and significantly reduced travel, global CO2 emissions only decreased by less [ 19 ] than 6-percent in 2020. By December 2020, they had rebounded to previous monthly levels as countries began to reopen, an indication of how strongly emissions are coupled to economic growth.
See the full text of Congressman Crow's legislation here.

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