Climate change poses a threat

To the editor:

President Barack Obama recently delivered a commencement speech to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in which he highlighted the national security threat posed by climate change. And he's not alone.

The Department of Defense has called climate change a 'threat multiplier,” one that not only increases the circumstances of conflict, but also diminishes military readiness.

This is especially relevant to Coast Guard cadets, as they will likely be dispatched for response to extreme weather events made more frequent and more severe in part due to climate change. The interference is made even greater by the proximity of naval installations to the coast, putting them at direct risk of being flooded by sea level rise that is accelerated by climate change.

That hasn't stopped Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, from leading a handful of climate deniers in Congress to try everything in their power to block climate action, including the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan, which sets the first ever federal limits on carbon pollution from existing power plants. Fortunately for our environment and our national security, they don't have a legal leg to stand on and most states and communities are ignoring their attempts. The majority of Americans know what McConnell is trying to deny: that climate change poses a serious, immediate threat to public health and national security. And the majority of Americans know that climate action can't wait any longer.

Cory Denton

Cedar Falls