global warming is MILITARY problem?

by jackie sheeler on August 9, 2009

have these people lost their fucking minds? lead story in today’s NYT is how the pentagon is now taking “a second look” at climate change because it is likely to create food and water shortages in other countries that would then backlash against the US for the role it has played in warming the planet with its — with our — reckless squandering of resources (like the fricking container store using ten plastic bags when a yard of twine would do). they are concerned that recent cuts in the defense budget would leave us unable to cope with such a backlash.

they finally acknowledge the reality of climate change, and see it (as they see everything) as a heckuva good reason to beef up the armed forces. build a few-more gas-guzzling tanks and fighter jets.

this sentence is a mindblower:

But a growing number of policy makers say that the world’s rising temperatures, surging seas and melting glaciers are a direct threat to the national interest.

hello? earth to policymakers? yes, destruction of the environment of the planet on which we live and breathe is a direct threat if ever there was one. and not because of what it’s going to cost in humanitarian aide when climate-induced disaster strikes the sub-saharan nations.

global-warming2climate change is not a national, or even international, problem. it’s planetary. yet these pentagon assholes are worrying about how reducing our overbloated military budget could leave us unable to defend against waterless marauding hordes from the desert when earth enters her final days. (though we may well see waterless hordes in california first.)

let me restate that, because it won’t be the earth’s final days. no matter how badly we fuck up the atmosphere, we haven’t (yet) done anything to knock earth off her orbit. if the nukes start flying, of course, it’ll be another story.

we’re not destroying the planet itself, only its capacity to support human life. while the initial shit may well hit the fan somewhere else, soon enough it will be flying everywhere.

there’s no such thing as localized climate change. we’re talking human extinction.

when will our leaders take off the blinders of their various specialties (and special interests) and say holy shit, houston, we’ve got a problem and if we don’t fix it RIGHT NOW all of us are fucked. when?

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{ 2 comments }

Larissa Shmailo August 9, 2009 at 9:32 pm

Desertification in Africa has killed and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. This is our fault. Are people going to come kick our asses for our tunnel-vision selfishness? Hell, yes.

Welcome to the fourth reich.

Cyndi August 10, 2009 at 12:33 am

Taking into account the size of the USA in comparison to all other countries, the obvious conclusion is that, yes, we consume more, buy more and waste more than any other country just due to size itself. After that our greed and materialism comes into play. China has it’s issues as well (not to mention it’s desire to lead-poison the world and it’s children….) However, I doubt future generations will be worrying about whom to blame for global warming when they can’t figure out where their next food source will come from due to crop failure, Monsanto altered and genetically engineered food contamination and drought. Some needs are more prioritized than others. The blame will come later, but by then we all may not be in such a great position to care if you consider the next great war will solve the entire issue in one great nuclear flash, be it from North Korea or even us.

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