Making Climate a National Security Issue Downplays Human Cost
Biden’s climate czar has a seat on the National Security Council, but environmentalists should be cautious of embracing the military’s approach
Photographer: Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images
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John Kerry’s appointment this week as the U.S.’s first climate czar was also the first time climate was given an official spot on the National Security Council.
The move was symbolic, to some extent, expressing a desire by the Biden administration to treat the “climate crisis as the urgent national security threat that it is,” as Kerry tweeted. Progressive environmentalists are urging President-elect Joe Biden to go even further and declare the issue a national emergency—the same tactic outgoing President Donald Trump used to fund part of his border wall.