ASP CEO BGen Stephen Cheney in Courthouse News
On September 11, 2019, ASP CEO BGen Stephen Cheney was quoted in an article from Courthouse News on the effect climate change will have on the U.S. economy. The article highlighted testimony given before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development, and Monetary Policy.
Congress has drafted legislation appropriating more than $600 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2020. However, BGen Cheney points out that defense planners must consider the effects climate change will have on the U.S. military.
BG Cheney says,
“Naval bases are going underwater. Long term mitigation is the solution but as far as some are concerned, that ship has left port. Sailors are going underwater, all bases are threatened here and around the world.”
BGen Cheney provided numerous examples of how climate change is affecting the U.S. military. Parris Island had to be evacuated in preparation for Hurricane Dorian. Tyndall Air Force Base was suffered severe damage after Hurricane Michael last heat. Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, has intermittently shut down due to excessive heat. A NORAD base in Alaska is sinking through melting permafrost, and a U.S. Marine brigade in the Indian Ocean is about to go under water.
BGen Cheney added,
“The sad part is when you look at the documents coming out of the White House and Pentagon, in their national security strategies, there’s not a mention of the world climate change. It did in the past. Congress must tell them to consider this a critical threat.”
Check out American Security Project’s Military Base Resilience website for more information on how climate change is affecting the U.S. military.
Read the rest of the article on the House Financial Services Committee testimony and watch the hearing.
