The White House tried to muzzle a State Department official from discussing climate science in his testimony last week, according to the Washington Post.
“Climate change effects could undermine important international systems on which the U.S. is critically dependent, such as trade routes, food and energy supplies, the global economy, and domestic stability abroad,” Rod Schoonover, a State Department intelligence officer, told members of the House Intelligence Committee in person. “Most countries, if not all, are already unable to fully respond to the risks posed by climate-linked hazards under present conditions.”
While he was present to answer questions orally, he did not provide written testimony for the permanent Congressional Record in advance of the hearinga common practice for those appearing before Congressafter the White House refused to approve it. The State Department likewise refused to edit out the language the White House had rejected. One of those who objected to Schoonover’s written testimony was National Security Council official William Happer, an architect of the Trump administration’s climate policy and a known climate science disputer.
According to Francesco Femia, the founder of the Center for Climate and Security, an organization that works to elevate the security implications of climate change, “Any attempt to suppress information on the security risks of climate change threatens to leave the American public vulnerable and unsafe.”
If you want to dig in deeper, this tweet thread from our friend Andrew Holland at the American Security Project is both frightening and entertaining.
Here’s Josh, spending his Saturday night raging against the dying of the light.
Keep up the good fight, Josh. https://t.co/0FbAP4zLaI
Andrew Holland (@TheAndyHolland) June 8, 2019
Hands down, Happer is not this week’s, but this month’s climate jester.