Congressman Crow launches climate-change effort tied to U.S. military security, support

AURORA | With U.S. senior officials warning that a warming planet will affect the nation’s military and national security, Aurora Congressman Jason Crow is optimistic he can draw on pro-military support to pass a bill allowing for more climate change-related studies and mitigation at U.S. military bases and their surrounding communities.

“I can be a unique voice in this discussion because of my military background,” Crow, a former Army Ranger, told the Sentinel. “This is not being driven by politics. This is being driven by a real-world operational need.”

On Wednesday, military and intelligence officials outlined a range of long-term threats arising from climate change, including food and water shortages that can produce political turmoil and land disputes, as well as melting ice in the Arctic that Russia and other adversaries could exploit for commercial gain.

“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 senior State Department analyst focusing on global issues, told members of the House Intelligence Committee. “Most countries, if not all, are already unable to fully respond to the risks posed by climate-linked hazards under present conditions.

Crow’s legislation, called the Military Installation Resilience Assuredness (MIRA) Act, would establish a requirement that installations assess extreme weather vulnerabilities and mitigation efforts at the base and the surrounding communities.

Some large bases are already required to do this, but Crow wants more military installations, such as Aurora’s Buckley Air Force Base, to perform the evaluations, too. His legislation would nearly double that number.

“I learned in the Army that the first step to threats and vulnerabilities is to have a baseline of understanding,” he said. “This (legislation) increases the scope for climate change-related factors and environmental issues.”

The assessments from national security leaders this week laid bare the disconnect between senior officials who regard climate change as a long-term, global threat and the views of President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly broken from that message and even belittled his own government’s views.

“I believe that there’s a change in weather, and I think it changes both ways,” Trump said in an interview on “Good Morning Britain” that aired on Wednesday. “Don’t forget it used to be called global warming. That wasn’t working. Then it was called climate change. Now it’s actually called extreme weather, because with extreme weather, you can’t miss.”

Still, Crow said he feels fairly certain he can pass the MIRA Act because it will be incorporated into the House Armed Services Committee chairman’s markup, which is nearly always approved.

“This has a very likely shot at becoming law,” he said.

The markup is expected to be released next week by Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington. Crow said his act could be law sometime later this summer.

Along with the legislation, Crow is launching a larger discussion he’s calling the Sustainable Power Initiative around climate change —which he says will include roundtable meetings in the Sixth Congressional District and in Washington, D.C.,  with military, economic, defense, energy, and environment industry leaders.

“The Sustainable Power Initiative comes as climate change, over-dependence on fossil fuels, and an aging military infrastructure have left the U.S. military and national security apparatus vulnerable,” a news release about the legislation and initiative from Crow’s office said. “In recent years, extreme weather events have resulted in billions spent for base repairs, such as $3.6 billion for Camp Lejeune following Hurricane Florence. Over 14 years in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is estimated that 52 percent of wartime casualties occurred during land transport missions – predominantly associated with fuel resupply, a result of the U.S. dependence and consumption of fossil fuels.

Crow said he hopes that talks will drive the narrative on the need he and national security officials see for action on climate change and evolving weather events already causing concern.

Peter Kiemel, counselor to the National Intelligence Council at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, singled out the gradual thawing of the Arctic as a concern. He said the melting of sea ice can create increased opportunities for mining, fishing and shipping for Russia by making the path between Asia and North America more navigable.

“As a result, the Arctic is emerging as a new domain of strategic competition,” Kiemel said. “Russia, China and others are dramatically increasing their activities and investments in the region.”

Jeff Ringhausen, senior naval intelligence manager for Russia and Eurasia at the Office of Naval Intelligence, was more cautious in his assessment Wednesday, but still conceded a potential threat to U.S. allies posed by a changing Arctic environment.

He said Russia was working to modernize infrastructure on its northern coast and on some of its Arctic islands, with the goal of establishing itself as an economic force. Though Moscow believes there’s substantial economic potential in the Arctic, U.S. officials aren’t so confident, Ringhausen said.

“Naval intelligence assesses that this economic potential exists, but that the Russian government appears overly optimistic regarding its development in the near and medium term,” he said.

He said that while Arctic shipping is likely to increase as a result of thawing, the region will probably account for only a small portion of overall global shipping.

The more direct threat is to U.S. allies in the Arctic rather than to the U.S. itself, he said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this story