AUGUSTA — Two events in Fallujah, Iraq, convinced Marine Sgt. Alex Cornell du Houx there’s a link between national security and climate change.

A farmer who couldn’t make money off his land turned to terrorism instead and tried to blow up Cornell du Houx’s vehicle.

“He had been given money to set an (explosive) in the road,” he said. “Unfortunately, extremists use vulnerable situations to recruit.”

In another instance, he saw long lines of people waiting for gasoline and diesel fuel.

“It struck me how crippled the country was because of its dependence on a single source of energy,” he said.

Cornell du Houx, who serves in the Maine House as a Democrat from Brunswick, is taking the message that climate change leads to instability to Copenhagen next week as part of a group of veterans called Operation Free.

They leave Sunday for Denmark to be part of the international conference on climate change. More than a dozen Mainers are planning to take part in the conference in various capacities.

While there, Cornell du Houx also plans to participate in a panel in which he will talk about what Maine has done to address global warming, through weatherization and reductions of carbon emissions.

A first-term legislator, Cornell du Houx serves on the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee. He is a reservist in the Marine Corps.

The Truman National Security Project, based in Washington D.C., is paying for the trip.

Cornell du Houx said that while most people might not make the connection immediately between climate change and national security, once they understand, they want to take action.

Operation Free believes that countries suffering from droughts and floods become unstable and make good breeding grounds for terrorists, according to the Web site.

Also, countries such as the United States and other places that are so reliant on foreign oil or natural gas are vulnerable.

“Instinctively, people do get they don’t want to be dependent on a foreign state for something they need,” he said.

Susan Cover — 620-7015

scover@centralmaine.com

Comments (0) · Leave a Comment

There are currently no comments.