The Central Intelligence Agency is stepping up efforts to address the security threats of climate change, opening up new data for researchers to share and collect. The New York Times recently covered the announcement of the new info-sharing program. As they report, “’[CIA] Director [Leon] Panetta believes it is crucial to examine the potential national security implications of phenomena such as desertification, rising sea levels and population shifts,’ Paula Weiss, an agency spokeswoman, said.”

Of course, this great news wasn’t received well by oil-funded so-called think tanks. For example, the self-described “conservative” NCPPR and several media outlets were quick to criticize this move to protect American security.

See Media Matters’ fantastic breakdown of this textbook smear.

While Sean Hannity may claim that “the CIA director redirects manpower to monitor climate change, but is it all the cost — at the cost of our security, your security, your family’s security?” it turns out that “the monitoring program has little or no impact on regular intelligence gathering” according to Federal officials. In fact, the information that is being given by the CIA to the US scientific community is data that is already being collected for other purposes.

“The monitoring program has little or no impact on regular intelligence gathering, federal officials
said, but instead releases secret information already collected or takes advantage of opportunities
to record environmental data when classified sensors are otherwise idle or passing over wilderness.”
– New York Times.

It seems clear that rather than interfere with national and global security, tracking climate change can prevent future conflicts. Nations that are already unstable can become failed states as climate disruption causes famine, flood and refugee crises — Failed states are prime recruiting targets for terrorist groups.

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