Global Warming and National Security
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Nobody doubts that dealing with global warming will be expensive, so supporters of climate change legislation are raising questions of national security. Is that a diversionary tactic or will climate change increase terrorism, force mass migration and destabilize entire regions? Also, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas threatens to retire. On Reporter's Notebook, we ask David Plough, the man credited with running a "perfect" campaign for Barak Obama, what happened on Tuesday?
Banner image: The Brooklyn Bridge is viewed from the shore at a park in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. A new report finds that rising sea levels due to global warming threatens some of the world's major cities. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Making News
Palestinian Leader Abbas Threatens to Retire ()
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told his allies yesterday he would not run for re-election. The King of Jordan and the presidents of Egypt and Israel called and urged him to reconsider. Abbas announced his final decision today in Ramallah. Howard Schneider is Jerusalem Bureau chief for the Washington Post.
Guests:
- Howard Schneider: Jerusalem Bureau Chief, Washington Post
Main Topic
Global Warming and National Security ()
Despite a Republican boycott, Democrats today jammed a cap-and-trade climate change bill though the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Chairwoman Barbara Boxer of California said the Republican demand was "duplicative and a waste of taxpayer dollars." With just a month until a United Nations conference in Copenhagen, they wanted to show the world that Congress is ready for action on global warming. Republicans, and some Democrats, are worried about the cost of mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases, so supporters have raised a new question: Do melting icecaps, violent storms, rising sea levels and drought threaten global stability and America's national security?
Guests:
- Darren Samuelsohn: Senior Reporter, Environment and Energy Daily, @dsamuelsohn
- James Carafano (@JJCarafano): Senior Research Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, @JJCarafano
- Geoffrey Dabelko: Director, Woodrow Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program
- Stephan Faris: author, 'Forecast'
Links:
- Jared Diamond's 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'
- Environment and Energy Daily on the global warming debate
- Carafano's testimony to Senate committee on why national security is not a good argument for global warming legislation
- Dabelko against oversimplifying the effects of climate change on global security
- Faris' 'Forecast: The Surprising – and Immediate -- Consequences of Climate Change'
Reporter's Notebook
The Obama Campaign from an Insider's Point of View ()
When he talks about the mechanics of last year's campaign, President Obama says he couldn't have done it without David Plouffe. That's from the jacket of Plouffe's new book, The Audacity to Win. Does the President have the audacity to govern? We ask the man often called the behind-the-scenes architect of the Obama campaign, one who's kept his head low by staying out of the Obama Administration.
Guests:
- David Plouffe: former Campaign Manager for Barack Obama
Links:
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