POLITICS JANUARY 30, 2019 / 5:55 PM / UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO

U.S. lawmakers urge Pentagon to revise climate change report

Timothy Gardner
3 MIN READ

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Democratic U.S. lawmakers, including the House armed services committee chairman, on Wednesday urged the Pentagon to revise a report on climate change, saying it omitted required items such as a list of the 10 most vulnerable bases.

The Pentagon’s report, released on Jan. 10, said climate change was a national security issue and listed 79 domestic military installations at risk from floods, drought, encroaching deserts, wildfires and, in Alaska, thawing permafrost.

But the report, required by a defense policy law signed by President Donald Trump in 2017, did not include the top 10 list, and details of specific mitigation measures to make bases more resilient to climate change, including the costs. It also failed to list any Marine Corps bases or installations overseas.

U.S. Representative Adam Smith, the chairman of the House committee, said the Trump administration’s report was inadequate. “It demonstrates a continued unwillingness to seriously recognize and address the threat that climate change poses to our national security and military readiness,” Smith said in a release.

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