clair031

President Barack Obama addressed the graduating class at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy on May 20, 2015 .   A major theme in his remarks was that the worldwide effects of global warming negatively impact the security of the United States in its military preparedness and military operations. The President unambiguously embraced  the conclusions of the worldwide community of climate scientists that “ climate change is happening ….[t]the science is indisputable….The planet is getting warmer”.   He stated that humanity’s burning of fossil fuels to produce carbon dioxide, a potent greenhouse gas, is a major contributing factor to this problem.   As an example of its effects, the President cited the melting of polar ice and the resulting rise in sea levels worldwide.   By the end of this century, he said, the sea level could rise an additional one to four feet (between 0.31 and 1.2 m).   He pointed out “…the threat of a changing climate cuts to the very core o...

The Obama administration granted conditional approval to Shell Oil Company to begin exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean off the North Slope of Alaska on May 11, 2015 .   In addition to generating grave misgivings about possible environmental damage from drilling accidents, this decision represents a major compromise with the President’s own policies directed toward limiting global warming.   Burning any fossil fuel, such as the oil sought in this project, will add still more carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to the atmosphere, worsening the burden of greenhouse gases added to the earth’s air.   In his second inaugural address of Jan. 21, 2013 , the President committed to “respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations”.   Noting the recurrence of severe weather and climate events, he stated “none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms”. ...