The Resolution Expressing the Sense of the DNC that Climate Change Poses an Urgent and Severe Threat to our National Security was passed by the Democratic National Committee’s Resolutions Committee at its meeting on August 23, 2018, in Chicago, IL. Submitted by: Susie Shannon, California Christine Pelosi, California.
This resolution affirms the 2016 commitment that the Democratic Party made by including the need for WWII-scale climate mobilization on their official platform. The full text is below:
Thank you @DNC partners from labor and climate action working together to pass our Resolution “Expressing the Sense of the #DNC that #ClimateChange Poses an Urgent and Severe Threat to our National Security”
Together we must; we WILL #ActOnClimate! pic.twitter.com/0AfWO5Bf40— (((sfpelosi))) (@sfpelosi) August 23, 2018
WHEREAS, the Pentagon has identified climate change as a threat multiplier with immediate risks to our national security; and
WHEREAS, the Department of STATE has identified climate change as a national security threat; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Homeland Security has identified climate change as a top homeland security risk; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Defense has identified climate change as a present, urgent, and growing threat to our national security that is already contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over food and water; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the National Intelligence Council assessed that during the next five years national security risks linked to climate change will arise mostly from extreme weather events, and further warned that the possibility of abrupt, dramatic climate change cannot be discounted; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense issued a climate change directive establishing policy and assigning responsibilities to help safeguard the economy, infrastructure, environment, and natural resources of the United States; and
WHEREAS, the Center for Climate and Security, a non-partisan institute advised by 43 military, national security, homeland security, intelligence, and foreign policy experts, identifies climate change as a high-probability, high-impact risk with very large and widespread impacts on security; and warns that climate change threatens to make fragile states like Syria even more fragile, leading to the potential for destabilizing violence; and
WHEREAS, according to the WMO, 16 of the 17 hottest years ever recorded have all occurred this century; and
WHEREAS, thousands of scientists from 195 countries have contributed to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which has concluded there is a 95-to-100 percent probability that humans are the dominant cause of observed atmospheric heating since the mid-20th century; and
WHEREAS, atmospheric concentrations of the primary heat-trapping gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), have increased by 40 percent since pre-industrial times, primarily from the burning of fossil fuels; and
WHEREAS, this global temperature increase is contributing to the spread of infectious diseases, the disappearance of mountain glaciers, the death of the world coral reefs, the drowning of island nations, the mass migration of climate refugees, and widespread famine; and
WHEREAS, a 2012 study commissioned by 20 governments whose nations are most threatened by climate change estimated 400,000 people are already dying globally each year from climate change, mainly due to hunger and communicable diseases that affect mostly children.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, in light of the catastrophic consequences facing our country, our planet, and civilization from accelerating climate change, the Democratic National Committee affirms its support for a national and inclusive mobilization to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with the ultimate goal of moving us towards a near-zero greenhouse gas emissions economy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, such a mobilization must consider the devastating impact that some policies can have on workers, families and entire communities, and include a serious commitment to addressing those impacts; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT TO ADDRESS THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY, THE DNC SUPPORTS POLICIES THAT COMMIT THE UNITED STATES TO IMMEDIATELY LAUNCHING A NATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC MOBILIZATION WHICH INCLUDES LEADING A GLOBAL EFFORT TO MOBILIZE NATIONS TO RESTORE A SAFE CLIMATE; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, THAT THE DNC, IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE STABILIZATION OF THE U.S. ECONOMY, EMBRACES A RENEWABLE ENERGY FUTURE TO DRIVE JOB GROWTH, PUT MILLIONS OF AMERICANS BACK TO WORK IN GOOD-PAYING UNION JOBS THAT PROVIDE HIGH WAGES, PENSIONS, SECURE RETIREMENTS AND SAFE WORK PLACES, ADDRESS THE DETRIMENTAL HEALTH IMPACTS OF POLLUTION AND EXTREME WEATHER AND TO SAFEGUARD AND REBUILD THE ECONOMY, DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING, INFRASTRUCTURE, ENVIRONMENT, AND NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE UNITED STATES.
