Wednesday, June 30, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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In his opening remarks to the security panel at the April 22 Leaders Summit on Climate, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated:
“Today, no nation can find lasting security without addressing the climate crisis. ... Rising temperatures and more frequent and intense extreme weather events in Africa and Central America threaten millions with drought, hunger and displacement. As families risk their lives in search of safety and security, mass migration leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and radicalization, all of which undermine stability.”
In the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, warming oceans are damaging coral reefs and fisheries, while severe drought is causing families to abandon their farms. To quote climate scientist Edwin Castellanos of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala: “Extreme poverty may be the primary reason people leave. But climate change is intensifying all the existing factors.”
Remarkably, in a 2012 interview, then-Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson claimed: “Changes to weather patterns that move crop production areas around — we’ll adapt to that.” However, when people leave a place that global warming is rendering uninhabitable, moving is their adaptation. And desperate migrants are often demonized for this.
The United States stands at a crossroads. As the greatest cumulative emitter, what role will our nation play in helping to heal our increasingly hotter and inhospitable world?
Let’s heed Austin’s closing words: “None of us can tackle this problem alone. We share this planet, and shared threats demand shared solutions.”
