More than 50 former American military and intelligence officials have written to President Donald Trump warning him against creating a White House panel on climate change, The Hill reports.
The American Security Project and the Center for Climate and Security organized the letter from fifty-eight former officials, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, former Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, and retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal. They wrote to Trump to express their concerns about his new council on climate change, and its inclusion of members that question widely-accepted science.
"It is dangerous to have national security analysis conform to politics," their letter states. "Our officials’ job is to ensure that we are prepared for current threats and future contingencies. We cannot do that if the scientific studies that inform our threat assessments are undermined."
Climate change, according to the former officials, is a “threat multiplier” that may lead to existing security problems getting worse.
The former officials called on Trump to "trust and heed the analysis of your own national security agencies and the science agencies on which their assessments depend.”
"Our climate will continue to change, and the threats will continue to grow," the letter reads. "We spent our careers pledged to protect the United States from all threats, including this one. Let’s drop the politics, and allow our national security and science agencies to do their jobs."