The president links enviromental concerns to national security and also insists ‘the highest possible standards’ had been set for Shell’s oil drilling in Arctic.
President Barack Obama took to Twitter on Thursday to answer climate change-related questions.
“Mr @POTUS,” began @ZCarlander, based out of Sweden, “in the state of the union speech you said that climate change is a national security issue. Can you explain why it is? #AskPOTUS”.
Minutes later Obama’s answer came back, just three characters short of his 140-character limit: “More severe weather events lead to displacement, scarcity, stressed populations; all increase likelihood of global conflict.”
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Zebulon Carlander @ZCarlander
Mr @POTUS, in the state of the union speech you said that climate change is a national security issue. Can you explain why it is? #AskPOTUS
Obama did not just rise to the task of linking climate change to national security in the space of a line or two. He also took up the question of climate change as a moral issue, aligning himself with Pope Francis, or @Pontifex, and other religious leaders.
Climate change is a moral and religious issue because “we have a moral obligation to the most vulnerable and the next generation”, @POTUS wrote.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Obama took one question that has raised hackles in environmental circles recently, relating to his administration’s controversial move earlier this month to allow the oil giant Shell back into the US Arctic for exploratory drilling.
The move, condemned by environmental groups who have warned of the likelihood of a catastrophic oil spill, has tarnished an environmental legacy that Obama is trying to build in his final year and a half as president.
Obama wrote that oil exploration in the region couldn’t be prevented, and as a result “the highest possible standards” had been set.
Obama added that an original Shell proposal had been rejected, which showed the administration was “serious” – presumably referring to setting high standards related to secure drilling in the region.
Press link for more: Rose Hackman | theguardian.com
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