President to Declare Climate Change a National Security Threat

Excerpts from a commencement speech describe how the president will define climate change as a national security threat

• By Matt Holden
• May 20, 2015

According to a speech delivered by the White House, President Obama will use a commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to argue that climate change is a threat to America’s national defense.

"Climate change will impact every country on the planet. No nation is immune," Obama will say, according to advance excerpts of his speech released by the White House. "So I am here today to say that climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security, and, make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country."

This comes on the heels of a national security strategy document the White House released in February, calling climate change “an urgent and growing threat to our national security.”

Obama will direct this message to the Coast Guard, who will face specific challenges due to climate change according to a report. Some installations are likely to be flooded if sea levels continue to rise.

"You are part of the first generation of officers to begin your service in a world where the effects of climate change are so clearly upon us," Obama's prepared speech says. "Climate change will shape how every one of our services plan, operate, train, equip, and protect their infrastructure, today and for the long term."