“My focus was on the impact of environmental and climate change on national security, a growing concern of the military and intelligence communities… The White House blocked the submission of my bureau’s written testimony [because] the analysis did not comport with the administration’s position on climate change.” – Rod Schoonover, July 2019.

Dr. Rod Schoonover was a tenured professor when he went to work for the United States intelligence community in 2009. His task was to investigate the science behind climate change and assess any risk associated to national security. One of a handful of intelligence analysts doing work on climate change, the results and prognosis were troubling. Regardless, Schoonover at least had the assurance that he would have an apolitical space to do his job. That all changed in June of 2019 when he was asked to testify in front of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence about the national security concerns from climate change that lie ahead in the coming years.

The night before his testimony he was notified that the Trump administration was blocking his testimony from taking place at all. After ongoing negotiations throughout the evening, Schoonover was reluctantly permitted to give a brief summary of his 11 page report. The report, unfortunately, was never entered into official record. But, you can still read it here.

Watch Dr. Rod Schoonover’s National Security and Climate Change testimony here. His comments begin at minute 12:50.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?461413-1/national-security-climate-change

Music used in this episode by The Great Turtle.

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