Many of us have long considered the effects climate change is having upon our fragile planet and the beloved community. However, the following article puts our reflection in an entirely new
light. While somewhat lengthy, we thought it important to bring it to you in its entirety.

PENTAGON TELLS BUSH: CLIMATE CHANGE WILL DESTROY US
by Mark Townsend and Paul Harris in New York, The Observer, 2/22/2004

Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of
lives in wars and natural disasters..

A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that
major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a 'Siberian'
climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt
across the world.

The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy
as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy
supplies. The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy
to its contents.

 'Disruption and conflict will be endemic features of life,' concludes the Pentagon analysis. 'Once
again, warfare would define human life.'

The findings will prove humiliating to the Bush administration, which has repeatedly denied that
climate change even exists. Experts said that they will also make unsettling reading for a
President who has insisted national defence is a priority.

The report was commissioned by influential Pentagon defence adviser Andrew Marshall, who
has held considerable sway on US military thinking over the past three decades. He was the man
behind a sweeping recent review aimed at transforming the American military under Defence
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Climate change 'should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a US national security concern',
say the authors, Peter Schwartz, CIA consultant and former head of planning at Royal
Dutch/Shell Group, and Doug Randall of the California-based Global Business Network.

An imminent scenario of catastrophic climate change is 'plausible and would challenge United
States national security in ways that should be considered immediately', they conclude. As early
as next year widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval for millions.

Last week the Bush administration came under heavy fire from a large body of respected
scientists who claimed that it cherry-picked science to suit its policy agenda and suppressed
studies that it did not like. Jeremy Symons, a former whistleblower at the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), said that suppression of the report for four months was a further
example of the White House trying to bury the threat of climate change.

Senior climatologists, however, believe that their verdicts could prove the catalyst in forcing
Bush to accept climate change as a real and happening phenomenon. They also hope it will
convince the United States to sign up to global treaties to reduce the rate of climatic change.
A group of eminent UK scientists recently visited the White House to voice their fears over
global warming, part of an intensifying drive to get the US to treat the issue seriously. Sources
have told The Observer that American officials appeared extremely sensitive about the issue
when faced with complaints that America's public stance appeared increasingly out of touch.

One even alleged that the White House had written to complain about some of the comments
attributed to Professor Sir David King, Tony Blair's chief scientific adviser, after he branded the
President's position on the issue as indefensible.

Among those scientists present at the White House talks were Professor John Schellnhuber,
former chief environmental adviser to the German government and head of the UK's leading
group of climate scientists at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. He said that the
Pentagon's internal fears should prove the 'tipping point' in persuading Bush to accept climatic
change.

Sir John Houghton, former chief executive of the Meteorological Office - and the first senior
figure to liken the threat of climate change to that of terrorism - said: 'If the Pentagon is sending
out that sort of message, then this is an important document indeed.'

Bob Watson, chief scientist for the World Bank and former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, added that the Pentagon's dire warnings could no longer be ignored.

'Can Bush ignore the Pentagon? It's going be hard to blow off this sort of document. Its hugely
embarrassing. After all, Bush's single highest priority is national defence. The Pentagon is no
wacko, liberal group, generally speaking it is conservative. If climate change is a threat to
national security and the economy, then he has to act. There are two groups the Bush
Administration tend to listen to, the oil lobby and the Pentagon,' added Watson.

'You've got a President who says global warming is a hoax, and across the Potomac river you've
got a Pentagon preparing for climate wars. It's pretty scary when Bush starts to ignore his own
government on this issue,' said Rob Gueterbock of Greenpeace.

Already, according to Randall and Schwartz, the planet is carrying a higher population than it
can sustain. By 2020 'catastrophic' shortages of water and energy supply will become
increasingly harder to overcome, plunging the planet into war. They warn that 8,200 years ago
climatic conditions brought widespread crop failure, famine, disease and mass migration of
populations that could soon be repeated.

Randall told The Observer that the potential ramifications of rapid climate change would create
global chaos. 'This is depressing stuff,' he said. 'It is a national security threat that is unique
because there is no enemy to point your guns at and we have no control over the threat.'

Randall added that it was already possibly too late to prevent a disaster happening. 'We don't
know exactly where we are in the process. It could start tomorrow and we would not know for
another five years,' he said.

 'The consequences for some nations of the climate change are unbelievable. It seems obvious
that cutting the use of fossil fuels would be worthwhile.'

So dramatic are the report's scenarios, Watson said, that they may prove vital in the US elections.
Democratic frontrunner John Kerry is known to accept climate change as a real problem.
Scientists disillusioned with Bush's stance are threatening to make sure Kerry uses the Pentagon
report in his campaign.

The fact that Marshall is behind its scathing findings will aid Kerry's cause. Marshall, 82, is a
Pentagon legend who heads a secretive think-tank dedicated to weighing risks to national
security called the Office of Net Assessment. Dubbed 'Yoda' by Pentagon insiders who respect
his vast experience, he is credited with being behind the Department of Defence's push on
ballistic-missile defence.

Symons, who left the EPA in protest at political interference, said that the suppression of the
report was a further instance of the White House trying to bury evidence of climate change. 'It is
yet another example of why this government should stop burying its head in the sand on this
issue.'

Symons said the Bush administration's close links to high-powered energy and oil companies
was vital in understanding why climate change was received sceptically in the Oval Office. 'This
administration is ignoring the evidence in order to placate a handful of large energy and oil
companies,' he added.

Guardian Unlimited - Guardian Newspapers Limited 2000
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1153530,00.html

For More Info on Climate Change: http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange

ACTIONS
1. Send this Bulletin to your elected representatives (if possible use the FAX) and tell them you
want climate change placed at the top of their priority list.

2. Share this Bulletin widely with family, friends, coworkers and your faith community.
3. Reflect upon your own lifestyle, especially as it relates to the consumption of fossil fuels.
4. During this election year, consider who will help us face up to the scenario described herein
and who will help us to respond in a life giving manner.
5. Write a letter to your local paper asking them to cover this issue in some depth to help educate
the public.