DeepSummary
In this episode, Rod Schoonover, the founder of the Ecological Futures Group and former senior scientist at the State Department, discusses the role of science in national security and how climate change is a critical national security issue. He explains how climate change affects physical, chemical, biological, and ecological processes, which can lead to water stress, food insecurity, political instability, and other national security challenges.
Schoonover talks about his work at the State Department, where he analyzed the national security implications of climate change, water security, food security, biodiversity loss, and wildlife trafficking. He highlights the importance of injecting science into national security and foreign policy discussions and his resignation from the Trump administration due to their suppression of climate science.
Schoonover emphasizes that the United States is not currently prepared for climate change and ecological disruption, and stresses the need to restore science to its rightful place in policy formulation. He discusses the work of the Ecological Futures Group in analyzing and articulating the national security dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other emergent threats.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Science plays a crucial role in understanding and addressing national security threats like climate change, ecological disruption, and emerging infectious diseases.
- Climate change is a multidimensional national security issue with far-reaching implications for human security, political stability, resource conflicts, and military readiness.
- Schoonover worked at the State Department analyzing the national security implications of climate change, water security, food security, biodiversity loss, and wildlife trafficking.
- Schoonover resigned from the Trump administration due to their suppression of climate science and disregard for evidence-based decision-making.
- The United States is not currently prepared for the national security challenges posed by climate change and ecological disruption, and needs to prioritize strategic preparedness and restoration of science in policymaking.
- Schoonover's Ecological Futures Group aims to analyze and articulate the national security dimensions of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other emergent threats.
- There is a need for a broader, more comprehensive approach to national security that considers various ecological threats and their interconnections.
- Transparent, real-time data on carbon emissions and monitoring of the atmosphere is crucial for effective management and mitigation efforts.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “To characterize the threat, you necessarily need to understand the threat. And to understand these threats, it requires at least a significant amount of pretty involved science.“ by Rod Schoonover
- “Calling it an environmental issue alone does not really capture the multidimensional scale of what's happening to our planet.“ by Rod Schoonover
- “The disconnect between the threat that I was reading about and what our government was doing.“ by Rod Schoonover
- “The disregard for science in this administration is real, particularly when the implications, such as from climate change, don't align with the political priorities of the administration.“ by Rod Schoonover
Entities
Location
Organization
Person
Episode Information
Climate Changers
Ryan Flahive
7/16/20