Editorials

Last month, 11 retired admirals and generals issued a report saying that global warming poses real problems for national security. It recommended that intelligence agencies devote a National Intelligence Estimate, their premier product, to this issue. Now the House has passed an intelligence authorization bill with a provision for that estimate. Despite Republican objections, that approach makes sense.

This is not a new idea. The propensity of humans to fight over resources is as old as the species. And there's no real question that climate change will bring with it exactly the kinds of extreme weather conditions - flooding, droughts, and the spread of deserts, to name a few - that exacerbate existing conflicts and create new ones. So our intelligence efforts and military strategy must include this element.

The idea received support from the retired officers' report and also from J.M. McConnell, the director of national intelligence, who told Congress it's "entirely appropriate" for the National Intelligence Council to do an assessment of the "geopolitical and security implications" of climate change.

Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) put in a free-standing bill to require a National Intelligence Estimate. Some of its provisions ended up in the overall intelligence authorization bill; that language survived a Republican effort to strip it out. Whether it finally passes both houses as a separate bill or as part of the authorization bill, this idea deserves to become national policy.

Subscribe to Newsday home delivery | Article licensing and reprint options

Golf on LI Build your dream course. Famous deaths Deaths in 2007. Celebrity photos Stars out on the town. My Long Island Send us your photos. The Gap Newsday investigates LIRR Week in photos This week on LI. Walt's toon Mission Accomplished.

Looking Good Feeling Good