How Trump Can Understand the Dangers We Face in the "Age of Consequences"

Mar 14, 2017 | Jordan Brunner
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The Climate Security Act of 2007 was introduced by Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator John Warner, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee keenly aware of the dangers that climate change poses to our national security and military readiness. The bill was ultimately killed after fierce opposition from Republicans on the Senate floor, a lukewarm reception by environmental activists, and a Statement of Administration Policy by the Bush administration threatening to veto the bill made it impossible to move forward.

Senator Elizabeth Dole, who was also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time and worked with Lieberman and Warner to write the bill, gave a speech on the Senate floor in 2008 arguing in favor of the Act. She stated, “I understand this bill is viewed by as an environmental bill—which it is—but it is also essential to our national security.” Later in her speech, Dole spoke this memorable phrase: “We are now in the age of consequences.”