Please invest in Our Daily Planet today, by making a one time or monthly contribution.
We do not charge our readers a subscription fee for our content. We want to continue to grow our readership, particularly among millennials and public servants. Voluntary contributions from readers will help us employ interns and freelance journalists, expand our content, and reach a larger audience.
If you make a contribution of $150 or more, you will become an official “Friend of the Planet” and receive a Friend of the Planet T-shirt or water bottle.
Our Daily Planet is a daily morning email (M-F) to keep you informed of the stories shaping our environment. If these issues matter to you, we’d like to be the best ten minutes of your morning.
Earlier this week in yet another affront on science, Trump White House officials demanded changes to testimony from Dr. Rod Schoonover, a State Department intelligence agency analyst and ultimately barred his written testimony to the House Intelligence Committee warning that human-caused climate change is “possibly catastrophic” and a serious national security threat. The committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has since sent a letter to the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) Assistant Secretary Ellen McCarthy to request documents and interviews regarding prepared written testimony of Dr. Rod Schoonover.
What’s the Deal? Dr. Rod Schoonover, a senior analyst in the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the State Department testified as part of an open hearing at the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on the national security implications of climate change but was not able to provide a statement for the record prior due to the White House’s censorship. As the Washington Post explained,
The effort to edit, and ultimately suppress, the prepared testimony by the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research comes as the Trump administration is debating how best to challenge the fact that burning fossil fuels is warming the planet and could pose serious risks unless the world makes deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.
Senior military and intelligence officials have continued to warn that climate change could undermine the United States’ national security — a position President Trump rejects.
Dems Demand Answers: After sending the letter to Assistant Secretary McCarthy, Rep. Schiff stated:
“The role of the Intelligence Community, and those who work at its seventeen agencies, is to tell truth to power, irrespective of prevailing political winds. Reports that the White House sought to muzzle objective, science-based testimony on the urgent climate crisis and its potential national security impacts is deeply troubling and requires immediate investigation to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
Why This Matters: The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research is known for its independence and commitment to facts and truth, in this instance facts that can potentially help protect the lives of our military members. Put bluntly, this isn’t a fight that the Trump administration needed to pick because who wins from having national security threats swept under the rug? R or D, military or civilian, and despite our disagreements on foreign policy, we all want a nation that’s safe and for our president to help make it so instead of censoring inconvenient truths.
By Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer Late last week, President Biden and a critical mass of Democrats in the Senate and House agreed on the details of Build Back Better legislation — a $1.85 trillion overall investment that includes a record-setting $555 billion dollars to take on the climate crisis. The agreement marked a […]
By Amy Lupica, ODP Daily Editor Top executives from Big Oil companies ExxonMobil, BP, Chevron, and Shell testified before Congress yesterday amid accusations and revelations about their industry’s efforts to mislead the public about human-caused climate change while claiming to be in favor of climate action. A report released Thursday morning by the House Committee […]
By Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer As the world gets ready for COP26 in Glasgow next week, many nations are upping their pledges to lower emissions before 2030. But according to a UN report released Tuesday, even if Argentina, Britain, Canada, the EU, South Africa, and the US achieve their pledged goals, it would account […]
Subscribe to the email that top lawmakers, renowned scientists, and thousands of concerned citizens turn to each morning for the latest environmental news and analysis.
Want the lastest climate news summarized for you each morning?
Our Daily Planet is your daily dose of the stories shaping our world and the ways that you can take action. From the climate crisis to the protection of biodiversity, if these issues matter to you then please subscribe & stay informed!
Your privacy is Important! We promise never to use your email address to send you spam or advertisements.