Independent Sen. Angus King of Maine expressed bewilderment Tuesday over the omission of “climate change” from the U.S. Intelligence Community’s (IC) annual threat assessment report released Monday.
The report highlights threats such as cartels, terrorists and adversarial nations, while making no mention of “climate change.” During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats, King said he was “surprised” by the omission and did not appear assuaged by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s explanation that she ordered the report be focused solely on the “most extreme and critical direct threats” to the homeland.
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“One note that surprised me: I’ve been on this committee now for — this is my thirteenth year. Every single one of these reports that we have had has mentioned global climate change as a significant national security threat, except this one,” King said. “Has something happened? Has global climate change been solved? Why, why is that not in this report? And who made the decision that it should not be in the report when it has been in every one of the eleven prior reports?”
“I can’t speak to the decisions made previously, but this annual threat assessment has been focused very directly on the threats that we deem most critical to the United States and our national security,” Gabbard responded. “Obviously we’re aware of occurrences within the environment and how they may impact operations. But we’re focused on the direct threats to Americans’ safety, well-being and security.”
King argued that global climate change will affect “mass migration, famine, dislocation [and] political violence.” He asserted the 2019 threat assessment report during President Donald Trump’s first administration found that climate change influenced these issues.
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“You don’t consider that a significant national security threat?” King followed up.
“For the intelligence community, being aware of the environment that we’re operating in is a given,” Gabbard said. “What I focused this annual threat assessment on, and the IC focused this threat assessment on, are the most extreme and critical direct threats to our national security.”
King inquired about who made the decision to omit “climate change” from the 2025 report. Gabbard said she instructed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to prioritize “the most extreme and critical national security threats.”
King asked Gabbard to clarify whether she specifically directed her team to refrain from including “climate change.” Gabbard repeated what her priorities were before King cut her off.
“Did you instruct that there be no finding in terms of climate change in this report?” he asked.
“I don’t recall giving that instruction,” Gabbard responded.
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Trump’s 2017 national security strategy did not identify climate change as a national security threat, according to a document obtained by the Daily Caller.
“U.S. leadership is indispensable to countering an antigrowth energy agenda that is detrimental to U.S. economic and energy security interests,” it stated. “Given future global energy demand, much of the developing world will require fossil fuels, as well as other forms of energy, to power their economies and lift their people out of poverty.”
Trump has sought to dismantle numerous energy and environmental policies imposed under former President Joe Biden’s administration. Moreover, the Department of Defense (DOD) is spearheading an agenda of axing climate change initiatives from its agency, Politico’s E&E News reported March 14.
Trump also signed an executive order on Jan. 20 designating cartels and criminal gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
