Senator Ron Johnson: climate change is ‘scare mongering;’ Scientists and Intelligence Community disagree

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By Steve Schuster

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Senator Ron Johnson attacked U.S. climate change policy Monday at a Milwaukee Press Club Event, calling climate change “fear mongering by the radical left.”

“Let me just throw a couple of facts here cause these are important to understand the scare mongering … and what a fantasy all of this climate change is,” Johnson said.

“Why are we doing it?,” Johnson asked the audience regarding why the U.S. is investing tax dollars into the fight against climate change.

“It’s to create a state of fear so individuals can gain control and power over our lives. It’s a loss of freedom. That’s what this is all about,” Johnson said.

Globally, climate change is widely accepted science by politicians, however, in the United States it still remains a partisan political issue, despite numerous studies showing more than 90 percent of scientists who study Earth’s climate agree the planet is warming and humans are the primary cause.

Majorities in most surveyed countries believe global climate change is a major threat to their nation, a Pew Research study states.

The Department of Defense (DOD) has identified climate change as “a critical national security issue and threat multiplier, according to a DOD Climate Adaptation plan obtained by The Wisconsin Law Journal.

“Climate change will continue to amplify operational demands on the force, degrade installations and infrastructure, increase health risks to our service members, and could require modifications to existing and planned equipment. Extreme weather events are already costing the Department billions of dollars and are degrading mission capabilities,” the report states.

When the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) launched a Center on Climate Change and National Security back in 2009, it drew opposition from Republicans who disputed the need for an intelligence initiative on this topic, according to The Federation of American Scientists.

The Washington Post reported in 2021, a Pentagon report indicates a shift in how the U.S. military is incorporating climate issues into its security strategy.

“Until now, when the Defense Department has considered climate change, it has tended to focus on how floods and extreme heat can affect military readiness rather than the broader geopolitical consequences of a warming world. Now it is worried that climate change could lead to state failure,” The Washington Post reported.