Editor, Gazette-Journal:

In spite of denials by Republicans, including our current Congressman Rob Wittman, the Defense Department says climate change “poses immediate risks to U.S. national security.” In a report released recently, the department finds that climate change will affect the Pentagon’s ability to “defend the nation.” The report calls climate change a “threat multiplier” that has the power to “exacerbate” many of the challenges the U.S. faces today, including “infectious diseases and terrorism.”

In the report’s introduction, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says “among the future trends that will impact our national security is climate change.” He added, “rising global temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, climbing sea levels and more extreme weather events will intensify the challenges of global instability, hunger, poverty and conflict.”

Sound environmental policies a...