Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of U.S. Pacific Command, still suggests that CO2-induced bad weather is "the biggest long-term security challenge in the Pacific region"

'Tell me about climate change ... no, stop!' | Jay Bookman | www.ajc.com

INHOFE: "Admiral, I'd like to get clarification on one statement that was I think misrepresented. It was in the Boston Globe it reported that you indicated, and I'm quoting noew from the Boston the Globe now, the biggest long-term security challenge in the Pacific region is climate change. I'd like to have you clarify what you meant by that. ... "

Locklear did not back down, saying that the Pacific Rim is an area of high population growth, and that much of that growth is occurring in coastal or litoral areas, where people would be vulnerable to storms, flooding, rising sea level and other problems. He went on:

"From 2008 to 2012, about 280,000 people died (in natural disasters in the Pacific region). It was not not all climate change or weather-related, but a lot of them were due to that. About 800,000 people were displaced and there was about $500 billion of lost productivity. So when I look and I think about our planning and I think about what I have to do with allies and partners, and I look long-term, it's important that countries in this region build capabilities into their infrastructures to be able to deal with the types of things ... "