L 

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee, 

Good evening; thank you for letting me speak here today. My name is Joe Weston. I am 

a West Point graduate and a two-time Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom with the 1 ''Brigade 

Combat Team, 82"d Airborne Division. Currently, I serve in the Army Reserves, am a graduate 

student at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy, and today, I represent the 

Operation Free campaign. 

It was just over a year ago in North Carolina that I was huddled in a parking garage 

watching a tornado pass through downtown Raleigh. As the tornado darkened the sky and 

passed me by, my friend, an Army helicopter pilot, was minutes from being trapped in a Lowes 

Home Improvement warehouse that collapsed in Sanford, NC. Nearby, Fort Bragg sustained 

damage to vehicles, equipment and facilities. Soldiers training were called in from the field and 

immense work began to get accountability of damage across the installation and at our homes. 

Training, resources and jumps were all postponed and millions of dollars were sacrificed over 

these cancelled events alone. 

1, 706 tornadoes hit the United States last year, most of which were outside of tornado 

alley and some as far north as Massachusetts. The severe weather claimed 553 lives and 

caused an estimated 20 billion dollars in damage. 

This wasn't the first especially deadly weather in recent memory that affected our 

military. Hurricane Katrina devastated the coast of Louisiana, and the 3'd Brigade, 82"d Airborne 

was sent to fix New Orleans. My fellow 82"d paratroopers deployed domestically while there 

were two wars abroad, reducing our global response capability. 

While these particular weather patterns cannot be directly linked to climate change, 

scientists have estimated that the effects of climate change will be similar. Rising water levels, 

heat waves, freak storms and changing weather patterns exacerbated by climate change will 

require increased humanitarian aid and military response. The Department of Defense 

recognizes that climate change is a threat multiplier- an "accelerant of instability or conflict".' 

With 30 threatened bases at sea level and troops reacting to instabilities around the world, the 

Department of Defense has serious stake in this issue. Increasing the regulation of carbon fuels 

will mitigate these risks and drive the free market to invest in technology that will reduce the 

strain on our military. 

1 Dept. of Defense. Quadrennial Defense Review. Report. 

http://www.defense.gov/qdr/images/QDR_as_of_12Feb10_1000.pdf. Published February 2010. Accessed 24 May 

2012. Page 85. 
To those who argue that disasters and instability will happen regardless of climate 

change, I propose the following metaphor: 

Imagine you visit the Pediatrician's office with your child. After the doctor is finished 

the examination, he tells you he believes with a strong certainty that your child has a fatal 

condition that, if left untreated, will eventually kill your child. There are a few other doctors 

who believe that your child may not actually have this condition, but, if they are wrong, your 

child will suffer needlessly. Luckily, the treatment is simple: live healthy, exercise, maintain a 

wholesome diet. This lifestyle change would impose a cost on your family, but it would be 

minor compared to the potential downside. Would you undergo this treatment plan for your 

child? Do you invest in a healthier lifestyle for the sake of your child's life or do you gamble, 

and play the odds for the sake of your convenience? 

Today, I implore decision makers, who are the proverbial parents of this nation, to make 

the smart choice and use the proposed regulation to further limit greenhouse gasses. I ask you 

to implement this regulation for the troops, like me, who have had to respond to global 

instability in 18 hours notice and risk their lives wherever and whenever they are called. 

The risk of not implementing this carbon reduction policy is too great to ignore. The 

military understands this risk and the importance of risk mitigation. Implementing a carbon 

limitation policy will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but decrease the chances of 

future disasters that distract our military from actual security threats. 

Thank you very much. 

J