Oh, sure, it’s only $2.6 million. Of taxpayer money. For silly stuff. That could have been used for military equipment and training
$2.6M in DOD Grants to Fund Studies of Climate Change Impact on Security
Two University of Maryland researchers have received awards totaling $2.6 million to study how national security and climate change intersect in the United States and around the world.
Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham, professor and co-director of graduate studies in the Department of Government and Politics, and Distinguished University Professor Arie Kruglanski in the Department of Psychology were among 17 researchers nationwide to be named recipients of the grants from the Department of Defense’s Minerva Research Initiative, a university-based social science research program.
Cunningham received about $1.6 million to lead a three-year project to study the role that state and non-state actors play in a country’s management of climate change. The focus is Mozambique, an East African nation that has a diverse array of environmental hazards along with a history of non-state actors, ranging from non-governmental organizations to rebel groups, engaging with the population in different ways.
The study will examine people’s understanding of the risks of climate change and how non-state actors involve themselves in governing such issues, said Cunningham, who is working with researchers from Emory University, Texas A&M, Penn State and Carleton University.
Good grief, that is a huge waste of money, basically pet projects of no value.
“We’re also interested in explaining the conditions under which actors, state or non-state, try to leverage the idea that different agencies, people, and organizations are responsible for managing the hazards of climate change—when is it that a rebel group might be able to use government failures of managing climate change to their advantage; who do they assign blame to when things go wrong; and who do they reward when things go right?” she said.
How does this actually help the US Military defend the U.S.A.?
“It’s exciting to see people studying climate change from different angles,” said Cunningham of their fellow Minerva grant recipients. “This will hopefully lead to some interesting cross-pollination.”
So, do it with your own money. Get private funding.
