Every branch of the United States Military is worried about climate change. They have been since well before it became controversial. In the wake of an historic climate change agreement between President Obama and President Xi Jinping in China this week (Brookings), the military’s perspective is significant in how it views climate effects on emerging military conflicts.

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At a time when Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bush 41, and even British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, called for binding international protocols to control greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. Military was seriously studying global warming in order to determine what actions they could take to prepare for the change in threats that our military will face in the future.

The Center for Naval Analysis has had its Military Advisory Board examining the national security implications of climate change for many years. Lead by Army General Paul Kern, the Military Advisory Board is a group of 16 retired flag-level officers from all branches of the Service. This is not a group normally considered to be liberal activists and fear-mongers. This year, the Military Advisory Board came out with a new report, called National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change, that is a serious discussion about what the military sees as the threats and the actions to be taken to mitigate them.

“The potential security ramifications of global climate change should be serving as catalysts for cooperation and change. Instead, climate change impacts are already accelerating instability in vulnerable areas of the world and are serving as catalysts for conflict.”

More Than 70 Percent Of Americans Like Their Obamacare Plans

A new Gallup poll found that more than 70 percent of Americans who bought new health insurance plans through the government exchanges earlier this year rated the quality of their health coverage as “good” or “excellent.” Many of those who purchased new health insurance policies through the exchanges also recounted positive experiences and said they experienced a high quality of health care. According to the poll, more than two-thirds of the newly insured expressed plans to renew their exchange policies.

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Other recent studies conducted by the Urban Institute and the Commonwealth Fund have found similar levels of satisfaction among new Obamacare customers, who largely say they’re better off with their new coverage.
If the early predictions about health insurance rates in the Obamacare marketplaces hold true, those positive reports could continue. Although premiums in the individual market have previously experienced average annual increases of 10 percent, the rates for next year’s Obamacare plans aren’t expected to rise very much. While experts warn that some people who are already enrolled could experience relatively sharp increases if they simply renew their current plans, they say that newer plans entering the marketplaces will be much cheaper.

As the health law’s second open enrollment period begins, continuing to educate uninsured Americans about their options will be the next challenge for federal officials. In a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation earlier this month, researchers found that two-thirds of respondents knew little about the exchanges they could enter to purchase health plans or the subsidies available to those with low or moderate incomes.

However, during an event at the Center for American Progress (CAP) in Washington, D.C. earlier this week, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell remained optimistic about the health law’s impact among potential enrollees, predicting that 9.1 million people will enroll in a health care exchange this year.

If Congress can move President's Day, Columbus Day and, alas, Martin Luther King's Birthday celebration for the convenience of shoppers, shouldn't they at least consider moving Election Day for the convenience of voters?