Defense experts have begun to focus on the national security implications of climate change. In 2008, the National Intelligence Council, which produces government-wide intelligence analyses, finished the first assessment of the national security implications of climate change. It concluded that climate change by itself would have significant geopolitical impacts around the world and would contribute to a host of problems, including poverty, environmental degradation and the weakening of national governments.

On September 25, the President announced the creation of a new office in the Central Intelligence Agency to study the future implications of climate change: the Center on Climate Change and National Security. This group within the CIA will assess the national security implications of increased competition for resources, population shifts, water shortages, changes in crop yields, and the spread of climate-sensitive diseases such as malaria.

On October 6, Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) offered an amendment to the FY 2010 Defense appropriations bill to eliminate funding for this office. The amendment failed on a vote of 38-60. (Senate roll call vote 307). NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.