Dying for the environment

The Obama administration has restarted a controversial intelligence program designed to monitor the purported effects of global warming. According to the New York Times, the program operated throughout the Clinton years but was suspended by the George W. Bush administration. It has been restarted recently with backing from senior Obama administration officials, including CIA Director Leon Panetta. Little is known publicly about the program, called MEDEA (Measurements of Earth Data for Environmental Analysis). However, the New York Times portrays it as innocuous.

In an article earlier this month, the Old Grey Lady's readers were assured that the program "has little or no impact on regular intelligence gathering," as it will re-purpose existing "secret information" (mainly satellite photos of the Earth's poles) or make use of underused resources. This information is supposed to help scientists monitor, for example, icebergs floating far away from human reach so they can gauge the impact of climate change. Ralph J. Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences and also a member of MEDEA, was quoted as saying the program is "basically free."