Our picksClimate change threatens military installations; cities ignore earthquake risks; new missile policy, and more

Big earthquake would topple countless buildings, but many cities ignore the danger (Rong-Gong Lin II, Los Angeles Times)
Some cities have taken significant steps to make those buildings safer by requiring costly retrofitting aimed at protecting those inside and preserving the housing supply. But many others have ignored the seismic threat.

Pentagon: Climate change threatens military installations (Zack Colman, Politico)
Flooding, drought and wildfires driven by climate change pose threats to two-thirds of the U.S. military’s installations, the Defense Department said in a new report required by Congress.
The authors of the report, which the Pentagon delivered to Congress on Thursday, note that it probably underestimates the full extent of risk to military facilities because it only looks at likely impacts over the next two decades. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said the world needs to become carbon neutral by 2050 to prevent global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius, which would lock in many of the most catastrophic effects of climate change.
“It is relevant to point out that ‘future’ in this analysis means only 20 years in the future,” the report said. “Projected changes will likely be more pronounced at the mid-century mark; vulnerability analyses to mid- and late-century would likely reveal an uptick in vulnerabilities (if adaptation strategies are not implemented.)”
President Donald Trump has regularly dismissed climate science, including reports like the the National Climate Assessment published in November by federal scientists that showed climate change was hitting all regions of the United States.
The Pentagon report focused on 79 installations across the armed services. It said 53 installations currently experience recurrent flooding, 43 face drought, 36 are exposed to wildfires, six are undergoing desertification and one is dealing with thawing permafrost.
More installations will feel those climate stressors in the future, with 60 sites projected to see recurrent flooding, 48 confronted hurt by drought and 43 threatened at risk of wildfires.

Government watchdog to State Department: quit ignoring climate change (Umair Irfan, Vox)
The State Department “has dropped the ball” on climate migration issues, the Government Accountability Office says.

Senate GOP blocks bill to reopen Homeland Security (Jordain Carney, The Hill)
Senate Republicans blocked legislation on Friday that would have temporarily reopened the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) asked to take up a House-passed bill that would fund the department through Feb. 8. It’s the third time Democrats have tried to bring up the stopgap measure.
But Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) objected to the request “on behalf of the majority leader,” referring to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
It’s the third time McConnell has blocked the bill to temporarily reopen DHS, which is at the center of the shutdown fight. He’s also blocked a bill that would reopen the rest of the impacted departments and agencies three times, most recently on Thursday. 

Trump’s new missile policy relies heavily on largely unproven technologies (Patrick Tucker, Defense One)
New adversary missiles are to be met by a host of technologies that, by and large, don’t exist yet.

“Blue Alert”: Notification system would help law enforcement in danger (Gretel Kauffman, Times-News)
The notification system would send out identifying information — such as license plate numbers — for the public to help locate suspects in situations where a law enforcement officer is killed, seriously injured, threatened with death or serious injury, or missing in the line of duty.

Former FEMA admin.: AI can marry urban planning and disaster response (Andrew Westrope, Government Tevchnology)
Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate is now with a company called One Concern, whose existing tools for earthquakes and floods, and a third in the works for wildfires, create highly detailed maps of possible damage.

Trump tried partisan applause lines inside the Pentagon. Nobody applauded. (Kevin Baron, Defense One)
The president uses a missile-defense policy rollout to bash Democrats before the military’s senior leaders.