Fighting climate change is not only good for the Earth, but apparently it’s also patriotic.

National security and climate change may not be the likeliest pair, but the two are more interconnected than you would think. “Climate Patriots,” a video presentation released by the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate, explores how solving global climate change can make for a safer America, drawing on science and military experts to find new strategies.

According to The Pew Project’s Web site, “if left unchecked, global warming could lead to civil strife, economic stress, conflicts over water and other resources, mass migration, and increased terrorism.”

It goes a little something like this: As tensions mount because of the adverse effects of climate change, so does political instability, leading to more conflict, fundamentalism, and increased terrorism.

“It’s like taking every hornet’s nest we already have around the world and shaking it up,” James Morin, a former captain of the U.S. Army, said.

Our lack of energy independence (dependence on foreign oil), combined with climate change, will pose an “unacceptably high threat level,” according to a recent study by retired military leaders.

“We can be a better country, we can better support our troops by becoming more energy efficient, more sustainable, by using other forms of energy– it has to be something that all Americans feel a part of,” retired Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn said.

Do you want to prove to Obama, and to the rest of the world, that your school may just be the greenest campus in America? Do you want to challenge other students to reduce their carbon footprint in order to win up to $20,000?
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Of course you do, and to prove your commitment to protecting the environment you should sign up for America’s Greenest Campus contest.

Created by Climate Culture, a new startup that helps people save money and go green, and in partnership with Smart Power, a non-profit marketing organization that supports green energy, this contest pits college campuses around the U.S. against each other to prove their green university mentality.

Here’s how the contest works:

1. Sign up with your school information on the Climate Culture website here

2. Get other students to sign up as well

3. Do your best to reduce your carbon footprint

After you sign up, your carbon footprint, along with everyone else from your school, will be tracked by the website carbon calculator, and on October 5, 2009 the school with the lowest carbon footprint will win!

The leader, as of today, is George Mason University in Virginia.

Oh, and did we mention that there’s even a YouTube video sung by the “Obama Girl” that talks about saving energy
and joining the contest? Here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5w9AmtUVnY&feature=player_embedded
Now that you know about the contest, are you ready to prove to the world that you are a part of the greenest campus in America?