Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the climate change plan as a potential place for the government’s Ministry of Efficiency to cut its DOD spending while traveling to Germany this week. [emphasis, links added]
Hegseth ultimately hopes that the U.S. claims that the Biden administration will increase its defense budget when the U.S. military is “underinvestment”, but things like the Department of Defense's climate change program are ripe.
“The Department of Defense does not address global thermostats in its business of climate change. We are engaged in business to stop and win wars.” Heggs told reporters Tuesday. “We want to find and find efficiency in things like this.”
President Joe Biden works hard to combat climate change throughout the federal government.
He and his administration repeatedly pose climate change because it is a threat to national security and a military priority.
“The department continues to address climate change in two ways: improving resilience and reducing mitigation capabilities of greenhouse gas emissions,” former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in the department’s 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan. ”
Military mitigation goals outlined in the plan include zero net facilities and technologies that reduce energy use.
Improved resilience includes the use of renewable energy and “installing a microgrid to always ensure power is available,” Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer Rachel Ross said in 2024.
In 2023, the president's proposed defense budget includes $3.7 billion in “installation resilience and adaptability”, and $1.5 billion in R&D, operational energy and emergency preparedness.
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