The Pentagon is preparing to sink billions of dollars into fortifying its operations against the perils of climate change. In Congress, meanwhile, far-right Republicans are fighting to block the agency from any and all climate-related spending. The Defense Department has announced plans to rebuild a more durable Tyndall Air Force Base in northwest Florida after Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 storm, flattened it five years ago, writes Daniel Cusick. The $5 billion investment comes as climate-related provisions become a major sticking point in the Defense Department spending package, one of a series of spending bills lawmakers must pass to keep the government running. Republicans looking to slash the military’s budget and undermine President Joe Biden’s climate agenda today forced House GOP leaders to postpone debate on the spending bill, write Emma Dumain and Kelsey Brugger. One priority for those Republicans is a provision that undermines the Pentagon’s own commitments to curb its planet-warming emissions, which are higher than many countries'. Lawmakers included that measure in a separate defense policy bill, which has likewise been delayed amid partisan bickering. The amendment would also bar the agency from implementing the Biden administration’s executive orders on climate change, including transitioning the military’s nontactical fleet to electric vehicles. Pentagon reality check: The military has long listed climate change as one of the most dire national security threats the country faces. In its 2021 climate risk assessment, the Defense Department noted that even with “aggressive international and whole-of-government action to mitigate future climate change, many effects to the physical environment are unavoidable and will continue to shape our security environment.” More than 1,700 U.S. military installations around the world are located in coastal areas exposed to sea-level rise or extreme weather events. And the impacts are unfolding faster than the Defense Department can respond. In recent years, thousands of U.S. troops have also forgone hours of critical training to fight floods, wildfires and other climate change-fueled disasters, Daniel writes. Plus, for every base damaged or destroyed, another one must shoulder its lost mission capacity.
| 
