[ad_1]
President Joe Biden issued a December executive order directing federal government officials to align their activities with the Federal Government’s. We face the reality of climate crisis.It is a great effort. The executive order on federal government sustainability mandates that government agencies take significant steps to achieve climate goals. This includes achieving 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2030, and net-zero emissions by 2050. These targets are critical to meeting the goals laid out in the Paris Climate Accords and fulfilling what the president has called a “government-wide approach” to tackling the climate crisis.
But while Biden’s executive order calls for an all-hands-on-deck approach, one major government agency remains largely exempt from these demands: the U.S. Department of Defense.
As the single-largest consumer of energy in the United States and the single-largest institutional consumer of petroleum in the world, DOD is responsible for more than half of the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 80% of federal energy consumption has been accounted for by the military since 2001. According to the White House’s own Federal Sustainability Plan, 56% of federal government emissions come from DOD.
In theory, Biden’s executive order on federal sustainability aims to decarbonize the federal government, but in practice it falls far short of actually doing so. By exempting military — and defense-related sources of emissions from his executive order, Biden will neither achieve the reductions necessary to avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change nor meet our economy-wide obligations under the Paris climate agreement.
The only way to meet the ambitious emissions reduction targets outlined in the president’s executive order is to hold the DOD to the same standards as every other government agency. Last month, Sen. Ed Markey, and I, led many of our colleagues. In urging Biden to do just that.
It is true that excluding DOD from these bold climate standards compromises our national security.
Biden’s own Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, said it best himself: “Climate change is an existential threat to our nation’s security and the Department of Defense must act swiftly and boldly to take on this challenge.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Climate change is a major threat to our nation, our planet, and our national security. Today, rising sea levels are threatening 79 U.S. military base around the globe. Air Force bases in the west have been forced to evacuate multiple times by wildfires. The ability of our service personnel to safely operate in desert areas is at risk from rising temperatures. Requiring the DOD to act accordingly is essential to ensuring our military readiness — a cornerstone of decades of American foreign policy.
Biden made climate change his top priority in his first year of office. Like so many Americans, I’m grateful for his leadership in this fight. We cannot accept half-measures when time is running out to save the planet.
If we are to tackle this climate crisis head-on, our “government-wide approach” must actually encompass all of our government — including DOD.
The president has the power to make it happen. With our future on the line, it’s time for him to do so.
Rep. Mondaire J. Jones represents New York’s 17th Congressional District. It includes most Westchester County and Rockland County.
