Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth pinpointed climate change programs as a potential place for the Department of Government Efficiency to cut Department of Defense spending while traveling in Germany this week. [emphasis, links added]
Hegseth ultimately hopes the U.S. will increase its defense budget as he claims the Biden administration “underinvested” in the American military, but things like DOD climate change programs are ripe for cuts, according to the secretary.
“The Defense Department is not in the business of climate change, solving the global thermostat. We’re in the business of deterring and winning wars,” Hegseth told reporters Tuesday. “Things like that, we want to look for and find efficiencies.”
President Joe Biden ramped up efforts across the federal government to combat climate change.
He and his administration repeatedly framed climate change as, among other things, a military priority, considering it a threat to national security.
“The Department continues to respond to climate change in two ways: adaptation to enhance resilience and mitigation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” wrote former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin In the department’s 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan.
The military’s mitigation goals outlined in the plan include net-zero installations and leveraging technologies that reduce energy use.
Enhancing resilience includes using renewable energy and “installing microgrids to ensure power is available at all times,” Deputy Chief Sustainability Officer Rachel Ross said in 2024.
In 2023, the president’s proposed defense budget included $3.7 billion for “installation resiliency and adaptation” and $1.5 billion for research and development, operational energy, and contingency preparedness.
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