The U.S. military doesn’t care about climate... right?
How the U.S. military is handling climate threats - featuring guest editor Sherri Goodman
Many people feel that climate action doesn't align with their values. This is especially true in the U.S., where climate change has been a highly polarized issue for nearly 20 years. However, research shows we can change this.
Framing climate change through values like faith or national security can significantly shift opinions, a Yale University study found. For example, they found that short videos where I discuss climate change from a faith-based perspective, or General Ron Keys addresses it as a national security issue, had a strong impact—especially among conservatives—on whether they saw climate change as serious and worth acting on.
This is why I’m so excited to introduce you to my guest editor for this week, Sherri Goodman. Sherri has been a leader in environmental, energy and climate security since she served as the Pentagon’s first Chief Environmental Officer in the 1990s. Her “wonky” real title back then was Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environmental Security). Today, she is the Secretary General of the International Military Council on Climate & Security, a collective of climate and national security leaders from across the globe, and a Senior Fellow at the Wilson Center’s Polar Institute and Environmental Change & Security Program.
For nearly three decades, Sherri has been changing the minds of military leaders on climate and environmental issues from the inside. As early as 2000, she was credited by the EPA as the driving force for DOD reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 26%.
Her work isn't only focused on remediation and mitigation: she also coined one of my favourite phrases on climate change risks, “threat multiplier” in the 2007 report National Security and the Threat of Climate Change. In just two words, she captures how climate change worsens nearly all our existing problems—from hunger and poverty to political and social instability. That’s why, no matter what issues we care about, climate change matters to all of us.
Since then, Sherri has educated a generation of U.S. military and government officials about the nexus of climate change, fossil fuels, and national security and, by doing so, created a host of compelling new advocates for clean energy and climate action.
In her new book, Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security Sherri draws from her decades of experience to reveal the often-overlooked ways climate change amplifies global security risks, in ways even I hadn’t fully appreciated. If you want to better understand the real-world impact of climate change, especially on security, I highly recommend giving it a read. It’s also a great book to share with anyone who needs a fresh perspective on why this issue is so urgent.
Take it away, Sherri.
GOOD NEWS
The military is a big source of climate-warming emissions; so it’s good news that they’re actively working to reduce those emissions, as well as mitigate climate risk. In the U.S., the military is climate-proofing many of its bases, investing in energy resilience and efficiency, and developing and pioneering new technology, all at the same time.
At Fort Liberty in North Carolina, for example, the Army has installed a floating solar array on Big Muddy Lake capable of withstanding a Category 5 hurricane. At Joint Base Lewis McChord in Washington, the U.S. Army broke ground on a first-of-its-kind barracks that uses sustainable materials and design to lower operational costs while improving resiliency and environmental impact. And in Albany, Georgia, the U.S. Marine Corps has built one of the first net zero military bases in the U.S. by cutting emissions, including capturing methane from landfills, while also ensuring it can keep the lights on during extreme storms, such as the EF3 tornado that struck in 2017.
Advances in aircraft design and in ground vehicles are also improving military capability while reducing emissions. The Blended Body Wing air frame and hybrid tactical vehicles for military trucks and troop transport are two technologies that reduce fuel needs. These are just a few of the many examples of innovative developments that reduce impacts and safeguard missions and reduce carbon pollution at the same time.
NOT-SO-GOOD NEWS
As climate extremes continue to rise, the military is increasingly being deployed to combat climate-related risks both at home and abroad. In 2023, the U.S. experienced 28 climate disasters resulting in nearly $100 billion in immediate damages. In many of these events, military forces were called upon to help local first responders and rescue citizens from floods and fires.
Over the last five years, for example, requests for U.S. military assistance with fire-fighting grew by a factor of twelve. According to the Center for Climate & Security’s Military Responses to Climate Hazards (MiRCH) Tracker, military units were deployed to squelch wildfires in Arizona, California, Canada, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington State in 2023. With 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record, and July the hottest month ever recorded, the National Guard anticipates responding to more wildfires than ever before.
Increasing heat also poses threats to troops’ health as they train and deploy. When heat domes covered the Southwest in the summer of 2023, temperatures at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona climbed over 110 degrees F (43 degrees C) for an entire week, challenging troops’ capacity to train as well as making it harder for fighter jets to achieve “lift,” given the density of the air.
Off the coast of Florida last summer, ocean temperatures rose into the nineties, forcing Navy ships to change training schedules and routes. When weather events are so extreme, training is greatly altered or inhibited. These occurrences, known as “black flag days,” are rising in frequency, posing yet another operational risk to military readiness.
Around the world, these changing extremes are also increasing the risk of resource scarcity, refugee crises, and conflict. A recent report by the Defense Science Board concludes, “Climate change will likely open avenues for new dimensions of conflict, including mass migrations and weaponization of critical resources.”
This reinforces the idea of climate change as the ultimate threat multiplier, “amplifying existing vulnerabilities, enhancing regional instability, and generally fostering conditions conducive to conflict.” This is why the report calls climate change “one of the most pressing issues of our time,” with “severe impacts on global security” – which in turn severely impacts people’s lives, livelihoods, and well-being.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
I spend a lot of time advising military experts on what they need to do, so that’s what I’ll focus on here. But I think we can see a lot of parallels with what can be done with local communities and in our own lives!
First, I tell them, we must follow the evidence. Defense decisions are based on science and careful risk assessment. As heat waves, flooding, wildfires, and storm surges grow in frequency and severity, defense planners should be factoring these climate realities into future strategies and plans, and all of society must do the same. Individuals and leaders alike must stay informed about the specific climate threats facing their communities and regions. People and organizations can prepare for growing risks by building resiliency into their own homes and buildings, as well as urging leadership to harden infrastructure and enhance regional climate resilience.
Second, military leaders understand that health and readiness go hand-in-hand, and our local communities deserve the same foresight. From increasing heat stress to spreading infectious diseases and the growing risks to hospitals from storms, floods and fires, everyone should have access to climate-adapted healthcare services.
Finally, we must accelerate the transition to cleaner and more resilient energy resources and untether ourselves from fossil fuels. For example, to keep the lights on when the grid goes down, DOD is installing microgrids, many of which are powered by clean energy, on most military bases to ensure local, distributed sources of energy can “island the base” during a storm or attack on the electrical grid. Similarly, local communities, from hospitals to schools, will eventually need local distributed energy powered by clean sources to ensure they continue to have reliable electricity in a climate-changed world.
To learn more, you can follow Sherri on LinkedIn, X, and goodreads; and follow her work through the Center for Climate and Security and the Wilson Center.
If you want to better understand the real-world impact of climate change, especially on security, I highly recommend Sherri’s new book. It’s also a great book to share with anyone who needs a fresh perspective on why this issue is so urgent!
Want to know what people are saying about Threat Multiplier? Check out this review from The Washington Post.
The US military is the single largest emitter on the planet. They will never care about the climate when there are poor countries to bomb to protect US hegemony and business interests. Propaganda like this article will change not change that.