Defense Spending Bill Requires Military to Prepare for Climate Change

On August 13, 2018, President Trump signed into law the John S. McCain National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (P.L. 115-232). The $716 billion spending bill funds the military’s operations and includes provisions to assist the military in preparing for climate change.

The Act requires the military branches to include in every major installation’s master plan a consideration for “energy and climate resiliency efforts.” The term “energy and climate resiliency” is defined as “anticipation, preparation for, and adaptation to utility disruptions and changing environmental conditions and the ability to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from utility disruptions while ensuring the sustainment of mission-critical operations.” The Act also requires that climate projections by the National Academies of Sciences “shall be considered and incorporated into military construction designs and modifications…in order to anticipate changing environmental conditions during the design life of existing or planned new facilities and infrastructure.” 

Additionally, for new military installations within a 100-year floodplain, the military must prepare a risk mitigation plan that includes minimum flood mitigation requirements. The Act also provides funding for updating the nation’s military strategy for dealing with the consequences of Arctic ice melt.

The spending bill is consistent with last year’s defense authorization bill, which directly stated, “It is the sense of Congress that … climate change is a direct threat to the national security of the United States …”