"If President Joe Biden declares a national climate emergency, the Pentagon is likely to get a sudden influx of money to start working on its long list of resilience and adaptation projects, observers say.
The declaration of a national emergency could empower the Pentagon, under the National Emergencies Act, to start military construction projects that aren’t otherwise authorized by Congress, and that are deemed necessary to support the armed forces.
Such authority for the military has been invoked at least three times in the past, including once in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Details on how much money would be released are unclear. But observers say any amount could make a meaningful dent in the nation’s emissions, because the Defense Department is one of the world’s biggest energy consumers. The Pentagon releases some 56 million tons of carbon per year, according to McKinsey & Co.—an amount greater than entire nations like Libya, Hungary, Sweden, and Portugal."
Stephen Lee reports for Bloomberg Environment July 22, 2022.
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