Opinion | Why You Won’t Hear the Military Arguing About Climate Change

Today, the U.S. military is confronting a new enemy: climate change.

Before Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeast last month, more than 5,900 National Guard members were called up to help prepare; after the storm, the Pentagon sent active-duty forces to assist with road clearing and logistical support. In June, when Hurricane Beryl spiraled through the Caribbean before making its U.S. landfall, Texas and Vermont National Guard units supported disaster response efforts, working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide meals and water as well as help with search-and-rescue efforts. Already, U.S. forces have prepared personnel and resources to mobilize for support in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.

Within the last year, the military deployed nearly 50 times to address wildfires, storm surges, extreme heat, drought, flooding and more — with 41 of these deployments occurring within the U.S. The National Guard is now called on to combat raging wildfires at a rate 12 times higher than just eight years ago , fighting flames nearly year round. With 2024 projected to be the hottest year on record, U.S. troops, alongside local first responders, anticipate having to address more wildfires and hurricanes than ever before.

As some politicians continue to argue about the economic impacts of climate legislation or question the imminent nature of climate threats — in September former President Trump called climate change a “scam” — the U.S. military has reorganized itself around the knowledge that climate change poses an unprecedented risk to national security. It has integrated climate preparedness into many dimensions of planning and operations. This includes not just deployments for humanitarian assistance and disaster response, but also gaming out the geostrategic impacts of the evolving climate, making adaptations to military training, building resilience into installations and shifting to alternative energy sources to improve military effectiveness.

In most parts of the government, the oscillation of electoral politics has resulted in federal climate strategies hitting endless stops and starts. The U.S. military, though, is less subject to this whiplash, given historic bipartisan support for military readiness. As a result, it has become an example of the steady progress that can occur when the U.S. government takes climate change seriously and devotes resources to mitigating risk — rather than ignoring it at a deadly cost. Today, some of the nation’s most cutting-edge climate innovations exist on military properties, including smart grids fitted with energy storage systems and the use of blended biofuels to power ships and aircraft.

Around the world, climate change poses geopolitical risks. As temperatures rise and Arctic sea ice retreats, Russia and China are conducting joint military exercises off America’s Alaskan coast. China’s growing reach extends to scouring the globe for energy, minerals and fish, and enticing existentially threatened small Pacific Island nations with offers of infrastructure and climate assistance. In many drought-stricken regions of Africa and Latin America, agricultural livelihoods are collapsing, making vulnerable communities ripe targets for further terrorist recruitment.

Climate change also threatens security here in the U.S. When Superstorm Sandy slammed into the East Coast in October 2012, it served as a wake-up call for the Department of Defense, exposing the myriad vulnerabilities facing bases and missions as climate-fueled storms worsen. And after Sandy, active-duty military played a major role in restoring impacted cities: providing relief supplies, setting up shelters, operating temporary medical facilities and clearing debris. When the Coast Guard’s operation of the port of New York was destroyed, the U.S. Navy sent ships from its Expeditionary Strike Force to restore the port and provide necessary logistics. Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said of the storm, “We were using our war capability in a war against nature herself.”

Since Superstorm Sandy, the Pentagon has made significant advances in preparing bases and missions for extreme weather. In the future, some of the nation’s most climate-resilient infrastructure will be on military bases hard hit by past storms.

For example, after Hurricane Michael nearly destroyed Tyndall Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle in 2018, the installation was entirely redesigned to withstand higher winds, rising seas and more intense rain and floods. Today, the base calls itself an “ installation of the future ,” incorporating nature-based solutions to climate disruption, such as a 1,500-foot living shoreline that absorbs the ocean’s impact and reduces erosion. Even though Tyndall Air Force base took a hit in Hurricane Helene, its preparations and evacuations minimized the damage .

At North Carolina’s Fort Liberty, the Army partnered with Duke Energy and Armesco to install a floating solar array on Big Muddy Lake capable of withstanding a Category 5 hurricane. The base’s solar panels provide carbon-free energy to the base and feed power to the local grid. At Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Georgia, the Corps partnered with Georgia Power to develop one of the first entirely net-zero installations powered by methane from a landfill.

Since military installations are closely tied to their surrounding communities — reliant on one another for labor, energy and water systems, schools and hospitals — climate innovation at military bases boosts readiness for local communities as well. Military bases integrating microgrids, including Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Joint-Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, can provide power to the national grid in times of need. And when Naval Station Norfolk hardened its infrastructure to protect against worsening storm surges and flooding, those protections included adjacent communities equally facing these threats.

In this way, civilian-military partnerships can continue to enhance climate readiness, regardless of the national politics at play.

Members of Congress — even those who don’t support broader climate change action on the federal level — often do support efforts to protect their military bases from the changing climate. When Tyndall Air Force Base was destroyed in Hurricane Michael, the entire Florida congressional delegation was among the first to urge Congress to invest in rebuilding the base. (None of them wanted to lose a critical military installation in their state.) Just as members of Congress want to protect bases and troops in their district from climate risks, our elected leaders should protect all Americans from the growing risks of climate change. Today, in the wake of Hurricane Helene, as Hurricane Milton slams into the Florida coast — another climate change-fueled storm destroying communities and upturning lives — we must come together as Americans to chart a more sustainable path forward. For our armed forces, that means continuing to invest in resilient bases and decarbonized energy. For our communities, that means access to tools and financial support to climate proof where possible, or relocate where necessary. The military has identified climate change as a dangerous enemy, but it cannot neutralize that enemy without broader societal support.