GOP defense bill bars Pentagon from enacting Biden’s climate orders – By Bryant Harris (Defense News) / Aug 31, 2023
WASHINGTON ― A Republican provision in the House’s fiscal 2024 defense policy bill would block the Defense Department — the world’s largest institutional emitter of fossil fuels — from implementing the president’s seven climate change executive orders, which seek to achieve net-zero emissions in all federal agencies by 2050.
If the House provision blocking their implementation becomes law, the Defense Department — responsible for 1% of U.S. emissions — would likely be unable to disclose emission levels as required under President Joe Biden’s executive actions. But the Pentagon may move ahead with some initiatives it views as necessary to improve combat performance, like vehicle electrification.
David Hart, a George Mason University professor specializing in science and technology policy, called the bill’s language “ignorance by directive” because it would bar emissions disclosures. But, he added, the legislation likely wouldn’t alter much of the department’s behavior since many of the steps it’s taken to comply with Biden’s executive actions “are things [it] wants to do anyway.”
