WASHINGTON _ Rep. Jason Crow unveiled an amendment Thursday that would require the Pentagon to more aggressively study the risks posed to its bases by climate change, the latest effort by House Democrats to scrutinize and quantify the challenges a warming planet poses to the military.
The Colorado Democrat attached the amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, the massive annual defense bill Congress must pass, and told CQ Roll Call he was optimistic about its prospects.
"I'm not anticipating a very large pushback," Crow said in an interview. "There's already similar language that we've synced up with on the Senate side."
The offices of Democratic Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Hawaii's Brian Schatz, have indicated their support for the provision, Crow said, adding that House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., backs it too.
Separately, Crow introduced legislation last week to require officials at large and medium military bases to consider climate change and extreme weather when drafting so-called "master plans" for their facilities.
If that bill passed, the number of bases the military would have to assess for climate risks would increase from 148 to 260 _ figures that include installations in U.S. territories, foreign nations and U.S. states, according to the fiscal 2018 Base Structure Report. Under federal law now, only "major military installations" are bound to assess their climate hazards.
Crow's one-two punch is the latest salvo from House Democrats to scrutinize and quantify the risks climate change poses to the military.
On Wednesday, Rep. Denny Heck, D-Wash., said he would introduce legislation to establish a so-called "climate security intelligence center" at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
"I think this is a gap, frankly, in our ability to adapt," Heck said.
And after the Pentagon produced a climate report in January and only studied 79 of its hundreds of military bases, House Democrats directed the department to update its work.
Heck made his announcement at a hearing on climate change before the House Intelligence Committee, where Rep. Devin Nunes of California, the panel's top Republican, appeared uninterested.
"This committee has the jurisdiction and responsibility to oversee a vast number of pressing intelligence issues," Nunes said, citing artificial intelligence, telecommunication policy and foreign powers. Climate change doesn't belong before an intelligence committee, he said. "Instead of discussing any of these issues today, however, the majority has chosen to discuss global warming, which is a more appropriate topic for other committees."
American forces are already feeling the effects of climate change and citizens are paying for it, Crow said. Opposing his efforts runs counter to requests from the Pentagon, he said.
"We're already paying for this," Crow said of climate change broadly. "To the tune of billions of dollars," he said. "If someone wants to fight this, they're going to be fighting the commanders and what they're asking for, what DoD is asking for what and we need to do. And they'll do it at the detriment of our defense, and our soldiers and our readiness."
The House Armed Services Committee is scheduled to mark up the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020 on June 12.
