The Pentagon’s Climate Reversal: From “Threat Multiplier” to “No More Climate Change Worship”

Based on reporting by Floodlight (nonprofit newsroom).

Across the U.S. military, climate change isn’t abstract — it’s operational. Since 2018, extreme weather has sidelined 10,000+ troops, flooded bases from Guam to the Carolinas, and stressed runways, ship cooling, and even nuclear readiness. Hurricanes Florence (Camp Lejeune), Michael (Tyndall AFB), and Typhoon Mawar (Andersen AFB) caused multi-billion-dollar damage; hotter, humid air reduces aircraft lift and payloads; warming seas impair ship cooling and sonar; and “black flag” heat days increasingly halt training. The National Guard logged nearly 4 million disaster-response duty days over a decade; heat illnesses among troops climbed 52% (2020–2024), with 2,800+ cases in 2024 alone.

For decades, DoD treated climate as a core readiness issue, seeking $5B for climate initiatives in FY2024 and rolling out hybrid tactical vehicles to cut fuel-convoy risk. That posture is shifting.

Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth: “The @DeptofDefense does not do climate change crap. We do training and warfighting.”

A March 17 memo banned climate planning funds and ordered removal of climate references from mission statements, while canceling 91 climate/social-science studies (saving $30M out of an ~$850B budget). The 2026 request proposes $1.6B in climate cuts; the Pentagon’s climate-resilience portal and service-level action plans have disappeared from public sites.

Critics warn the U.S. will be less ready in hotter, storm-prone theaters.

“We’re going to be less prepared if our troops are deployed somewhere where it’s incredibly hot … That’s malpractice,” said Erin Sikorsky (Center for Climate and Security).

Former officials argue competitors won’t ignore climate planning.

As retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré puts it: policy can change — physics won’t.