The Democrat-led House Armed Services Committee will seek to include in its fiscal 2020 NDAA legislation requirements that the Pentagon more aggressively study risks posed to its bases by climate change, Roll Call reported.
Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) introduced a brief draft of the proposed requirements Thursday, saying they will be included in the draft markup from Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.) when the full committee considers the bill June 12.
“I’m not anticipating a very large pushback,” he said. “There’s already similar language that we’ve synced up with on the Senate side.”
His bill would require military bases to assess climate vulnerabilities and make mitigation contingencies for severe weather risks as of part of their installation master plans. Crow’s proposal would also expand the number of bases that would need to have a master plan, according to The Hill.
Senate Armed Services Committee members Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) have proposed similar legislation requiring the Pentagon to study risks to installations posed by climate change. Their bill would require the DOD to increase studies from 148 to 260 on installations facing climate change effects.
In January the Pentagon produced a climate report that studied only 79 of its hundreds of military bases. In response to the limited report, House Democrats followed up with orders that DOD provide more details on its report in April, as On Base reported.
Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jessica Kind