Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee rejected a proposal on Wednesday to exempt the Pentagon from the administration’s efforts to fight climate change.
Rep. John Fleming, R-La., introduced the amendment, which would allow the Defense Department to not follow the president’s executive orders on climate change and clean energy.
The amendment failed on a 29-30 vote.
Fleming argued that the executive orders increase bureaucracy while dictating to commanders how they can operate and take dollars away from more important military priorities, such as readiness and acquisition.
“We need to ensure every dollar spent goes directly to support lethality of armed forces,” Fleming said.
Opponents, however, argued that reducing the military’s energy consumption and investing in greener energy to eliminate reliance on fossil fuels is a security priority for America.
“It is also slowly but surely destroying the planet,” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. “That is at the end of the day a national security threat as well.”
Smith pointed to the Defense Department’s investment in the Internet, something that may not have been seen as cost effective or necessary when it started, but has since “paid dividends.”
