The House Armed Services Committee approved its fiscal 2025 defense policy bill late Wednesday after adding dozens of amendments on climate change, energy and chemicals.
Lawmakers considered nearly 700 amendments in all during the markup of the National Defense Authorization Act, with Republicans homing in mostly on the Pentagon’s weapons stockpiles, diversity initiatives and conflicts around the world.
But they approved an array of bipartisan provisions on climate resilience, minerals and chemical contamination that could help shape the Department of Defense’s environmental agenda at a time when the military is increasingly having to confront extreme weather and changing energy demands.
“Climate change is a national security threat,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.). “It’s an economic threat, a threat to the health of Americans and a threat to the safe, prosperous future of this country.”
