Wednesday 25 May 2022

US Navy launches climate plan

The US Navy has released a climate strategy, looking to cut its carbon emissions and move to low carbon fuels.

Released as part of the Biden Administration’s 2050 net zero goal, this 2030 strategy will see the Navy begin to adopt hybrid engines for ships and planes and reduce overall fuel consumption.

Rising sea levels, high temperatures and flooding are extremely impactful on the Navy’s operations – and have been quoted as reasons for pushing through a climate plan with haste.

The plan urges officials in the Navy to report to Carlos Del Toro, Secretary of the Navy, within 90 days, ways that climate adaptation can be strengthened and quickened.

The military is the US’ largest expense of fuel, with reports surfacing that energy costs are estimated to be $3 billion (£2.4bn) more than had originally been planned this year.

Its fiscal budget for next year includes $718 million (£574m) devoted to fighting climate change, although the exact cost of this plan is yet to be disclosed.

Meredith Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installation & Environment, said: “Not only are we going to lower our costs, we're also going to lower our dependency, we'll have fuel sources that are more reliable.”