Looking Forward: What to Expect for Energy and Climate Provisions in the 2024 NDAA

Before breaking for August recess, both chambers of Congress passed their respective versions of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (NDAA) (H.R.2670/S.2226). This annual “must-pass” legislation sets defense policy and authorizes spending on national security efforts, largely through the Department of Defense (DOD), as well as the Department of Energy (DOE). With Congress now back in session, the two bills are expected to be taken up to resolve their differences. 

From its inception in 1961, the legislation has covered spending on issues such as strengthening land, air, and naval warfare capabilities; military alliances and partnerships abroad; weapons procurement; defense intelligence; DOD operations; and innovative defense technologies. In recent decades, however, modernization of warfare, the introduction of novel and emerging threats, and an ever-expanding definition of national security has transformed the NDAA into a behemoth legislative package, with more recent versions covering issues like cyber terrorism, reproductive rights, and diversity initiatives. 

“Climate change is a direct threat to the national security of the United States and is impacting stability in areas of the world both where the United States Armed Forces are operating today, and where strategic implications for future conflict exist.”

While energy security has been baked into the defense law since 1993 (the DOD is the single largest energy-consuming entity in the country), climate change did not appear in the text until 2008. That year, a provision required the DOD to begin incorporating climate risk assessments into their defense planning. Since then, the national security community has undertaken an increasingly outsized government role in addressing climate change and energy. In Congress, however, more definitive acknowledgment of climate change as a national security threat has only begun to emerge in recent years: the 2018 NDAA included a formal bipartisan declaration that “climate change is a direct threat to the national security of the United States and is impacting stability in areas of the world both where the United States Armed Forces are operating today, and where strategic implications for future conflict exist.” 

Energy and Climate Provisions in the House NDAA

Following a contentious House Rules Committee hearing, the House reached a bill that would authorize $500 million for energy conservation and resilience efforts. Most prominent among these efforts was nuclear energy—a nod to recent bipartisan efforts to ramp up domestic nuclear energy production. Amendments to the House bill mandate federal agencies to create a strategy for the deployment of emerging nuclear technologies and acknowledge the significance of nuclear energy to military operations, grid resilience, and national security.

Climate conversations in the House focused largely on the risks of extreme weather events to military bases and infrastructure. The chamber’s bill includes a bipartisan amendment from Reps. Nikki Budzinski (D-Ill.) and Michael Bost (R-Ill.) requiring additional, regionally-specific studies of the risks of weather hazards at military installations, as well as proposed mitigation strategies. 

Energy and Climate Provisions in the Senate NDAA

In the Senate, an $886 billion NDAA passed with an 86-11 vote. Of the energy provisions within the Senate bill, nuclear energy once again found substantial consensus, with $178 million authorized for nuclear activities under the DOE (an increase of over $21 million from the previous year). Most notably, the Senate NDAA incorporates large swaths of the Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act (S.1111). First introduced by Sen. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.), the bipartisan ADVANCE Act aims to accelerate nuclear deployment and make the United States a global leader in nuclear energy. The Senate NDAA also includes the Nuclear Fuel Security Act (S.452), introduced by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), and James Risch (R-Idaho), to bolster and create DOE programs geared toward increasing domestic supplies of low-enriched uranium.

Regarding climate, the Senate took similar measures to the House to respond to the increasing threat of sea level rise, natural disasters, and other extreme weather events to U.S. military bases. Specifically, the Senate’s version of the NDAA mandates an evaluation of how the DOD has addressed climate risks and the efficacy of the agency’s response. The bill also seeks to tackle emissions at their source, earmarking research and development funding for hydrogen- and battery-powered vehicles. The passage of the Senate NDAA coincides with the military’s objective of transitioning its fleet of non-tactical vehicles to all-electric by 2035, and 2050 for fully electric tactical vehicles. The Senate also approved three amendments addressing the impacts of wildfires, mining, and weapons testing on human health, on top of existing measures to remediate contaminated military sites and advance research on harmful per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 

What’s Next for the NDAA?

The House and Senate bills must be harmonized in the Conference Committee before returning to the House and Senate floors for a final vote. For now, the NDAA sits in the queue for consideration as lawmakers continue to focus on passing annual spending bills. While the defense bill awaits the legislative spotlight, patterns in bipartisan support can offer clues as to what energy and climate wins will likely be included in the final version of the conferenced NDAA. 

Domestic energy production has consistently garnered broad bipartisan support. Accordingly, this national issue remained top-of-mind as the House and Senate worked to pass their respective bills. Both chambers prioritized advancements in nuclear energy, the securing of critical minerals needed for the clean energy transition, and the development of a resilient energy grid, including ensuring an efficient and reliable supply of electricity. Measures to increase energy efficiency at military installations, meanwhile, are already included in the base text (the DOD is the single largest energy-consuming entity in the country).

The Democrat-led Senate and Republican-led House have found little common ground on climate change. A conferenced NDAA will very likely include measures addressing the threat of extreme weather to U.S. military assets abroad, with weather-related provisions being included in both chambers’ bills. However, action on climate threats to military bases has not translated to broader measures within the House’s 2024 NDAA to bolster climate resilience as a vehicle of national security. Rather, the House bill seeks to roll back the DOD’s ability to implement several climate mandates ordered by the Biden-Harris Administration. It also aims to stymie the rollout of non-tactical electric vehicles (EVs), contradicting a measure that was included in last year’s NDAA. But while the final outcome of opposing climate and EV provisions in the House and Senate bills is unknown, a reconciled NDAA will likely include measures to secure a domestic supply of critical minerals—an objective that has received bicameral and bipartisan support—that could help to bolster domestic EV production. 

Though the outcome of the ongoing bicameral tug-of-war on climate risks and EVs remains uncertain, the NDAA is not the be-all and end-all for climate action within U.S. defense policy. Since its substantial incorporation into the NDAA in 2017, the climate crisis has been afforded increased recognition in the bill every year, reflecting national priorities. Regardless of what is included in the final text once it is released from the Conference Committee, the DOD has remained committed to incorporating tangible work around energy and climate adaptation, resilience, and preparedness into its mission.

Author: Nicole Pouy

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