Department of Defense

A notable outlier in this system is the Department of Defense, which is a major national consumer of energy and responsible for 78 percent of all federal energy use. Although the department certainly has a strategic imperative to protect access to energy supplies, there is no inherent energy security policy-making role at DoD, and there is mixed opinion inside and outside the Pentagon about whether that should change. There is little disagreement, however, that the power of DoD as a major consumer of energy is largely untapped, although there are concerns within the military and civilian defense leadership about interference with operational effectiveness. Note that mandates in this area have sometimes been helpful: for example, the legislation (P.L. 110-181) requiring the Department to consider climate change in its National Defense Strategy, National Military Strategy, and Quadrennial Defense Review has essentially created a new infrastructure at the Department of Defense in OSD (Policy), the Joint Staff, and the Services that is accumulating expertise on energy and climate change. This includes new interactions and new information-sharing patterns and content.

The Department of Defense should have a key voice in energy security policy-making,whether or not it is comfortable in that role. Energy and climate change are increasingly seen as core national security issues, making DoD engagement appropriate; it has a global presence with tremendous capacity for collecting and disseminating relevant strategic information on energy and climate change; and it could enhance its operational effectiveness while providing an important demand signal to the national economy for energy efficiency technologies, alternative fuels, and other innovations.

The Director for Operational Energy, created in the 2009 National Defense Authorization Act, but not yet stood up in the Department, could have an important role to play in raising DoD’s profile on these issues. This position, once installed, should be redefined as the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Energy Security, given that the Department has no natural home right now for strategy or planning on energy security or climate change. Under the ATSD-ES, there should be a Director for Operational Energy who focuses on accomplishing efficiencies in operational energy use without compromising mission effectiveness; a Director for Critical Infrastructure who focuses on the reliance of military bases on the civilian economy for electricity and other public services; a Director for Climate Change, who can help coordinate the Department’s strategic analysis and planning for climate change; and a Director for Installations and Environment, a position that currently exists in the Acquisitions, Technology and Logistics side of the Department. This office should formalize the infrastructure that has been created across the Department and military services to deal with climate change concerns in the QDR as a consultative group. By consolidating existing authorities with strategic oversight, this office can both promote DoD’s voice on policy issues and ensure that DoD’s power as an energy consumer is tapped in a way that enhances military missions.