Automotive Industry Improvements Can Assistance Beat Weather Crisis, Hicks Says > U.S. Office of Protection > Protection Office Information
November 10, 2021
Local climate change is a nationwide protection obstacle and the automotive innovations at function in Detroit can assistance the Protection Section tackle the local climate disaster, Deputy Protection Secretary Kathleen H. Hicks said yesterday.
Talking to a mostly automotive audience at Wayne Point out College in Detroit, the deputy secretary explained local weather adjust is a disaster for the complete planet, and she cited President Joe Biden, who previous week mentioned weather modify is ravaging the planet. “It truly is not a hypothetical danger. Weather adjust is not a tomorrow issue. It can be a challenge proper now,” Hicks mentioned.
In the Western United States, wildfire seasons continue on to worsen. The Arctic local climate adjust is opening that region to new strategic challenges from nations these types of as Russia and China, she mentioned. “And due to mounting sea levels, and minimal elevation places like the Marshall Islands — house to vital protection belongings like the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Protection take a look at web sites — are increasingly at chance of disappearing or starting to be uninhabitable.”
Local weather change continues to generate intense temperature occasions, which improve the requires on the U.S. armed forces though at the same time impacting the military’s capacity to respond, the deputy secretary explained. “Every single dollar we spend recovering from the outcomes of local climate improve is just one greenback the department is not investing to satisfy other priorities. In the deal with of these progressively challenging conditions, the Office of Defense have to stay ready to defend the nation.”
In line with Biden’s govt order, Tackling the Local weather Disaster at House and Abroad, the DOD a short while ago produced two strategies, Hicks mentioned. The first is the DOD Local weather Adaptation Program, which delivers a roadmap to ensuring DOD maintains the potential to operate under modifying local climate conditions, and it sets a path to a lighter, leaner, extra survivable and agile drive that is trained and outfitted to operate in all climatic disorders, she claimed. The second program, the DOD Local weather Hazard Examination, focuses on the geostrategic and mission implications of weather transform. It is a framework for a shared department-wide knowledge of local climate alter and its effects, Hicks reported.
“These reviews will enable tutorial the division as we adapt to climate,” she reported. “But the science is distinct. As a country, and a department, we must do our portion to mitigate climate alter alone.”
Hicks explained the White House has established an aggressive goal for the DOD to get to web-zero greenhouse gasoline emissions by 2050, and the DOD is committed to assembly the obstacle by producing major alterations in its use of electrical power and rising its investments in clean electricity technology.
“In pushing toward internet-zero emissions by 2050, the Division of Defense is developing a sustainability system to meet up with our climate targets,” she reported. “It will set a route for cutting down greenhouse gas emissions, raising our power, h2o and squander effectiveness, and maximizing sustainable procurement and supply chains. Moreover, element of the sustainability program will be centered on establishing a zero-emissions, non-tactical automobile fleet. We also know that we need to optimize power use in our tactical motor vehicles.”
At the DOD, local climate alter aims align closely with the department’s mission, Hicks explained, adding tactical vehicle electrification, initially, by means of hybrid electrical technology, has the possible to cut down greenhouse fuel emissions, but it could also give significant operational ability to give troops an edge on the battlefield. “But we need to have companions to support capitalize on this potential,” she claimed. “And Detroit — the coronary heart of America’s automotive marketplace — is heading to be fundamental to accomplishing these objectives. We can not do it devoid of you and with out America’s personal sector.”
The DOD’s accomplishment in transitioning a enormous fleet to zero emissions, most of which will be electrical, will depend on America’s vehicle marketplace and automobile staff in Detroit, and the very same is legitimate of its tactical vehicles, the deputy secretary claimed.
She emphasised that battery technological innovation and lithium ion batteries are the lifeblood of electrification and the long run of the car marketplace. “Batteries are also vital to countless numbers of armed forces techniques from handheld radios to unmanned submersibles, and to foreseeable future capabilities like lasers, directed electrical power weapons and hybrid electric tactical autos.” A wholesome battery offer chain is crucial to the military, and when it will come to batteries, The united states need to lead the entire world, which calls for innovation, she mentioned.
It also usually means production to make positive the DOD has healthful source chains, Hicks mentioned. “It is believed [that] investments committed to the global lithium ion battery source chain are approaching a trillion pounds. The trouble, nonetheless, is that China presently dominates that supply chain.” She additional that the DOD is fully commited to doing the job with market to raise resilience in the supply chain, which strengthens the industrial base. The DOD has joined the federal Consortium for Highly developed Batteries, which is interested in guaranteeing a domestic source of lithium batteries and is fully commited to accelerating the growth of a robust and protected domestic industrial foundation, she additional. “As section of that consortium, we introduced a nationwide blueprint for lithium batteries, which informs how we will get the job done to safe a sustainable lithium battery offer chain.”
The United States also wants to make guaranteed electric powered grids in communities and on military installations are up to the problem, she stated. The DOD is in search of alternatives from its marketplace companions to assistance handle the new calls for on electric devices. “We have a whole lot of work to do just before we are in a position to attain web-zero emissions by 2050,” Hicks said.
“Communities like Detroit will be at the heart of the strength transition,” the deputy secretary said. “For much more than 100 several years, Detroit has been central to American automotive production and heart stage for innovation in the United States.”
