Clean energy is national security

As the one-year anniversary of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine approaches, it’s hard to overstate the war’s impact on the global energy transition. Energy prices have skyrocketed in the past year, while energy trends have moved in two opposing directions: on the one hand, 2022 saw record high coal use, with a 1.2 percent increase over the previous year, and on the other, renewables deployment has increased significantly, particularly in Europe. Looking ahead, the security imperative for the United States and Europe is to lean into clean energy development as a way to not only end dependence on petro dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin but also to avoid the worst security outcomes of continued carbon emissions. In other words, clean energy is key to both our current energy security and our future climate security. Clean energy enables energy independence while helping the United States turn the current climate trajectory around.

Today’s climate-driven hazards are already severe — from floods in South Asia to heatwaves and fires in Europe to droughts in Africa to hurricanes in the Caribbean and the United States — and are straining government and military responses worldwide. Moreover, climate change is undermining food security, increasing water scarcity, as well as making regions less and less habitable. If the world continues on its current warming trajectory, by the second half of this century these hazards are projected to severely intensify, risking catastrophic security outcomes both locally and as a consequence of radiating instability. In this context, a forward-leaning posture on climate change is valued by our partners and allies as well as those fragile nations who already fear for their ability to protect the lives and livelihoods of their citizenry.

American leadership on climate change can build credibility and influence that will advance a broader portfolio of U.S. interests. Clean energy is a critical part of that message and that leadership — both how we embrace it at home and how we support its adoption abroad.

Militaries in particular and national security experts more generally, were among the earliest to recognize climate change implications for national security. As they recognize the mission risks, they have also begun to see the clear benefits of key clean energy technologies to military capability. Solar panels on installations provide resilience to grid outages, while solar generation in the field reduces reliance on diesel generators that put demands on vulnerable resupply systems. Both solar-powered installations and electric vehicles minimize heat and noise signatures that can expose forces to attack. Energy is critical to the battlefield, and new clean energy technologies can improve the effectiveness and the survivability of our armed forces.

Clean energy is not only a solution to future security challenges, but also to the challenges of today. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an ongoing and pointed example of this. In the wake of the invasion, Russia sought to use its fossil fuel supply as a weapon to undermine and divide European support for Ukraine. A Europe more reliant on local, clean energy supplies might have reduced Putin’s confidence that he could manipulate European response.

The world’s economic future is one driven by electric vehicles, microgrids, renewable energy, advanced nuclear energy and large-scale storage. A strong economy is vital to U.S. national security and international stability, and clean energy is tied to a wide range of economic growth opportunities in the coming decades.

International competitors like China have recognized this and moved quickly to support wind, solar, battery and electric vehicle industries. The United States cannot cede these growing markets to rivals, and the steps taken in a new U.S. law, the Inflation Reduction Act, passed last year to prioritize investments in these areas moves the country to a more robust competitive foundation. Clean energy therefore is an essential element of economic growth, and U.S. global influence versus its key competitors.

Clean energy is climate security; clean energy is stronger U.S. leadership; clean energy is increased military capability; clean energy is energy independence; and clean energy is economic growth and global influence. These all add up to one unavoidable conclusion: Clean energy is critical to U.S. national security.

John Conger is senior adviser to the Council on Strategic Risks and former principal deputy under secretary of Defense (comptroller).

Sherri Goodman is the former U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Environmental Security. Retired Gen. Gordon Sullivan is the former chief of staff of the U.S. Army. Both serve on the advisory board for the Center for Climate and Security. Follow on Twitter: @CntrClimSec

Gen. Ron Keys, USAF (Ret.), is the former commander of Air Combat Command at Langley Air Force Base, completing a career of more than 40 years.

Lyston Lea is a member of the Center for Climate and Security’s Advisory Board. He has over 38 years of professional experience working in the Intelligence Community.

Erin Sikorsky is the director of the Center for Climate and Security, and the director of the International Military Council on Climate and Security. Previously, she served as the deputy director of the Strategic Futures Group on the National Intelligence Council in the United States, where she co-authored the quadrennial Global Trends report and led the U.S. intelligence community’s environmental and climate security analysis. Follow her on Twitter: @ErinSikorsky