OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Pentagon to fight climate change

by Laura Barron-Lopez and Timothy Cama - 10/13/14 6:55 PM ET

AN IMMEDIATE RISK: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was the latest administration official to sound the alarm on climate change Monday, signaling a shift in how the Pentagon deals with the issue.

It’s far from the first time Defense Department officials have said extreme weather and climate change events are hitting all military operations, but it is the first public, and comprehensive plan issued by the Pentagon on how to tackle it.

{mosads}The 20-page report is a blueprint of the Pentagon’s plan, which will weave climate change threats into all of its “plans, operations, and training.”

“We are considering the impacts of climate change in our war games and defense planning scenarios, and are working with our Combatant Commands to address impacts in their areas of responsibility,” the report states.

During his speech in Peru on Monday, Hagel called on his international counterparts to remain “clear-eyed about the security threats presented by climate change.”

“In two months, the United Nations will convene countries from around the world here in Peru to discuss climate change,” Hagel said.

“Defense leaders must be part of this global discussion.”

Read more here.

ON TAP TUESDAY I: Climate envoy for the State Department, Todd Stern will deliver remarks on global warming at Yale University.

ON TAP TUESDAY II: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) will unveil more details on his energy plan in a speech at the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond. The event is co-hosted by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and League of Conservation Voters. McAuliffe is a proponent of offshore drilling and wind development.

Rest of Tuesday’s agenda…

Resources for the Future will bring in representatives from states to discuss their goals and challenges when it comes to the Environmental Protection Agency’s carbon pollution rule for power plants. The event will feature experts on the regulations and top environmental protection officials from Massachusetts, Michigan and Kentucky.

The Aspen Institute will host an event on the debate over lifting the decades-old ban on crude oil exports. It will focus on the impact of potential exports on domestic manufacturing, jobs, the oil and gas sector and foreign policy.

The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies will hold a discussion on “Russia and the New Energy Age.”

NEWS BITE: ExxonMobil Corp. blasted efforts to get large institutional investors to divest from fossil fuels as “a movement that is out of step with reality.”

The world’s largest company by revenue said that climate change is definitely a significant problem, but divestment distracts from technological innovations, such as the domestic natural gas boom, that could help solve the problem.

“The chief reality this movement ignores is that access to reliable and abundant sources of energy is the linchpin for societal progress,” the company wrote Friday in a blog post. “Energy is modern life.”

AROUND THE WEB:

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer said he has no idea where the figure came about that his goal is for NextGen Climate to spend $100 million in the midterm elections.

When factoring in external costs like air quality, human toxicity and climate change, wind energy is cheaper than coal, natural gas and nuclear energy, the Guardian reports, citing a European Union analysis.

BP’s Cherry Point refinery in Washington said it will only accept crude oil from tank cars that meet the latest industry safety standards, the Bellingham Herald reports.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Monday’s stories…

– Australian PM: ‘Coal is good for humanity’
– Ikea may set new carbon policies
– Read DOD report 2014 Climate Change Adaptation
– Pentagon: Climate change a national security threat
– Hagel: Pentagon launching climate roadmap
– Oil exports might not reduce gasoline prices
– Report: Saudis tell oil investors that low prices might stay
– Renewables to spur power generation in Africa, IEA says
– September sets new temperature record
– Pentagon to unveil major report on climate