Hill Heat

Hearing page

Chair: Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

Witnesses:

• Carlos Del Toro, Secretary, United States Navy
• Admiral Michael M. Gilday, Chief Of Naval Operations
• General David H. Berger, Commandant Of The Marine Corps

The Department of the Navy budget is $230.8 billion: a Navy budget at $180.5 billion and Marine Corps budget at $50.3 billion.

The Navy is requesting $718.8 million in climate-related funding:

• $190.6 million for energy saving performance contracts or utility energy services contracts for the Navy
• $3.1 million for energy saving performance contracts or utility energy services contracts for the Marine Corps
• $33.9 million to deploy renewable energy, energy storage, and energy or water efficiency improvements for the Navy
• $16.9 million to deploy renewable energy, energy storage, and energy or water efficiency improvements for the Marine Corps
• $108.5 million for Navy erosion control projects and seawall repair, and future environmental resilience projects
• $13.2 million for Marine Corps’ natural resources projects that support installation and training resiliency to climate change
• $17.9 million for the Navy to enable revised installation master plans to incorporate impacts from climate change, and the development, planning, design, and execution of future projects to address climate impacts
• $16.5 million enhance the energy security posture of Marine Corps installations, and accelerate advanced micro-grid deployment
• $12.9 million for manpower to increase energy efficiency expertise within the Navy’s energy offices
• $6.3 million Navy investment for projects to develop higher efficiency Gallium Nitride (GaN) High Power Amplifiers, used in maritime advanced technology radar and surface electronic warfare systems
• $8.6 million for the Navy to fund $1.3 million in operational energy upgrades provides modernizations for Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) propulsion systems and $7.3 million in research and development efforts for the Navy’s Integrated Power System (IPS)
• $7.9 million for the Marine Corps Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) Family of Vehicles, to set next generation vehicle standards for fuel efficiency and vehicle hybrid electrification
• $13.5 million for Marine Corps programs to set new standards for the Family of Mobile Power Systems, Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement, and Family of Expeditionary Fuel Systems
• $94.8 million more for the Navy’s Integrated Power System (IPS)
• $10.5 million in carbon-sequestration fundes for the Navy to fund priority projects, such as wetland and forest restoration, that increase base resiliency
• $5.4 million for Navy to fund the battery development safety program that focuses on the safe implementation and fielding of high energy batteries through a rigorous certification process
• $0.9 million for Navy to fund research into microbial fuel cells (MFCs), an energy resource that can operate in marine sediments and provide underwater power
• $7.3 million for Navy for low-carbon fuel research, such as hydrogen, to help replace the 1 billion gallons of fuel the Navy uses annually
• $43.2 million in Navy funding for efficiency technologies such as micro-vanes, refueling drogue stabilization, engine wash, blade coatings, and mission planning to increase the efficiency of Naval aircraft
• $4.8 million for Marine Corps’ Family of Mobile Power Systems, consisting of a wide range of current and emerging technologies for mobile power generation, storage, and distribution systems
• $10.5 million for Navy to fund the assessment, development, maturation, and transition of power (batteries and fuel cells), thermal management (models and fluid transfer), and engine and airframe efficiency technologies to increase the mission capability of Naval aircraft
• $10.8 million for the Marine Corps supports development of a variety of technologies including Cold Weather and Mountaineering equipment, Family of Shelters, and the offices that conduct this research
• $49.0 million for Navy to fund the Naval Platform Operational Endurance & Climate Resiliency Science project to advance design tools focused on climate resilience and predicting emissions from platforms. Pursuing technology development efforts to impact climate remediation, including evaluation of Low Global Warming Potential refrigerants, Subsea & Seabed Warfare Energy Harvesting, and Direct Air Capture & Blue Carbon fuel synthesis. Funding also supports electrical and auxiliary system and component technology to dramatically improve naval capabilities by providing energy and power resiliency
• $3.7 million for the Navy funds an effort to improve integration of weather and ocean forecasts into ship routing, ship response and propulsion efficiency planning
• $7.7 million for war-games for the Navy looking at critical infrastructure protection
• $0.4 million for the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program – Norway that supports the withdrawal of equipment and supplies for ashore prepositioning sites in support of contingency preparedness for cold weather related exercises

In regards to climate change, the ‘23 budget increases climate investments by a total of $137 million across the shore providing funding for electric vehicle leasing, charging stations, installation resiliency, and natural resource carbon sequestration projects.

26/05/2022 at 10:00AM

The Department of Defense has named Joseph Bryan its Senior Advisor on Climate, joining several other agencies with this new position.

Joe Bryan, formally appointed as a Special Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy during the Obama administration starting in 2014, coming from the U.S. Senate where he was a military issues staffer. He started his career in energy and mining policy, with jobs in South Africa and Namibia, after earning a masters in energy and environmental policy from the University of Delaware.

After leaving the Obama administration, Bryan joined the Atlantic Council as a senior fellow and founded Muswell Orange, LLC, a one-man clean-energy consultancy. In recent years he wrote numerous pieces and offered testimony on climate change, clean energy, and the military.

In one piece he wrote: “Mitigating the worst impacts of climate change ultimately depends on significant reductions in global carbon emissions. The United States should rejoin the international community and recommit to aggressive cuts in CO2.”

He has also emphasized the strategic issue of the minerals supply chain for batteries and other renewable-energy technology.

Additionally, climate hawk Andy Oare was named the director of digital media for the Department of Defense. During the Obama administration, he was part of the digital media and outreach team for the Department of Energy.

Bryan’s biographical details:

Joseph M. Bryan was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy in November 2014. Mr. Bryan served as the Secretariat focal point on all matters pertaining to the Department of Navy’s energy initiatives.

Mr. Bryan joined the Department of the Navy from the United States Senate where he served in several professional staff roles. Most recently, Mr. Bryan was the Investigations Team Lead for the Committee on Armed Services. During his tenure, the committee completed investigations into cyber intrusions affecting U.S. Transportation Command contractors, U.S. costs and allied contributions to support the U.S. military presence overseas, the presence of counterfeit electronic parts in the military supply chain, the use of private security contractors in Afghanistan, and the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

From 2005 to January 2007, Mr. Bryan served on the Select Committee on Intelligence, where he advised Senator Carl Levin on legal, policy, and programmatic issues affecting the U.S. Intelligence Community. He also represented Senator Levin in legislative negotiations and investigations into pre-Iraq war intelligence.

From 2001 to April 2005, he was responsible for legislative issues related to Senate Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committees, including judicial nominations, criminal justice, legal reform, and federal employees.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Bryan worked at the University of Cape Town’s Energy and Development Research Center, Cape Town, South Africa. In this position, he coordinated research and briefings for Chairman of the South African Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Minerals and Energy on the development and regulation of domestic energy industries. He also advised Namibian Ministry of Minerals and Energy on the development of a white paper to guide development of national energy policy.

Mr. Bryan earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1991 from Fordham University and a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Public Policy, with a focus on energy and environmental policy from the University of Delaware.