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The Pentagon helped jump-start the U.S. solar industry back in 2007, when the Air Force contracted to build a 14-megawatt solar farm at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, then the largest plant of its kind in the country. Since then, the industry has built solar projects more than 40 times that size, and the military has been one its biggest customers, adding more than 130 megawatts to bases in nearly three dozen states.
Former President Barack Obama also pushed the Pentagon to experiment with biofuels to reduce its ships' dependence on oil, and though a Great Green Fleet powered by biofuels from home-grown crops failed to live up its promise, then-Navy Secretary Ray Mabus found success in even simple solutions: He ordered refitting ships to replace all their bulbs with high efficiency technology, saving power and allowing the ships to stay at sea longer. And the aviation biofuels developed during the period are now being used by airlines to acquire carbon offsets required by European aviation authorities.
U.S. troops also saw other benefits from the Obama years. Batteries carried by soldiers to power radios and other equipment went from 13 pounds to nine pounds, easing their load while they are on maneuvers.
Though Congress often guides the Defense Department on energy conservation projects through the annual National Defense Authorization Act, President Donald Trump reversed many of Obama's efforts to use the federal government to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to fight climate change, including through a 2018 executive order revoking specific carbon reduction targets for federal agencies. And military leaders who resented being tools of a policy they didn't feel contributed to the fighting mission were relieved to see an end to that chapter.
Biden is likely to lean on his incoming Defense secretary, former Gen. Lloyd Austin, to ramp up the use of renewable energy sources while hardening the nation's military bases to the dangers from climate change. Though Austin was tapped over Michele Flournoy, an Obama DoD official with deep experience fighting climate change, experts say he will be keenly aware of the dangers hurricanes and fires pose to bases, and will bring experience dealing with the complexities of fuel logistics.
As commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Austin oversaw the first impact of climate change in a theater of operations, in 2015, said Andrew Holland, chief operating officer for the think tank the American Security Project.
He should know the importance of this, even as he doesn’t have a long record working on this issue,” he said.
Biden's transition team declined to comment on his plans, and pointed to his posted climate plans.
Biden will likely pick up an Obama-era program in which bases in Nevada and Hawaii built microgrids, enabling them to keep their lights on and continue operations even if the civilian power supply failed. The maturity of solar and wind technology has also driven down prices, and U.S. bases in many places may be able to install their own generation at a lower cost than fossil power.
Biden will also get the advantage of the cultural shift toward efficiency and renewables engendered by Obama and his Defense officials, Goodman said. Veterans have entered the clean energy workforce in higher numbers than other parts of the workforce in states like Ohio, where 11 percent of the clean energy workforce were veterans — double their representation in other industries, according to a report from Clean Energy Trust, a Midwestern clean energy investment fund. And junior officers who were still learning how to implement energy efficiency measures during the Obama years have now advanced to positions of responsibility inside the military. | 
