Biden Navy Secretary Says Climate Change Is the “Focal Point” of His Tenure

In a new report, President Joe Biden’s Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro called climate change an “existential threat” and said it was the “focal point” of his time in the position. The 32-page report, “Climate Action 2030,” sets forth the stated goals to “build climate resilience” and “reduce climate threat.”

Put in perspective, the Chinese PLA navy has the stated goal to match or surpass the United States Navy in both size and capability by 2049.

Del Toro is a Navy veteran of 22 years, retired with the rank of commander before moving into business and founding SBG Technology Solutions in 2004. From 2019 until 2021 he was on the board of directors of the Washington-based think tank the Stimson Center.

Now Del Toro — according to the new report — appears to have swallowed the worst climate change propaganda hook, line, and sinker, and seeks to save the United States Navy from global warming.

“Climate change is one of the most destabilizing forces of our time, exacerbating other national security concerns and posing serious readiness challenges,” Del Toro stated in the report’s introduction.

It’s so serious, according to Del Toro, that the secretary has made climate change the “focus” of his tenure as secretary of the Navy.

“It is because of this direct threat to mission that I chose climate as a focal point for my tenure as Secretary. While this reality is one that the Department of Navy (DON) has faced for some time, it is a reality that we face with new urgency and resolve,” Del Toro wrote.

Climate change, Del Toro believes, is an “existential” threat to one of the world’s great fighting forces.

“For the Department of Navy, this is existential,” Del Toro claimed. “If we do not act, as sea levels rise, bases like Norfolk Naval Base and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island will be severely tested in their ability to support their missions.”

Like most climate propaganda, the report is full of meaningless charts and photos of hurricanes, floods, and solar panels. The text of the report focuses on how the Navy intends to “build climate resistance” and “reduce climate threat.”

The report speaks of a climate catastrophe that, in Del Toro’s eyes, is a fait accompli.

According to the report:

The coming decades will witness climate change that challenges the DON’s global strategic laydown and operations. Climate change will drive more severe and more frequent weather events that will stress our systems and platforms, and threaten our installations. Melting Arctic ice will yield more access to resources and navigable sea routes, enabling greater transit of military and commercial vessels alike. Considering these factors and more, the Department has an urgent charge: to build a climate-ready force. [Emphasis in original.]

Del Toro’s vision of our climate future includes wide-ranging, non-naval concerns.

“We will see more extreme heat events such as the record-setting heatwaves in the normally temperate Pacific Northwest, and the expansive fires and unprecedented droughts in the West. These events mean more black flag days with temperatures at-or-above 90 degrees Fahrenheit,” Del Toro explained.

The secretary summed it up: “It is my expectation that every individual, command, and component will take an active role and clear responsibility for integrating climate action into every aspect of the Department of Navy mission.”

The document reads as if it were created by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change instead of the United States Navy. Instead of focusing on strategies which might be needed to defend Taiwan or Guam or Hawaii, this report focuses on “Climate-informed decision-making,” “Integrating Climate Considerations into the Budget Process,” and “Worldwide Climate Health Partnerships.”

As the Communist Chinese continue to upgrade their military in anticipation of using it someday, our military appears to be mired in a struggle to keep climate change extremists happy — a task they can never accomplish. Besides this new naval document, the Army released its own climate policy in February calling for the military to “prioritize climate change considerations in our activities and risk assessments.”

The ultimate goal of our military should be to defend the United States from external armed threats; not to virtue signal to climate change extremists who will never appreciate any efforts made to mitigate so-called climate change anyway.