276
Donald Trump’s planned $1 trillion Pentagon budget for 2026 will dramatically aggravate the climate crisis, with the military’s emissions forecast to rise by 26 megatons of CO₂ equivalent the equivalent of one year’s production of 68 gas power stations or the whole nation of Croatia, says new research.
Trump’s 17% boost in defense expenditure under his “One Big Beautiful Act” occurs at a time when climate catastrophes heatwaves, wildfires, and floods are escalating throughout the US. The extra military greenhouse gas emissions will put the Pentagon’s overall carbon footprint at an estimated 178 megatons, inducing around $47 billion in worldwide economic losses, reports the Climate and Community Institute (CCI).
As climate specialists alert us to a shrinking window to limit emissions, the Pentagon the largest single consumer of fossil fuels in the United States is growing its carbon footprint. In 2023, the Department of Defense produced close to 152 megatons of climate pollution through overseas operations, fuel consumption, and manufacturing of military hardware. The 2026 total is an expansion of that, including supply chain emissions associated with defense contractors and weapons production.
The CCI’s lead researcher Patrick Bigger called the defense budget a “trillion-dollar war machine” with emissions exceeding those of 138 countries. “Every dollar spent increases the Pentagon’s carbon bootprint and decreases our chances for a livable future,” he said.
Critics say the spending increase is at a human expense. In order to pay for the military buildup, Trump’s budget cuts funding to education, public health initiatives, disaster relief, and climate change research. Simultaneously, the US has pulled out of the Paris Agreement for the second time and ended investments in renewable energy that began under the Biden administration.
Significantly, if the Pentagon were a nation, its emissions would make it the 38th-largest emitter in the world larger than Ethiopia, which has 135 million inhabitants. In addition, the military’s climate footprint is probably an underestimate, as emissions from gratuitous defense assistance to nations such as Israel and Ukraine are not included.
Trump’s defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, has disregarded climate factors entirely, axing Pentagon renewable energy projects, stating on X “The @DeptofDefense does not do climate change crap.”
While military expenditure reaches an all-time high of $2.7 trillion in 2024, campaigners are calling for accountability and transparency over the climate cost of the military. Ellie Kinney of the Conflict and Environment Observatory cautioned: “We cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the military’s role in the climate emergency. Militaries need to make deep cuts in emissions.”
