Defense Department preps for climate change—while rest of Trump team sticks their heads in the sand

Even though the Trump administration refuses to protect some of its most vulnerable citizens from the impacts of climate change, its military bases are springing into action. The administration has passed a defense authorization bill that—who would've thought—acknowledges and prepares for the realities of a warming planet. Specifically, the bill requires new military infrastructure to account for rising sea levels while also turning its attention toward the Arctic. This levelheaded acceptance of climate science wouldn't be all that surprising if it weren't for the rest of the administration being hell-bent on cutting back or eliminating any and all climate initiatives. While acting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler is busy gutting fuel efficiency policies and U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is going off about “environmental terrorists” causing California’s wildfires, the U.S. Department of Defense appears to be, well, defending—keeping in line with separate studies it published last year that acknowledged our climate reality, even as President Trump was busy denying accepted climate science and pushing coal. Awk-ward.