Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referred to a pair of U.S. military installations by their previous “non-woke” names during comments on Monday as he began implementing his commander-in-chief’s policies aimed at stripping “diversity, inclusion, and equity” (DEI) programs from the Pentagon to focus on warfighting.
In 2021, in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, an eight-person Naming Commission issued a report recommending “new names for nine military bases,” as well as “the disposition of all Confederacy-affiliated and named Department of Defense assets on those bases.”
As such, historic bases such as Fort Bragg became Fort Liberty, while another — Fort Benning, home to the U.S. Army’s jump school — became Fort Moore. Both previous names came from generals who fought for the Confederacy.
Speaking to the Pentagon press on Monday, Hegseth used the old names.
“Every moment that I’m here, I’m thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning, in Fort Bragg,” Hegseth said in a clip posted to the X platform.
Those remarks came only second after Hegseth said President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at eliminating DEI and “wokeness” from the military would immediately be implemented. “And today, there are more executive orders coming that we fully support,” he said.
Trump is also challenging former President Joe Biden’s radical left “climate” agenda by implementing a series of executive orders that aim to increase domestic fossil fuel energy production.
The series of orders also contain a declaration of an “energy emergency,” which should protect the administration from some, but not all, legal actions aimed at stopping new drilling and other energy-related production.
The breadth of the decisions may well be the most dramatic shift in U.S. energy policy since the response to the ban on oil exports from Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in 1973.
After being sworn into office, President Biden signed several executive orders, including rejoining the Paris Agreement, a nonbinding international accord aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions to prevent global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Following that, his climate agenda unfolded through a series of regulatory actions over the past four years. The outlet added that these included new appliance efficiency standards, a halt on liquefied natural gas export permits, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power plant regulations.
Trump’s “energy emergency” plan emphasizes support for mining critical minerals essential for national security, emergency approvals for energy resources on public lands, and streamlining the development of energy infrastructure. In a separate executive order, Trump outlined guidelines for the development of energy resources in Alaska.
Another order promotes exploration and production related to offshore drilling, reversing one of Biden’s last actions against fossil fuels. This order also cancels several executive orders related to climate that were put in place by Biden. Additionally, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement.
Jeff Reynolds, senior editor for Restoration News, suggested that Trump’s sudden and clear rejection of Biden’s climate agenda might stem from hindsight. While Trump recognized the significance of energy and a supportive regulatory environment, Reynolds noted that he seemed more patient during his first term.
However, Trump’s attitude appears now to have changed after witnessing the extent to which the left would act once Biden took office.
“Now he knows where the bodies are buried, and he’s ready to take a meat axe to everything that got in his way the first time,” Reynolds told Just the News.
Trump’s flurry of pro-fossil fuel executive orders signals his commitment to fulfilling his “drill, baby drill” campaign promises.
