HOW THE U.S. MILITARY AND CLIMATE CRISIS ARE RELATED
This year, Earth Day was significant in two important ways. April 22 marked the observance of the 51st annual Earth Day when people again focused efforts to help save our planet, and we heard of the many ways to change our habits, including using less plastic and fewer paper towels, changing to better light bulbs, switching to electric cars, and even lessening our reliance on animal proteins and going vegan.
It was also the 50th anniversary of John Kerry’s congressional testimony about the Vietnam War. Kerry, who is now the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate, was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War and received three Purple Hearts, the Bronze Star and a Silver Star for his service and his courage. However, he became a vocal critic of the war upon his return to the States, culminating with his congressional appearance and indictment of U.S. war policy.
Kerry spoke the truth about U.S. involvement in Vietnam when he asked, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”
Those words still ring true today, especially if viewed through the lens of the climate crisis.
You might ask, how are the U.S. military and the climate crisis related? Well, in the discussion about the things we can do to help save the Earth, the impact of the military upon the climate crisis is rarely mentioned. However, did you know that the Pentagon is the world’s single largest institutional user of fossil fuels and the single largest institutional emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG)? In fact, if the Department of Defense were a country, it would rank 47th (out of 170) on the world’s ranking of carbon dioxide-polluting countries, between Peru and Portugal. The U.S. Air Force holds the dubious distinction of being the world’s largest user of jet fuel. For example, each Thunderbird (or Blue Angels) team that flies overhead (for our entertainment) uses approximately 18,200 gallons of jet fuel per hour. So, if the “show” lasts 40 minutes, that’s about 82,500 pounds of jet fuel, which releases 118 metric tons of carbon dioxide plus the smaller particulates that are emblematic of the combustion of fossil fuel. So think about these numbers when we are “entertained” by that patriotic flyover at the next sporting event.
The Pentagon also maintains over 800 bases in foreign countries, creating extensive and wasteful supply lines. And, if there is a “shooting war” (when was the last time we didn’t have one, or two?) those supply lines cause tremendous pollution. Each of the Army’s 60,000 Humvees gets between 4 to 8 miles per gallon of diesel fuel; the M1 Abrams tank gets about 0.6 mpg.
Add in toxic spills, Agent Orange, burn pits, depleted uranium and unexploded ordnance and you have the profile of a very large, very irresponsible public organization. One that, indeed, is contributing significantly to climate degradation while creating climate refugees in its wake. And more and more attention is now being paid to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as forever chemicals, which don’t break down in the environment and are tied to cancer and other health ailments. PFAS are used widely in industrial and household products, but, very specifically, are used extensively in military firefighting foam.
Did you ever see the “Wall of Fire” at the Miramar Air Show? That very same firefighting foam was employed to help put out the fire on the USS Bonhomme Richard right here in the San Diego harbor.
Who holds the U.S. military accountable for these damaging actions? And, then, how is that military held accountable for the roughly $900 billion it spends each year? Sadly, U.S. politicians and negotiators have made sure that military emissions are not counted toward a country’s total emission levels (see the Kyoto Agreement).
Governmental policies have kept the U.S. from supporting landmine prohibitions, nuclear and climate-change treaties and even bilateral nuclear reduction treaties with Russia. The Pentagon has failed to achieve a clean audit in the only three financial audits that have ever been undertaken to examine whether it is spending responsibly.
But the true fault lies with both major political parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, who routinely ratify increases to the Department of Defense’s budgets while neglecting to demand accountability for both monies spent and actions taken. How would you spend that $900 billion? We at Veterans For Peace are asking Special Climate Envoy John Kerry and others to hold the military accountable for its destructive climate practices. We also ask them to lead the initiative to redirect significant funding from the military to other beneficial social causes.
After all, can we continue to ask people to die for the mistake of not holding the military accountable?
In the discussion about the things we can do to help save the Earth, the impact of the military upon the climate crisis is rarely mentioned. Who holds the U.S. military accountable for its damaging actions?