Military Spending Goes Up, Carbon Bootprint Goes Down
You wouldn’t know it by this week’s headlines, but the truth is that President Obama’s proposed military budget actually increases military spending by about 4%. Much of the histrionics and hand-wringing about budget cuts concern specific unsustainable weapons programs like the F-22. Well, as long as gearheads are running the newsrooms, gear will grab the headlines, but it’s military sustainability that’s the critical issue here.
- » See also: Quick-Charge Batteries Get a Boost from Defective Carbon Nanotubes
- » Get CleanTechnica by RSS or sign up by email.
1. The Military and Sustainability - Past
History is full of examples demonstrating that superior firepower is not always equivalent to winning any one particular fight. One word: Spartans!
Firepower is not always equivalent to winning the war, either. General George Washington managed to sustain a notoriously underfunded operation in a seven-year effort against a world superpower culminating in — well, let’s just say that if General Cornwallis had paid a little more attention to sustainability, he would have kept his army in readiness instead of chasing Washington’s protege General Nathanael Greene all over the map. Cornwallis exhausted his stores and his men, setting himself up for an easy defeat by Washington at Yorktown (with a little help from the French, thank you).
2. The Military and Sustainability - Present
Green Options has been reporting regularly on the U.S. military’s recent efforts to push sustainability in its operations and in its sustainability directives; we civilians would call it greening. High-tech solutions like green ammunition and jet fuel from algae are just two of the recent manifestations of this effort. At the end of 2008, the Army demonstrated its commitment to a comprehensive approach by releasing its first ever sustainability report. The bottom line? A small but growing chunk of our defense budget is dedicated to sustainability.
Troop safety is a strong factor in focusing on military sustainability, one example being fewer fuel convoys to escort. Saving the planet is also pushing the trend, as reported in an article on the U.S. Military home page that highlighted the army’s recent proof-of-concept study to measure greenhouse gas emissions at twelve of its bases.
Another indication that the military is serious about tackling global warming: the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency recently announced that it would turn its attention to a geoengineering solution. As a matter of overall policy, White House chief science adviser John Holdren has made it clear that geoengineering is not a substitute for other actions, but based on past experience with DARPA programs (it invented the Internet, after all), the research could lead to unanticipated breakthroughs.
3. Why Cut the F-22?
The F-22 is a perfect example of an militarily unsustainable weapons system that is sustainable mainly by virtue of a political equation, jobs = votes. That equation is a powerful driver for programs that don’t make too much sense in military terms. When jobs are in short supply, support for these programs naturally ratchets up, not down. But with President Obama intent on increasing or at least maintaining the military budget at present, it’s not a stretch to assume that somewhere in the halls of policy-making, the policy makers are taking into account the job creating potential of pushing military sustainability, and counting on green collar jobs in the defense sector to replace those lost to cutting unsustainable weapons programs.
Image: j. botter on flickr.
[...] on command - and that’s got big implications both for warfighters and the military’s carbon bootprint, [...]
[...] Until now the primary interest in Texas-based Swell Fuel has been anywhere but Texas. Olson’s customers are primarily overseas. Mars Symbioscience is testing Swell Fuel’s Lever Operating Pivoting Float in Indonesia. Samkun Powertec of South Korea is also testing a Swell Fuel wave power unit, as is a power company in El Salvadore. Olson is eager to tap the home market in the U.S. and he may not have long to wait. The small-scale Swell Fuel units could be ideal for taking resorts and small coastal communities off-grid. That could include armed forces installations, too, as the U.S. military ramps up efforts to shrink its carbon bootprint. [...]
[...] U.S. military budget has started to tilt toward sustainability, and in part that means putting more focus on leaner, lighter aircraft, namely drones. But as the [...]
[...] Another key element of Camp Johnson’s sustainability program helping its soldiers and staff put their environmental knowledge to work at home, through an ongoing community training program. The facility itself serves as a wetland research center for high school, college, and graduate students. Multiply Camp Johnson by hundreds of U.S. military facilities here and abroad, and you’ll get an idea how much ground the army’s environmental strategy can cover, just in terms of community outreach alone. There’s a lot of catching up to do, but there are indications that the military budget is beginning to acommodate more support for sustainability. [...]
[...] DoD memo is yet another example of the U.S. military’s lead on sustainability. Especially with American soldiers engaged in two overseas wars, supporting our troops at home is [...]