U.S. Military Addressing the Threat of Climate Change
Businesses aren’t the only organizations prioritizing sustainability. The Pentagon is also stepping up its efforts to address the threat of climate change.
Last month, the Department of Defense released its Quadrennial Defense Review, and for the first time, this document –prepared periodically by the Pentagon to update Congress –addressed global warming, acknowledging that it will 1) accelerate instability and conflict around the world, and 2) impact US military facilities and capabilities, as well.
As a result, the military is planning a comprehensive assessment of all installations and is now working to improve energy efficiencies and move away from fossil-based fuels. As Lauren Morello points out in “Navy and Marines Aim for a Leaner, Greener Fighting Machine,” her article in the New York Times from earlier this week, these steps won’t just save money, they’ll save lives and time –and strengthen the military, too.
For example, switching to renewable and more efficient fuel sources means fewer convoys will be needed to supply military bases in Afghanistan and Iraq, Morello reports. Fuel supply chains divert resources (people, machinery, etc.), and they are also particularly vulnerable to attack. Increased energy efficiency means fewer fuel supply chains, and that in turn translates into fewer convoy targets.
Military leaders also realize moving towards greater efficiency and renewables would blunt future oil price shocks.
According to Morello, the US Navy is leading the way, establishing new energy targets, such as switching half their energy consumption to renewable and alternate sources by 2020, making half their installations “net zero” energy consumers by 2020, and by 2016, sailing what some are calling “The Great Green Fleet” — nuclear- and hybrid-powered ships and aircraft that run on biofuel.
In the article, Rear Adm. Philip Cullom, director of the Navy’s fleet readiness division, is quoted as saying that the military wants to be part of a different generation, the “regeneration generation.”
