Report: The U.S. Military Is Creating a Carbon Pollution BootprintIf the military were a country, its fueling alone would create a global warming problem.By David Grossman Jun 26, 2019A new study from Durham and Lancaster universities in England shows the U.S. military is one of the larger climate polluters on the planet. If all U.S. military operations were looked at as a nation, the study says, its fuel emissions alone would make it the 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world.
"The U.S. military has long understood it is not immune from the potential consequences of climate change—recognizing it as a threat multiplier that can exacerbate other threats—nor has it ignored its own contribution to the problem," says coauthor Patrick Bigger of Lancaster University Environment Center in a press statement.
In fact, earlier this year the Department of Defense said that climate change is threatening over two-thirds of the military’s operationally critical installations around the world. But Bigger says these words are not being met with commensurate action.
The project of greening the military has seen starts and stops through recent years. A heavily touted initiative in 2017 to build gas-electric hybrid battleships, for example, was scuttled the next year with "department priorities” given as a reason for the cancellation. Several military bases use a range of alternative energy sources, from solar fields to wind microgrids to store energy in case of a crisis.
But more important than any individual policy is the need to rethink how the military operates as an entity around the globe, Bigger says. A report from 2015 showed the U.S. operating over 800 military bases in more than 70 countries.
"Its climate policy is fundamentally contradictory," he continues, "confronting the effects of climate change while remaining the largest single institutional consumer of hydrocarbons in the world, a situation it is locked into for years to come because of its dependence on existing aircraft and warships for open-ended operations around the globe."
The researchers examined data from the Defense Logistics Agency—Energy, also known as the DLA-E. As the main purchase-point for hydrocarbon-based fuels for American soldiers, DLA-E has 41 fuel agreements with nations around the world, which allows the American military access to services like pipeline access and fuel. The DLA-E keeps vehicles gassed from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to supply chains starting with the naval fleet based out of Japan.
Directly quoting from the study results, the researchers found that:
- In 2017 alone, the U.S. military purchased about 269,230 barrels of oil a day and emitted more than 25,000 kt-CO2e by burning those fuels [kt is measurement of greenhouse gases]. In 2017 alone, the Air Force purchased $4.9 billion worth of fuel and the Navy $2.8 billion, followed by the Army at $947 million and Marines at $36 million.
- If the U.S. military were a country, it would nestle between Peru and Portugal in the global league table of fuel purchasing, when comparing 2014 World Bank country liquid fuel consumption with 2015 U.S. military liquid fuel consumption.
- For 2014, the scale of emissions is roughly equivalent to total—not just fuel—emissions from Romania. According to the DLA-E data obtained by the researchers, which includes GHG emissions from direct or stationary sources, indirect or mobile sources and electricity use, and other indirect, including upstream and downstream emissions.
- The Air Force is by far the largest emitter of GHG at more than 13,000 kt CO2e, almost double that of the U.S. Navy's 7,800 kt CO2e. In addition to using the most polluting types of fuel, the Air Force and Navy are also the largest purchasers of fuel."Our research demonstrates that to account for the U.S. military as a major climate actor, you must understand the logistical supply chain that makes its acquisition and consumption of hydrocarbon-based fuels possible," says coauthor Oliver Belcher, of Durham University's Department of Geography.
"How do we account for the most far-reaching, sophisticated supply chains, and the largest climate polluter in history? While incremental changes can amount to radical effects in the long-run, there is no shortage of evidence that the climate is at a tipping point and more is needed."
The group encouraged American politicians to expand their policy ideas to include examining the military.
"This research provides ample evidence to support recent calls by activist networks to include the U.S. military in Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal and other international climate treaties," says coauthor Benjamin Neimark, Associate Director of the Pentland Center for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster University. The group also points to Elizabeth Warren's proposals to tackle military emissions.
Source:
Lancaster University 
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2019 5:06 pm
