Military vehicles, along with the forces that use them and the industries that supply them, represent a huge climate problem, accounting for 5% of the world’s carbon emissions every year
of jet fuel that the Air Force uses annually. Supplying the whole Air Force, not to mention Army and Navy aircraft, and a commercial aviation sector, would require many hundreds of such plants—an entirely new industrial sector, built from scratch.
Doug Weir, research and policy director at the U.K.-based Conflict and Environmental Observatory, says the military will have to bite the bullet eventually and start reducing fuel use in ways that don’t necessarily have strategic upsides. “There’s going to have to be a point where they [make] emissions cuts because there’s a climate emergency which is going to destabilize the planet and human civilization,” he says.
From the Pentagon’s point of view, the U.S. doesn’t have a choice but to maintain a powerful force to engage in international confrontations, like the current standoff in Ukraine. “Nobody wants war, but you don’t always get to choose,” says Burke, the former Obama Administration official. “They say in the military, ‘The enemy gets a vote.’”Some researchers say that emissions implications of conflict need to be a bigger consideration as the U.S. chooses how to meet those threats.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
West plans to arm resistance if Russian forces occupy Ukraine• Invasion ‘must be seen to fail’, says PM• US is willing to provide military help
Read more »
How Joe Biden Has Tried to Throw Putin Off Balance in UkraineBiden and Putin remain locked in a power struggle of diplomatic, intelligence, military and economic moves.
Read more »
‘I am very happy’: Frenkie de Jong on Barcelona, Xavi and his thirst for trophiesThe midfielder tells Arthur Renard about an unexpected text from Sergio Busquets, life without Lionel Messi and how the manager is helping his development
Read more »
Eileen Gu Didn't Have to Choose Between China and the U.S. I Wasn't So Lucky.From charterworks: 'Eileen Gu defies gravity,' writes Michelle Peng. 'What feels even more gravity-defying to me is her seeming ability to effortlessly float between her Chinese and American identities'
Read more »