The U.S. military’s carbon footprint is enormous and must be confronted to have a substantial effect on battling global warming. Research by social scientists from Durham University and Lancaster University shows the U.S. military is one of the largest climate polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) than most countries.
The majority of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting routinely focuses on civilian energy use and fuel consumption, not on the U.S. military. This new study, published in Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, calculates part of the U.S. military’s impact on climate change through a critical analysis of its global logistical supply chains.
Despite the recent increase in attention, the U.S. military’s dependence on fossil fuels is unlikely to change. The U.S. is continuing to pursue open-ended operations around the globe, with the life cycles of existing military aircraft and warships locking them into hydrocarbons for years to come. (Image: via Pixabay)
The U.S. military’s massive carbon footprint
The research provides an independent public assessment of the U.S. military’s greenhouse gas emissions. It reports that if the U.S. military were a nation-state, it would be the 47th largest emitter of GHG in the world, if only taking into account the emissions from fuel usage. Report co-author Dr. Patrick Bigger, of Lancaster University Environment Centre, said:
“The U.S. Military has long understood it is not immune from the potential consequences of climate change — recognising it as a threat multiplier that can exacerbate other threats — nor has it ignored its own contribution to the problem.
“Yet its climate policy is fundamentally contradictory — 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.”
Despite the recent increase in attention, the U.S. military’s dependence on fossil fuels is unlikely to change. The US is continuing to pursue open-ended operations around the globe, with the life cycles of existing military aircraft and warships locking them into hydrocarbons for years to come.
This study brings transparency to one of the world’s largest institutional consumers of hydrocarbons at a time when the issue is a hot-button topic on the U.S. presidential campaign trail. (Image: via Pixabay)
The research comes at a time when the U.S. military is preparing for climate change through both its global supply networks and its security infrastructure. This study brings transparency to one of the world’s largest institutional consumers of hydrocarbons at a time when the issue is a hot-button topic on the U.S. presidential campaign trail.
Leading Democratic candidates, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, are asking critical questions about the role of the U.S. military in climate change and examining its plans for the future. Co-author Dr. Benjamin Neimark, Associate Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business at Lancaster, said:
“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.”
Co-author Dr. Oliver Belcher, of Durham University’s Department of Geography, said:
“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.
“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 researchers’ examination of the U.S. military’s “carbon boot-print” started with the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency — Energy (DLA-E), a powerful yet virtually unresearched sub-agency within the larger Defense Logistics Agency.
The Air Force is by far the largest emitter of GHG at more than 13,000 kt CO2e, almost double that of the US 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. (Image: via Pixabay)
It is the primary purchase point for hydrocarbon-based fuels for the U.S. Military, and a powerful actor in the global oil market, with the fuels it delivers powering everything from routine base operations in the USA to forward operating bases in Afghanistan. Dr. Neimark added:
“An important way to cool off the furnace of the climate emergency is to turn off vast sections of the military machine.
“This will have not only the immediate effect of reducing emissions in the here-and-now, but create a disincentive in developing new hydrocarbon infrastructure integral to U.S. military operations.”
Other key findings of the report include:
- 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. 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 the 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 was roughly equivalent to the 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, 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 US 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.
Provided by: Lancaster University [Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.]
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