A Lean "Green" Fighting Machine

By Cernig

The US military of the 21st century will be a tree-hugging environmentalist hippie haven.

Well no, not really - but close.

The Boston Globe reports that a new study ordered by the Pentagon advocates transforming the military into an outfit that is hip to alternate energy sources, including ethanol, biodeisel, wind, solar power and others. Failure to act now will make US military force projection "unsustainable in the long term," and in the medum term the alternatives are either cutting the aquisition of new weapons systems or watching them rot in place for lack of money to buy fuel.

The study, produced by a defense consulting firm, concludes that all four branches of the military must "fundamentally transform" their assumptions about energy, including taking immediate steps toward fielding weapons systems and aircraft that run on alternative and renewable fuels. It is "imperative" that the Department of Defense "apply new energy technologies that address alternative supply sources and efficient consumption across all aspects of military operations," according to the report, which was provided to the Globe.

Weaning the military from fossil fuels quickly, however, would be a herculean task -- especially because the bulk of the US arsenal, the world's most advanced, is dependent on fossil fuels and many of those military systems have been designed to remain in service for at least several decades.

..."We have to wake up," said Milton R. Copulos , National Defense Council Foundation president and an authority on the military's energy needs. "We are at the edge of a precipice and we have one foot over the edge. The only way to avoid going over is to move forward and move forward aggressively with initiatives to develop alternative fuels. Just cutting back won't work."

The US military's energy costs have doubled since 9/11 and are sixteen times higher than they were during WW2. Part of that cost is just getting oil out of the Middle East, where the current administration's misadventure in Iraq and sabre-rattling at Iran have meant increased tensions and prices. "The United States, relying largely on military patrols, spends an average of $44 billion per year safeguarding oil supplies in the Persian Gulf", notes the Globe, and adds that many of the oil-producing nations in the region have steadily worsening relations with the US.