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Tanks into Windmills
By maudeaster on 2013-01-24 07:26:02
I’m going to Washington on February 17th to join the 350.org Forward on Climate Change National Rally. We’ll be
calling on President Obama to follow his inauguration speech pledges with strong action on climate change, including
stopping the Keystone XL Pipeline. I’ve decided on my sign for the day - TANKS INTO WINDMILLS!
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For me, saving all our children from a world of even more devastating storms, rising sea levels,
global food shortages and pandemic disease is our generation's challenge. Action to cut US climate-changing carbon
emissions will require a major shift of our resources into production for clean energy and new energy-efficient ways to live.
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Where are these needed funds? We need look no further than the Pentagon, the world’s largest polluter.
Calling the US military the elephant in the room that no one wants to name, Sara Flounders points out the huge carbon
footprint of the Pentagon: “The Feb. 17, 2007, Energy Bulletin detailed the oil consumption just for the Pentagon's aircraft,
ships, ground vehicles and facilities that made it the single-largest oil consumer in the world”. Environmental journalist
Johanna Peace has reported that “The military counts for a full 80% of the federal government’s energy demand.” See also
Barry Sanders, Zhe Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of Militarism. Peace activists in Wisconsin figured out that if we
replace an SUV with a Prius, we'll save 560 gallons of gas a year. An F-15 fighter on takeoff would burn this much fuel in
only 2 minutes. A platoon of soldiers in Afghanistan uses this much fuel in one day. For the sake of our planet's survival,
after 10 years of fruitless invasions, bombings and tank maneuvers, it’s past time for Washington policy makers to make
very major cuts in this energy-hogging war machine. They need to focus on addressing the real danger to our national
security. Interestingly, the US intelligence community itself framed climate change as a major national security threat as
early as 2008, predicting the rise of unstable states, conflict between states especially over increasingly scarce water
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resources and increasing migration for economic survival. This past November,_a CIA commissioned study
declared that climate change is accelerating, and that “Clusters of apparently unrelated events exacerbated by a warming
climate will create more frequent but unpredictable crises in water supplies, food markets, energy supply chains and public
health systems.” During the upcoming budget debates, I want my representatives in Congress to give priority to the threat of
climate change and make major cuts in the Pentagon's budget. They and the President need to link two wise thoughts from
his inaugural: “Enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war’ and “We will respond to the threat of
climate change, knowing the failure to do so would betray our children and future generations”.
