Climate Change Challenges: Support the Environment or the U.S. Military?

[Judi Lynn]

December 02, 2014

Climate Change Challenges

Support the Environment or the U.S. Military?

by KATHY KELLY


Having lived through the 1991 Desert Storm bombing and the 2003 Shock and Awe bombing in Iraq, I tread carefully when speaking about any danger greater than war that children in our world might face. I won’t forget children in Baghdadi hospitals whose bodies I have seen, wounded and maimed, after bombing campaigns ordered by U.S. leaders. I think also of children in Lebanon and Gaza and Afghanistan, children I’ve sat with in cities under heavy bombardments while their frightened parents tried to distract and calm them.

Even so, it seems the greatest danger – the greatest violence – that any of us face is contained in our attacks on our environment. Today’s children and generations to follow them face nightmares of scarcity, disease, mass displacement, social chaos, and war, due to our patterns of consumption and pollution.

Ironically, one of the institutions in U.S. society which comprehends the disasters that loom is the U.S. military.

In the past few years, the Pentagon has issued several reports that concur that the greatest threat to U.S. national security is posed by climate change and potential environmental disasters. The reports show concern about how droughts, famines and natural disasters could cause conflicts leading to “food and water shortages, diseases, disputes over refugees and resources and destruction by natural disasters in regions across the globe.”

The reports don’t acknowledge that the U.S. military has commandeered vast resources, in terms of money and scientific “know-how,” that are acutely needed for use in solving our global crisis. These resources are steadily directed toward developing more weapons and fighting more wars.

More:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/02/support-the-environment-or-the-u-s-military/

[yeoman6987]

1. We need the military and we need to combat

Climate change. I believe we can do both. The navy for example is trying to use better fuel for aircraft and ships. We will see how that works. One good thing is the military answers to the President so if he says the military will concentrate on helping with climate change, that is what they will do. Private businesses? No way! At least most of them.

[truedelphi]

2. Small private businesses are very much into alt energy sources.

If for no other reason than paying for fossil fuels gets more expensive every day. (Well at least until this recent drop in gasoline fuels.)

And there has been no war that the USA has needed so badly that our generals and top officals were actually willing to win the war.

Vietnam War - Fail

Iraq War I and II - Fail

Afghanistan - Fail

Only "win" in our column was our three day 250 million dollar battle against the island nation of Grenada, and I guess we won that one because it would have been far too embarassing to have lost.

So needless, all these military efforts, but endless wars should be ruled out, as they cost too damn much and are immoral, if for no other reason than needless wars are always immoral wars.

[yeoman6987]

3. Your probably right but

The military is not going away so why not use it for good. The President easily could begin it. The military does a lot of good in Africa for sure.