The US military is responsible for the most atrocious and widespread pollution on the planet. Yet this information and the supporting documents are virtually never published. Despite the evidence, the US military's impact on the environment is not at all an issue addressed by environmental organisations, nor was it the focus of any discussions or proposals for restrictions at venues such as the United Nations Climate Change Conferences.
This conclusion is drawn from a study conducted by Project Censored, a multidisciplinary collective of professors and researchers at the University of Sonoma, California, United States.
This impact includes the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, large production of greenhouse gases and a gigantic emission of radioactive and chemical contaminants into the air, water and soil.
The US's extensive global military operations (wars, interventions and covert operations, more than 1,000 bases worldwide and 6,000 facilities in the US) are exempt from greenhouse gas emissions limitations.
Political researcher Sara Flounders wrote: “By any measure, the Pentagon is the largest consumer of petroleum products and energy in general. Yet the Pentagon is completely exempt from all international climate agreements.” For example, during the negotiations for the Kyoto Accords in December 1997, the US demanded as a condition for signing the agreement that it be exempt from limits or reductions on all its military operations around the world, including actions involving the UN and NATO; it ultimately did not sign.
While official U.S. reports indicate military use of 320,000 barrels of oil per day (50.9 million liters), that figure does not include fuel consumed by contractors, or at leased or private facilities, or in weapons production.
The U.S. military is the largest producer of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that most scientists believe is responsible for causing climate change. Steve Kretzmann, director of Oil Change International, reported that “the Iraq war was responsible for at least the equivalent of 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from March 2003 to December 2007. … That war emitted more than 60 percent of what every other country emits … This information is not readily available, since overseas military emissions are exempt from domestic reporting under U.S. law and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”
Some key examples:
● Depleted uranium: Tens of thousands of pounds of highly toxic radioactive waste microparticles contaminate the Middle East, Central Asia and the Balkans.
• US-made landmines and cluster bombs spread across large areas of Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East continue to cause death and destruction, even after the wars have ended.
• Thirty-five years after the Vietnam War, dioxin contamination is three to four times higher than “safe” levels, resulting in severe birth defects and cancer that extend into the third generation of those affected.
• US military policies and the war in Iraq have caused severe levels of desertification in 90% of the lands of this country, a former food exporter, turning it into an importer of 80% of its food products.
• In the US, military bases top the Superfund list of the most polluting sites, while perchlorate and trichloroethylene are filtering into drinking water, aquifers and soil.
• Nuclear testing in the southwestern U.S. and Pacific Islands has contaminated thousands of acres of land and water with radiation, while uranium waste damages Navajo reservations.
• Barrels of rusty chemicals and solvents and millions of rounds of ammunition are illegally dumped by the Pentagon at military bases around the world.
Sources through which various toxic wastes are released
Toxic waste from the U.S. military is believed to have entered Afghanistan's air, soil, groundwater, and surface water through the following methods (this is a partial list):
Waste burning pits. Incinerators. Burial or deposit of waste and ashes. Intentional discharges Accidental spills Surface discharges Leaks in tanks, collectors and storage basins Latrines.List of some of the devices that contain radioactive elements:
Night vision devices M-16 Front Sight Assemblies M72 Anti-Tank Weapon Lights Components for T-55 aircraft engines Positions with light objectives M58 M59 M4 Headlight Assemblies Control sources and RADIAC calibrator elements radium compasses L4A1 Quadrants for Fire Control Devices Azimuths for fire control Level indicators M-1 Collimators M-1 Reference Muzzle Sensors Soil moisture density sensors TACOM Vehicle Markers and Gauges Radios including VRC-46/GRC-106/GRC-19 Chemical agent monitors Test instruments Vehicle plates containing depleted uranium Depleted uranium ammunition, including 20 mm ammunition Electronic tubes for communications equipment Various types of analysis for hospitals and laboratories and testing machines
Compilation of articles:
- The US military is causing an environmental disaster in Afghanistan (Matthew Nasuti) and
- US Department of Defense: The Biggest Polluter on the Planet (Project Censored) by:
Source: Voltaire Network / Project Censored.
Translation: Voltaire Network.
Student researchers: Dimitrina Semova, Joan Pedro, Luis Luján, Complutense University of Madrid (Spain); Ashley Jackson-Lesti, Ryan Stevens, Chris Marten, and Kristy Nelson, Sonoma State University; Christopher Lue, Indian River State College; and Cassie Barthel, St. Cloud State University.
Academic Reviewers: Ana I. Segovia, Complutense University of Madrid; Julie Flohr and Mryna Goodman, Sonoma State University; Elliot D. Cohen, Indian River State College; and Julie Andrzejewski, St. Cloud State University.
Research sources:
–Sara Flounders, “Add Climate Havoc to War Crimes: Pentagon's Role in Global Catastrophe,” International Action Center, December 18, 2009, http://www.iacenter.org/o/world/cli… –Mickey Z., “Can You Identify the Worst Polluter on the Planet? Here's a Hint: Shock and Awe” Planet Green, August 11, 2009,http://planetgreen.discovery.com/te… –Julian Aguon, “Guam Residents Organize Against US Plans for $15 billion Military Buildup on Pacific Island,” Democracy Now!, October 9, 2009,http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10… –Ian Macleod, “US Plots Arctic Push,” The Ottawa Citizen (Canada), November 28, 2009, http://www.ottawacitizen.com/techno… –Nick Turse, “Vietnam Still in Shambles after American War,” In These Times, May 2009, http://www.inthesetimes.com/article… –Jalal Ghazi, “Cancer-The Deadly Legacy of the Invasion of Iraq,” One World. New America Media, January 6, 2010,http://news.newamericamedia.org/new…
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