U.S. Military Gunning to Curb Carbon ‘Bootprint’

[SethB]

I believe the ramifications of this will be most strongly felt by the Transportation Corps. This represents minor steps to move in the direction that the Defense Science Board encouraged the military to go in 2001 and 2007.

U.S. Military Gunning to Curb Carbon ‘Bootprint’ (http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2008/07/28/army-green-us-military-gunning-to-curb-carbon-bootprint/)


About 85% of the diesel hauled up to forward areas goes straight into air-conditioning, both for tired soldiers and to keep communications equipment cool. That means more, larger, and more vulnerable supply lines targeted by insurgents. Just spraying foam insulation on Army tents cut energy loss by 45%, Reuters reports.

[Jedburgh]

RAND 23 Sep 08: Green Warriors: Army Environmental Considerations for Contingency Operations from Planning Through Post-Conflict (http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG632.pdf)

....The report concludes that environmental considerations—including clean water, sanitation, hazardous-waste management—can be important for achieving overall U.S. objectives during reconstruction and post-conflict operations, including both short- and long-term stability. If not properly addressed in planning or operations, environmental considerations can increase the costs of an operation and make it more difficult for the Army to sustain the mission. Yet, environmental considerations are not well incorporated into Army planning or operations in any phase of an operation. To address these shortcomings, the Army should take additional steps to ensure that environmental considerations (from strategic to tactical) are appropriately incorporated into planning, operations, training, and research.....