What We Need to Know About Climate Change and the U.S. Military

By Kathleen McQuillen, member of Iowa Chapter MFSA

The US government and US military know of and publicly acknowledge the significant damage and risks associated with climate change. Sea level rise, wildfires, drought, hurricanes, derechos and floods - the impact of extreme weather is devastating for millions of people whose farms, businesses and livelihoods are destroyed. Forced migration is growing, devastating both sending and receiving countries and generating political instability and power vacuums with subsequent threats to national security.

These catastrophic weather conditions, according to Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (Ret’d US Army) have prompted the US military to make plans for relocating both land and sea bases. He notes the military is taking the lead on climate action because the federal government is “lagging in its response...”

In 2015 President Obama acknowledged global warming as a national security risk. Now, President Biden is calling for a study of the impacts of global warming on migration. Recent military assertiveness by Russia (Crimea/Ukraine) and China (which they see as reasonable response to Western/NATO expansion) are examples of this risk as is the rise of right-wing authoritarianism in the Philippines, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Poland, Brazil and elsewhere.

Given these realities, Wilkerson notes that much must be done as government comes up short in acknowledging and addressing one of the most significant contributors to the problem: the US military itself. A 2019 report released by Durham and Lancaster University (UK) asserts the US military is “one of the largest climate polluters in history, consuming more liquid fuels and emitting more CO2e (carbon-dioxide equivalent) than most countries”. It is disturbing that the government is aware of disastrous effects on millions of forced climate immigrants, sending/ receiving countries, yet there is no top-level study of the military’s contribution to this world-wide disaster.

When pressed for relevant information, the military acknowledges the prodigious emissions created by employing military equipment such as aircraft and naval vessels. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Military roles must also include initial weapon development; resource extraction, production, weapons trade, and transit to 750 US bases around the world. (Aljazeera)

Science Daily {2019} notes the US government’s “... climate policy is fundamentally contradictory -- confronting the effects of climate change while remaining the largest single institutional consumer of hydrocarbons in the world, a situation it is locked into for years... because of its dependence on existing aircraft and warships for open- ended operations..."

It is difficult to measure war/post-war impacts but efforts to do so must include impacts from deforestation to build bases, destruction of land and communities from incendiary weapons, and rebuilding after violence ends. These activities use up important resources and all increase the amount of CO2 the US generates.

Within the United Methodist Church we should all be challenged by Matthew 6:21: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The treasure within the US budget is invested deeply in militarism, which carries with it the potential for destroying life as we know it. The military budget of the US in FY 2020 was $778 billion*. This is more than the military budgets of the next seven countries combined.

Those among us who identify as Christians should be asking ourselves if this is where our hearts are? Are our hearts about death and destruction? If this is not so, then we should be guided by the words of Rabbi Heschel, “We are not all guilty but we are all responsible.”

*Source: Sipri (sipri.org)

For more information, refer to these linked resources:
1 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/10/infographic-us-military-presence-around-the-world-interactive

2 https://www.dw.com/en/how-climate-change-paved-the-way-to-war-in-syria/a-56711650
3 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629816301822
4 https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/a-major-contributor-to-the-syrian-conflict-climate-change

*This article was republished from Iowa Chapter MFSA's Winter 2022 Social Questions Bulletin