Every year, the campaign, which call energy conservation, the use of public transport or reduction of meat consumption, is multiplied. A Individual responsibility occupies the center Climate speech While the real consequences of much larger structures are ignored. Those who process, turn off the light or buy proximity products They are loaded with symbolic weight, which barely compensates for the costs of the active air base Within a week.
The contrast between what is required for citizens and what large emitters are done is revealed more clearly when considering cases, such as American armywhich concentrates one of Higher sources of energy consumption on the planetField
American military activity is mainly supported by the energy level of the whole country
A study published PLOS climate And coordinated by the researcher Ryan TombsThe Pennsylvania State University has determined a constant model, which is barely discussed in public debate: The Ministry of Defense of the United States leads energy expenses among all institutions in the worldField
For almost five decades, use fossil fuel The US Army has survived Numbers comparable to the numbers of entire countriesThe field is carried out with aircraft, heavy vehicles, global logistics systems and bases distributed more than 70 countries.
The analysis considers the period between 1975 and 2022 to connect military expenses with direct pentagon energy consumption. One of the central conclusions is The effect of asymmetry: A steady reduction in the military budget has a stronger impact on energy savings, which the equivalent increase causes expenses. The work indicates that this phenomenon is largely explained by a decrease in the use of objects, equipment and fuel of aviation, which is more than half of the average annual consumption.
Among the projections received in the study, Seven scenarios of expenses until 2032The field in the most profitable, A steady decline will save as much energy every year as consumed by the whole Slovenia or Delaware stateThe field allows this equivalence to present in the future a real volume of measures that, although they are not part of the most common climatic speeches, have direct consequences for global emissions.
The military structure generates the constant demand for energy even without active conflicts
In addition to aviation kerosene, the largest energy consumptions are located when maintaining the infrastructure, the development of military technologies and mobility of troops, weapons and consumables. The value of this activity generates Continuous demand for fossil energy It does not depend on armed conflicts, but on The usual functioning of the military structure It works on a planetary scale. According to data collected in the study, the accumulated use between 2010 and 2019 exceeded 636 million metric tons of equivalent CO2The figure, comparable with the total volume of annual emissions from countries such as Sweden or Portugal.
The Pentagon himself recognizes in official documents that climate change is a risk factor that jeopardizes national security. However, far from the reduction, this threat becomes Justification for expanding budgets and strengthening operational capabilitiesThis circle strengthens the field The obvious paradox: In preparation for the consequences of global warming, the army helps to strengthen the causes that cause this.
The authors of the study also emphasize that available data So -called emissions from Area 3That is, those that are indirectly obtained from military activities, such as supply chains or the effect of weapons on the environment. This implies this Real numbers can be even higher than evaluatedWhich enhances the need to solve military spending as a structural axis within the framework of a climatic policy.
In this context, the reduction in military expenses will have not only advantages from the point of view of emissions, but also release state resources that can be used for energy innovation, pure infrastructure and environmental protection. In the face of strategies concentrated exclusively on green technologies or responsible consumption, the structural approach to the military budget makes The variable was little discussedBut with transforming potential.
