January 14, 2020
Senator Fischer,
I read your recent January 13, 2020 opinion piece in Agri-Pulse about Hollywood’s choice of meal and the ways in which you called them out “Hollywood Hypocrites” for their carbon footprint. It seems you are pandering to your base and trying to cause division between agriculture and another industry. If they want to eat vegan and wear fancy dresses, they still have less impact on carbon emissions and the environment than does the U.S. Government.
At least you admit climate change is real.
However, instead of critiquing people for trying to do their small part, you could focus on the ways in which you as a Senator could do a large part, and the ways in which the government makes a hypocrite out of you in your claims to work against climate change that affects us all.
Carbon Cost The U.S. military is one of the biggest polluters on earth. Since 2001, the U.S. military has emitted 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases, equivalent to the annual emissions of 257 million cars on the road.3
The U.S. Department of Defense is the largest institutional consumer of oil ($17B/year) in the world, and the largest global landholder with 800 foreign military bases in 80 countries.4
By one estimate, the U.S. military used 1.2 million barrels of oil in Iraq in just one month of 2008.5
One military estimate in 2003 was that two-thirds of the U.S. Army’s fuel consumption occurred in vehicles that were delivering fuel to the battlefield.6
Poisoned Water The U.S. military is among the top three largest polluters of U.S. waterways. It dumped 63,335,653 pounds of poison into waterways from 2010-2014, including carcinogenic
chemicals, rocket fuel, and toxic sewage.7
A Pentagon Report released in 2018 details widespread chemical poisoning of water supplies on military bases and in surrounding communities worldwide.8 The report identifies the presence of PFOS and PFOA chemicals in drinking water at levels known to be harmful to human health and linked to cancer and birth defects. At least 401 bases are known to have contaminated water. PFOA and PFOS chemicals are used in fire retardants during routine fire-training exercises on U.S. military bases worldwide.
The majority of “Superfund” sites in the U.S. are current or former military-related installations, sites designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency where extreme hazardous waste threatens human health and the environment.9
Traces Left Behind The most deadly weapons left behind by war are landmines and cluster bombs. A 1993 U.S. State Department report called landmines “perhaps the most toxic and widespread pollution facing mankind.”10 Millions of hectares in Europe, North Africa, and Asia are under interdiction because of tens of millions of landmines and cluster bombs left behind by war.
In Libya, one third of its land mass is considered contaminated by landmines and unexploded munitions from World War II. “Land mines accelerate environmental damage through 1 of 4 mechanisms: fear of mines denies access to abundant natural resources and arable land; populations are forced to move preferentially into marginal and fragile environments in order to avoid minefields; this migration speeds depletion of biological diversity; and landmine explosions disrupt essential soil and water processes.”11
Intentional Damage Compounding the massive ecological footprint of war and ongoing preparations for war, damage to the environment is also a deliberate tactic used in warfare, such as the destruction of forests, farms, and irrigation systems during World War II.
From 1965 to 1971, the U.S. sprayed 3640 km2 of southern Vietnam with dangerous herbicides and defoliants, including the infamous Agent Orange. During the Gulf War, Iraq released 10 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf and set 732 oil wells on fire, causing extensive damage to wildlife and poisoning groundwater with oil spills.12
The references and more information can be found here: https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/FactSheet-Environment.pdf
Knowing that
- 54% of the discretionary budget goes to the military (Robert Reich Jan 12, 2020 video “Where Your Tax Dollars Really Go”)
- the U.S. is the #1 arms dealer in the world, (multiple sources)
- and at least 50 members of Congress financially gain from military sales (realsludge.com Jan 13, 2020 article “The Members of Congress Who Profit From War”
I think you would best stop putting the blame on Hollywood celebrities and work towards real change starting with the U.S. Government’s War Machine.
Sincerely,
XX
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