John Conger, the Pentagon’s deputy under secretary of defense for installations and environment, said in a statement. “We are actively integrating climate considerations across the full spectrum of our activities to ensure a ready and resilient force.” (Davenport, 2014). The US defense community has recognized, that to stay ahead, they must begin to incorporate green energy resources into their operational functions. This is because oil and coal resources are growing limited but also because the effects of greenhouse gases, and resulting climate change, has adverse effects on the very dilemmas the US defense communities are charged with handling. This includes how climate change has increased natural disasters and the number of refugees fleeing from unlivable areas. The US defense community has also been forced to address climate change and seek answers to lower dependability on fuels like oil because a dependency on oil resources actually leaves the military vulnerable to the resource and the countries that produce it (Closson, 2013). Additionally, the Secretary of Defense has since 2009 released plans to transform the way fuel is used in war (Closson, 2013) and the DoD has released a Climate Change Adaption Roadmap that will access, study and collaborate on the implication of climate change and ways to manage it (US Department of Defense, 2014).
Government led, the US military can have a significant impact on how the whole of the US uses energy. The military needing to find energy solutions for security reasons (a dependence on oil is a vulnerability (Closson, 2013)) increases the haste and need for solutions and therefor will likely be one of the first groupings within the US to determine manageable energy alternatives and practices. The importance of the military will be the reason that they lead the way in discovering and implementing renewable energy resources which will then be adapted by the rest of the US as a whole.
Closson, S. (2013, October).The military and energy: Moving the United States beyond oil(Links to an external site.)(Links to an external site.).Energy Policy,61,pp.306“316.
Davenport, C. (2014, May 14).Climate change deemed growing security threat by military researchers(Links to an external site.)(Links to an external site.).The New York Times.
USDepartment of Defense. (2014, June).FY2014 climate change adaptation roadmap[PDF, File Size 1.58MB]. Washington,DC:USDepartment of Defense,pp.1“13.