Should the military lead US green efforts?

Posted by: Adam Aston on May 18

Over at Money & Politics, BW’s blog from inside the Washington DC beltway, Steve Levine writes about a report, released today, from a panel of high-ranking retired military leaders. They call for the military to lead the charge in developing energy-efficient and renewable-energy technologies. For the top brass, the logic is compelling: the less energy troops need to schlep to the battle field, the less vulnerable their supply lines, putting fewer lives and less gear at risk.

The military has a surprisingly green track record. At its Nellis Base, the Air Force built the largest solar array in the US. The Air Force is also a leader in research for bio-based substitutes for jet fuel. Likewise, the Army is experimenting with solar-panels in sun soaked Iraq as a replacement for truckloads of diesel shipped in at great expense. The Army is also driving the push for compact batteries and research into innovative gizmos that use less microscopic amounts of power, or even generate power from soldiers’ motion. That would let soldiers cut the 25-lb. load of batteries they typically go to battle with.

The military is a good shepherd of green technology for a couple of reasons. First, think of the Interstate highway system, built in the 1950s to rapidly move troops across the country, and the Internet, developed by DARPA as a defense project. Both are examples of how politicians are more comfortable doling out public money on big investment initiatives when they’re dressed up as defense efforts. Giving some military urgency to the green agenda is no different. Second, the US military has an unequaled ability to promote social changes. From the start of WWII, the army has gone from all-white, all-male to fully integrated and co-ed. In the process, it showed the rest of society how not-a-big deal such change really is.

I’m not, of course, suggesting the acceptance of green energy is on par with overcoming racism or sexism. But the example shows the how the military’s pragmatic approach can quickly transform deep-seeded skepticism. Just the sort of kick green energy might need now. How will a little military “can-do” affect America’s green efforts?

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/