Shock and Awe on Iraqi Global Warming Warfront
As it rages on five years later, perhaps one should spare a moment to reflect on the environmental effects of the war in Iraq.
How much has the war contributed to global warming? We can now debate the war on the scales of environmental justice and evidence is emerging that the damage on the environment and the global warming effects that this war has caused calls for all of us to pause and think.
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Here’s some of the evidence, according to an advance report, A Climate of War (pdf), just released by Oil Change International:
1. US spending on Iraq enough for global renewable energy investments
US spending on the Iraq war could cover all of the global investments in renewable power generation that are needed between now and 2030 in order to halt current warming trends.
2. 141 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions since March 2003 and still counting…
• CO2 released by the war to date equals the emissions from putting 25 million more cars on the road in the US this year. These stem from fuel-intensive combat, oil well fires and
increased gas flaring, the boom in cement consumption due to reconstruction efforts and security needs, and heavy use of explosives and chemicals that contribute to global warming.
• If the war was ranked as a country in terms of emissions, it would emit more CO2 each year than 139 of the world’s nations do annually. Falling between New Zealand and Cuba, the war each year emits more than 60% of all countries.
• Emissions from the Iraq War to date are nearly two and a half times greater than what would be avoided between 2009 and 2016 were California to implement the auto emission regulations it has proposed, but that the Bush Administration has struck down.
3. For $600 billion, 9000 wind farms would be a better investment
Just the $600 billion that Congress has allocated for military operations in Iraq to date could have built over 9000 wind farms (at 50 MW capacity each), with the overall capacity to meet a quarter of the country’s current electricity demand.
4. War in Iraq or Renewable Energy: What cost more?
In 2006, the US spent more on the war in Iraq than the whole world spent on investment in renewable energy. According to the UN Environment Programme, $100 billion in investments was poured into renewable energy and energy efficiency in 2006, in comparison with a total of $ 121.8 billion that the US spent in Iraq ($101.9 billion) and Afghanistan ($19.1 billion) plus enhanced security at ($0.8 billion).
5. The debate over $150 billion: 10 years for green or 10 months for war
US presidential candidate Barack Obama has committed to spending “$150 billion over 10 years to advance the next generation of green energy technology and infrastructure”, according to a posting on his website. That is the princely sum that the US spends on the war in Iraq in just 10 months.
An oily reflection on Gallon per Soldier
Each American soldier in Iraq uses 16 gallons of oil per day, in terms of consumption on combat planes, helicopters, and armored vehicles to conduct basic operations — four times as much as soldiers in Operation Desert Storm and 16 times as much as those of World War II. An F-16 fighter uses about 20 gallons of fuel per minute. This translates to 3.5 millions gallons per day or 1.3 billion per year for the 162,000 soldiers in Iraq, 24,000 in Afghanistan, and 30,000 in the surrounding region.
A Priority Gone Awry?
The National Priorities Project estimates that around $501 billion has been spent as of March 2008, based on current expenditure rates. According to economist Joseph Stiglitz, the rate of U.S. expenditure in Iraq is approximately $12 billion a month; this is enough to build 8 million houses, pay wages for 15 million teachers, pay for the child care of 530 million kids, pay for the scholarship of 43 million students, or offer social safety net over 50 years to Americans.
Resources:
Polaris Institute: The Pentagon as Global Gas-Guzzler
Environmentalists Against War: Ten Reasons Environmentalists Oppose an Attack on Iraq
Photo credit: James Gordon via Flickr
