As We Die for BP, Our Military Rots in the Wrong Gulf

[kpete]

Published on Wednesday, May 12, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
As We Die for BP, Our Military Rots in the Wrong Gulf
Either our species learns this lesson, and acts on it--Now!--or we do not survive.

by Harvey Wasserman

As you read this, the life of our bodies, nation and planet is being blown out a corporate hole in the Gulf of Mexico and into a Dead Zone of no return.

The apocalyptic gusher of oily poison pouring into the waters that give us life can only be viewed--felt--by each and every one of us as an on-going death by a thousand cuts with no end in sight.

.................

We squander our treasure on the largest conglomeration of people and weapons the world has ever seen. It's bloated with hardware designed specifically to destroy and kill. Hundreds of thousands of Americans sit on our dime in more than a hundred countries, rotting in the outposts of a bygone empire.

Why aren't they in the Gulf of Mexico, fighting for our truest "national security"?

.....................


Make no mistake: in our lifetime, the Gulf will not recover. Nor will our species.

There are no corners of the Earth that we can pollute without poisoning it all... and our own bodies. We cannot squander our resources on killing people on the other side of the Earth while leaving ourselves to be destroyed by the mayhem at home.

more:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/12-8

[dkf]

1. I sure hope this guy biked to work because otherwise he is a huge hypocrite.

Fact is either we drill for it here or we drill for it somewhere else. Until we change to renewable energy this is the deal we've made

[madokie]

2. And you have three different retilicon administrations to thank for that

President Carter had us on a path where we would not be needing to be drilling in the oceans for oil.

[dkf]

3. Did he?

He had a plan to completely get off oil? I didn't realize that. I thought he only wanted to reduce it.

[madokie]

10. Maybe you should do a little educating of self and a little less wanting to argue

His plan was to ultimately get us off the oil tit. The purpose of this place is not to argue but to share ideas and educate ourselves, me included :hi:

Carter was/is a wise man, many years ahead of his peers.

[DrDan]

4. we spend 100s of billions on 2 wars that are simply baffling in their overall mission

yet ask for volunteers to clean up the impacted wildlife in our own backyard

our priorities are sooooooo screwed up

[G_j]

8. The US military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world.

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199


The US military oil consumption
by Sohbet Karbuz

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest oil consuming government body in the US and in the world

“Military fuel consumption makes the Department of Defense the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S” <1>

“Military fuel consumption for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and facilities makes the DoD the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S” <2>

According to the US Defense Energy Support Center Fact Book 2004, in Fiscal Year 2004, the US military fuel consumption increased to 144 million barrels. This is about 40 million barrels more than the average peacetime military usage.

By the way, 144 million barrels makes 395 000 barrels per day, almost as much as daily energy consumption of Greece.

The US military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world.

In 1999 Almanac edition of the Defense Logistic Agency’s news magazine Dimensions it was stated that the DESC “purchases more light refined petroleum product than any other single organization or country in the world. With a $3.5 billion annual budget, DESC procures nearly 100 million barrels of petroleum products each year. That's enough fuel for 1,000 cars to drive around the world 4,620 times.”

..more..

**************


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN20416568



FACTBOX-US military fuel spending
Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:58pm EDT

U.S. military fuel consumption dwarfs energy demand in many countries around the world, adding up to nearly double the fuel use in Ireland and 20 times more than that of Iceland, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

From the start of the Iraq war in 2003 up till 2007, U.S. military fuel consumption has slipped by about 10 percent, but costs more than doubled due surging oil prices.

Following are the latest figures on the cost and amounts of fuel purchased by the U.S. military over the course of the Iraq war:

U.S. MILITARY FUEL SPENDING:^

2003: $ 5.21 billion

2007: $12.61 billion

Percentage increase: 142 percent

U.S MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION

2003: 145.1 million barrels

(397,500 barrels per day)

2007: 132.5 million barrels

(363,000 barrels per day)

Percentage change: -9.5 percent

2007 U.S. MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION EQUALS

- 90 percent more than Ireland's annual consumption

- 38 percent more than Israel's annual consumption

- 20 times Iceland's annual consumption

- 1.7 percent of U.S. annual consumption

AVERAGE ESTIMATED CRUDE OIL PRICE PER BARREL:

2003: $32.50

2007: $72.50

CRUDE OIL PRICE CHANGE SINCE BEGINNING OF IRAQ WAR:

March 19, 2003: $ 29.88*

March 19, 2008: $103.25*

Percentage increase: 245 percent


<snip>

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. THey are also the first ones to seriously

make the transition to greener fuels, whether you call it the nuclear navy, or the F-18 flying on Earth Day with bio fuels. Why? They know that this is a Logistics Nightmare.

No, not because they love to hug the Earth, it is truly a realization on what is wrong with this and how it ties them logistically.

A gallon of fuel in Kabul is over 120 dollars, after you account for all the logistics chain to get it there. They get it. The tea baggers who are screaming no more taxes and no cuts on defense on the other hand... DON'T.

[howard112211]

5. Considering we went to war for oil, we might as well bring the troops home now,

since there is plenty of oil around here now :sarcasm:

[AnArmyVeteran]

6. "Drill Baby Drill!" ... The Mindless Mantra of Mutant Miscreants

[madmax]

7. Thank you, Mr. Wasserman

Been thinking about the good and bad that has happened in my lifetime, mostly the bad.

We've passed the point of no return. I'm tired, we're tired. Seems hopeless to fight the powers that be, we've allowed them to become too strong and like a cancer it has spread and it's just a matter of time.

[blindpig]

9. If the Pentagon didn't account for 40% of US consumption...

mebbe we wouldn't need to drill in the ocean, ya think?

Well, the military is busy securing more oil, that little problem in the Gulf is an 'external', you see. It has nothing to do with corporate profits, or as little as possible after the lobbyists and lawyers get done.

Tinkering ain't gonna do, it's Capitalism or Nature.

k&r