Military | Grist

Going head to head with Chuck Norris

Water, conflict, and security on the banks of the Hudson 0
Posted 1 day, 14 hours ago
Poisoned Patriots

Veteran wins groundbreaking claim for Agent Orange exposure at Georgia military base 0
Posted 1 week, 4 days ago A U.S. veteran living in Tennessee won what's thought to be the first Veterans Administration claim for exposure inside the continental United States to Agent Orange, an herbicide that was used by the military to clear jungles during the Vietnam War.
War and grease

The U.S. military’s battle to wean itself off oil 4
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago The U.S. military is the largest consumer of petroleum in the United States, and some top brass are very unhappy about that. One general stationed in Iraq, frustrated at seeing lives put at risk in fuel convoys, asked for "a self-sustainable energy solution," including "solar panels and wind turbines." Is the military really ready to embrace clean energy? Amanda Little went to the Pentagon to find out, in this final excerpt from her new book, Power Trip.
better luck next time

Dirty coal group’s 14th forgery impersonated veterans; real vets support a climate bill 0
Posted 2 months, 1 week ago
Climate change is a major threat to U.S. Security. That’s why the conservative Virgina Republican, John Warner, is pushing hard to pass the bill — because he is a former Navy secretary and former Senate Armed Services Committee chair.
More than a pretty slogan

Climate plus security minus hyperbole still scary 0
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago
The impact of climate change on national security has finally moved above the fold. And as the December Copenhagen climate change negotiations approach, politicians and experts alike are being forced to examine the complex effects of natural and social change on security. They must also walk a linguistic tightrope between hyperbole and uncertainty, working to present the facts without exaggerating their meaning. So how do they maintain balance while climate security arguments are touted as a way to compel a tough climate agreement in Copenhagen? The short answer: It won't be easy.
Mission possible

Veterans push for climate bill with new ‘Operation Free’ coalition 1
Posted 3 months ago
A new coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is hoping to counter the oil industry–backed "Energy Citizens" rallies with its own call to pass a climate bill and end dependence on fossil fuels.
Get off defense

Obama admin should bring defense and climate funding into balance, argues a new report 11
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
With climate change among the world's biggest security challenges, the Obama administration should be pumping much more money into addressing the problem, argues a new a report from the Institute for Policy Studies. In fiscal year 2008, the U.S. government spent $88 on funding the military for every $1 spent on projects to stabilize the climate.
Corporate press release of the century. Not a hoax.

Company denies its robots feed on the dead 2
Posted 4 months ago
“We completely understand the public’s concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission.”
Energy and the risks to U.S. national security 0
Posted 5 months, 1 week ago
KBR, Halliburton sued over war-zone’s toxic burn pits 2
Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Confronted with the need to dispose of enormous quantities of war-related trash, private contractors working for the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan came up with a simple solution: They burned the trash in big, open pits. Now soldiers, contractors, and civilians have filed a series of class-action lawsuits against the companies behind the burning, saying the smoke from the pits contained toxic chemicals that have left them with severe respiratory problems, chronic infections, and even cancer.
Letter from Europe

Treating climate change as a security threat 0
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
One of the more surprising trends of the last few years is the greening of the military, with Britain and the United States in the vanguard of what we may one day come to call the "military-ecological complex.
Changing the climate with China’s military 0
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
When I heard President Obama call for more regular dialogue between the Chinese and American militaries, my first thought was, Why not the environment?