3 ms·

The largest polluter in the world is the US Military.

harimau777 3y ago
Do you have a link to information on that? It doesn't surprise me that the US Military produces a lot of pollution; however, I'm surprised that they are the largest.
- mschuster91 3y ago
  They are the largest single entity polluter in the world according to a recent-ish estimate [1]. It does make sense, as with the exception of aircraft carriers all of the US military naval assets run on fossil fuels, and so does all other hardware (trucks, tanks, planes, construction equipment, power generators, ...). And almost all of that is exempt from emissions regulations, a lot of it is so old that it predates modern regulations anyway. [1] https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/10/pentagon-climate-change-neta-crawford-book/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/10/pentagon-cli...
  - maeil 3y ago
    Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. They're generally going to be in China. And then to be able to burn any, you first need to take them out of the ground. If we count those indirect emissions, obviously Saudi Aramco causes orders of magnitudes more emissions than the Pentagon. Sure, this comparison may be "cheating", but put it this way; it's much worse for global emissions to have Aramco improve their barrels/day rate by 10% than the Pentagon's budget increase by 10%.
    - mschuster91 3y ago
      > Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. They're generally going to be in China. China has orders of magnitude less logistics to accomplish. They only run three small overseas military sites, in contrast to the (at least) 1.000 sites the US operates. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_overseas_military_bases#China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_oversea...
      - briantakita 3y ago
        > Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. The Pentagon has never passed an audit, so it's not known for it's transparency either. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/997961646/the-pentagon-has-ne https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/997961646/the-pentagon-has-ne... https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/11/16/pentagon-fai https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/11/16/pentagon-fai... Trillions of funds unaccounted for & much of what is accounted for is "top secret". Not transparent. > Sure, this comparison may be "cheating", but put it this way; it's much worse for global emissions to have Aramco improve their barrels/day rate by 10% than the Pentagon's budget increase by 10%. Much of the violence, weapon production, & violations of sovereignty in the world is centered around the desire to control this resource. I'll take emissions that make make life better/useful things vs emissions that destroy lives/things.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
iraqmtpizza 3y ago
Only if you don't count the Medicare program

Do you have a link to information on that? It doesn't surprise me that the US Military produces a lot of pollution; however, I'm surprised that they are the largest.

mschuster91 3y ago
They are the largest single entity polluter in the world according to a recent-ish estimate [1]. It does make sense, as with the exception of aircraft carriers all of the US military naval assets run on fossil fuels, and so does all other hardware (trucks, tanks, planes, construction equipment, power generators, ...). And almost all of that is exempt from emissions regulations, a lot of it is so old that it predates modern regulations anyway. [1] https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/10/pentagon-climate-change-neta-crawford-book/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2022/10/pentagon-cli...
- maeil 3y ago
  Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. They're generally going to be in China. And then to be able to burn any, you first need to take them out of the ground. If we count those indirect emissions, obviously Saudi Aramco causes orders of magnitudes more emissions than the Pentagon. Sure, this comparison may be "cheating", but put it this way; it's much worse for global emissions to have Aramco improve their barrels/day rate by 10% than the Pentagon's budget increase by 10%.
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    > Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. They're generally going to be in China. China has orders of magnitude less logistics to accomplish. They only run three small overseas military sites, in contrast to the (at least) 1.000 sites the US operates. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_overseas_military_bases#China https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_oversea...
    - briantakita 3y ago
      > Their competitors - which like the US military will be state-controlled entities - for burning the most fossil fuels aren't exactly known for their transparency. The Pentagon has never passed an audit, so it's not known for it's transparency either. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/997961646/the-pentagon-has-ne https://www.npr.org/2021/05/19/997961646/the-pentagon-has-ne... https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/11/16/pentagon-fai https://www.defensenews.com/pentagon/2023/11/16/pentagon-fai... Trillions of funds unaccounted for & much of what is accounted for is "top secret". Not transparent. > Sure, this comparison may be "cheating", but put it this way; it's much worse for global emissions to have Aramco improve their barrels/day rate by 10% than the Pentagon's budget increase by 10%. Much of the violence, weapon production, & violations of sovereignty in the world is centered around the desire to control this resource. I'll take emissions that make make life better/useful things vs emissions that destroy lives/things.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]

iraqmtpizza 3y ago

Only if you don't count the Medicare program