Veterans organization says climate change a security threat

FLORENCE — During the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Robin Eckstein as was an active duty soldier assigned to the 123 Maintenance Support Battalion, part of the 1st Armored Division. Part of the mission of the 123rd was to provide transportation, fuel and water support to troops in position for the assault.

In the days leading up to the invasion, the 123rd moved convoys carrying fuel and water to outposts surrounding Baghdad. The seven-ton trucks were slow moving targets as they criss-crossed the desert with supplies for the forward operating bases. Each day, Eckstein said, she felt it was a roll of the dice as to what they would encounter in what she called a “logistical nightmare.” Each day, she said, she realized more problems that come with reliance on foreign oil.

“I’d really like to let people know that our dependence on just one source of energy is not cost-worthy financially, but it’s actually risking American lives. It’s something we really need to move away from,” she said. “If some of these forward-operating bases had solar generators or were a little more energy-efficient, that would mean less risk to American lives.”

That’s one reason Eckstein and Matt Victoriano volunteer to tour the country with Operation Free (OPFREE), a veterans group that formed last fall to inform the public about the national security issues connected to climate change.The group visited Florence Veteran’s Park on Wednesday as a part of its U.S. campaign that takes a new approach to fighting climate change by calling it a national security issue.

Victoriano, a Marine scout sniper and Iraq War veteran, said he realized he wasn’t there searching for terrorists or securing Iraq; he was there watching supply routes to make sure fuel could reach the forward operating bases.

“That made me painfully aware that we cannot defeat the terrorists or defend America with our current energy policy,” he said. “There is no greater threat than our dependence on oil as it stands today.”

Victoriano said the U.S. relies too much on oil from countries that support terrorists or aren’t particularly friendly to the United States.

In January, the U.S. imported 506 thousand barrels of oil each day from Iraq, 911,000 from Venezuela and 463,000 from Russia, according to the Energy Information Administration.

“When I go to the gas pump, my only option is to help fund terrorists that are shooting at my fellow soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Eckstein said.

OPFREE says America’s dependence on oil puts money into the hands of dangerous enemies. “At the same time, the climate change caused by carbon pollution is destabilizing nations like Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Nigeria and Afghanistan — creating safe havens for terrorists,” Operation Free campaign manager Jonathan Murray said in a press release for the event.

Climate experts say the group’s concerns are valid and have been discussed by the Pentagon and the Department of Defense. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates identified energy efficiency as one of his department’s top 25 transformational priorities.

And not only are officials taking the threat seriously, they are moving toward alternative energy sources faster than some private industries.

THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT

Adam Rose, a climate change and terrorism expert at the University of Southern California, is not affiliated with OPFREE, but recognizes the national security concerns that can arise from climate change. He said the risk primarily comes from the destabilizing effect climate change may have on governments of the world or populations of specific areas. In the DoD Quadrennial Defense Review officials identify climate change as an accelerant to instablilty in regions around the world.

“When you have parts of the world that are stressed because of certain conditions, the stress adds to the instability of the area. If you extrapolate that and apply it to another part of the world that doesn’t have severe drought, but could in 20 or 40 years because of climate change, we’ve got potential for multiplication of situations,” he said in a telephone interview.

Rose said even rising sea levels could cause problems with military bases on coasts.

“Ships may be able to ride it out, but there are a number of facilities from anything from barracks and headquarters buildings to supply depots and maintenance sheds. All of those are in jeopardy from sea level rise,” he said.

Since 1993, sea levels have risen an average of 3.1 millimeters per year, according to an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report published in 2007.“Coastal communities and habitats will be increasingly stressed by climate change impacts interacting with development and pollution,” the report reads.
Based on that data, major bases on the coasts like Camp Pendleton, Calif., and Norfolk Naval Air Station and Langley Air Force Base, both in Virginia, could end up underwater in a matter of decades. It’s possible military bases on islands like Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, could be wiped out.

HUMANITARIAN CRISES

Bangladesh is used as an example by climate change researchers because it has already been severely affected by sea level rise, causing massive flooding and an increase in cases of cholera. Fifteen million people would be affected by less than a four-foot increase in sea level, according to the IPCC. A quarter of the population lives on the coastal flood plain, all of which would be underwater.

OPFREE says the United States will be forced to deploy its forces globally to provide food and medical aid and to stop the spread of terrorists in regions with weakened governments, placing a strain on U.S. troops. And Rose said that as the climate changes, the strain will no doubt be felt by everyone.

“We depend on other parts of the world for imported goods. The damage to those areas and some kinds of agricultural commodities like coffee, can have adverse effects because their prices will go up, or because of shortages,” he said.

The warming of the atmosphere will also enable pathogens to spread to regions outside of their typical range, Rose said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already is monitoring a fungus that’s spreading to new areas. Earlier this year, the CDC published a report about a deadly airborne fungus emerging in the Pacific Northwest. Cryptococcus Gattii, a fungus that prefers tropical areas like Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Vietnam, has been reported in British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Last week, National Geographic reported the fungus had killed six people in Oregon. There are no vaccines or prevention methods, according to the report, and even people with completely functional immune systems are susceptible.

Researchers say that as climate change occurs, this type of thing could happen in other parts of the world, as well.

OPFREE says a long-term effect of climate change is increased danger for American troops as the demand increases for U.S. aid from foreign countries.

“There are likely to be increased demands on the U.S. to help other countries, but I don’t see policy makers doing something that would jeopardize the U.S. in the process,” Rose said.

The Quadrennial Defense Review makes a connection between climate change and request for U.S. assistance. A defense.gov press release from April 20 says that from 2008 to 2009, the military had 120 requests to assist with natural disasters such as hurricanes and wildfires in the United States, as well as 54 requests to respond to overseas natural disasters last year, according to Amanda J. Dory, deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy.

WHAT'S BEING DONE

OPFREE applauds the efforts the Department of Defense is making towards less reliance on oil. Several military installations already use biodiesel and electric vehicles. The U.S. Navy has pledged to get half of its energy from alternative energy sources by 2020; the Marine Corps, 30 percent. The Air Force is shooting for 25 percent by 2025. The military also has plans to make increase use of algae-based diesel.

The group says the best way ordinary people can combat climate change is to get informed.

“Then we need to talk to our friends, our families and our neighbors to get this message across,” Victoriano said. “This is not a partisan issue, it’s an American issue.”

Before coming to Florence, OPFREE stopped in Washington to deliver a digital clock with a photo of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts that tallies Iranian oil profits that could be prevented by the American Power Act. The clock is displayed in the senator’s office in support of the act.