Econ-atrocity: War and the Environment

[Andrew Page <programs at populareconomics.org>]

An Econ-Atrocity, brought to you by the Center for Popular Economics.  For
the month of April, in anticipation of the Special Track at our 2003 Summer
Institutes (The Economics of War), we will be sending out four
Econ-atrocity bulletins on the topics of war and militarism. If you would
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Environmental costs of war: Ten Reasons Why Militarism is Bad for the
Environment
by Simon Doolittle, Program on Development, Peacebuilding, and the
Environment at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University
of Massachusetts in Amherst

NOTE: This is an edited version of a longer piece.  For the full length
version, with a full list of references, see:
www.umass.edu/peri/warandpeace.html

While the war rages in Iraq, Congress has taken the step of appropriating
$75 billion to cover the war costs and some humanitarian aid. While this is
an enormous amount of money, most analysts agree that it is nowhere near
enough. Whatever the final dollar amount assigned to this particular
conflict, it will almost certainly fail to include the very real
environmental costs that come with war, and militarism more generally.

Below is a list of ten environmental costs associated with militarism. On
the surface some of these reasons have a more obvious economic impact than
others. However, we should take care to remember that the ultimate source
of all of our wealth is human health and the natural bounty that is
humanity's common inheritance.  Any threat to our health and environment is
inherently a threat to our economic well-being.

1.  Militaries are notorious polluters.
According to geographer Joni Seager, "anywhere in the world, a military
presence is virtually the single most reliable predictor of environmental
damage." And military pollution isn't limited to bases, it does significant
damage to the environment at large.  Together, the world's militaries
produce an estimated 6-10% of global air pollution. 

2.  Militaries are exempted from environmental regulation.
The Pentagon fiercely resists regulation and aggressively covers up
information about its pollution. An EPA official once described the
Department of Energy's attitude about regulation of their nuclear
activities as: "Look, Buster, don't bug me with your crap about permits.
I'm building atomic weapons."

3.  Militarism robs other social needs.
In 2004, President Bush hopes to increase the US military budget to $399.1
billion.  That's a lot of money not spent on finding ways to reduce
poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation.

4.  War destroys health and sanitation infrastructures.
This grim reality was on full display in the first Gulf War. A UN
observation team at the end of the war found that the "recent conflict has
wrought apocalyptical results on the infrastructure" leaving "means of
modern life support...destroyed or rendered tenuous." 

5.  War destroys ecosystems and livelihoods.
From "carpet bombing" to landmines to "scorched earth" campaigns, war
routinely leaves ecosystems ravaged and agricultural livelihoods destroyed.
Central America offers a tragic example. Sociologist Daniel Faber reports
that "Vietnam-style 'scorched earth' operations and military maneuvers have
obliterated vast agricultural lands and crucial ecosystems, pushing
millions of refugees into overcrowded cities and overtaxed hillsides."

6.  Nuclear weapons are an environmental catastrophe.
Nuclear weapons pose an environmental threat to humanity unprecedented in
human history. A nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan could kill up
to 30 million people, and leave vast areas uninhabitable in one of the
world's most densely populated countries. A nuclear war involving half the
world's weapons could trigger a nuclear winter and end human existence

7.  Nuclear waste is an environmental catastrophe.
Even if they are never used, nuclear weapons create wastes unlike any other
in human history, remaining deadly for hundreds of thousands - sometimes
millions - of years.  There is no completely safe place for these wastes
over geological time. Leaving such long-lived waste for future generations
is profoundly irresponsible.

8.  Military toxins poison the poor and people of color.
Right here in the US, the military has recklessly poisoned poor and
communities of color, and soldiers whose health is threatened by poisonous
weapons - not to mention combat - are disproportionately poor and people of
color. Internationally, the US, USSR and Europe tested their nuclear
weapons on indigenous peoples' land. 

9.  War poisons many generations of civilians.
War is the curse that keeps on killing. This grim reality is on display in
Iraq.  Before the current war began, the first Gulf War and sanctions had
already left Iraqis with, in the words of one doctor, "a health crisis of
immense proportions," with infant mortality, death of children under five,
and birth defects all rising dramatically.

10.  War kills people.
Any environment with bullets whizzing and bombs dropping is polluted in the
most lethal way.  War killed up to 175 million people, most of them
civilians, in the 20th century alone - history's most bloody century.  We
must work now to ensure that our present century is known for peace - not
war.

Simon Doolittle works for the Program on Development, Peacebuilding, and
the Environment at the Political Economy Research Institute at the
University of Massachusetts in Amherst (www.umass.edu/peri). 

Produced by the Population and Development Program at Hampshire College.
Please see our website for other articles in our Ten Reasons Why Militarism
is Bad series, including "Ten Reasons Why Militarism is Bad for
Reproductive Freedom" and "Ten Reasons Why Militarism is Bad for Queer
People." http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~clpp/popdev.html

References
Center for Defense Information, "Highlights of the FY04 Budget Request,"
accessed at http://www.cdi.org/budget/2004/.

International Action Network on Small Arms, "Global military spending rose
8% in 2000 after steady decline following Cold War," accessed at
http://www.iansa.org/news/2001/aug_01/global_mil.htm.

Natural Resources Defense Council, "The Consequences of Nuclear Conflict
between India and Pakistan" accessed at
http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/southasia.asp.

James K. Boyce and Miriam Zoll, eds., The New Environmental Activists,
Amherst, MA:

The Political Economy Research Institute with the Center for Community
Action and Environmental Justice, 2003.
http://www.umass.edu/peri/newenviron.htm  

Military Toxics Project and Environmental Health Coalition, "Defend Our
Health: The U.S. Military's Environmental Assault on Communities," accessed
at http://www.miltoxproj.org/magnacarta/magnacarta.htm.

Military Toxics Project and Environmental Health Coalition, "Defend Our
Health: The U.S. Military's Environmental Assault on Communities," accessed
at http://www.miltoxproj.org/magnacarta/magnacarta.htm.

Lewis Publishing Company, "Agent Orange Website," accessed at http://www.
lewispublishing.com/orange.htm.

(c) 2003 Center for Popular Economics

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