The Skies Are Filled with Pollution when Filled with Fighter Jets

  There's always a cloud in the sky when there's a war jet in it. War jets bring clouds of darkness to the earth, right?

   Yes, but not just figuratively, but in all actuality. On a single typical trip up in the wild blue yonder, an F-35A fighter will spill 28 metric ton of emissions into the atmosphere. That ought to cloud things up.

   And, while fighter jets are just part of the problem, consider that the Department of Defense accounts for more than half of the federal government's carbon footprint. Consider that the Department of Defense emits more greenhouse gas into the air than do many small, industrialized nations.

  Let's find one more way to emphasize it: The U.S. military is arguably the world's single-worst polluter; it is the largest industrial consumer of petroleum.

  Even that said, though, this next tidbit of news is going to surprise you: Joe Biden is coming after all gasoline vehicles the military has. He wants them gone. He wants them off the battlefield. Come 2030, he wants the U.S. Military to implement an all-electric vehicle fleet.

  Of course, an all-electric vehicle fleet doesn't equate to knocking all the fuel-spewing fighter jets out of the sky. Fighter jets aren't vehicles (I wouldn't guess). But, more on jet pollution, just the same. "Aircraft are the largest greenhouse gas emitters within the operational emissions of the US military," says my Mother Jones magazine. (Yes, I got that from Mother Jones, a publication you all have warned me time and again not to use because it is too, too liberal.) We can't get it done by 2030, but we need to be looking to electrify the skies. Every fighter jet, and every bomber ought to come equipped with a battery pack at some point. How long it will be before we can do that? I don't know.  

  But, back to those land-hugging, not tree-hugging military vehicles, like the Humvee. Did you know the  Humvee gets but 4-8 miles per gallon? If you are suggesting an electric tactical vehicle wouldn't be able to stay close enough to a charging station, how about how often the Humvee has to head back to base for a tank of gas?

  Not that there aren't obstacles to converting the military to electric vehicles. China is the world's primary supplier of lithium. How does that work out for us. I mean, it a war, how does getting your lithium for your batteries work when it comes from one of your enemies? Guess we better either use domestic lithium, or be ready to switch to it. 

  There are advantages the Pentagon sees in hybrids. When the vehicle is running low on fuel, you can turn to the grid as a backup. When your fuel convoys are attacked, you can say, No problem, we'll just plug our little (or big, massive) eHumvee into the Internet. 

  And if -- supposing we do figure out how to electrify our fighter jets -- someone tries to tell you those eJets lack the thrust of their jet-fuel counterparts, tell them of all the 4.0 second (and faster) 0-60 electric cars there are in the business. Electric vehicles can be powerhouse vehicles.

  I don't know that we can do it by 2030, but I know a little effort towards the greening of the military could benefit Mother Earth.

(Index -- Climate change info)