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The Greenwash Brigade

The U.S. Army recently released its 2007 sustainability report (opens PDF), which might strike some as odd, but the unexpected can make a good story… though not without some meaty caveats. The report, written in accordance with the well-respected Global Reporting Guidelines, is a hefty 62-page report which follows an earlier decision to incorporate Mission, Environment and Community into all the Army’s plans, processes and actions. The report contains elements not emblematic of most sustainability reports *I’ve *read.

What’s impressive?

Nearly all of the Army’s 161 installations have environmental management systems which offer an important strategic organizing framework;
Where possible, the Army is using renewable energy, particularly in their hot-house installations in the desert west;
78% of their FY07 Army Military Construction was designed to at least LEED standards;
Between FY ‘04 and ‘07, they had a 32% decrease in water use; and
During the same period, a 8.4% decrease in energy use intensity (a way of measuring energy).

But… they’ve experienced what I think is a fairly meteoric increase in hazardous waste generation (35%) and an uptick in both Army “new environmental enforcement actions” and brand-spanking new violations (6% and 8%, respectively).

It’s difficult to make eco-friendly ballistics and with U.S. military actively engaged around the world, these hazardous waste increases are certainly not surprising. Much of the hazardous waste includes nasty TCE (trichloroethylene) which has historically been used as a degreaser for all that massive and complicated equipment.

Very similar to large manufacturing companies, the military is not a monolith and despite admirable attempts by the Army to engage in sustainability, the Pentagon has a long history of rebuffing EPA’s regulatory efforts at getting [insert military branch here] to clean up their Superfund sites. Of the 1,255 Superfund sites in the U.S., the Pentagon owns 129. They are also proud owners of 25,000 contaminated sites across the nation.

This summer Congress lambasted the Pentagon for refusing to clean up a group of Superfund sites that pose imminent threats to the communities in which they are located — in effect there’s a standoff between EPA and the Pentagon while legal minds battle over whether executive policy or EPA policy can force Pentagon compliance. In addition the Bush Administration helped pave the way for greater Pentagon intervention in setting pollution standards for perchlorate and TCE, but then again, chemical companies are sitting at the standard setting table already.

To its credit, when DOD issues a sustainability directive, they probably implement it more efficiently than private sector businesses because there’s not a lot of arguing going on around a Board table about the directives — “yessir!” Once again, look behind the product to the company and read between the lines.

December 4, 2008 by Heidi Siegelbaum
1 comments

tags: Army military reporting

Comments (1)

Michelle Gaither | Respond
December 9, 2008 4:15 PM PT

Thanks for letting me know about the release of the Army's report - I'm eager to glean what I can about their efforts to reduce environmental impacts.

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Meet the Greenwash Brigade

Our hand-picked environmental professionals, each part of the Public Insight Network, are on the hunt for "greenwash" as they examine eco-friendly claims by companies, governments and other groups. They ask tough questions about the mainstreaming of green, from the perspectives of people in the trenches who are focused on these issues 24/7.

Jim Nicolow is a nationally recognized expert on sustainable design and leads the sustainability initiative for Lord, Aeck & Sargent, overseeing the incorporation of sustainable design strategies and features into the firm’s design projects. He is a LEED® Accredited Professional with extensive knowledge of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating system.

Janne K. Flisrand has worked as an affordable housing and urban planning research consultant for five years, primarily supporting local non-profits. Her focus is on transit, transit-oriented design, affordable housing, and sustainability. Currently, she’s the program coordinator for Minnesota Green Communities, a program promoting affordable, healthy, sustainably built housing throughout Minnesota.

Dennis Markatos-Soriano recently completed a Master's in Public Affairs at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He is now launching Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) to help individuals and institutions move from dependence on oil and gas to an efficient use of renewables. Previously, he co-founded SURGE (Students United for a Responsible Global Environment), which aims to bring young progressives together across issues of environmental and social justice throughout North Carolina and beyond. In the summer of 2006, he helped to start a small green company, Greenway Pedicabs, to provide a greenhouse gas-free transportation option for people in the Triangle of North Carolina.

Heidi Siegelbaum is a principal with Calyx Sustainable Tourism and works primarily on advancing sustainable tourism practices. She also specializes in science translation, cross-border indicators with Canada, cross-disciplinary planning and environmental technical assistance to businesses. Previously, she was in-house legal counsel for EPA for industrial chemicals and biotechnology and the senior performance measure analyst with the Washington State Department of Ecology. She is on the technical advisory committee of the Seattle Culinary Academy and a long standing member of the Chefs Collaborative.

NOTE: The opinions expressed by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of American Public Media or its employees. American Public Media is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by the Greenwash Brigade bloggers.

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