Military is America’s biggest gas-guzzler

The US military is the country’s single largest consumer of energy, spending $13 billion on fuel in 2007 and $20 billion in 2008, a military thinktank pointed out this week in a new report.

The panel of retired generals, admirals, and a former space shuttle commander also highlighted America’s unsustainable exploitation of energy; the US burns more oil than any other country, but controls only 2% of oil supplies.

Their report warned that America’s reliance on fossil fuels is “a serious and urgent threat to national security,” putting the environment, the economy and troops at risk.

America’s fragile energy supplies and the likely impact of climate change together pose a serious security threat “exploitable by those who wish to do us harm”, the panel said.

Transition to alternative and renewable energy sources must be accelerated, the panel recommended, to secure America’s long term security.