[CPEO-MEF] ENERGY, GLOBAL: Air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

[I missed this when it aired.  - LS]



Among The Costs Of War: Billions A Year In A.C.?

by NPR STAFF
National Public Radio
June 25, 2011

The amount the U.S. military spends annually on air conditioning in  
Iraq and Afghanistan: $20.2 billion, according to a former Pentagon  
official.

That's more than NASA's budget. It's more than BP has paid so far for  
damage from the Gulf oil spill. It's what the G-8 has pledged to help  
foster new democracies in Egypt and Tunisia.

"When you consider the cost to deliver the fuel to some of the most  
isolated places in the world - escorting, command and control,  
medevac support - when you throw all that infrastructure in, we're  
talking over $20 billion," Steven Anderson tells weekends on All  
Things Considered guest host Rachel Martin. He's a retired brigadier  
general who served as chief logistician for Gen. David Petraeus in  
Iraq. He's now in the private sector, selling technologies branded as  
energy-efficient to the Defense Department.

Now it's important to note that wrapped up in Anderson's $20 billion  
figure are all kind of other expenditures - for instance, the cost of  
building and maintaining roads in Afghanistan, securing those roads,  
managing the security operations for those roads. That all costs a  
lot of money and is part of the overall war effort in Afghanistan.


...

For the entire story, see
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-war-20b-in- 
air-conditioning?ps=cprs

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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