The U.S. military, charged with defending the nation, instead uses defense research and development funds to learn how to compost.

According to the latest US military budget proposal, 3 million dollars was allocated this year to what has been euphemistically called the “Land Resilience Composting Facility.”

This misguided project is both a waste of taxpayer dollars and a distraction from the military’s primary job of providing a combat capability to defend America’s security interests.

Unfortunately, military research and development accounts are full of these types of scientific projects without any military benefit. This project is part of a broader framework $14 million initiative spread over the next five years which is part of the Army’s Net Zero program.

The Net Zero strategy aims to reduce the military’s environmental impact by specifically focusing on energy, water and waste management.

Sounds great, right? Fake. This speaks to a deeply worrying shift in the direction of the military. The $3 million dedicated to compost research is explicitly describe as funding for “demonstration of composting operations” and “climate change guidance for integrated solid waste management”.

How much study does it take to understand composting, a practice that has been around for centuries? The US military has constantly “studied” these issues and spending an additional $14 million over the next five years is unlikely to produce any different results.

What’s more, the redundancy of this research initiative is staggering. Not only has the US Department of Agriculture already invested $11.5 million in composting and waste reduction projects in every state, but the Environmental Protection Agency has dedicated billion in research on climate resilience.

The military is essentially duplicating an effort already undertaken by a federal agency specifically tasked with agricultural or environmental concerns.

It doesn’t stop there. A similar one study was carried out by the army in 2013 and 2014, during which profound conclusions were drawn, including that composting is the “most direct way to treat all waste components.”

The Army justifies such research spending by pointing to future reductions in costs associated with solid waste disposal, but at least some cost reductions should have been achievable base-wide in 2015 after the first study with tips for composting operations has been made public. Composting has been an inherent aspect of military installations for decades as the DOD requires each base to develop an integrated solid waste management plan. This has been the case for at least 2008.

This is not to say that the military should completely ignore environmental concerns or that composting is bad. Composting is awesome. But such considerations should simply be integrated into existing operations, not a cycle of standalone, multimillion-dollar initiatives that risk compromising the military’s primary purpose.

The problem is not just the three million wasted taxpayer dollars, or even $14 million if we look at the project in its entirety, but the precedent it sets. Will we see funds intended for the production of our already depleted missiles diverted to trace the carbon footprint left by the firing of such weapons?

So the broader problem extends well beyond a relentless $14 million escapade in so-called composting research.

The Net Zero program, of which composting research is only a small part, demonstrates a significant shift in military priorities. Another central goal of the program is to reduce the military’s greenhouse gases. broadcasts 50% by 2030 and achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

In fact, Secretary of Defense Loyd Austin REMARK in 2021, the ministry would “immediately take appropriate policy measures to prioritize climate change considerations in” military operations. These ambitious goals are unrealistic on a large scale and extremely harmful to national security.

As the United States prioritizes reaching net zero emissions, adversaries like China continue to expand their military capabilities without these aggressive constraints that they impose on themselves. The Army’s priority must remain focused on effective defense and preparation; Defense dollars spent elsewhere waste valuable resources on redundant, non-essential spending. wellness initiatives which present a minimal military advantage.

At this point, whether or not the military has understood the fundamentals of composting, continued investment in climate change projects and policies under the Net Zero program divert essential funds from military preparation.

As America faces an increasingly volatile global security landscape, it is critical that the military’s core mission of being able to fight is prioritized.

No matter how resilient the United States is in the face of climate change, our advanced waste management systems or lack of emissions are unlikely to provide an adequate deterrent against our countries. opponents.