Earth Equity News

Oil Prices Hit Military Budgets Hard.By Julian E. Barnes, LATimes, July 13, 2008. "Across the oil-thirsty U.S. military, commanders are scrambling for ways to offset the ever-rising cost of fuel. But their best efforts so far have fallen short. The military services have found ways to save millions of dollars through conservation, but the price of oil has outpaced the cost-cutting efforts. The Navy, for example, estimates that it is saving $300 million a year through conservation. That sounds impressive until the oil price jump is taken into consideration. 'From July through Sept. 30, we will see a $400-million increase in our fuel bill,' said Navy Capt. Arthur Cotton, head of the Fleet Training and Readiness reporting branch. 'So all of those energy savings we have done are wiped out, and then some, just over the period of 90 days.' Overall, the Pentagon will spend $16.4 billion on fuel this year, up from $5.2 billion in 2003. The increase has made the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan more expensive, adding $140 million to the cost of operations in Afghanistan and $565 million in Iraq."