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a program called Enhanced Leases tobetter utilize land capacity, still the ideaof leasing for solar or wind was resistedbecause of the long-term power agreementsthe Army entered into. Perhaps thisis inherent in the process of change.The Senate Armed ServicesCommittee has recommended that theservices enter into multiyear contracts,for a period of up to 10 years, for thepurchase of alternative or synthetic fuels.The services ought to be buying at least25 percent of their electricity from wind,solar, biomass, geothermal or otherrenewable energy sources by 2025. Noplace is better suited for plug-and-drivevehicles than military installations. Asmilitary facilities expand and are upgradedand realigned, greater use of highperformance buildings, on-site distributedgeneration, and the most advancedenergy-saving technologies need to beaggressively deployed.Assess the Vulnerability of InstallationsInsurance companies have alreadyperformed risk assessments on coastalhousing and may have decided to pullout of that market. The military too shouldassess the risks and begin planning forthe next round of base closures and beginto build a base structure that takes intoaccount a warming planet and a risingsea level.Fresh water will become scarcerin more places due to warming. Justrecently, the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee, concerned with vulnerabilityof the grid, found that, “despite numerousvulnerability studies, the extent of technicaland operational risks to specific criticalmissions is not adequately assessed,or plans for its mitigation programmed.”This incomplete assessment,coupled with the trend overthe last several years to placemore defense installationsonto the commercial powergrid, suggests that departmentinfrastructure energy plansmay not be synchronized withan up-to-date technical andoperational risk evaluation.Efforts by DOD to back upcritical base functions withon-site renewable generationneed to be expanded.Change the way the services dobusiness at the installationThe department should require a fullaccounting of the cost of energy at theinstallations. This should include the costto the environment from exploration totransportation to clean up of the residue.There should be a department-wide energyefficiency target and authorization for theinstallations to modify existing contractsto take account of the full cost of energyto the installation and to create energyindependence at the installation level.Work with local communities, includingtribes, to develop a smart gridThe military installations should moveaggressively toward a web-enabled,digitally controlled power delivery systemthat efficiently distributes electricity andprotects from blackouts and excessenergy consumption.No group of Americans has a larger stakein managing the effects of climate change,and perhaps no government body has amore significant responsibility, than DOD.The department also has the structure,FIGURE 2the discipline, and the resources to playone of the most valuable leadership rolesin one of the greatest challenges facingthe next three generations. The incomingAdministration will have an opportunity toappoint a defense leadership who understandsthe national security implicationsof climate change and should ask eachpotential appointee what he or she woulddo to ensure that the DOD trains, equipsand deploys the department to lead onthis national security issue.IMAGING NOTES // S UMMER 2008 // WWW.IMAGINGNOTES.COM37