Environmental defense initiatives
Alvin L. Alm The waning of the cold war has sparked interest in devoting Depment of Defense @OD) resources to the environment. Secretary Cheney has called for DOD to be a leader in environmental cleanup. The Senate Armed Services Committee is going a step M e r , calling for a strategic environmental research initiative aimed at understanding environmental problems and developing and deploying new technologies to solve them. DOD’s initiative is interesting not only because of its scope but also its inclusion of outsiders to help shape it. A conference ulU be held in early September to assess this program. Out of 500 participants invited, 150 will come from environmental groups, 150 from indushy. and only 200 from the government. The two-day conference will cover the range of operational and acquisition steps DOD can take to reduce 01 clean up environmental contamination. In recent years, DOD budgets have increased dramatically; by 1991, over $2 billion will be spmt to comply with environmental programs. The current DOD initiative is a dramatic shift from the past. During the 1970s and much of the 1980s environmental needs faced tough competition for funds and management attention at DOD. Industrial leaders were critical because they were expected to meet stringent cleanup deadlmes, while federal facility cleanup was occurring at what they perceived as a slower pace. Federal faciltty cleanup speeded up measurably during the last few years, as Congress and the public grew more restive ulth the pace of DOD cleanup.
The Cheney mitiati., =ues ,,,eb merely answering past criticisms; it calls for DOD to he a leader. The implicahons could be substantial. Some people may be cynical about the DOD’s current concern over the envuonment, W i g it is motivated primarily by falling budgets. This may be the case, but whatever the motives, DOD officials are clearly getting the message. For example, the various armed services are committed to a 50% reduction m thelr wastes by 1992. I have been impressed at recent meetings with DOD officials that their commitment is real. Unlike many government institutions, DOD responds to the leadership at the top, and that leadership appears strongly committed to setting an environmental example. The initiative set forth by Senator Nunn @-GA), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, encompasses even more. With the support of Senators Al Gore (D-nu), J. James Exon (D-NE), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Timothy E. Wirth (D-CO), the Strategic Environmental Research Program could be a shot in the arm to environmental monitoring and research programs. Senator Nunn’s rationale for devoting the defense establishment’s resources to the environment is that population growth, deforestation, and global warming could cause political and economic dislocations,leading to tension and even conflict. Although this stztement is certainly correct,some people would argue that the relationship between tension arising from environmental problems and DOD’s mission is tenuous at best. Nunn argues that DOD has the capability to help solve environmental prob lems and to develop new energy and environmental technologies. Here his argument is much stronger. Many of OUT most important domestic technologies were spin-offs of govemment defense and space programs. Even without an environmental focus, largescale R&D efforts should provide useful answers to many vexing questions. In fact, many DOD activities have potentially great relevance to understandmg
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of an s to env mental problems. For example, DOD m i l i i activitie. require sensitive surveillance equipment that can measure environmental characteristics from radiation in clouds to thickness of ice (both important links to understanding trends in and potential for global warming). The defense establishment’s in-house laboratories and contractors represent a tremendous asset that could be devoted to environmental research, development, and demonstration. Historically, environmental research activities have been small and fragmented. They have never approached the scale or comprehensiveness of the R&D efforts devoted to the Strategic Defense Initiative. The Defense Environmental Initiative at kast opens that possibility. Theoretidy EPA could he given the same mandate and resources. Practically, EPA must compete with NASA, HUD, VA, and other agencies for funds in the appropriations process. It is hard to conceive of major R&D budgetary increases in this restricted environment. It would he politically much easier to redirect resources from the deneasing DOD budget to environmental purposes. In the best of all possible worlds, pursuing large new environmental initiatives through the defense establishment may not represent the best approach. In the real world. the opportunities for large redirection of technical resources to the environment may be possible only through deployment of defense resources. The initiatives of Secretary Cheney and the Armed Services Committee should he welcome. They may represent the only way to gamer substantial technical resources to cope with some of our most serious environmental problems.
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Alvin L. Aim is a director and senior vice president for energy and the environment for Science Applicatwns Inter~ t i 0 n a 1Corp., a supplier of high-technology products and services related to the environment, energy, health. and national securify.
