Pentagon Oil Spending May Snarl Efforts to Trim $490B

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-08/pentagon-oil-spending-may-snarl-efforts-to-trim-490b.html

The U.S. military’s appetite for oil may snarl efforts to pare defense spending by about $490 billion in the next decade.

The Pentagon (USBODEFN), the world’s single largest consumer of energy excluding countries, spent $17.3 billion on petroleum in fiscal 2011, a 26 percent increase from $13.7 billion the previous year, according to Department of Defense data provided to Bloomberg Government.

World oil prices will average an estimated $145 a barrel in 2035 in 2010 dollars, up from between roughly $85 and $110, according to Energy Department statistics. Such an increase might force the military to dedicate more of its budget to fuel while still trying to cut total spending, said Russell Rumbaugh, a defense budget analyst.

“The oil prices will further exacerbate the defense spending cap,” said Rumbaugh, a co-director of the Stimson Center’s program on budgeting for foreign affairs and defense in Washington. “They’ll be in competition with other defense priorities, including procurement and paying soldiers.”

[JDPriestly]

1. Millions of American families have to deal with high prices

and few energy alternatives. Maybe if the military has to cut back in response to the budget cuts, we will get some real action on alternative energy use.

To me, this is good news.

Many of the really big, important developments in technologies, from plastics to computers, have been due to the need of the military to adjust to the scarcity of a resource -- like rubber (plastic) or cheap labor (computers).

[dipsydoodle]

2. A lot of that

is getting fuel into places like Aghanistan.

[DCKit]

3. ~$200/gallon last I heard.

Maybe we should let our military march to the next illegal invasion.

Then again, someone would complain about the high cost of boots.