NY Times “We’re Cooked” Part Two, US Gov’t All EV by 2035–Including Non-Tactical Army Vehicles

NY TIMES VIDEO SERIES, “WE’RE COOKED,” PART TWO–“THE TRUE COST OF CHEAP CHICKEN”

Last week The Climate Daily reported on the latest Opinion Video series from the New York Times. It’s called, “We’re Cooked” a three-part video series about America’s “broken food system and the three chances you get to help fix it–and save the planet–every day.”

Part One, “Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet” released last week. If you haven’t seen it, please do. 15 minutes of stream time well-spent. examined how the powerful American agriculture lobby has fended off environmental regulation, despite the harm done by the sector.

Part Two, “See the True Cost of Your Cheap Chicken” drops today!

The titans of the U.S. chicken industry want you to view their sector as a great American success story, from a fragmented, homespun business to a well-oiled engine of efficiency that produces wholesome, nutritious products at increasingly affordable prices.

This Opinion Video above reveals, these gains have come at extraordinary cost to the chickens themselves — and to the farmers who are contracted to raise them by the huge chicken corporations that now dominate the sector.

 And why does knowing “The True Cost of Cheap Chicken” matter to us?  Inhumane treatment of chicken extends to  inhuman treatment of the climate. Fixing the problems with chicken culture will help fix our climate problems, too.

Popeyes, Subway, Burger King and around 200 other food companies undertand that. They have signed onto the Better Chicken Commitment, obliging their suppliers to adhere to a raised set of standards for chicken welfare. Perdue Foods, one of the largest poultry companies in the United States, began an animal welfare initiative four years ago — which includes improved living conditions for chickens 

Visit NYT.com and search for “Opinion Video Series” and then search for “We’re Cooked,” or just click on the link in the Deeper Dive Section of this story at theclimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: WE’RE COOKED,

US GOVERNMENT TO GO ALL-EV BY 2035

The U.S. government plans to end purchases of gas-powered vehicles by 2035 in a move to lower emissions and promote electric cars under an executive order signed by President Joe Biden.

The government owns more than 650,000 vehicles and purchases about 50,000 annually. Biden’s executive order said that light-duty vehicles acquired by the government will be emission-free by 2027.

Total federal government operations will reduce emissions by 65% by 2030 under the plan. The government will seek to consume electricity only from carbon-free and non-polluting sources on a net annual basis by 2030 and have net-zero emissions by 2050.

According to the Executive Order mandating the move, the U.S. government is “the single largest landowner, energy consumer and employer in the nation” and can transform “how we build, buy and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings and other operations to be clean and sustainable.”

DEEPER DIVE: Reuters,

CLIMATE CHANGE FINALLY A NATIONAL PRIORITY FOR US ARMY

The U.S. Army released its first climate strategy on Tuesday designed to help protect bases against damage from global warming and improve readiness by training soldiers to deal with a world with more killer heat waves, droughts and floods.

Driven by executive orders by President Joe Biden to tackle climate change, the Army’s climate strategy calls for the service to halve greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 levels by 2030 and bring them to net-zero by 2050, in line with his wider goals for the country.

Climate change has already wreaked havoc on US military installations stateside. In 2019, a number of bases were hit by large weather events, including Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which requiredmore than $400 million in repairs. The very next year, the Department of Defense doled out $67 million in funds to help bases alleviate or repair climate-related damage.

According to a statement released on Tuesday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, ” “There is little about what the Department does to defend the American people that is not affected by climate change. It is a national security issue, and we must treat it as such.”

The indication from Austin that the department will look to change its carbon footprint is also notable, as the Pentagon is often reported as being the largest single consumer of fossil fuels in the United States. Already, planners in the department were looking for alternatives, such as nuclear reactors, to help limit the logistics train needed for the military.

To read the full US Army Climate Strategy, click on the link in the Deeper Dive Section of this story at TheClimate.org/episodes.

DEEPER DIVE: Defense News, Navy Times, USArmy Climate Strategy

US ARMY TO GO ALL-EV ON NON-TACTICAL VEHICLES

To combat climate change, boost U.S. industry and achieve operational advantages, the Defense Department has ambitious plans to transform its fleet of ground vehicles through the introduction of electric and hybrid-electric drive technologies. Automakers see major opportunities to help the military and win business.

Addressing what it calls the climate crisis is a top policy priority of the Biden administration.

Said Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks in November during remarks at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, “The department is committed to meeting the challenge by making significant changes in our use of energy and increasing our investments in clean energy technology,” 

The Pentagon is developing a “sustainability plan,” part of which will be focused on developing a zero emissions non-tactical vehicle fleet. Hicks notes, “Currently the Department of Defense has about 170,000 non-tactical vehicles — the cars and trucks we use on our bases,”

Army Lt. Gen. Duane Gamble, deputy chief of staff, G-4, said electrification of non-tactical vehicles and their deployment on installations will help inform how the Defense Department leverages EV tech for other elements of the future force. 

DEEPER DIVE: National Defense Magazine, CleanTechnica