A few days ago, at the end of December, without fanfare, the President of the United States signed the law authorizing the annual budget of his army, some 777.7 billion US dollars.
The US military’s budget is truly in a class of its own – it equates to the combined total of the 11 other countries that follow it in terms of military spending. 1
However, in this fat budget, nothing very ambitious is decoded to reduce the centenary dependence of the American army on oil. This is not trivial. The US military alone is the most oil-consuming organization in the world. It takes up almost 80% of the fuel for the entire federal apparatus.
Its annual needs amount to 100 million barrels, or the equivalent of a day’s oil consumption across the planet.
It is also a very large emitter of greenhouse gases: more than entire countries, such as Denmark, Sweden, or even more than the entire American iron and steel industry. 2
A relationship fraught with conflict
Access to abundant and continuous oil plays a critical role in US foreign policy. During the two world wars of the XXe century (1914-1918; 1939-1945), it was the Americans who provided most of the fuel to the Allied troops, greatly contributing to their victory.
The Americans themselves have waged two wars related to oil. Either in Iraq, in 1991, to force the withdrawal of the Iraqi troops who invaded Kuwait, because that would have meant too great a stranglehold by this country, at the time hostile to the United States, on world oil production.
The other war was fought in the same country, in 2003, under dubious pretexts (the presence of weapons of mass destruction, never found). Ultimately, this resulted in the return of Iraqi oil to the world market, and also to that of the American and Western oil industry in that country.
The close relationship between the United States and oil manifests itself on many other levels: for example, the strategic link with Saudi Arabia and the presence of American troops in the Middle East.
Since the end of World War II, having realized the economic and military importance of oil, the Americans have sealed an agreement with the Saudis ensuring an uninterrupted flow of their oil against the protection of the regime. The Saudis have immense and cheapest reserves to exploit.
Global Protection Service
Finally, the US military has acted for decades as a global oil protection service. Thanks to its bases in the Middle East, it ensures the good circulation of oil tankers, in particular in the Strait of Hormuz, against possible hostile actions, namely from Iran.
This large-scale military presence stems from the Carter Doctrine (1980), named after then-US President Jimmy Carter. It was issued following the Iranian Revolution, a major producer of black gold that fell into the enemy camp, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (1979).
The Carter Doctrine, still in progress, makes the security of the maritime oil transport routes in this region and that of allied producing countries a “vital strategic interest” of the United States, liable to military reprisals.
During the same years, a strategic oil reserve was also set up, the inventory of which currently stands at almost 600 million barrels.
Change, not for tomorrow
Admittedly, in its official documents, the American army recognizes from the outset the reality of global warming, and its geopolitical implications, in particular by the growing instability that it risks causing in various parts of the world. It seems to act to integrate climate risks into its operations, in order to provide mitigation and resilience measures. But nothing concrete has emerged to significantly reduce its own oil consumption.
The real change, if not a historic revolution, would be the gradual detachment of the US military from this dependence on oil.
The United States would gain greatly: by reducing their emissions, of course, but also by ending their addiction to a resource that has monopolized billions of dollars for decades in order to ensure a reliable supply.
In fact, the day when this army considers that it can conduct large-scale operations without oil, with non-emitting technologies, it will be, no more and no less, the outcome of the energy transition that we are all seeking to accomplish.