The U.S. military is embracing alternative energy—but not
because of climate change. Up to half of the yearly American
casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan have been incurred guarding
fuel convoys, and the Pentagon will no longer tolerate oil's
"burden in blood." By Edward Humes The Marines of India Company
harbored grave doubts about the experimental solar-power gear
they were ordered to tote from their beachside base at Camp
Pendleton to the grimmest, toughest war zone of Afghanistan.
They arrived far more interested in armor to protect them while
they patrolled the "Fish Tank," a booby trap-laden settlement
next to their base, than in thin-film photovoltaics that might
protect the planet from their carbon bootprint. India Company
had encountered up to 15 roadside bombs a day, and individual
platoon casualty rates had run as high as 25 percent killed or
wounded. Tree hugging didn't seem like much of a survival skill
in a place where a single false step could cost your legs—or
worse. "I was a skeptic," Gunnery