The Defense Department will install solar panels on the Pentagon, part of the Biden administration’s plan to promote clean energy and “reestablish the federal government as a sustainability leader.”

The Pentagon is one of 31 government sites that are receiving $104 million in Energy Department grants that are expected to double the amount of carbon-free electricity at federal facilities and create 27 megawatts of clean-energy capacity while leveraging more than $361 million in private investment, the Energy Department said.

The solar panels are among several improvements set for the Pentagon, which also will install a heat pump system and solar thermal panels to reduce reliance on natural gas and fuel oil combustion systems

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        This would be meaningful. More reporting means more information to wield when convincing people we need more than solar panels.

    • andyburke@fedia.io
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      9 months ago

      I’d take it. Just that little bit less oil we need. Stop trying to shit on everything.

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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        9 months ago

        Greenwashing is harmful because it tricks people into thinking there’s been progress and we aren’t on track for the collapse of civilization.

        • gibmiser@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          As much as I hate the military industrial complex, symbolic actions matter, and we need some form of military so as long as we have a military I hope it will utilize green energy when possible.

        • cosmic_slate@dmv.social
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          9 months ago

          How is this greenwashing?

          A building is installing solar panels and replacing hvac systems with more efficient equivalents. If installing solar panels and installing more efficient heating/cooling is now considered greenwashing…

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            By trying to present the Pentagon as environmentally friendly, instead of one of the worst polluters on the planet.

            • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              By trying to present the Pentagon as environmentally friendly

              The only person presenting that narrative is you. Just read the article:

              ‘Brendan Owens, assistant secretary of Defense for energy, installations and environment, said the projects will improve energy resilience and reliability at the Pentagon and other military sites in the U.S. and Germany. He called energy use "central to everything we do.’‘’

              ‘Solar panels will provide "an uninterrupted power source’’ at the Pentagon in case of a cyberattack or other outage to the bulk grid, as well as reduce strain on the building’s power load, Owens said in an interview.’

              Its not about “green” to that member of the Defense department, its about continued operation and money. Yes, it will also reduce green house gas creation, but the Defense department isn’t even making that claim.

              So what you’re doing is putting words in their mouth, then calling them hypocrites for using that language you created. Thats a straight up straw man fallacy you’re using.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                Uh huh, and you think they reached out to the media to create this headline because they want us to be informed about building maintenance. Okay lol

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            I’m not going to fucking care if the Pentagon has solar panels while I’m fighting to the death over the last unopened can of beans in an abandoned Walmart.

            • KNova@infosec.pub
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              9 months ago

              Yeah, I get it. Not sure that stating the doomer case is any better than installing solar panels, though, is my point. It gets us the same outcome in the end.

              • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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                9 months ago

                If people actually realized how fucked we are they wouldn’t settle for greenwashing. We could get organized and fight back.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      This is like putting solar panels on an oil rig

      I mean, even for a low effort post its not really making much sense.

      I assume your simile is suggesting that and oil rig shouldn’t use solar panels (for reduction of green house gas creation) because it is a primary source of green house gasses (eventually). So you’d prefer an oil rig to, what, burn oil for electricity instead generating even more green house gasses?

        • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          Sure, great, but thats ignoring the practicalities of reality. If you want real change you’ve got to evolve from an ideologue if you’re actually interested in seeing the change you want.

          Oil rigs aren’t going to disappear overnight. If they did economies around the world would come to a grinding halt. Famine and disease would run rampant and wars would break out fighting over the remaining supplies. Likely 80% or more of humanity would die out within a generation. You and I would not be among the survivors.

          So maybe a better way to get rid of oil rigs is to reduce their need by, oh I don’t know, replacing oil consuming energy generation with PV solar panels…like the article is talking about. It will be on very small change in a whole list of changes needed to get rid of those oil rigs, but is on the path, and its realistic.

          people stop confusing greenwashing for progress.

          There’s plenty of greenwashing occurring in the world today. This event isn’t one of them.

          • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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            9 months ago

            There will never be real change as long as people settle for greenwashing, there will be ticky-tacky incremental bullshit changes until society collapses. With incrementalism oil rigs aren’t going to disappear ever, and neither will the Pentagon. They’re going to kill us all.