The US military owes at least $106 billion as reparations to countries roiled by climate change for pumping planet-heating gases into the atmosphere, according to a first-of-its kind study.
Patrick Bigger, research director of the Climate and Community Project, also says the Pentagon needs to shutter bases and scale back its military to cut its emissions of carbon dioxide.
In his paper, Bigger also aims at Britain, which he says owes $5 billion in climate reparations.
But other nations with big carbon footprints, such as China and Russia, which is waging a devastating war against neighboring Ukraine, barely get mentioned in the 30-page report.
The Pentagon did not answer DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
The payout would represent a hefty chunk of the Pentagon’s $842 billion annual budget.
Bigger, who champions the Palestinians and other leftist causes on social media, says the environmental damage wrought by the British and American militaries is ‘astonishing.’
Together, they’ve emitted at least 430 million tonnes of carbon dioxide since world powers cut a climate deal in Paris in 2015, the report says.
In a single year, the Pentagon has been responsible for more emissions than Portugal, he says.
Bigger and his colleagues say the two nations should reimburse the countries most affected by droughts, storms and other effects of global warming.
The combined sum — $111 billion — is a ‘conservative’ estimate and likely much lower than what they should really be paying, researchers say.
It’s also ‘far above the US and UK’s current contributions through established climate finance channels,’ they add.
As well as making multibillion dollar climate reparations, the two nations should also slim down their armed forces.
The US military accounts for four fifths of its government’s total energy consumption, they say.
In Britain, the military accounts for at least 40 percent of all public sector emissions, they add.
The US should shutter many of its 750 military installations globally, while Britain can trim some of its 142 installations.
Most of them are ‘Cold War relics, superfluous in light of technological and logistical advancements,’ the researchers said.
Others are ‘simply unnecessary in a foreign policy agenda that prioritizes peace and cooperation,’ they add.
The researchers say they aimed at Britain and the US because of their polluting behavior and their ‘historic role’ in the growth of the global fossil fuel economy.
The report makes frequent mention of ‘Anglo-American corporations’ and ‘colonization.’
But other countries with comparably large military spending — such as Russia, India, and Saudi Arabia — are not mentioned in the study.
China, which has the world’s second-biggest military in dollar terms, is instead featured for its development of electric vehicles.
On social media, Bigger frequently posts in support of Palestinians caught up in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
He also reposts messages from such leftist US politicians as Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar.
His group, the Climate and Community Project, describes itself as a ‘progressive climate policy think tank.’
It is backed by the Tides Center, a non-profit focussed on ‘social justice.’
UN climate panels and most scientists say mankind is causing climate change by releasing carbon dioxide and other planet-heating gases, while also ravaging ecosystems in other ways.
But the issue has become a frontline in politics between liberals and conservatives, and the share of Americans who believe in man-made climate change has fallen as the science is increasingly called into question.