U.S. Military Bases: Not Just for Freedom, Also for PFAS
Newsweek alerts us to a startling discovery: birds near U.S. military installations carry higher levels of PFAS, those delightful 'forever chemicals' found in firefighting foam and practically everything else thanks to decades of unchecked industrial practice. This groundbreaking insight conveniently sidesteps the U.S. military's own long-documented history of environmental contamination, which
has saddled taxpayers with billions in cleanup costs for years. The Department of Defense has identified over 700 military sites with known or suspected PFAS contamination , according to a 2024 GAO report. One might wonder why birds, or humans for that matter, would be surprised to find themselves marinating in military-grade toxins. Instead of addressing the systemic issue of environmental
degradation by the institutions we fund, Newsweek opts for the 'isn't that interesting?' approach. It's a classic media maneuver: present an alarming symptom while meticulously avoiding the root cause – and who should foot the bill. Much like the perpetual cycle of 'defense' spending, the cost of cleaning up after it is simply absorbed into the national budget, with little accountability for the
polluter. The fact that the military receives hundreds of billions annually seems to escape the PFAS conversation.