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

      • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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        10 months ago

        I saw this and thought: “Hey, that’s a good first step, I wonder how long it is before they take another?” Not that the pentagon went green. Check your bias.

        • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Taking steps that do nothing in lieu of steps that do something is the definition of greenwashing.

          Your response:

          “Hey, that’s a good first step, …"

          Demonstrates the effectiveness of the seeded story. Propaganda and marketing work.

          • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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            10 months ago

            Wow, do you not understand incremental progress? And I never said that they were green. You can acknowledge progress (however slight) without being a stooge. So, what’s the amount of progress that it would take before you stop complaining about the small steps?

            • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Oh I do understand the philosophy of incrementalism.

              I understand the consequences and costs of failing to take bold action to do what is necessary to change the course of a situation.

              Small steps have only taken us backwards, and it gets worse every cycle. Only bold steps and decisive actions have moved us towards a more perfect union.

              Not understanding the cost of small steps forwards on a train that’s hurtling in the wrong direction is meaningless. Its justification is to support the problem while being able to rinse your hands of the issue. The justification of smalls steps as progress while we’re clearly regressing is the fundamental problem we face as a society, because time, space, and oppurtunity are limited, you will only get so many opportunities to take action. When we either decide to take small steps, or accept them out of others, we further the issue.

              Incrementalism as a social philosophy is a failure, and is costing us our ability to survive on this planet, its costing us our ability to have a civil and just society.

                • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  Sorry, I’m too busy to return to the trees, too busy taking bold and decisive action.

                  I’ll return to the trees some day, when my work is done.

                  • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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                    10 months ago

                    The bold and decisive action of… complaining on the Internet. Well done, what the world ever do without your contribution.

              • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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                10 months ago

                Dude, this conversation is a great example of letting perfect being the enemy of good. Organization takes a step in the right direction, and wack jobs come out of the woodwork because it wasn’t a complete change that would have taken decades to finish

                • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  Dude, this conversation is a great example of letting perfect being the enemy of good. Organization takes a step in the right direction, and wack jobs come out of the woodwork because it wasn’t a complete change that would have taken decades to finish

                  We’ve been ‘accepting’ the good in earnest now for around 50-60 years under the modern global political hegemony. How is that going? Has the world been improving? We get bold decisive action when it relates to things that make life worse for all peoples, and we get incrementalism when it comes to actions which would improve peoples lives. This is the true cost of incrementalism. Its why the world is fucked. No. Halfway solutions aren’t good enough. In fact they are actually worse than no solution at all because the take the space and opportunity where a significant action can be made.

                  • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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                    10 months ago

                    I hear what you are saying but it sounds like “Hey, we have a hole in this boat but instead of trying to stop most of the water from getting in, we’re just gonna let it sink, swim to shore and build a new boat.”

        • Nudding@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Because the US army is the number 1 polluter of all time. We’ve been through this.

            • Nudding@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              Yeah they sure can! But they’re not… They’re continuing to increase their carbon footprint while making people like you feel good about a few solar panels lol.

              • HikingVet@lemmy.ca
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                10 months ago

                Yeah, because installing solar panels, getting more efficient HVAC aren’t steps…

                This isn’t all or nothing.

                • Nudding@lemmy.world
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                  10 months ago

                  They are microscopic steps in comparison to the leaps and bounds the US military makes in terms of CO2. You asked how it’s greenwashing, multiple people have explained it to you, either you understand it or you don’t.