Green Options » guns

The Military’s New Green Ammunition

Allison Boyer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 20:47:44 +0000

American Rheinmetall Munitions announced this week that their Mk281 “green ammunition” will start to be introduced at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California.

Mk281 does not contain toxic chemicals or energetic materials, which aligns it with the Department of Defense (DoD) and Environmental Protection Agency’s joint mission to solve Unexploded Ordnance (UXO) issues. The Army’s current 40 mm training cartridge, M918, is a 1970’s pyrotechnic design that contains heavy metals in the fuze and potassium perchlorate in the flash/bang payload. It is due to phase out in favor of newer munitions when the U.S. industrial base is ready.

No matter what your stance on war, this is a smart idea, since soldiers go through up to 10 million rounds a year in training. The clean-up costs alone are over $500 million.

ZapRoot: Plastic Trees and Sarah Palin

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:53:07 +0000

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From our friends at ZapRoot this week: Arizona tests artificial CO2 filtering trees. Sarah Palin loves oil. We help you find ways to get rid of your junk mail.

Do as I Say, Not as I Do: Teachers with Guns

Jennifer Lance — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:55:59 +0000

For 12 years, I have been a teacher at a very small school (7-25 students, grades K-8) in northern California. I have never felt unsafe or threatened in my isolated community, so I was shocked to learn that teachers in a small town in Texas can carry guns to school. With the increase of school shootings lately, this just seems ludicrous. How can we tell students not to bring guns to school when their teachers can?

Harrold, Texas is a town of about 300 residents (70 more than my community). Harrold has become the first town to allow its teachers to bear arms. School superintendent David Thweatt explains, “We are 30 minutes from law enforcement. How long do you think it would take to kill all 150 of us? It would be a bloodbath.” Of course, Harrold’s teachers will receive training in “crisis management”.