On Wednesday, General David Petraeus appeared before Congress to brief them on the situation Afghanistan, which has just passed Vietnam to become the longest war in US history. Two more American soldiers lost their lives in Afghanistan today, which makes 33 killed in June so far.

So, what was Congresswoman Giffords (D-AZ) interested in when she got her turn to question the General? Well, first she rattled on that the US Air Force is the largest user of energy on the planet, and that Department of Defense(sic) uses the most energy in the United States. Her question was in light of the oil spill, whether he would be installing trendy renewable energy thingies at military bases in Afghanistan.

In the video, General Petraeus copes with it very professionally. He’s visibly stunned by the stupid question but rallies manfully – pointing out very diplomatically that hydro-power is limited in a desert (the clue being in the name) before swerving his answer around to the unrelated but militarily interesting topic of supply lines.

So this is why we really are in Afghanistan. Not for oil lithium defeating terrorism, but to put up windmills.

This all chimes in nicely with the views of her fellow Democrat, Senator Barbara Boxer, who said last week that not terrorism, not wars, not potential economic collapse, but climate change will be the leading cause of conflict for the next two decades.

“I’m going to put in the record … a host of quotes from our national security experts who tell us that carbon pollution leading to climate change will be over the next 20 years the leading cause of conflict, putting our troops in harm’s way,” Boxer said.

So every time you see another act of terrorism or conflict on the news…just remember…it’s because they haven’t installed double glazing there yet.