US military attacked for its clean-tech push (but sticks to its guns, anyway)
Conservatives say Pentagon shouldn't worry so much about oil prices. Really?
In a July file photo, the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser, left, delivers a 50-50 blend of advanced biofuels and traditional petroleum-based fuel to the guided-missile cruiser USS Princeton during a 'green fleet' demonstration. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus says he thinks federal lawmakers will come around on the branch鈥檚 ambitions to ease its use of foreign oil once they understand it鈥檚 not an environmental move, it鈥檚 a defense strategy.
MC3 Ryan Mayes/U.S. Navy/AP/File
For several years, the U.S. military has been one of the most active proponents and early-adopters of renewable energy and alternative fuels, with their聽.聽 Why?聽 Several reasons:
1.聽 Fuel delivered to the remote聽front-lines such as聽in Afghanistan for use in power generation and transportation has an 鈥渁ll-in鈥� cost of聽.聽 Any energy source that can be supplied locally, such as solar, to reduce fuel has significant potential for economic savings.
2.聽 Being of critical logistical importance, convoys to deliver fuel are often the target of insurgent attacks, resulting in casualties to American servicemen and -women.聽 Anything that can reduce the quantity and frequency of these convoys should obviously be a very good thing.
3.聽 In buying so much oil, America sends hundreds of billions of dollars each year to regimes that not only don鈥檛 like the U.S., but actively attack U.S.聽interests.聽 As many astute observers such as聽,聽former head of the CIA has said on a number of occasions,聽聽 Military reliance upon oil is a key contributing factor.
Now comes聽, who argues in a聽聽that 鈥渕ilitary planners are afflicted with petroleum anxiety.鈥澛� He says that the military shouldn鈥檛 be so worried about oil price increases and supply insecurity:聽 鈥渢hey think prices are heading in only one direction:聽 up.聽 But history teaches us otherwise.鈥�
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is piling on to this argument.聽 McCain is聽.鈥澛� In the mother of all current smears,聽聽that might stem from this effort.
I pronounce聽Bartis and McCain guilty of imprudent short-term thinking 鈥� which is surprising and highly disappointing, since I have generally considered RAND and McCain himself as having a good grasp of the big picture.聽
Fortunately, the military is keeping its head down and pushing forward with its plans:聽 earlier this month,聽.
The military鈥檚 energy strategy聽is not solely or even mainly about minimizing $/gallon or c/kwh, and it鈥檚 certainly not about environmental benefits.聽 This is about building and operating a military that is best suited to win against a聽dispersed enemy that derives its income from oil sales and targets oil supply lines to impede American military effectiveness and kill Americans.聽
笔别谤颈辞诲.听
Reducing oil consumption as much聽and as quickly as reasonably聽practicable聽is key to unhooking our military from this thorny problem.聽 True, part of reducing oil consumption is through increased efficiency,聽but part of reducing oil consumption can also be聽via substitution of alternatives:聽 biofuels, solar, and wind.
Whether the military鈥檚 push for renewable energy will be as successful as desired is unclear.聽 However, the only way to know is to try.聽 If they don鈥檛 try,聽the U.S. military 鈥� and our country more generally 鈥� will聽just paint itself further into the聽corner in which it finds itself strategically today.