Because, you know, giving a damn about climate is bad. Scott Brown joined the GOP and two coal-state Dems (Manchin and useless Jim Webb of VA) to block the Pentagon from even trying to get off of oil. Juliette Khayyem notes how stupid this is:
The Pentagon is stopped from going green – Opinion – The Boston Globe.
The Pentagon’s recent move toward energy efficiency is simply sound military planning. Steps include more reliance on biofuels so that a competitive market can be established and geographically dispersed plants can be built; portable solar batteries to reduce the weight on a Marine’s back; and green fleets for our dirty oceans. The Seals are even clamoring for more equipment that is light and clean — leaving no footprint.
The motivation for the Senate committee vote may be monetary savings, but the numbers, though substantial, show that clean energy is hardly the only big-ticket item on the Pentagon ledger. The entire green initiative requires a $170 million annual investment, a fraction of the average cost of a Navy ship.
… What the committee vote ignores is the extent to which the military has played a crucial role as an early adopter of breakthrough technology. And as a big customer, its efficiency efforts would create the kind of market needed to make “going green” bring in the green. If only it could.
And ponder this: Who pays for the external costs of foreign oil more than the military itself? Who goes and tries to secure our “vital interests” in oil-rich places, at massive expense in blood and treasure? Who bears the brunt of our dependency first and foremost?
But you know, energy efficiency goes against the anti-environment old-time religion of the current GOP. You’d think a Massachusetts Senator would do better.
Do I need to say it? This cat ain’t no moderate. This is knee-jerk stuff.
With the releasa of trailers for the movie Battleship, the entire GOP can now claim to be military experts. Perhaps Battleship is running ads on Drudge and Limbaugh.
Release, not “releasa”. D’Oh!
Even if you’re not an environmentalist like many BMG readers are, this just makes safety sense for members of the military. Not only have we been in many armed conflicts in direct relation to our dependence on, and the need for access to, foreign petroleum, but some of the most dangerous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan are fuel transportation convoys.
If Senators care about the safety and well-being of people who serve to protect our freedoms and interests, then they should support an energy system that does not tempt our soldiers abroad to maintain oil access. Imagine if we didn’t have to risk our soldiers running over IED’s because they are driving solar electric or biofuel vehicles. Many of our best technological advancements have come from the military. This seems like an investment that will be good for soldiers, national security, the innovation economy, and the budget.
What a sad vote tally.
Kayyem wrote: Fuel convoys are particularly subject to attack by hostile forces, and half of the Marines killed in Afghanistan and Iraq were supporting fuel transportation.
So, is Scotty going to tell the good people of Massachusetts he would have voted for the bill if it were a bipartisan effort? If it weren’t bad for business? If…..if….if….
What will he say to those who actually risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and what will he say to their families?
Just how many dance moves does he have?
Just how many lies can the voters of Massachusetts stomach?
I feel sicker by the day.
This post by Heather Hurlburt got a bunch of attention a couple weeks ago. Apparently point-scoring GOP legislators have decided they know better than the military on the Law of the Sea treaty, jailing terror suspects, military policy with respect to Iran, F-22s, and the Pentagon budget generally.
…and since it is the Pentagon, invoke Commander-in-Chief prorogatives as well. The President should be able to tell the military without Congressional interference to spend their money in a way that is energy efficient.
Military oil dependency is a tremendous strategic vulnerability, and in a very different and larger sense than attacks on sitting-duck oil convoys.
The Quadrennial Defense Review contains analysis & predictions on climate change, because the droughts and other disasters of climate change will lead to instability and wars.
The QDR is big, but it is put together by non-partisan analysts, and as such we in the reality-based community could do some good by sorting through it.
And Scott Brown meddling with the military now is just him following the grand tradition of conservative leaders like George W. Bush–allowing their ideology to put more troops in harm’s way unnecessarily.