Meeting a goal it laid out in 2009, the U.S. Navy is preparing to debut the Great Green Fleet, the first ever aircraft strike group substantially powered by non-fossil fuel energy. And standing in the sidelines to ruin the party is a chorus of Republican lawmakers.
Conservatives on the Congressional Armed Services committees are looking to cut the funding going to Department of Defense clean energy programs and trying to steer the money back towards cheap oil. The Great Green Fleet’s opening demonstration next week will use 450,000 gallons of biofuel purchased in 2011 at approximately $27 per gallon. It is mixed with an equal amount of petroleum, bringing the cost down to about $15 a gallon. Republican lawmakers say it’s just too expensive.
Last week, Senator John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate committee said, “I don’t believe we can afford it.” Republican Senator Randy Forbes of Virginia echoed that sentiment saying, “I understand that alternative fuels may help our guys in the field, but wouldn’t you agree that the thing they’d be more concerned about is having more ships, more planes, more prepositioned stocks?”
But Navy Secretary Ray Mabus staunchly defends the program explaining, “The reason we’re doing this is that we simply buy too many fossil fuels from either actually or potentially volatile places on earth.” And as ThinkProgress shows, the Department of Defense spends more than an increasing amount on fossil fuels. Energy Department statistics estimate that world oil prices will be up to $145/barrel in 2035, from its current price in the $85-$110 range. According to Mabus, for every dollar increase in the price of oil, the Navy must spend $30 million.
Despite the naysayers, the Pentagon is moving forward with more innovation on this front, including a $420 million effort to build three biofuel refineries. The federal government will contribute $210 million, the Navy $170 million, and the Energy Department $40 million.
Photo credit: U.S. Navy