Veterans Day is a day to honor, remember and thank our nation’s men and women in uniform and their families for their sacrifice and patriotic service. It is also an opportunity to think critically about when, where, and why we call upon the military and how we can reduce threats that necessitate sending our own into harm’s way.
Although Veterans Day has passed for the year, we can continue to honor our nation’s veterans by addressing a real national security threat: our continued dependence on oil.
America’s addiction to oil is a decades-old problem. American citizens rely on petroleum-based fuel for almost all of our transportation needs, and this is equally — if not more — true for the military. Our military is the largest consumer of fuel in the world, and relies on petroleum to power everything from ships, vehicles and aircraft to communications equipment on its bases in the field.
Having served Iraq and Afghanistan, I am part of a new generation of American veterans returning home and entering civilian life ready to seek out new solutions to old problems. And I have seen first-hand how our over-reliance on oil costs lives.
In Iraq and Afghanistan, 50 percent of what our military convoys transported was fuel. From 2003-07, more than 3,000 Americans were killed in these fuel-supply runs. Our dependence on oil is a vital weakness that our enemies are only all too willing to exploit.
And it’s not just fuel convoys where we are exposed. Our oil dependence empowers people who do not share our values. Terrorist groups like ISIL fund their actions via millions of dollars per day in crude oil profits. Our demand for oil at home, which helps keep the global price of oil afloat, is being exploited by these groups to pay their fighters, purchase their weapons and fund the murder of thousands of unarmed civilians.
Both the U.S. State Department and the Department of Defense acknowledge that our reliance on fossil fuels alone for fuel and energy supply presents a strategic risk to our national security. It’s why all branches of the Armed Forces are investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar and advanced biofuels. From solar-powered backpacks to hybrid electric-drive warships, the Defense Department is at the forefront of where American ingenuity meets military might.
We should follow our military’s example here at home. Diversifying America’s energy portfolio with an eye toward clean power and clean fuels will be just as good for domestic policy as it is for our foreign affairs.
Washington is in a great position to lead this energy transition. Our locally produced clean fuels are ready to contribute today, including sustainable biofuels from our farms and forests, renewable natural gas from dairies and landfills, and electricity from our clean grid of hydro, solar and wind power. These rising industries are good for our citizens, too— a recent independent economic analysis through the Office of Financial Management found that using more clean fuels will create thousands of jobs across Washington.
Yet our state is still beholden to a petroleum fuel monopoly. In 2011, Washington spent more than $14 billion importing oil into our state — money that could have been invested in our own economy. A clean fuels standard will change that dynamic by allowing for more investment and development of locally sourced alternatives that employ workers in rural and urban parts of the state. Gov. Jay Inslee has signaled his intention to enact such a standard for Washington, which would reduce carbon pollution from gasoline and diesel by 10 percent over the next ten years and create a fair market for local producers of cleaner fuels. A recent independent economic analysis through the Office of Financial Management found that using more clean fuels will create thousands of jobs across Washington.
As a veteran who has seen the cost of America’s oil dependence, I support a clean fuels standard and hope Washington’s leaders embrace this effort to power our economy forward with homegrown energy. Cleaner fuel alternatives make for sound economic policy here at home and strong foreign policy abroad.
Jonathan Hopkins is a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer and was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan. He supports Operation Free, a movement of next-generation veterans fighting to reduce America’s dependence on oil. He lives and works in Seattle.
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