The Hill News

In a statement late last week, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) criticized Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for his efforts to strengthen the Department of Defense through clean, alternative sources of energy. As a Republican, a State Senator, and United States Marine, I couldn’t disagree more.

Secretary Panetta joins our nation’s military and security leaders in understanding the clear connection between our energy policy and our national security. We send a billion dollars a day overseas for oil, much of that to unfriendly nations who do not share our values. America’s addiction to oil helps buy the very bullets that are shot back at our troops on the front lines.



And the Department of Defense is already feeling the impact of climate change at home and abroad. The DoD calls climate change an “accelerant of instability or conflict,” meaning it takes a bad situation and makes it worse. Drought, famine, rising sea levels, and more fre! quent and devastating natural disasters pose a threat to military installations and raise demand for military assistance.

Read more...