CLAIM: The Obama administration is forcing the U.S. Navy to use unproven biofuels.
FACT:
- The U.S. Navy’s biofuel initiative began in 2006 when President George W. Bush’s Defense Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, initiated a task force to explore options for reducing the military’s dependence on fossil fuels (Source: National Council for Science and the Environment, http://bit.ly/NcPRJM).
- The U.S. Navy has said that “having energy independence in the United States is one of the most important things we can do from a security standpoint” and will give “sailors and Marines tactical and strategic advantages.” (Source: U.S. Navy, http://1.usa.gov/MFZYJq).
- It’s not just the Navy that is working to incorporate advanced biofuels into its energy supplies. The U.S. Air Force has demonstrated these fuels in a range of its aircraft and is expecting fleetwide certification by 2013. (Source. U.S. Air Force, http://1.usa.gov/l2c4r3)
- Not being allowed to purchase and deploy advanced biofuels could create uncertainty for future military strategy. A Pentagon spokesperson recently noted that being unable to deploy these fuels could “restrict DoD’s ability to increase our resilience against potential supply disruptions and future price volatility of petroleum products” (Source: CNN, http://bit.ly/Lul1h0).
- Since 2010, nine different U.S. Navy vessels and aircraft have been successfully powered by advanced, domestic biofuels, including the super-sonic biofuel flight of the F/A-18 “Green Hornet,” the MH-60S Seahawk, the MV-22 Osprey, the T-45 Goshawk, AV-8B Harrier, the Fire Scout unmanned vehicle, the Riverine Command Boat (RCB-X), the USS Paul F. Foster destroyer and the USS Ford frigate. (Source: Honeywell, http://bit.ly/Lor1UM)
- A $10-per-barrel increase in the price of oil costs the Department of Defense approximately $1.3 billion. That is nearly equal to entire procurement budget for the U.S. Marines. (Source: CNA Military Advisory Board, http://bit.ly/Ld34Sh)
- The Navy knows that initially paying higher costs for cutting edge defense technology is necessary. As Secretary of the Navy Ray. Mabus has pointed out, “If we didn’t pay a little bit more for new technologies, we’d still be using typewriters instead of computers. …And the Navy would never have bought a nuclear submarine, which still costs four to five times more than a conventional submarine” (Reuters, http://reut.rs/MNAEON).
