Another attempt to kill the Defense Department’s program to replace diesel with renewable biofuels was killed in last Friday’s “vote-a-rama” as the Senate voted on 400 amendments to the budget. Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) offered an amendment to take $60 million away from the Defense Department to purchase biofuels. Toomey’s amendment died on a 59-40 vote.
The amendment had the support of every Republican in the Senate except for six--mostly from farm states. The Republican Senators who voted no were: Blunt (MO), Collins (ME), Fischer (NE), Grassley (Iowa), Johanns (NE), and Murkowski (AK). All Democrats voted against it except Senator Casey (D-PA).
This is the third time in a year that Republicans have tried to strip the money from the military budget that was earmarked for biofuels. The Navy wants to use biofuels to insure that it is not dependent on foreign sources for diesel fuel for its ships. Senator McCain was successful in getting a provision added in committee that would prohibit the Navy from buying biofuels. Democrats were successful is striking that amendment in the full Senate, and they defeated Toomey’s amendment.
Oil companies have lobbied against the practice since Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and DOD officials came up with the program. They are unwilling to lose any sale it seems.
Biofuels program will create jobs
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (ESSI) reported that $10 billion in economic activity and more than 14,000 jobs would be created by the military’s plans to expand its use of biofuels in planes, ships and other vehicles by 2020. This is according to a report commissioned by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2).
Just as importantly, EESI reported that if the Department of Defense expands its use of advanced biofuels, it would jump-start the biofuels market, which in turn would speed adoption of biofuels by commercial airlines, vehicle fleets and other users, according to the report.
The Navy and Air Force wants to reduce its dependence on oil by getting as much as 50% of its fuel from biofuels by 2020. The biofuels program began under the Bush Administration. The use of biofuels has grown but not at the levels predicted. The Navy and Air Force plan on buying biofuels as a matter of energy security.
Biofuels will help rural communities
Biofuel production will help the economies in small rural communities many of which are experiencing hard times. Secretary Vilsack said development of biofuels will provide jobs to young people in farm communities that will enable them to remain in the towns where they grew up.
Every gallon of biofuels produced domestically is a gallon that does not need to be imported from foreign countries—many of which are hostile to the Unites States. Biofuels are a renewable energy source as opposed to fossil fuels which when burned they are gone forever,
Defense Department is committed to renewable energy
Under the Obama Administration, the Department of Defense has been making huge strides to use renewable sources of energy in lieu of fossil fuels. The DOD is the largest building owner in the nation. There is a large and successful program to generate as much electricity as possible from renewable sources including solar, wind, landfill methane, and biofuels.
The DOD has installed solar on military housing in several states. It has completed major energy efficient upgrades to reduce the amount of heat, cooling, and electricity consumed on its bases. The use of biofuels in ships and other military vehicles is part of that program.
The Defense Department thinks that use of on-site electrical generation and domestic biofuels is a matter of national security. Unfortunately Senators and Representatives that consider themselves to be pro-defense are taking the side of big oil when it comes to green energy.
DOD’s top leaders have said reducing the military’s use of oil is essential to national security, troop safety and avoiding fuel price spikes.
For now, at least, the biofuels program is intact.
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