Friday, May 18, 2012

Senator delivers takedown of military 'green' agenda

The Obama administration is determined to gut the U.S. military in order to fund a far-left environmental agenda, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) said during an extended address on the Senate floor this week. “I was extremely disappointed to see that (Panetta) is wasting his valuable time perpetrating President Obama’s global warming fantasies and his war on affordable energy, which occurred, no less, at a gathering of radical environmentalists,” Inhofe said. “Secretary Panetta’s commitment of a billion dollars for alternative fuels makes clear that, despite President Obama’s recent change in rhetoric for his reelection campaign, he remains fully determined to implement his all-out attack on traditional American energy development – and the military is one place where he can force it to happen.” A Congressional Research Service report, published on Inhofe’s request last month, found that DoD had to spend $300 million for energy efficiency projects in addition to $3.7 billion in stimulus funds marked for energy saving measures at military installations, and that the department has spent at least $4 billion on global warming and energy initiatives. That money, Inhofe said, could have been used to buy 30 new F-35 Joint Strike Fighters or modernize the military’s fleet of C-130 Hercules planes. And rather than having the military funnel money into biofuels, Inhofe said the administration should pursue the numerous energy alternatives that are both affordable and close to home, including approving the Keystone pipeline, ending attacks on hydraulic fracturing, and repealing limitations on the ability of federal agencies to purchase petroleum products that have a greenhouse gas footprint exceeding that of crude oil...more

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