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.
Inhofe spoke to Human Events last week about his concern that U.S. military leaders had proposed spending billions on green energy measures and expensive biofuels while implementing slashing cuts on equipment and key functions, and promised to bring attention to the Defense Department’s promotion of the president’s liberal goals.
He made good on that promise Thursday, challenging Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on plans to use the military to shore up for climate change and move to the front lines of experimental energy technology.
“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.
“Secretary Panetta’s admission about the ongoing green energy agenda at DoD comes just after a 2010 video revealed the former EPA Administrator in Region 6 admitting that the Obama EPA’s “general philosophy” was to “crucify” and “make examples of oil and gas companies,” Inhofe said. “The EPA official quickly resigned but there are plenty more (Al) Armendarizes in this administration who are working hard to stop American energy development.”
Inhofe said he plans to introduce a number of amendments to the Senate version of the Fiscal 2013 National Defense Authorization Act to counter the military’s green agenda as markup on the bill begins next week.
