$7 BIL FROM DEFENSE FOR NEW ENERGY

White House to seek $7B in green energy contracts for military

Zack Colman, August 7, 2012

“The White House…is inviting contract proposals from green energy firms to boost the Army’s use of renewable energy…[$7 billion will go to] the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to spend on locally-generated biomass, geothermal, solar or wind energy for up to 30 years…[The] White House-led push to green the armed forces [comes] over GOP opposition, which claims the efforts are a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“The Defense Department has set ambitious targets, aiming for renewable sources to account for 25 percent of its energy by 2025, with the Army working toward getting 1 gigawatt of power from green sources by that year…Heather Zichal, the White House deputy assistant for energy and climate change…said alternative energy will reduce costs and enhance national security.”

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“Republicans, however, have pressed the White House and military to abandon some alternative energy programs. They say the efforts cost too much with budget sequestration threatening to slash the defense budget by $492 billion over 10 years…[Zichal] said the president was fully behind the push and believed the military’s turn toward alternative energy was “operationally necessary, financially prudent and mission critical.”

“…[The Navy recently demonstrated] its “Great Green Fleet” aircraft carrier strike group…[which] tested a fuel that combined a $26-per-gallon biofuel with conventional petroleum…[T]he Army, along with the Interior Department, announced it would integrate green energy electricity sources such as wind and solar at military installations…”

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