I first started thinking of the national security implications of climate change when I was deployed to Iraq with the Marines. We patrolled the streets and roads and on select days cars, trucks and tractors lined up for miles waiting for a chance to fuel up as petroleum was ironically hard to come by. It hit home how reliant everyone was on this one source of energy. It troubled me how reliant the United States is on foreign states, who are less than friendly, for this resource and how little we are doing to become energy independent. Even more troubling is how our reliance on foreign oil not only weakens us, but strengthens states such as Iran, Russia and Venezuela. For every $5 rise in the price of a barrel of crude oil Putin’s Russia receives more than $18 billion annually, Ahmadinejad’s Iran an additional $7.9 billion annually, and Chavez’s Venezuela an additional $4.7 billion annually.
However, there is bright future if we can work to cut carbon emissions and our reliance on foreign energy. Analysis by researchers at MIT finds that a cap on carbon emissions – comparable to that featured in the House climate and energy legislation – could lower net crude oil imports by at least $20 billion or 20 percent in 2015. By 2025, the decrease is $45 billion, or 40% a year. All told, a cap on carbon means $500 billion less being sent overseas for imported oil by 2030. A similar message emerges from the EPA’s analysis of the House bill, using an entirely different model.
As an Iraq War veteran, I understand how America’s national security depends on breaking our addiction to oil. Decades of rhetoric have made little difference, and we continue to send billions to regimes like Ahmadinejad’s Iran or Chavez’s Venezuela. A cap on carbon will break this holding pattern and fundamentally restructure the economic incentives around energy. Capping carbon pollution will move us toward real security.
Alex is a Seargent in the US Marine Corp and a Field Director of the Truman National Security Project.
Alex makes solid points that show the shortsightedness of America when she is importing 60% of energy costs, mainly from hostile nations profiting from our addiction. To add insult to injury, these failed nation states used the oil profits to attack our values, literally, and cause us to spend billions more on our defense needs. We need to begin the long journey to becoming a self-reliant country in the tradition of our founding.