Vets touring country with message: National security through clean energy

A group of young veterans is touring the country calling for legislation they say will enhance national security by promoting alternative energy.

They are traveling in a bus fueled with biodiesel and emblazoned with the words: “Operation Free. Mission: Secure America with Clean Energy.”

The bus started in Missoula, Mont., on Monday and made stops Friday in Rochester, Minn., and Madison and Milwaukee as well as La Crosse.

Their issue? At a time when scarce resources can lead to war, the United States would be safer if it was more energy-efficient.

Alec Sylvester of River Falls, Wis., was deployed to Baghdad in 2004 with a National Guard unit. Part of their job was to install surveillance cameras at key intersections. The cameras worked well but depended on the local power grid, which was less than reliable. Sylvester’s troops eventually were able to get solar power units for the cameras.

“One of the things I’ve realized since I’ve come home is that we take power for granted,” Sylvester said. “We flip the switch and we don’t even give it a second thought that these lights are going to come on. Let’s not wait for a crisis to do it right.”

Alex Cornell du Houx is a Maine legislator who served with the Marine Corps reserves in Fallujah in Iraq in 2006. He was amazed one day to see a long line of cars, trucks and tractors in the city.

“They were all waiting in line for the entire day for gasoline and diesel,” he said. “They were so reliant on the single source of energy. It made me start thinking about this issue and realizing how vulnerable the United States is because we’re dependent on a single source as well.”

Robin Eckstein of Appleton, Wis., was a convoy truck driver stationed at the Baghdad airport early in the war.

“The two main things we supplied were fuel and water,” she said.

Before each run, they would wonder: “What are we going to encounter today? Are there going to be IEDs? Are we going to be ambushed? Is there going to be sniper fire? Is anybody going to be injured? Is anybody going to be killed?

“If we were transporting this fuel less, we could be saving American lives. We could do that just by being more energy efficient.”

One of the bills the group supports passed the U.S. House on June 26 by a narrow 219-212 vote. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 would increase energy efficiency and renewable energy standards. A companion bill is pending in the Senate.

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