CLIMATE: Military vets launch bus tour on clean energy

(Wednesday, January 13, 2010)

Dina Fine Maron, E&E reporter

A group of military veterans kicked off a nationwide bus tour today designed to urge action on energy and climate change legislation.

The two-month tour, organized by Operation Free, a coalition of veterans and national security organizations, will focus on drawing a connection between climate change and national security.

“This is an issue that affects our national security, our homeland security, our energy policy, our environmental policy and our economic policy,” said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, at a press conference outside the Capitol building today. “There is no other issue that touches every single aspect of American and international life like this issue of climate change and energy independence.”

[PHOTO: Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) speaks outside the Capitol about the importance of clean energy for U.S. national security. Photo by David Solimini, courtesy of Operation Free.]

The tour will include stops at VFW halls, colleges and other venues in 16 states. The group says veterans have already signed on to participate in local rallies, and it hopes to rally other vets to the cause.

“Our dependence on foreign oil makes us vulnerable. It is providing funding to those who would seek to hurt us,” said Jon Powers, an Iraq war veteran and chief operating officer for the Truman National Security Project, a sponsor of Operation Free. He said he will be taking a shift on the bus at some point during the two months.

“We’re hoping to get voters across the country to pick up the phone and call their senators,” said David Solimini, media director for Operation Free. “We’ve found it’s a great way to raise awareness in small localities, so it’s not just ‘I saw a TV ad’ but becomes ‘I saw a guy from next door talking about this.’” This tour was preceded by two smaller bus tours last year.

More than 50 veterans have agreed to take a shift on the bus during this tour, with at least seven veterans traveling on the biodiesel-powered bus at all times. Most of the involved veterans served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

The 45-foot Operation Free bus will make its first stop in Virginia on Saturday and will then move on to Missouri, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio.

Operation Free is supported by the National Security Initiative, VoteVets.org, VetPAC, and the Truman National Security Project, among other groups.

“There is no greater patriotic act than standing up on this issue. What you see on the battlefields around the world is the result of us not having a policy on this issue,” Markey said.

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