Operation Free
Secure America with Clean Energy
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 17, 2011
CONTACT
Benjamin Lowe, (202) 656-9723, ben@trumanproject.org
Vets: Clean Fuel Standard Good for National Security
Standard would reduce dangerous US oil dependence, save Americans billions at the pump
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, in response to the release of the draft NESCAUM economic analysis of a Clean Fuel Standard, Michael Breen, an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran and Vice President of the Truman National Security Project, made the following statement on behalf of Operation Free:
“America’s addiction to oil is a clear threat to our security. We send more than a billion dollars a day overseas for oil, and a dangerous amount of that money ends up in the hands of hostile regimes that don’t have our best interests in mind. We need to do all we can to end our risky oil dependence, and a Clean Fuel Standard will help do exactly that. The analysis released this week makes it clear: a Clean Fuel Standard will reduce our dangerous oil dependence.”
Clean fuel standards create jobs, reduce carbon emissions and help address the US addiction to oil. Extremists and hostile regimes get a great deal of funding from the sale of oil, the price of which is driven up by American demand. A Clean Fuel Standard will also reduce carbon emissions, the root cause of climate change. The Department of Defense, State Department, and CIA all recognize climate change as a direct threat to American security.
Operation Free is a coalition of veterans and national security organizations dedicated to securing America with clean energy. Operation Free sponsored the Veterans for American Power National Tour, a 29 state tour by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans making the connection between energy policy and national security. Operation Free is an advocacy campaign of the Truman National Security Project.
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How can the “Drill, Baby, Drill” party argue against Pres. “oil addiction” Bush, the Vets of Operation Free, the red state Midwest, and the Department of Defense about the connection between our oil dependence and national security? Even if we do raise our domestic production, it wouldn’t satisfy the global increase in demand nor drop local prices for oil distillates. All it does is further deepen the addiction. As the evidence and pronouncements suggest, being pro-oil is being perceived as being anti-national security – military, economic, as well as environmental.