The CIA and the Pentagon agree: Climate change could seriously harm our national security. As veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, we've seen first hand the negative effects of carbon pollution and dependence on oil. There's no fight more important than putting America in control of its own future by creating clean energy that's produced right here in America. That's why we're traveling the country - and coming to your town - to spread the message, rally supporters, and ultimately strengthen American security.
By Jerry Oster / Public News Service / March 3, 2010
YANKTON, S. D. – United States military veterans are crisscrossing the country in purple buses, with a different kind of patriotic message. They say developing renewable energy sources here at home will be one of the best ways to provide for America’s national security.
Eric Gage of Sioux Falls is part of the Operation Free bus tour. A nine-year veteran of the South Dakota Air National Guard, including six years on active duty, he is now a student at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He explains he and his fellow riders are not backing any particular plan or policy.
“We’re not policy experts, we’re not environmentalists, we’re not scientists. We know there needs to be a comprehensive plan to make this work, to get everybody on the same page, and to make this happen and happen fast. How that happens? We’ll leave that up to the experts.”
Gage says they believe Americans will have to make some tough choices.
“Do you want to see your friend, your neighbor, your son, your daughter, bleeding in the desert, or do you want to see a wind mill in your backyard, you know? It really comes down to putting our energy future in our own hands.”
By Jon Gensler / March 1, 2010
Cambridge, Mass.
As a captain in the Army, I was used to seeing the blasted, wasted landscapes of unfamiliar countries. From the window of a plane or the door of a helicopter, they were a familiar sight, the last high-level view before descending into a nasty fight.
I expected such images of destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan. But not in West Virginia.
Yet the ugly reality of mountaintop removal coal mining is what greeted me on my return home after a year-long tour in Iraq. Seeing the land I fought to protect being abused in such reckless fashion hit me in the gut, hard. It took years to recover my motivation to continue to fight for what I believe in back home.
Appalachian families are facing serious decisions about their future, and these decisions are intimately linked with America’s future.
