Support Our Troops With Science

As I meandered through the March for Science and Earth Day celebrations around Lake Tahoe, filled with smiling children wearing recyclables and woodland creatures and booths educating the community about innovation, conservation and creative endeavors to sustain our natural resources, I wondered why conservation is polarizing in politics. Breitbart News described the March for Science as an ‘anti-trump’ rally without a clear message.  But at a small rally in the Sierra Nevada’s Today, I saw a clear message that innovation, science and cooperation keep our communities healthy and ensure our natural resources endure through the generations.

As I pondered my message today, I decided to draw on some of my lessons from Iraq with a message that I hope everyone can get behind: “Support Our Troops with Science.” Innovation in renewable energy doesn’t just clean the air and water, it saves lives, specifically, the lives of our men and women in uniform. In Iraq and Afghanistan, renewable energy on military bases could have prevented 3,046 casualties. Yes, from 2004-2009 (the height of the Iraq war), there were 3,046 Americans killed or wounded transporting fuel through Iraq and Afghanistan.  Ponder that when you consider the proposed budget cuts to research and development into renewable energies at the Department of Energy.

I made a sign for the March for Science at Lake Tahoe Today (Don’t worry, I’m running for Congress, not sign making)

I spent fifteen months in Baghdad with USAID, working side-by-side with our troops. Every base had scores of generators the size of a small house that soldiers had trucked across a hostile dessert to run our bases. Americans then trucked over 5,000 convoys of fuel per year across a dangerous warzone, at the price of around $600 per gallon. Lugging fossil fuels across the globe and trucking them into warzones costs billions of dollars and more importantly, thousands of American lives. Solar panels, wind turbines, biofuels and more make bases energy independent and soldiers stay out of unnecessary danger. For our military, renewable energy is a strategic necessity.

In 2006, I was on a large base when our tanker truck was hit and our generators were paired down to support only the essentials – communications and food. The air conditioners were shut down. AC may sound like a luxury in a warzone, but in 130 degree heat, cool air is a necessity. By the end of the second day, many of the soldiers on base were diagnosed with degrees of heat stroke, but they still went about their duties.

I was so hot and delirious, that I wandered into a walk-in refrigerator and sat on a crate of water bottles. A few minutes later, a young soldier opened the door. I smiled and tried to hand him a water bottle. But he was so startled to see a person in the fridge that he jumped, drew is weapon and I was staring down the barrel of an un-loaded M-4.

“My bad.” I said as I slowly lowered the water bottle to the floor.  The young man just stared at me.  I promptly left the fridge.

I learned an important lesson that day: never surprise someone in a war zone. But I also learned another lesson, dependence on fossil fuel ripples dangers throughout the warzone from those transporting it to those depending on it. A military base dependent on gas could be easily stranded, adding an unnecessary vulnerability. Reflecting on Operation Iraqi Freedom, General Mattis, now Secretary of Defense, insisted that the military must be “unleashed from the tether of fuel.”

Young girl proudly waves an American flag at the March for Science in Lake Tahoe Today

Making military bases, ships and planes energy independent is a top priority of our military because it would save lives, money, and be a force multiplier for America’s defenses. Our military consumes over 100 million barrels of oil per year. Depending on where that fuel is needed, the price can range from $100-$600 per gallon to reach our troops in warzones. Money spent on costly fuel could be redirected to training or upgrading military equipment like hardening Humvees so our marines could survive roadside bombs – an upgrade that didn’t come until several years into the Iraq war.

The military has been aggressively investing in sustainable, renewable and efficient energy for the last decade. The U.S. Air Force is flying jets on 50-50 biofuel blends. In January 2016, the navy launched the Great Green Fleet, a naval fleet that runs on blended biofuels and other renewable energies. The army is searching out solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines and biofuels that can be deployed in the field making military bases and operations energy self-sufficient. The marines have purchased electric Humvees and fuel-efficient vehicles allowing them to go further in a hostile environment and safely return.

Many of the renewable energy innovations the Defense Department purchased, started with a grant from the Department of Energy – a program President Trump has proposed cutting. Many of the innovations in vehicle fuel efficiency for the new humvees came from car companies working toward the fuel efficiency standards that President Trump is now repealing. Under the banner of supporting coal and oil jobs, President Trump is actually stunting the private renewable energy industry, which means more danger for our troops.

By failing to recognize the strategic significance of renewable energy, President Trump is cutting off the military’s supply line to life-saving innovative energy technologies. Now, the burden will be entirely on the military to not just purchase and scale the best and most effective renewable energy technologies, but they will be the sole government incubator of these resources. Slowing the transition to making our military operations energy independent places our troops at risk and hinders the effectiveness of our military.

As people across America Marched for Science on Saturday, they also marched for our troops. Innovation into clean, renewable energy could protect countless American soldiers and enable them to march home. So, if someone disparages the March for Science as whining from the left, remind them that we should all stand behind science because science will save our troops.

P.S. I have a crowdfunding site for my campaign.  Join Team Jess!