The United States Military and Oil

The United States Military and Oil

Introduction

Since the enunciation of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), U.S. policy towards the countries to the south has reflected the tensions between a self-interested appraisal of North American economic and military interests and an idealistic declaration of commitment to democracy. As the Monroe Doctrine indicates, the United States has viewed the New World as superior to the Old World, and the United States itself as the leader and protector of the Western Hemisphere. Yet the ideas of a common moral, political, and economic superiority in the New World and U.S. responsibility for the region have often produced impatience with the pace and direction of development in the Caribbean and Latin America (Bromley, 2005).

Discussion and Analysis

Last October, the US Navy unveiled the first military vessel to run on "eco-friendly fuel." The 49-foot command ship can carry up to 24 troops and runs entirely on a combination of algae-based fuel and diesel. As the Wired report notes, this came months after the US Military launched its "Green Hornet" jet in celebration of Earth Day - an "unmodified F/A-18 Super Hornet [using] a 50/50 blend of camelina-sourced biofuel and traditional JP-5 fuel." In 2009, General Dynamics created a military ground vehicle based on hybrid technology. All of this is part of a much greater plan for the Pentagon to reduce its oil consumption without having to sacrifice major cuts to its force size. Ironically, while the US Department of Energy remained silent, the US military was the first to warn that oil production could dip, causing massive shortages by 2015.

Remember, in March 2003, Lt General James Mattis (former commander of the 1st Marine Division, during the drive to Baghdad) called on the DOD to "unleash us from the tether of fuel." Former Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne spearheaded the DOD's push into alternative fuels in 2005 by creating a task force. Then came in 2006 Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer's operational request from Anbar Province for a "self-sustainable energy solution." This was followed by the January 2007 SOTU address of the former US President Bush, who said "For too long our nation has been dependent on foreign oil. And this dependence leaves us more vulnerable to hostile regimes and to terrorists who could cause huge disruptions in oil shipments, raise the price of oil and do harm to our economy." Achieving energy security is critical ...