Will President Obama Send Green Marines to Darwin?

[kristopher]

Will President Obama Send Green Marines to Darwin?
By Dan Cass
November 18, 2011


President Barack Obama was in Australia this week and upset China and Indonesia with the annoucement of an increased miliary presence in this country, including 2500 US Marines to train and provision equipment in Darwin.

When the U.S. Marine Corp establish themselves a new home in Darwin, they will bring some seriously green equipment and ideas to our shores. This is because in the three years of his Presidency, Barack Obama has actively led the U.S. Department of Defense to embrace renewable energy and a strategic awareness of climate change.

The officer in charge of greening the marines is Colonel Bob "Brutus" Charette, a career soldier. As Director of E2O, the Expeditionary Energy Office, Colonel Charette has been on the road in 2011 with a fascinating presentation that shows how seriously America’s defense force is fighting its fatal addiction to oil. The Colonel jokes that when his commander told him to establish the E2O he said that his only qualification is wasting energy, as a jet pilot and commander.

The Marine Corp has been given the task of reducing its energy intensity 30 percent by 2015 relative to a 2003 baseline (NREL 2011, PDF). Meanwhile in Canberra’s Parliament House, or Planet Quacko as it is affectionately known, there has been intense debate about a miniscule five percent carbon emissions cut by 2020. The USMC also has an objective to increase the percentage of renewable electrical energy consumed to 25 percent by 2025.

The impact of these ...

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2011/11/will-president-obama-send-green-marines-to-darwin?cmpid=SolarNL-Tuesday-November22-2011

[msongs]

1. green = dollars out of the taxpayers' wallets nt

[kristopher]

2. The money is coming out of our wallets anyway...

Like you, I would also love to slash militery spending and use the money on domestic programs. However given that we are not going to get our wish, it is far better to spend it this way than on more traditional military hardware. At least with this the effort towards reducing the carbon footprint of the military gets underway and the process spurs growth in the renewable sector at a time when the Republicans in Congress are doing everything they possibly can to stop the President's effort to do that.

That's a win-win-win by my count.

[AlecBGreen]

3. that is an ambitious but I think attainable goal

The Marine Corp has been given the task of reducing its energy intensity 30 percent by 2015 relative to a 2003 baseline

So Mr President... will you be setting a similar goal for industry and commercial/residential buildings?

[kristopher]

4. Only if we elect a cooperative Democratically controlled Congress.

He doesn't have operational control of those sectors as he does the military. However he did try to get passed a national bill that would have mandated "efficiency ratings" on all buildings as a prerequisite for sale. That policy would have had profound positive consequences if it had become law.

[AlecBGreen]

6. I realize that

"He doesn't have operational control of those sectors as he does the military."

He DOES, however, have the bully pulpit. My desire is for Pres. Obama to go big, go bold or go home. We've dickered around for 200 years with fossil fuels. Enough is enough.

ETA - I did not know that re: building efficiency.

[Kolesar]

5. Colonel "Brutus" Charette

Catchy