This story was reported for the San Diego News Network on March 19, 2010.
As the threat of climate change increases and America becomes more dependent on foreign oil, national security is compromised, said panelists at a state Senate hearing Friday.
The California State Senate Select Committee on Climate Change held a hearing at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography to discuss the challenges the nation faces regarding energy use and national security.
A group of three senators, including Sen. Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego), and six climate and national security experts, agreed that the continued use of oil at the U.S. rate of consumption — the U.S. uses 25 percent of the world’s oil — would compromise national security. As the recession deepened and oil prices spiked, the problem was made worse.
Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn used Iran as an example. Iran is home to an abundance of oil, which the U.S. pays for when it goes to market; so, he said, U.S. dollars are funneled into Iran’s economy.
“The oil we buy helps to fund the terrorist action,” he said. “The more we buy oil, the more we’re giving to a regime that’s fighting against our young men and women.”
Electrification Coalition director of policy Sam Ori said since 1970 the U.S. has spent an excess of $5 trillion on oil. The number is tied to oil spikes during a down economy despite the constant need for oil.
Though the solution would require a joint effort by lawmakers and Americans to rely more on sustainable resources, said experts, two military representatives said their goal is to reduce the military’s oil consumption by 30 percent by 2020.
Major General Anthony M. Jackson, the commanding general of the Marines Corps Installations West, said the sector created an Expeditionary Energy Office to examine ways of finding sustainable resources. So far, the Marines are using less generators, more wind turbines and solar panels to charge equipment.
Rear Admiral William French, the commander of the Navy Region Southwest, said 32 percent of the its budget is devoted to paying for utilities. The Navy Region Southwest has been able to reduce consumption by 18 percent in the last six years. Like the Marines, they’ve relied more on sustainable energy.
The hearing was a part of the Senate Committee’s Implementation of Assembly Bill 32, a four-year-old legislation known as the Global Warming Solutions Act. The bill allows the California Air Resources Board to find ways for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“We have a lot of pressure at the Legislature and in Congress,” said Sen. Mark DeSaulnier (D-Walnut Creek). “The economy has slowed our environmental efforts. I think we have to realize it’s not just an environmental choice, it’s the future of the U.S. both economically and militarily.”
McGinn told the committee and attendees the problems of the economy and climate are “inextricably linked” and solutions will be difficult to identify.
“Climate change poses a serious threat to our national security,” he said. “It’s the worst type of threat because we don’t have a specific name identity, no hot spot to fight … It’s a very, very complex and ongoing problem that can become seriously dramatic.”
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network. Follow her on Twitter or add her on Facebook.