Remember, earlier this year, when the Obama administration was transforming each and every sequestration budget cut into some nightmarishly dire prediction about how each and every major department wouldn’t be able to perform the full extent of their absolutely and irrevocably essential duties? It would seem that, even as there are Defense Department employees being furloughed and Secretary Hagel warns of more layoffs and our military slims down on equipment, training programs, and etcetera, the Pentagon evidently continues to prioritize the forceful implementation of so-called “green” and “renewable” sources into their energy repertoire. Via Reuters:
The U.S. Army has picked 17 companies that will be eligible to receive orders for wind energy under an umbrella contract valued at up to $7 billion, the Pentagon said on Monday.The companies include many large energy producers including Dominion Energy, a unit of Dominion Resources Inc ; the U.S. unit of Spain’s Acciona SA ; Duke Energy Corp ; the U.S. unit of France’s EDF Energies Nouvelles; and the U.S. unit of Spain’s Iberdrola SA.All the companies were awarded potential “indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity” contracts that have a cumulative value of up to $7 billion, the Pentagon said in its daily digest of major contracts.
Why the Obama administration insists upon using the military as a sponsor of what they, rather than the free market, have arbitrarily and falsely deemed to be practical and cost-effective sources of energy, it pains me to think on — but the point is that the U.S. military is currently choosing to spend big money on energy sources that do not offer them the biggest bang for their buck.
Even better, the Pentagon dished out a similarly sized set of contracts for solar energy companies last month; and this is all on top the Navy’s push to outfit a number of cruisers, destroyers, and fighter jets with biofuel-blended gas. While proponents of using the military as a renewable-energy guinea pig often point to the completely bogus argument that these initiatives will enhance the military’s energy security, the fact is that this is yet another way for the Obama administration to brag about their green-energy commitments and prop up the technologies on which they’ve already spent so much taxpayer money in the form of subsidies and handouts, all for political and ideological purposes — and in the long run, it’s a disservice to actual opportunities for renewable energy.
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