Battlefield Energy Plan Aims to Spark Major Changes in the Pentagon

In the most significant step the Defense Department has yet taken to address its substantial thirst for energy, the Pentagon yesterday released its first strategy (pdf) for changing the way it uses energy on the battlefield.

The plan will be fleshed out with more details in the next three months, including the goals and timelines that motivate the Pentagon's bureaucracy. They will target three main areas: reducing consumption on the battlefield, transitioning to alternative energy sources and building more energy-efficient vehicles and weapons systems.

Rethinking America's energy security

Last month, amid fears the Suez Canal might be closed by the political turmoil in Egypt, the price of oil briefly topped $100 per barrel. As a result of ongoing clashes in Bahrain and Libya, oil prices are again approaching the century mark.

The revolutions in North Africa, along with other evidence of political instability across the Middle East, should remind us that America’s lack of a coherent domestic energy policy is putting our economy and our national security at risk.