By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
Donald Trump says he’s a big military supporter. He’s consistently and constantly talking about the importance of military budget and has said in the past that no one, including the generals, knows more about the military than him.
Which is why an article from the ever-excellent McClatchy New Service’s D.C. Bureau – and reporter Greg Gordon specifically – caught my eye. It seems that the military, which under President Obama had worked hard to add solar power backup to its arsenal in case of enemy attacks, cyber warfare or destructive weather, wants to continue to leverage solar energy as an alternative source of power.
But Trump, who has long declared that he was going to end the fictional “War on Coal”, is digging in his heels and not allowing them to continue their investments, turning off the financial spigot just as the programs were starting to take root.
Gordon writes:
But President Donald Trump has all but eradicated the words “renewable energy” from the agenda and, according to two former Pentagon officials, slowed progress toward upgrading emergency electricity supplies at bases like Camp Lejeune.
Now it’s no longer clear that the Pentagon will make use of all of the solar farms installed both to combat global warming and to enhance national security at U.S. installations here and abroad.
And former military commanders are not happy, as Gordon documents:
“I am concerned, and I am frustrated,” Dennis McGinn, a retired admiral who as an assistant Navy secretary managed both that service’s and many of the Marine Corps’ energy needs during Obama’s second term told Gorodn. Progress, he said, “has slowed down,” even while private-sector technology is leaping ahead.
But the military has decided the way around the obstacle of the Commander in Chief is to remove the word “renewable” from plans put forward about increasing solar power on military bases and replacing it with the word “resilience.” For some reason, they think that this particular president won’t inquire too deeply about the “change” and that they might be able to sneak in an expansion of the program by just changing the verbiage. And they just might be right.
What is more concerning to me is that the military believes solar will strengthen their ability to fight and defend this country, and the Commander in Chief is standing in the way because … reasons. To me, that’s a dereliction of duty worthy of a court martial.
More:
Military’s push for solar backup power loses speed under Trump