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Former CIA director Jim Woolsey
eagerly leans across the table in the
swank restaurant of the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel in Washington. The seriousness of the
matter he’s discussing is refl ected in his sharp,
almost transparent blue eyes.
”The United States’ dependence on oil
makes us very vulnerable from a security and
environmental perspective. Why buy oil from
Islamic theocracies, which sponsor terrorism
against us? We are fi ghting a war against terror,
but are paying for both sides. How smart is
that?” asks the sprightly 66-year-old Woolsey.
Woolsey is one of the Green Hawks at the
Pentagon – a new movement of tree-huggers,
activists, researchers, inventors, army people
and neoconservative hawks – who are leading
the way toward alternative energy and energy
conservation in America. Their motivation
is the security of the nation, since they see
terrorism and climate change as the greatest
threats against the U.S. as a superpower.
“The goal is to become energy independent,
but to get there
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we have to shift to green
energy,” says Woolsey, who has been engaged in
this question since the oil crises in the 1970s.
But according to most estimates, the U.S.,
the world’s biggest consumer of oil, will
continue to increase its oil consumption.
Unless something is done to counter this trend
it will probably mean that the country, which
already imports around 60 per cent of its oil,
will become even more dependent on the oilrich
Middle East.
In order to stop this scenario and fi nd new
solutions, the Green Hawks hold open forums in the Pentagon. These meetings, which have
already acquired legendary status, attract people
from the Pentagon, the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Department for Homeland Security, the State
Department, Congress, embassies, think tanks,
environmental organizations, security fi rms
and the weapons industry, all seeking to make
new connections and exchange information,
knowledge and experiences.
A senior European security analyst who
attended one of
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these meetings described it as
“bustling with people from all kinds of groups
and interests. Very dynamic.”
Ironically, it was the Iraq war – which many
felt began over oil – that forced the Pentagon
to see the advantages of alternative energy inthe fi eld. Dan Nolan, who oversees energy
projects for the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping
Force, explains it was not until the cost of fuel
was measured in blood (American blood) that
the commanders started to understand.
“Our transports have never been as
vulnerable and exposed as they are in
Iraq. More oil is not the solution, it is the
problem.” As a consequence the Army now
tries to generate what is needed on site;
it uses fuel cells that produce water as a
byproduct. It uses tents that need 40 percent
less air-conditioning, which in turn is now
increasingly run on green energy instead of
diesel. The diesel generators emit heat, which
is easily spotted with infrared detection.
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