In a previous post, I described the ferocious lobbying efforts by the oil industry to kill Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. That pesky provision prohibited the federal government from buying transportation fuels derived from nonconventional petroleum sources that have a larger carbon footprint than conventional oil. As noted by Daniel Weiss at the Center for American Progress, House Republicans have found a way to partially kill Section 526.
Unfortunately the House Armed Service Committee’s National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 1540, would reverse this progress. Section 844 of the bill would actually allow the military to use alternative fossil fuels that produce more pollution than conventional fuels.
Allowing the biggest fuel guzzler in the federal government to use the dirtiest of fossil fuels is big step in the wrong direction. It paves the way for the use of tar sands oil, shale oil, and liquified coal as transportation fuels by the Defense Department for the foreseeable future.
Here is Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (see page 172 of pdf):
SEC. 526. PROCUREMENT AND ACQUISITION OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS.
No Federal agency shall enter into a contract for procurement of an alternative or synthetic fuel, including a fuel produced from nonconventional petroleum sources, for any mobility-related use, other than for research or testing, unless the contract specifies that the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production and combustion of the fuel supplied under the contract must, on an ongoing basis, be less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.
Here is Section 844 of the National Defense Authorization Act (see page 175 of pdf):
Section 844—Exemption of Department of Defense from Alternative Fuel Procurement Requirement
This section would amend section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act (42 U.S.C. 17142) to exempt the Department of Defense from the requirements related to contracts for alternative or synthetic fuel in that section.
The oil industry demands. Republicans obey. The climate becomes more unstable.