New GAO study underscores need to cut fuel demand at battlefield bases
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today urged the Department of Defense to take immediate steps to dramatically reduce fuel consumption at its battlefield bases around the world.
Citing a new report by the Government Accountability Office, Giffords said that transporting fuel to the front lines in places like Iraq and Afghanistan poses tremendous security risks and logistical burdens to U.S. Armed Forces.
“Reducing the risks and burdens associated with transporting fuel to the battlefield must be top priority for the Defense Department,” said Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services Committee. “Our military needs an effective, coordinated strategy to manage and cut fuel use, and we need it as soon as possible.”
Giffords, whose 8th Congressional District includes Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and Fort Huachuca, called on the Pentagon to appoint a new director of operational energy as the point person to lead this effort.
“As the GAO study noted, the Pentagon has no shortage of officials whose job is to oversee energy use. The problem is that there is no one person who has the responsibility of reducing fuel usage at our forward-deployed locations,” the Southern Arizona lawmaker said. “This needs to change. Someone needs to be held accountable.”
Giffords this afternoon participated in a hearing on fuel demand management at forward-deployed locations held by the Readiness Subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee.
The Defense Department accounts for approximately 80 percent of the federal government’s energy consumption. Three-quarters of the department’s energy use is directed to military operations and 94 percent of the energy used for operational purposes is derived from petroleum-based products.
Last year, the department consumed 132.5 million barrels of oil, or 363,000 barrels per day. Generators used to cool, heat and light bases constitute the largest single consumer of fuel on the battlefield. With the spike in fuel prices in 2008, the department’s oil bill climbed 41 percent, to nearly $18 billion.
“If our Armed Forces in Iraq can successfully use solar technology to power Iraqi streetlights, medical clinics and sewage pumps, we certainly can use it at our own forward-deployed installations,” Giffords said. “It is not only a matter of cutting costs, though that certainly is important. But cutting fuel consumption will have a direct impact on the security risks faced by our men and women in uniform.”
Click here for a copy of the GAO report and click here to watch Giffords questioning the panel.