The Hayride - FLEMING: We've Got To Begin Taking Our Defense Seriously

Op-Ed

By Rep. Fleming

According to a December 2015 Gallup poll, Americans named terrorism as our country's top concern. That was before the recent terror attacks in Orlando, Paris, and Istanbul. It should be no surprise then that Americans are worried about when, not if, the next terrorist attack will occur. While giving in to fear is not an option, we should remain vigilantly aware of today's current threats and proactively address terror threats before they happen.

One of the most important and fundamental functions of the federal government is to provide for the common defense. Yet, despite increased threats from ISIS, Russia, Iran and North Korea, this Administration erroneously believes that climate change is our biggest threat to national security.

The President has pushed heavily for a green agenda, even within the military context. This is a distraction, at best. The reality is that "going green" diverts the military from its core mission, funneling time, energy and resources into agenda driven politics instead of focusing on tangible threats. Let's look at real life examples. The U.S. Navy is now being required to create a "green fleet" that will run on biofuels instead of traditional diesel fuel, even though diesel is cheaper and easier to get. Or take, for example, the Naval Station Norfolk, where the solar array cost the Navy $21 million but only provided two percent of the base's electricity. According to the Inspector General's office, it will take 447 years for the savings to pay the cost of the project. Solar panels, however, usually only last about 25 years.

Federal Department of Defense resources should not be consumed on arbitrary and inflexible green energy quotas and CO2 benchmarks. This is simply not the mission of the U.S. military, and in the broad scope of national security, they accomplish nothing.

It is unfortunate that our outgoing President has consistently failed to take national security seriously. Besides turning our military green, he vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last year -- which funds our military -- in hopes of diverting more money into projects he believes are more worthwhile: green energy subsidies, Obamacare, and executive orders. Let's hope that there's not a repeat veto on this year's NDAA.

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