Retired U.S military leaders and war veterans called on Sen. James Inhofe on Tuesday to apologize for an offensive remark he made accusing them of supporting global warming action only to get publicity.
In an interview published in the Nov. 29 New York Times Magazine, Inhofe said that calling climate change a threat to national security “is the most ludicrous thing.”
Enough is enough. Swiftboating our military veterans, and questioning their patriotism, for crass political gain should not be tolerated.
America’s national security professionals in the Department of Defense, the Department of State, the National Intelligence Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency all agree that climate change is a security threat that must be dealt with seriously and honestly.
Well I guess misrepresenting the views of veterans is one way to celebrate Veterans Day. Just a few months after getting busted sending fraudulent letters claiming to be on behalf of veterans groups, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity sent this email to their supporters yesterday:
With Veterans Day around the corner, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the military personnel who are involved in ensuring our country is protected.
Energy security is one issue that has become increasingly important to our veterans. In fact, national veterans groups Votevets and Operation Free are urging the government to become more energy independent and less reliant on foreign oil.
We can do this by using the abundant domestic fuels we already have. With more than 250 billion tons of recoverable coal reserves, the United States has more coal than the Middle East has oil.
We need to start putting our coal to use – and technologies such as hybrid-electric cars and cleaner, more efficient power plants are making it easier for us to do that.
One problem, VoteVets and Operation Free are completely at odds with ACCCE. Richard Smith at Vet Voice explains:
VoteVets and Operation FREE are not, have not and will never advocate the continued use of carbon based fuels. Such an action would be completely counter to the work we do, as so called “clean coal” only pushes us closer to inevitable catastrophic climate change and threatens our national security. For the ACCCE to hijack America’s Veterans who are working to ensure secure, clean American energy alternatives while simultaneously claiming to honor us on Veterans Day is an act of despicable hubris.
ACCCE has no shame whatsoever. Kudos to Vote Vets for the bold statement and rapid response on this.
Over 150 veterans from across the country descended on Washington, DC on September 10, 2009 to advocate for American energy independence and to raise awareness of the national security threats of climate change.
Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are launching a new television ad campaign, both nationally and in a number of states, aimed at getting the Senate to pass a clean energy and climate bill. The ad, from VoteVets.org, coincides with a growing movement by veterans and security groups making a push on Capitol Hill to get a bill passed and on to the President for his signature.
