ASP Board Member LtGen Castellaw Joins Other National Security Leaders In Support for DoD Alternative Energy Programs

On Tuesday, July 24, 2012, the Pew Project on National Security, Energy and Climate hosted three national security leaders to highlight the release of a letter calling for support for the Department of Defense’s investments in alternative fuels. Briefing the media were former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee John Warner, ASP Board Member LtGen John Castellaw USMC (Ret.), and Maj. Gen. Anthony Jackson USMC (Ret.).

Calling for support of what they believe are critical investments in finding alternatives to fossil fuels, Gen. Jackson stressed the potential to save countless lives by developing new energy technologies for the U.S. military. “If we don’t want to spend the lives of the next generation defending the pipelines and oil tankers coming out of the Middle East, we need to continue on the research and development to the point” where alternative fuels become cost-competitive, he said.

Dismissing critics of DoD’s investments, Gen. Castellaw said, “If you look at the reasons we’re doing it, we’re not doing it to be faddish, we’re not doing it to be green, we’re not doing it for any other reason except it takes care of a military vulnerability that we have,” he said.

Sen. Warner added, “The department of defense should be looking at the widest possible diversity of fuel sources. We should continue to allow the department to move ahead with its innovation.”