What Would Patton Do?
Joe R. Reeder is a 1970 West Point graduate, an Army Ranger, the 14th Undersecretary of the Army (Clinton Administration), and the past Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission's Board of Directors, among other things. In a recent speech before dignitaries, officials, and industry leaders at a plenary session of
the Watec 09 international energy and environmental conference and exhibition in Tel Aviv, Israel Mr. Reeder explained the U.S. national security imperative of clean energy. Based on Lawrence Livermore Laboratory research, Reeder called for a dual program of advanced research and practical, incremental measures, including federal, state, and local legal reforms to speed development and deployment of an efficient advanced electrical grid and alternative energy systems, an open fuel standard for cars and trucks, and a full bore commitment to nuclear power. Reeder used Patton's Third Army march through France during 1944 and the Arab oil embargo of 1973 to drive home the strategic importance of secure and reliable energy supply and the crippling consequences of dependency on foreign oil.
What with climate change legislation bogged down in the Senate, the growing scandal over the apparent manipulation and misrepresentation of data by pro-regulatory scientists dubbed "Climategate", and apparent public scepticism about the entire issue, perhaps it is time for clean energy advocates to stop worrying about "saving the world" and instead to start focusing on what's good for America. Asking "What Would Patton Do?" might be a good start indeed.
