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Matt Dempsey Matt_Dempsey@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-9797

Katie Brown Katie_Brown@epw.senate.gov (202) 224-2160              

Inhofe, McCain Successful in Reining in Obama's Green Agenda at DoD

Link to Inhofe Floor Speech: Inhofe Outlines Plan to Stop Obama Imposing Costly Green Agenda on DoD

Link to Politico Pro: Committee OKs two slaps at green military

Link to National Journal: McCain, Inhofe Push Through Amendment Limiting Pentagon's Green-Energy Program

Washington D.C. - Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and a Senior Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed successful bipartisan votes on amendments that he sponsored to the Defense Authorization bill which will hold the Obama administration accountable for forcing the Department of Defense (DoD) to spend scarce resources on a far left green agenda.  Last week, Senator Inhofe took to the Senate floor to put the spotlight on this problem and vowed that he would introduce a number of amendments that would prevent President Obama from making DoD go green at an exorbitant price tag, especially when he has cut funds for essential military programs.

"Through passage of these amendments to the Defense authorization bill in committee, the Senate has taken a significant step to rein in the radical green agenda that President Obama is attempting to impose on our military," Senator Inhofe said. "As Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and a Senior Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I have been committed to stopping President Obama from forcing the Department of Defense to spend enormous amounts of scarce resources on pointless global warming efforts, all while he is gutting our military, drastically reducing DoD's budget, and cutting core programs that are vital to our troops' safety.  The good news is that we have been able to come together in a bipartisan fashion to prevent President Obama from achieving many aspects of his war on affordable energy at DoD.

"President Obama's efforts to green the military just further represent the separation between his phony reelection rhetoric and his true agenda.  There is nothing 'all-of-the-above' about him trying to destroy fossil fuel use in the military so that he can impose his radical green regime.  Once again, his actions speak louder than his words.

"I would like to applaud my friend, Ranking Member Senator McCain, for his important work on this issue.  As he rightly said, we were able to 'restrict the Department of the Navy to a reasonable approach rather than spending $244 a gallon' - it was a pleasure teaming up with him to achieve this.

"I will continue to work with my colleagues to build on the success of today and look forward to making more progress reining in President Obama's failed far left green agenda."

More on the Amendments

Inhofe Amendment on Biofuels

Sponsored by Senator Inhofe, this amendment, which passed in a bipartisan vote, prevents DoD from being obligated to purchase alternative fuels if the cost exceeds that of traditional fuels. Link to Amendment

McCain Amendment on Biofuels

This amendment sponsored by Senator McCain and co-sponsored by Senator Inhofe, which passed in a bipartisan vote, prohibits DoD from constructing a biofuels refinery unless it is authorized by the law. Link to Amendment

Inhofe Amendment Repealing Section 526 of 2007 Energy Bill

This Inhofe amendment repeals Section 526 of the 2007 Energy Bill.  Section 526 puts a limit on federal agencies' purchase of petroleum products whose life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions exceed those from conventional crude oil - this prevents the military from using coal to liquid fuels, oil sands and oil shale.  Senator Inhofe's amendment removes this provision so that more resources are available to DoD.  The House overwhelmingly passed this amendment and it was tied in a bipartisan vote in the Senate - this means it will likely be included in conference. Link to Amendment 

Wicker Amendment on LEED green building certification system

Finally, Senator Inhofe also supported an amendment sponsored by Senator Wicker that would continue the limitation on funds for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification system until six months following congressional receipt of the report required in last year's Conference Report. This amendment, which passed in a biparitisan vote, will ensure that DoD does not utilize a biased rating system that increases building construction costs as it works to implement a cost efficient and consensus based green building policy.

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