Navy

Navy biofuels spending might be preserved in a $604.5 billion defense appropriations bill scheduled for a Thursday markup, according to a Reuters report.

The Senate Committee on Appropriations Defense subcommittee on Tuesday approved alternative fuel spending that includes money for a hotly contested Navy biofuels program. The full Senate Appropriations Committee will now determine whether that alternative fuel proposal survives at the Thursday markup.

Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) told Reuters, “I think we do have funding” for the Navy biofuels program, though he would not reveal the specific dollar amount requested in the bill passed Tuesday.

The Armed Services Committee already has effectively blocked the Navy biofuels program on the grounds of cost.

Inhofe has criticized the Navy's spending on biofuels but supported spending on a similar fuel a decade ago.

Sailors aboard the Navy tanker USNS Rappahannock followed the proper procedure before firing on a civilian fishing vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates on Monday, despite reports the ship fired without warning. 

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Thursday that continued Navy biofuels use will create markets that help drive prices down.

A former member of the military's vaunted SEAL Team Six, the clandestine unit that led the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, has created a new political action committee focused on defeating President Obama in November.

Senators will attempt to revise the defense authorization bill to let the U.S. Navy purchase and develop biofuels, according to Reuters.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) told the wire service that biofuels proponents might try to amend the spending bill when it’s called on the Senate floor.

The issue has not cut as neatly across party lines as have other energy-related matters. 

A liberal-leaning national security group has a six-figure ad campaign attacking four Republicans, including potential vice presidential pick Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), over their opposition to the Navy’s biofuels program.

The Truman National Security Project’s Operation Free campaign released the ads Tuesday, in which a veteran is shown asking why the lawmakers don’t “trust” the military leaders on biofuels.

“When the Navy says advanced American biofuels make our forces more effective and energy-independent, I trust them,” the veteran, Chris Marzoni, says in the ad against Portman. “That’s why I’m disappointed that some in Congress are trying to stop our military’s biofuels programs. Sen. Portman, I’m a veteran, and I trust our military leaders. Why don’t you?”

Congress “needs to get beyond short-sightism” that is stunting investment in and handcuffing Defense Department use of biofuels, a senior White House energy official said Wednesday at a conference in Washington, D.C.

Heather Zichal, the White House deputy assistant for energy and climate change, told attendees at an Energy Department conference on biomass that lawmakers have hurt the Defense Department’s efforts to diversify its fuel supply.

“The Defense Department isn’t making these investments in renewable energy and renewable fuels because it sounds good. They’re doing it because it makes sense from an operational and national security perspective,” Zichal said. “Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped some in Congress from putting forward short-sighted legislation that would undermine military’s ability to invest in alternative fuels.”

Zichal likely was referring to amendments to the defense authorization bill by Republican Sens. James Inhofe (Okla.) and John McCain (Ariz.) that got bipartisan approval in May. Inhofe’s measure relieved the DOD from buying biofuels if they cost more than traditional sources, while McCain’s provision barred the department from building biofuel refineries unless authorized by law. Both passed with a 13-12 vote in the Armed Services Committee.

The administration is betting another $62 million that biofuels can power the Navy, but lawmakers call the energy programs wasteful.

The Navy still cannot afford to move portions of its fleet down to its Mayport, Fla., facility, despite the service's continued investment into its shipyards headquartered there.