Last night, Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), and Peter Welch (D-VT) offered an amendment to Defense Appropriations legislation to improve energy efficiency for U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan.  The Blumenauer-Nadler amendment would specifically require at least $15 million of Army Overseas Contingency Operations funding to be used for shelter insulation at Forward Operating Bases in Afghanistan.  Insulation can reduce energy requirements by up to 92%, which in turn decreases the number of vulnerable fuel convoys needed to support U.S. service members.

“Fuel convoys in Afghanistan have cost America dearly in both blood and treasure,” Blumenauer and Nadler noted.  “Even though the Pentagon spends $24 billion a year to protect fuel convoys in Afghanistan, more than 3,000 troops and civilian contractors have been killed or wounded while in convoy.  What’s more, fully 2/3 of fuel use in Afghanistan goes towards power generation just to provide electricity for air conditioning and heat at installations.  If we can reduce the energy required to heat and cool shelters in the field, then we can reduce the number of vulnerable fuel trucks needed to support operations.”

A similar insulation effort in Iraq has led to almost $1 billion a year in savings and taken more than 11,000 fuel trucks off the road.  This, in turn, has prevented an estimated 458 American casualties, according to Army fuel convoy data.  The amendment provides a common sense way to reduce fuel consumption in a warzone.  With the total cost of fuel exceeding $400/gallon in Afghanistan, and thousands of casualties suffered by fuel convoys, a small investment in energy efficient insulation can go a long way in saving both lives and resources. 
                                          
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