Free Republic

The U.S. military is in decline and now faces a peer competitor, China, that vastly outmatches the United States in terms of military–industrial capacity. And in research, China has a “stunning lead” over the United States in 37 out of 44 critical and emerging technologies, many of which are directly defense related. Yet our military is spending an increasing percentage of its time, money, and mindshare on so-called green initiatives. One of the latest of these initiatives is the Army’s plan to run a series of field tests on a multi-ton, wheeled battery pack as part of its efforts to...

The U.S. military's newspaper, Stars & Stripes, recently reported that the Pentagon is buying Chevy Volts in a 1,500 electric-vehicle purchase, as part of the Defense Department's "green initiatives," which seek to reduce the country's dependence on foreign energy sources. A recent Congressional Budget Office study challenged the assumption that electric vehicles have any impact on such dependence, prompting the question of why the government is spending money this way. Against the backdrop of the attack on our embassy in Benghazi, and looming embassy security cuts due to sequestration, it appears politics and ideology are trumping common sense.A little poking...

Owners’ effort to go green suffers blackout HINGHAM — Greenhouse gases and melting polar ice caps were never pressing concerns for Hingham carpenter Ben Burnham. Still, Burnham found himself buying an electric-powered ZAP Xebra last month to do his small part for the environment. The three-wheeled vehicle has become a neighborhood oddity, a futuristic looking pickup truck with no tailpipe and a row of batteries instead of a gas tank. Drivers point cell phone cameras at Burnham as he zips nonchalantly past $4.19-a-gallon gas pumps, albeit at a top speed of 40 mph. But the state has put the...