Image Credit: Billy Wilson
ASP Consensus Member Lt. Colonel Hal Bidlack On Importance of Clear Air Standards
ASP Consensus for American Security Member Lt. Colonel Hal Bidlack, USAF (Ret) spoke in Colorado Springs, Colorado on the importance of clean air standards for public health and national security. He joined a number of local community leaders who argued that easing standards on car and transportation pollution could eventually lead to lost jobs and a decline in public health.
Lt. Colonel Bidlack noted that, “This is an example of one of the areas that, may not seem terribly important, but when you combine this with all the other factors that are going into environmental issues, especially air pollution, it’s one more thing we can do.”
ASP has written extensively on the importance of combating carbon emissions for U.S. national security. In particular, the failure to address the effects of climate change is a direct threat to our national security. Already, warming temperatures have led to an increase in occurrence and intensity of extreme droughts and flood, a rise in global sea levels, and the melting of the Arctic. While these may seem like environmental concerns, they directly impact the stability and security of our nation. At home, military bases suffer from increasing floods undermining their operations. Extreme weather threatens military preparedness as training days are cut short or canceled all together.
Further, setting programs like CAFE standards represents an opportunity to secure our national security by reducing our reliance on oil, to create jobs, unleash investment in the U.S. automotive sector, spark innovation, and save consumers money at the gas pump.
Media Coverage:
KOAA News 5. Community leaders encouraging lawmakers to oppose propose rollbacks in clean air standards.
(Op-Ed) Colorado Politics. Rollback of fuel-efficiency standards will leave Colorado breathless
