2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames

This statement by Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) responds to a Wall Street Journal op-ed by RADM Robert G. James, defending the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) pursuit of energy efficiency and renewable energy as a matter of national security and combat effectiveness.

• The U.S. military's transition toward energy efficiency and renewables is driven by internal requirements for force protection and combat effectiveness rather than political trends. Reducing reliance on oil logistics is critical because fuel convoys are primary targets; over 1,000 U.S. Servicemembers died in convoy attacks over the previous decade, often transporting fuel that was largely wasted.
• The U.S. Department of Defense is likely the largest global purchaser of both oil and renewable energy. The military is exploring third- and fourth-generation biofuels to achieve more stable long-term pricing than oil, and the Marines' XFOB (Experimental Forward Operating Base) at Twentynine Palms has pioneered fifth-generation expeditionary energy systems that are more tactically advantageous and less conspicuous than fuel convoys.
• Lovins clarifies that his research and publications, including 'Soft Energy Paths' and 'Winning the Oil Endgame', advocate for biofuels derived from farm, forest, and urban wastes rather than food crops. He asserts that displacing U.S. oil use by 2025 does not need to interfere with food or fiber production or harm soil fertility.
• The RMI study 'Reinventing Fire' proposes a path for the U.S. to eliminate oil and coal use by 2050, estimating a present-valued cost $5 trillion lower than business-as-usual. A key component of this strategy involves electrified, lightweight carbon-fiber vehicles with efficiencies between 125 and 260 mpg-equivalent, a technology Lovins notes is already being pursued for volume production by BMW, Audi, and VW.

APA

RMI (n.d.). 2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames.pdf

Chicago

RMI. 2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames. n.d. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmind201110responsetorobertjames, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{2011-10\_ResponseToRobertJames}}, publisher = {RMI}, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_2011-10_ResponseToRobertJames.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }