Steven Anderson, Top Petraeus Aide, Makes Pitch For Energy Legislation (VIDEO)

For the second time this year, a progressive veterans group is making a push for comprehensive energy legislation by tying oil consumption to the Ahmadinejad regime in Iran and insurgent attacks against American troops. This time, however, it has a top-ranked military official endorsing the message: Brigadier General Steven Anderson (Ret.), Chief of Logistics in Iraq under General David Petraeus.

In a spot set to air in four states -- North Dakota, Arkansas, Virginia, and West Virginia. -- VoteVets.org plays off a recent Pentagon Quadrennial Defense Review that cited global climate change as a security threat. The ad features Anderson, reflecting on his time in Iraq and the logistical difficulties posed by the country's oil dependency.

"Our troops are getting killed moving fuel we wouldn't need if our military was more efficient -- and our enemies know we're hooked on their oil," he says. "That's why breaking our addiction must not only be a military priority, but America's mission, and why the Senate needs to pass a clean energy climate plan."

"It's time for our senators to choose: Pass a clean energy climate plan that makes us more secure... or let America keep paying the price," he concludes.

The spot is -- surprisingly -- a bit more upbeat than the previous VoteVets ad, though it underscores its arguments with footage of American convoys being attacked with improvised explosive devices. And, as with the earlier version, it's designed to pitch energy legislation not as some sort of utopian progressive worldview, but (with more machismo) as a military necessity.

Which explains why VoteVets is airing it in states housing some of the moderate Senate Democrats who are already skeptical of energy/climate change legislation, including: Virginia's Jim Webb and Mark Warner, North Dakota's Kent Conrad, Arkansas' Blanche Lincoln and the soon to be seated Carte Goodwin in West Virginia.

Comments

[OliverTwist]

09:02 PM on 07/27/2010

These videos are pro attack Iran videos masquerading as energy policy videos.

These people are killers not progressives.

[Mildmannered]

01:45 AM on 07/21/2010

Even our soldiers dying does not convince Republican congressmen to support energy legislation.

[den1953]

04:36 PM on 07/19/2010

Maybe they are tired of writing those dreaded letters home and sending off the flag draped coffins home! Maybe they are finally figuring out at what cost is oil and foreign nation building worth?

[Andrew Belcourt]

03:59 PM on 07/19/2010

For those people that argue against wind and solar because it might not be sunny or windy that day. We solved this problem with the advent of transmission lines year ago which make up the major arteries of our power grid. This has allowed the industrial world to produce and move energy over great distances. For example the Hoover Dam has been supplying power to the LA Basin for over 50 years now. It doesnt need to be sunny or windy everywhere. It needs to be sunny or windy somewhere. So when its not windy in the plains they can harness some of the solar power from southern California and vice versa. Its not like that wind turbine you see powers the building next to it directly. The energy is absorbed into the matrix of transmission lines and sub stations, then allocated where it is needed.

[firewmn]

02:53 PM on 07/19/2010

I love IT.. GREAT ad..Keep it UP..!.the message is breaking through- slowly- BUT it is starting too

[ReligiousWar]

02:47 PM on 07/19/2010

GREAT ! We need more messages like this. How can we get more education like this to people? TV is still flooded with gas engine car commercials which probably ran right before and after this TV commercial. I do not like the fear factor or the foreign emphasis on oil but there is an audience for that message. It is a simple and clear message. Vote for the clean energy climate plan.

There is so much opportunity in building a clean energy infrastructure and so much incentive to stop using oil you could create 1000 commercials like this one. Positive commercials with puppies and flowers, you know and real solutions. What can we do right now instead of buying more gas?

What is the clean energy climate plan?
How do we prevent this from being destroyed like healthcare?

[kelley33]

02:35 PM on 07/19/2010

Yeah, I trust these retired generals. A bunch. What are they really after?

[Wrongwaywillis]

03:15 PM on 07/19/2010

Kelley:
Generalship is CEO training, usually within the military industrial complex.
Great questio though, follow his future, where he is now ( job?), and connect the dots, it will lead to a corporate interest somewhere.
Fanned.

[LaurenMarie984]

06:40 PM on 07/19/2010

Americans in general have a corporate interest in clean energy. A new industry in which America can produce domestically, employ millions of workers, create thousands of new businesses plus their suppliers....
America's dependence on foreign oil means billions (trillions?) of dollars financing countries that don't even like us, where we've spent trillions on 2 wars - the longest in America's history - and has resulted in thousands of soldier's lives lost.

[JonnyTruant]

03:15 PM on 07/19/2010

I dunno... maybe they want to help America's national security? Every time we fuel up at the pump, we're funding terrorism. It's a fact of life right now and too many ppl just don't care.

[Wrongwaywillis]

02:33 PM on 07/19/2010

The problem with cap and trade ( America power act) is the same as the problem that the health care bill has. Yup, I can hear you, what similarity, they are two different things! True, and false, but let me extrapolate. The problem is that it is the same hourse leading us to different water, did you follow that? In cap and trade the oil companies are also the power companies, most under different names, the reason your electricity will " necessarily" skyrocket is the same reason that health care will eventually cost more, the removal of one large base of income from a company(s) and the transference to dependancy upon another less available product will always result in the cost of now lost income being past on to the consumer in rates/costs need to purchase the other product. In other words the issue shouldn't be get of oil, that's a no brainer. But should rather be get off the pusher of power/ medical services, that monopolize their industries and gouge us at every opportunity.
We can do this in a number of different ways, we can have it legislated, we can vote with our wallets, our feet, or we can independently produce products that increase the efficiency of their products thereby reducing our personal consumption.
They will aways seek to bind us to their ba-ba, our job is to quit our "pusher" addiction.

[RockyMissouri]

02:13 PM on 07/19/2010

Bless these guys--if we can't listen to them and the people of LEAP..we are indeed in sorry shape.. Who better to know about those things than the ones who have direct experience with them---VoteVets.org is a credible organization, and I trust their input..Law EnforcementAgainstProhibition is a group of former judges-law enforcement officers-probation officers who believe that marijuana users have been unfairly targeted and officers spend too much valuable time pursuing low-level offenders---when their time could be better spent on murderers, rapists-child predators-tracking missing children., etc...I did not know such a group existed...why are they not on all of the major networks????

[crablover]

03:44 PM on 07/19/2010

Do you have any idea what it costs to run a 15-second spot on a major network?
If you believe in the cause, get out your checkbook and send Vote Vets a donation.

[VS007]

01:45 PM on 07/19/2010

When I saw the news, I just ignored and skipped it till I saw the ad.

Wow!!!!
What a punch ad. Foeceful, to the point and yup we need to pass a clean energy reform.

Thank you Brigadier General Steven Anderson for your service and educating America!

[aligatorhardt]

01:40 PM on 07/19/2010

We need to face the truth about why "our interests" require these military campaigns. The use of oil as our main energy supply requires ever increasing difficulty in maintaining enough of it. The time is now for an investment in our future energy solutions.

[crablover]

03:46 PM on 07/19/2010

As long as there's oil in the ground, the oil companies will keep on drilling and pumping. They can't can't make money off wind and solar power.

[offred]

01:34 PM on 07/19/2010

I saw this spot and was amazed. Well done, VoteVets and Brigadier General Anderson!

[jimtodd]

01:15 PM on 07/19/2010

While I applaud the general's comments, this round in the fight has already been lost. Cap and trade, particularly as implemented in the Waxman-Markey bill, will probably result in more pollution and will absolutely result in more corruption. It is unnecessarily complex to insure there are sufficient gaming opportunities for those subject to its regulations and to enable the finance industry to capitalize on more derivative trading.
There is a very simple solution that works for all Americans and is socially just, two good reasons it has no hope in our corrupt system. The answer is of course, a straight forward carbon tax with the bulk of the revenue generated rebated directly to the people on a strict per capita basis. This plan has multiple benefits. It is easy to implement, monitor, and control. It is not subject to gaming because there are no complex implementation rules. It is not industry specific so no industries are exempt. Since the rebates go directly to the public, those that choose to use less energy, for example by using mass transit, are rewarded with rebates that exceed their increased expense. This can also be considered compensation for pollution endured as the result of others decisions and practices.
In short, a carbon tax is easy to understand, easy to implement, difficult to cheat on, can be revenue neutral, it is socially just, and best of all cannot be used by politicians to extract tribute from the corpotacracy.

[crablover]

03:48 PM on 07/19/2010

I agree, but you know how much the American people love new taxes. We need to reframe it not as a tax, but as a rebate plan for energy efficiency.

[mono]

12:51 PM on 07/19/2010

Texas oil man T. Boone Pickens bought 600+ wind turbines but later discarded as he felt that he is not going to make money out it.

Wind energy is good source of energy but what happens if the weather doesn't support it. In that case it would become like Eigg, a place in Scotland.

[offred]

01:35 PM on 07/19/2010

No wind in Texas?

[RockyMissouri]

02:27 PM on 07/19/2010

Roger Mobley is a Texan( and former western series actor!) who has a business working on those big, beautiful and fabulous windmills--he and his company do maintenance on them---google him, he has a website and photos of him in his climbing rig- they are BIG, Texas-sized windmills.....also, a list of the movies he was in when he was a little boy...very cool stuff...! T. Boone?...not so much, a dismal failure to me! If none of 'clever' people are smart enough to break away from the oil mentality, I'm not interested. Sure, we will have to tweak everything, conserve...but necessity is the mother of invention and creativity----we used to be that way, and we can again!

[koppenberg]

02:37 PM on 07/19/2010

Wind and solar shouldn't be thought of as primary energy generators because as you note, it's not always windy or sunny. What they should be used for when it IS windy or sunny is capturing that energy into storage, whether it be in batteries, flywheels, hydrogen cracked from water, whatever makes sense at a given site or application.

[Marie Russell-Barker]

12:51 PM on 07/19/2010

I am surprised that some of our Representative and Senators are not convince of Global Change, even if one takes the attitude that nothing remains the same should give a clue to what is going on around them. America needs to start to depend up on clean energy. I realize that for some the old ways are hard to change and new ways even harder to believe in because of not ever having been there, but suppose the Forefathers thought the same way the Constitution would not be what it is today, and we would not have most of the things that is available to us today. Open minded people can see both future and past, learning from the pass and adventure into the future, isn't it time we carried these ideal into the Future Now Is the Time to move ahead, looking back only to learn!

[captnEarl]

02:05 PM on 07/19/2010

now that is excellant, if only the people we are paying could see past their noses and I mean both partys look at the wonderful country we could have...you my friend have said it so well even our not so bright leaders should be able to understand!!!!

fanned /faved

[RockyMissouri]

02:34 PM on 07/19/2010

Fanned...Leave it to us chicks....! Everytime I see one of those windmills- I just think they look divine---if I were a younger person, I would put one on the back of our property...!