Retired Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn will discuss America’s energy use as a national security risk with University students today.McGinn said the U.S.’s dependence on fossil fuels is a threat to national security, and it poses a problem in the national economy, politics and military.”The United States cannot continue to have a ‘business as usual’ approach and hope the problem will somehow go away,” McGinn said.The U.S. reliance on fossil fuels gives power to those who wish to do the country harm, McGinn said. The changing climate also can influence severe weather and affect societies and military operations.McGinn is a member of the Center for Naval Analyses’ Military Advisory Board. The board released a report entitled “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change” in 2007.McGinn also cites evidence from a more recent MAB report entitled “Powering America’s Defense: Energy and the Risks to National Security.””We are looking to increase our energy portfolio,” McGinn said. “There isn’t a silver bullet solution.”McGinn doesn’t believe the U.S. should switch to a single clean energy source. He said the solution lies in using a combination of clean energy sources in various degrees depending on the environment.”One size doesn’t fit all. Solar solutions may work well out west but won’t work in, say, New England,” McGinn said.McGinn said the changes should be made soon, because it will continue to become more expensive as time passes.He also said individual citizens should try to move toward clean energy themselves.The CNA MAB is composed of retired generals and admirals from various branches of the military. Their reports were among the first to report problems between the U.S.’s energy needs and national security.The Department of Defense’s Quadrennial Defense Review has addressed climate change for the first time this year as a result.McGinn’s visit to the University is part of a two-state tour and will also include a visit to New Orleans. He is also meeting with political, military and academic leaders.The discussion will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. in the Dalton J. Woods auditorium in the Energy, Coast and Environment Building on Nicholson Extension.
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