Bearing Witness

The military’s green revolution and the imaginations of unreasonable men

Monday, December 20, 2010

Tom Friedman’s recent column in the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/opinion/19friedman.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage) about how the U.S. Navy is reducing its dependence on foreign oil by flying jets powered by a blend of conventional jet fuel and camelina aviation biofuel made from pressed mustard seeds is a great current example of “the imaginations of unreasonable men”.

When the Pentagon realized it was losing one of its military personnel for every fuel 24 convoys it runs in Afghanistan, what previously seemed impractical if not impossible, suddenly became imaginable. It’s a fascinating column about how a green revolution in our military can help us save energy, money lives, and possible help us win or avoid the next war. And it is another example of kind of thinking I try to convey in my new book (http://www.amazon.com/Imaginations-Unreasonable-Men-Inspiration-Purpose/dp/1586487647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1292267953&sr=8-1)