Riding The Bus For American Energy Security
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March 3, 2010
YANKTON, S. D. - United States military veterans are crisscrossing the country in purple buses, with a different kind of patriotic message. They say developing renewable energy sources here at home will be one of the best ways to provide for America's national security.
Eric Gage of Sioux Falls is part of the Operation Free bus tour. A nine-year veteran of the South Dakota Air National Guard, including six years on active duty, he is now a student at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. He explains he and his fellow riders are not backing any particular plan or policy.
"We're not policy experts, we're not environmentalists, we're not scientists. We know there needs to be a comprehensive plan to make this work, to get everybody on the same page, and to make this happen and happen fast. How that happens? We'll leave that up to the experts."
Gage says they believe Americans will have to make some tough choices.
"Do you want to see your friend, your neighbor, your son, your daughter, bleeding in the desert, or do you want to see a wind mill in your backyard, you know? It really comes down to putting our energy future in our own hands."
Another veteran on the bus tour, Patrick Bellon of Texas, says the country's energy dilemma can be put into perspective, using the $10 billion jobs bill Congress is now debating as an example.
"You know, you have all this talk about a jobs bill. Well, we spend about that same amount of money in ten days, give or take, in foreign countries – creating jobs in those countries."
The tour, which started in Washington D.C., has already been through a number of states. In South Dakota, it will stop in Aberdeen, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Vermillion, heading eventually to Cincinnati, Ohio.