The United States has good reasons, on economic grounds alone, to look to bio­fuels to offset its dependence on fossil-based oils for transportation fuels. In addition, there is energy security to consider, as well as the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

With respect to energy security, it is estimated that 10% of all US military casualties come from the delivery of fuel. Even if it were true that none of the deployments of US troops had anything to do with the protection of Middle Eastern oil fields and the sea lanes that connect the West to them — even if it were untrue that the cost of fuel in forward military areas reaches $418 per gallon — the cost of delivering military fossil fuels is far too high in terms of human life.

The casualties are a direct outcome of the distance between oil fields and for­ward military areas. Biofuels have the potential to shorten supply lines, reduce costs, and save lives, not to mention the reduction in the strategic value of certain bloody corridors the West feels obligated to defend, clear, or secure.

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