WASHINGTON, DC – As the nation prepares for an expected fall debate on climate change legislation, leading national security and veterans organizations have launched Operation FREE (www.OperationFREE.net ).  This community of Veterans and national security experts is committed to combating a serious threat to our nation’s safety due to an over-reliance on fossil fuels and the major security problems caused by climate change. 

Operation FREE functions as a joint effort of the Truman National Security Project, the National Security Initiative, VoteVets.org, and VetPAC and will deploy Veterans across the country to educate on the importance of keeping America safe by creating an Apollo-project-like effort to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. 

 “The solution, to create cheap, domestic, renewable energy, is simple, but requires us to put aside politics and work together,” said former U.S. Army Captain Jon Powers, Chief Operating Officer of the Truman National Security Project and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran. “We feel as Veterans and those who have served abroad, that we have a unique and important perspective on the role climate change is playing in destabilizing the planet.  Our voices must be heard.” 

www.OperationFREE.net makes a comprehensive case for acting now in the interest of American security. For instance:

 ·         Climate Change acts as a ‘Threat Multiplier’ that decreases stability and increases the conflicts that our military will have to be engaged in.  

·         Hostile regimes profit up to $500,000.00 per minute  from oil sales to the US economy  

·         In 2003, a Pentagon study stated that climate change “should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a U.S. national security concern.”

·         Desertification, worsened by climate change, affects 25% of the world’s total surface, and will cause massive refugee and humanitarian crises – that provides breeding grounds for extremist groups.

In the coming months, Operation FREE will be training and deploying hundreds of Veterans, members of Military Families, and national security experts at events to tell their stories and explain why they’re fighting back against energy sources that put us at risk.