On October 12th, the US Navy and the CA Energy Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalizing a partnership that supports Navy and Marine Corps development of alternative energy sources and sustainable energy projects. The MOU ensures “continued collaboration and information sharing” on energy projects, with a focus on renewable energy and alternative energy sources.
Following the MOU signing, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment Dennis V. McGinn announced that the Navy and Marine Corps will lease 205 electric vehicles for use at California installations, the largest fleet of electric vehicles used by a federal agency. The Navy has also signed agreements to develop solar energy and solar energy with battery storage projects at three Naval installations in California.
California is home to more Navy and Marine Corps installations than any other state, and hosts the largest US Navy Installation, NAWS China Lake, as well as Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, the West Coast base of the US Marine Corps.
Even as climate change efforts continually get voted down in Congress, the US Military has quietly been at the forefront of changing how the federal government uses energy. The Department of Defense has set the goal of meeting twenty percent of its energy needs with renewable energy by the year 2020. The US Navy has a more ambitious goal of deriving half of its consumption from renewable sources by 2020.