By James Brock
As an Air Force veteran, I proudly served this nation. I’m pro-Constitution. I’m well-read and know and understand history. I’m also very much in favor of a free and competitive market. And I drive electric for several reasons: to protect national security, to achieve energy security through independence from oil, to create American jobs in EV-related industries and to foster economic prosperity.
The U.S. military spends about $81 billion from taxpayers per year to protect oil infrastructure and transit routes. The need to constantly manage our relationship with OPEC countries, which do not share our values, diverts resources from more critical strategic threats. Our dependence on oil puts countless service members’ lives at risk and reinforces our reliance on a volatile and unstable global market with the potential to devastate the U.S. economy.
The transition to an all-electric transportation system — where power is made locally — bolsters our national security, creates American jobs and stabilizes fuel prices.
Unfortunately, the U.S. auto industry has been losing ground to competitors around the world. The EV transition is a crucial opportunity to ensure secure supply chains for U.S. corporations and the military.
Federal policies, such as the CHIPS Act and EV manufacturing tax incentives, are unleashing a wave of EV supply chain investments in critical minerals production and processing, battery manufacturing, battery recycling and automobile manufacturing. The U.S. is sprinting to catch up with other countries, creating domestic job opportunities that veterans are well-suited to fill.
Florida has significant EV ownership, with over 250,000 EVs on the road and over 9,000 public charging ports, yet we are lacking fast charging in rural areas. The federal government has killed National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding and the monies that were allocated to Florida have been sent back to the Federal Reserve.
Florida can play a key role in advancing electric transportation. For example, the number of electric school buses in Florida is growing, thanks to grant and rebate programs. The Clean School Bus Rebate Program awarded $30.4 million to six Florida school districts to purchase 98 electric buses.
As of December, Florida has 166 electric school buses on the road, with 229 more awarded and 72 on order. Diesel school buses average 6 to 8 miles per gallon, so going electric will result in big fuel savings for local school districts, letting more of our local tax dollars go to education spending.
On a national level, President Donald Trump has joined forces with the big oil lobby in a very strong anti-EV stance. So far, it has been mostly rhetoric. Recently, my congressman, Rep. Cory Mills, cosponsored H.R. 1052, the UNPLUG EVs Act. This bill would rescind funding for EV charging stations appropriated in Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to ensure Americans are not subsidizing “another government-mandated environmental scam.”
Calling EV infrastructure another government-mandated scam only proves politicians are myopic in their views of government subsidies in that they continue to spend billions protecting oil rich countries such as Kuwait and Iraq, provide free access to public lands for oil exploration and directly subsidize pipelines wreaking havoc on our precious and shrinking natural environment.
Joining forces to develop EV infrastructure technologies will benefit both the military and the commercial market. It will also ensure the critical fossil fuels necessary to keep our military running in a crisis will be available without competition from the private sector. That is a win-win scenario.
As the new administration begins its work, I hope advances in EV production and deployment are not seen as a red or blue issue but as a red, white and blue issue that everyone can support.
If you’re a veteran who is interested in a nonpartisan approach to EV policy, please consider adding your name to the Veterans for EVs sign-on letter directed to the new leadership in Washington: Support EV jobs, American manufacturing competitiveness and defend our national security!
So, from the beaches of Volusia County to the beaches of Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, it is time to drive electric.
James Brock retired from the Air Force and lives in DeBary. You can find him driving a 2023 Chevy Bolt EUV.
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New York, Florida, Colorado Emerge as New EV Hotspots: The states with the fastest-growing rates of EV adoption, New York saw an increase of 23,000 EV sales in 2024, followed by Florida (22,400), Colorado (14,600), Michigan (10,700) and Texas (8,400).