With President Obama delaying the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would facilitate access to the estimated 1.7 trillion barrels of oil in North America, the United States Navy is reportedly slated to spend $12 million at a rate of $15 per gallon on a biofuel-gasoline blend — a purchase justified by the proposition that dependence on oil is a national security threat.

“We are doing this for one simple reason: It makes us better fighters,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said, according to a National Journal report last week. “Our use of fossil fuels is a very real threat to our national security and to the U.S. Navy ability to protect America and project power overseas.”