ABOARD THE USS NIMITZ -- Fighter jets screamed off the deck of this aircraft carrier yesterday, zooming from zero to 160 mph in 3 seconds on fuel made from a mix of cooking grease, algae oil and traditional petroleum.

The event, which took place in the Pacific Ocean 100 miles off Hawaii, featured a carrier strike group with its three warships and 71 aircraft running on a 50-50 blend of biofuels during the world's largest naval exercises. It marked the first sailing of the U.S. Navy's "Great Green Fleet," but it was likely not the triumphant moment that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus had in mind when he laid the path to this day two and a half years ago.

At a time when the Defense Department faces nearly half a trillion dollars in budget cuts over the next decade, lawmakers from both parties are questioning the wisdom of buying alternative fuels that today cost roughly seven times as much as those made from petroleum. A study commissioned by the Pentagon last year found that the Navy could end up spending as much as $1.8 billion to meet its biofuels goals.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus speaks to press and the crew of the USS Nimitz during the sailing of the Navy's "Green Fleet." The mood aboard the carrier was celebratory, although some in Congress are attempting to block the service's biofuels program. Photo by Annie Snider.

But Mabus, who has made energy reform one of his signature issues at the Pentagon, struck a lofty note yesterday.

"This is a great day for the U.S. Navy, but it's a great day for America, too," he told sailors and reporters aboard the Nimitz. "It shows that we can make big strides toward energy security; it shows that we can make big strides toward energy independence; it shows that we can reduce the vulnerability that we currently have because of our dependence on foreign sources of oil."

Though the event was technically a research demonstration, the Navy will be collecting feedback and data from every sailor whose equipment ran on biofuels. But Mabus said the early results showed no issues.

"Those aircraft are flying the way they always do. The ships steamed the way they always do. There was no difference with the fuel," he said.

Hill opposition

The first sailing of the Green Fleet yesterday could also be its last, if some in Congress have their way.

The House passed a provision in its defense authorization bill in May that would prevent the military from purchasing alternative fuels that cost more than conventional petroleum. Similar language made its way into the Senate's version of the bill during the Senate Armed Services Committee markup later that month, along with an amendment to block the Navy from investing in biofuel refineries.

"The Obama administration's aggressive push is too much too fast and it must be reined in," Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) wrote in an op-ed piece in The Hill on Tuesday. "It's far more important to have a modern force of aircraft, ground vehicles and ships than an anemic one because funds are being directed to experimental technologies; our priority should be to have a strong, formidable fleet rather than a not-so-great Green Fleet."

But Mabus stressed yesterday that his effort also has strong support on Capitol Hill, specifically pointing to that of Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Collins, who is on record in favor of the Navy's biofuels effort, had stepped out of the room to take an urgent phone call during the May committee vote that narrowly approved the provision. Her vote in opposition would have kept it out of the bill.

In a separate op-ed Collins wrote earlier this week with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the two New Englanders called the provision "a setback for achieving energy independence, strengthening long-term national security and protecting service members in harm's way." The pair promised an effort to "correct that short-sighted mistake when the bill reaches the Senate floor."

The guided missile cruiser USS Princeton receives biofuel from the USNS Henry J. Kaiser oiler during naval exercises off the coast of Hawaii. The exercises marked the Navy's first operational use of advanced biofuels. Photo by mass communication Spc. Ryan Mayes, courtesy of U.S. Navy.

Mabus said yesterday that, whether it is enshrined in law or not, the Navy will not budge on its pledge to only purchase operational quantities of fuel when they become cost-competitive with petroleum. The military's purchases so far have all been considered research and development, and thus have not been held to the same price requirement.

Meanwhile, the Navy's top energy officer admitted frustration with the language as it is currently written. It not only could restrict the military's ability to purchase biofuels, said Vice Adm. Philip Cullom, but also could block the Defense Department from using nuclear power and other high-performance fuels.

"All I'm trying to do is do my job," said Cullom, who was on Capitol Hill last week to lay out the Navy's concerns with the provision in a closed-door session with congressional staff. "We are trying to do our job to be able to do our mission, to be able to have fuels that will operate in the future. I'm trying to keep a 20- and a 30- and a 40-year vision for the young men and women out there [who], when we send them into harm's way, need to be able to have the fuel to do their job."

View from the flight deck

Even during yesterday's military maneuvers, the Beltway battles loomed large.

"I'm stoked," Advanced Biofuels Association President Michael McAdams declared after watching a fighter jet perform a "touch and go," during which the aircraft lands on the carrier's thousand-foot-long deck and takes off again in a single swift motion.

"I would really like the Congress to come out and watch this," McAdams added.

But sailors who participated weren't talking about Congress.

Lt. Cmdr. Jason Fox, who flew a radar-equipped aircraft over yesterday's exercises, said he was thrilled to be one of the first pilots to use the biofuels operationally.

"I've been flying for the Navy for 13 years, and I've never been involved with something this historic," Fox said. "I'm hoping that someday I'm going to look back, and this will be the point where we turned from fossil fuels and into renewable energy."

Fox's squadron had T-shirts made to commemorate the event. Written above and below the insignias of the units participating in the exercise was the slogan, "Keeping the Earth green ... one bag of biofuel at a time."