Walberg said U.S. Military Jets Rely on Coal Fuel from Saudi Arabia

“Do you realize right now our fighter jets are primarily fueled by coal-based fuel, and legally we cannot produce that here in the United States, so they buy that from Saudi Arabia. Right, Bob? – And so here we are, concerned about defending ourselves with a world that’s gone crazy and we can’t even produce our fighter jet fuel with the clean coal technology and liquified coal fuel that we burn in those high-tech jets. I mean that is something that we simply ought to be offended about.” Video (0:30 mark) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-xCfvrfpsM

“We’re the Saudi Arabia of coal. We have clean coal technology. We have fighter jets, the new age of fighter jets run on liquified coal fuel. We can’t produce that coal fuel here because of environmental regulations. We have to buy it from Saudi Arabia. What does that say about our security and defense capability?” Video (3:00 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8C3jCOcFXQ

“We’re the Saudi Arabia of coal, and yet because environmental regulations will not allow us to produce the new age jet fuel which is liquified coal fuel. We can’t produce it here, we gotta buy it from Saudi Arabia and other places. What’s that say about our security and defense capabilities if they decide to cut us off? We can do it environmentally sound, safe, and be independent from the rest of the world.” Video (0:25 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCAOKVTqPCA

“And made us more dependent upon countries that don’t even like us much. And forced us to continue buying our new age jet fighter fuel from overseas because environmentally, the regulations we have, we cannot produce liquified coal fuels that fuel our fighter jets. What does that say for our security purposes? But he [Mark Schauer] voted for it.” Video (0:15 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSDkNRPrfs4

Walberg was wrong on almost all of that. US Military Jets had not even been flight-tested with coal-based fuel by 2010. There are some sources below from the time Walberg said those things, which look into the prospect of using coal fuel in military jets. There was no basis, and it was completely absurd for Walberg to say that we currently had to buy coal fuel for our military jets from Saudi Arabia.

MIT review - March 31, 2006: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/405617/coal-powered-jets/

MIT review - January 25, 2010: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/417217/cleaner-jet-fuel-from-coal/

Popular Science article - January 16, 2009: https://www.popsci.com/node/205308