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What's at Stake as Trump Takes Aim at Clean Energy Research
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603488/whats-at-stake-as-trump-takes-aim-at-clean-energy-research/[font face=Serif][font size=5]What’s at Stake as Trump Takes Aim at Clean Energy Research[/font]
[font size=4]Defunding programs like ARPA-E and the Office of Energy Efficiency would stall clean energy advances and cost jobs.[/font]
by James Temple January 31, 2017
[font size=3]Clean energy researchers are bracing for federal funding cuts that could stunt the development of sustainable technologies, amid reports the Trump administration intends to shut down or slash resources for a long list of Department of Energy programs.
At this stage, few can say with confidence which renewable energy initiatives and what level of cutbacks the Trump team will target, possibly even within the administration itself. But any significant reductions could have wide-reaching effects on energy and climate research, ultimately stalling job creation and greenhouse gas reductions.
Staffers and scientists in DOE labs were particularly alarmed earlier this month by an article in The Hill reporting that the Trump administration wants to radically downsize the department. That and subsequent stories said the team was drawing guidance from a 2016 Heritage Foundation report that, among many other cutbacks, called for the outright elimination of the moonshot Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy program (ARPA-E), the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and the Office of Fossil Energy, which is focused on carbon capture and storage research efforts, including "clean coal."
Government sources, energy researchers, and policy experts, some of whom spoke on background, say the story didn’t describe a finalized proposal so much as a bombastic opening ante in what’s sure to be a contentious fiscal 2018 budget debate. But there's a general consensus that the White House and Congressional Republicans will push for sizable cuts to the renewable energy and environmental research efforts that steadily grew under President Obama. It's just a question of where, how deep, and what will ultimately pass.
…[/font][/font]
[font size=4]Defunding programs like ARPA-E and the Office of Energy Efficiency would stall clean energy advances and cost jobs.[/font]
by James Temple January 31, 2017
[font size=3]Clean energy researchers are bracing for federal funding cuts that could stunt the development of sustainable technologies, amid reports the Trump administration intends to shut down or slash resources for a long list of Department of Energy programs.
At this stage, few can say with confidence which renewable energy initiatives and what level of cutbacks the Trump team will target, possibly even within the administration itself. But any significant reductions could have wide-reaching effects on energy and climate research, ultimately stalling job creation and greenhouse gas reductions.
Staffers and scientists in DOE labs were particularly alarmed earlier this month by an article in The Hill reporting that the Trump administration wants to radically downsize the department. That and subsequent stories said the team was drawing guidance from a 2016 Heritage Foundation report that, among many other cutbacks, called for the outright elimination of the moonshot Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy program (ARPA-E), the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), and the Office of Fossil Energy, which is focused on carbon capture and storage research efforts, including "clean coal."
Government sources, energy researchers, and policy experts, some of whom spoke on background, say the story didn’t describe a finalized proposal so much as a bombastic opening ante in what’s sure to be a contentious fiscal 2018 budget debate. But there's a general consensus that the White House and Congressional Republicans will push for sizable cuts to the renewable energy and environmental research efforts that steadily grew under President Obama. It's just a question of where, how deep, and what will ultimately pass.
…[/font][/font]