All Republicans But One In Appropriations Vote Against More Funds For "Innovation" And "Technology"
In recent months, several Republicans have rallied around a single idea when describing their plans to address climate change: innovation. They argue that investing in new technology -- including in the next generation of nuclear reactors and nascent ways of sucking carbon dioxide directly out of the air -- is the best way to address climate change.
But in a vote this week, all but one Republican rejected a spending bill that included increases in funding for government programs researching just this sort of alternative energy innovations.
The measure, approved in a 31-21 vote in the Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee almost entirely along party lines, illustrates how Republicans are still prioritizing getting funding for other Energy Department initiatives over bipartisan provisions on climate change. So much so that they are willing to vote against a bill that would toward showing they are serious about their calls for innovation as House Democrats raise climate change to the forefront this Congress.
No Republican lawmaker objected to the proposed increases in clean-energy research as the committee reviewed the bill on Wednesday. And some, such as Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), did press for more funding for new types of nuclear reactors, a low-carbon form of energy heavily researched in Simpson's own state at the Idaho National Laboratory. But they did object to what they saw as insufficient funding for a number of other programs in the package, such as those for the storage of nuclear waste, for the maintenance of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal and for the construction of water storage projects out West.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2019/05/23/the-energy-202-republicans-vote-against-bill-containing-their-key-climate-priority-researching-energy-innovation/5ce5cac3a7a0a46b92a3fd94/?utm_term=.6f381428a656
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