If you’d like to discuss energy issues, contact Court Rich, Co-Chair of Rose Law Group’s Renewable Energy Department at crich@roselawgroup.com
Democrats are digging in against cuts to clean energy research as lawmakers again face a deadline to replace billions of dollars in spending reductions from sequestration.
The stakes are high for the Energy Department (DOE), which would see its budget slashed 8.2 percent if sequestration were allowed to take effect.
Democrats are vowing to protect funding for clean energy research in a sequestration deal, arguing the spending is critical for the environment and the country’s economic future. Democrats are also vowing to protect programs in DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
“The air we breathe, the water we drink, the energy we generate, and the environment in which we live should not be compromised by funding cuts now, or ever,” Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) told The Hill in a statement. “There is bloated government spending that must be cut, but this is not the place for it, not when the sustainability of our people and our planet is at stake.”
But Republicans say many of the clean energy programs —particularly the loans and grants that are designed to bring technology to market faster — are wasteful meddling in the marketplace that should be scrapped.
Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), a second-term lawmaker who opposes energy credits, said he believes Congress “can get rid of a big swath” of energy subsidies.
