NRDC urges Congress to investigate why DOE has not spent clean energy R&D budget
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) wants to know why the Department of Energy (DOE) still has not distributed up to $600 million in clean energy research and development funding that has already been approved by Congress.
NRDC Managing Director of Government Affairs Ana Unruh Cohen said the delays are “uncharacteristic and concerning” and would like Congress to investigate.
“The consequences of the funds remaining unspent with no apparent plan for utilization is not only an insult to congressional direction but undermines U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs in developing the next generation of clean energy technologies,” Cohen wrote in a letter to the leadership of the House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees on Energy and Water.
NRDC found that DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) office – which the Trump Administration tried to eliminate twice – has not spent more than 79 percent, or $280 million, of its $353 million FY18 research budget.
Further, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) – which the Trump Administration tried to cut by 70 percent – has only spent $319 million, or 14 percent, of its $2.32 billion FY18 research budget.
“Given previous efforts by the Trump administration to eliminate or significantly cut funding for key research programs and offices, NRDC fears that certain administration officials at DOE may be attempting to achieve this objective by blocking clean energy RD&D funding from ever finding its way to U.S. businesses and entrepreneurs that are eager to put their ingenuity to work to lead the global transformation to a clean energy future,” Cohen said.
The NRDC is a nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members worldwide.
