Sen. Murkowski urges Energy Secretary to restore energy innovation funding
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) took issue with proposed cuts to energy innovation programs during a hearing on the Department of Energy’s $31.7 billion budget request for Fiscal Year 2020.
Murkowski expressed her displeasure with the proposed cuts to Energy Secretary Rick Perry at the oversight hearing this week.
“I know many of my colleagues share my disappointment in the request to eliminate ARPA-E, a program that brings the private sector together with our National Laboratories and universities to bridge the valley of death for emerging energy technologies,” Murkowski said. “The budget also proposes to eliminate the Weatherization Assistance Program and the State Energy Program, which help Alaskans address high energy prices – the highest in the nation.”
She said communities throughout Alaska, and the country, are ready to transition to a cleaner energy future.
“But they need our help, and the help of the Department of Energy,” Murkowski said. “We all know that we need to make responsible cuts to the budget, but we don’t want to forget the critical role that innovation plays for us – helping to create jobs, boost economic growth, increase competitiveness, and strengthen our long-term security.”
However, Murkowski also told Perry she appreciates for the president’s inclusion of increased funding to address vulnerabilities in electric infrastructure.
“Ensuring the cybersecurity and resiliency of our nation’s grid is a top priority for many of us on this committee,” Murkowski said. “We’ve devoted significant time to these challenges, including in the area of electromagnetic pulses and geomagnetic disturbances, and it is good to see the Department focused so keenly on them.”
Perry told Murkowski that the DOE recognizes the challenges Alaska faces.
“[It’s] very important for us to recognize that the United States is an Arctic nation,” Perry said. “I want to make sure that the people of Alaska know that, number one, we understand the challenges and the uniqueness of it, but there are a lot of pieces of this puzzle, if you will. The architecture of [the] Arctic is part of the DOE’s mission…An all of the above strategy of which the Arctic is going to play an important role is not lost on us.”
