I’ve spent a few days ranting and raving about the war on women and local political candidates, but I promised a look at the budget presented to congress by President Obama. I promised a summary, with opinion, of each section. The President may be proposing another budget before we get this project done at the rate we are going!
By the way, we are not taking this in the order that it was presented. I can’t help myself, some things interest me more than others, so today we are looking at Department of Energy, which runs from page 105 to 109.
For controversial starters, this is one section of the budget that is proposed at a higher level than was the 2012 budget, up 3.2% to $27.2 billion. “In light of the tight discretionary spending caps, this increase in funding is significant and a testament to the importance of innovation and clean energy to the country’s economic future.” The argument is that if we don’t invest in the energy of the future, we won’t have much of a future. The oil and gas industry will be howling about the focus of this budget because it eliminates $4-billion in “inefficient and outdated” fossil fuel subsidies, but provides subsidies for clean energy and “advanced manufacturing.”
Now let’s get into the weeds…
Obama’s narrative begins with a mission statement for the Department of Energy: “The Department of Energy (DOE) is charged with advancing the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; promoting scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; maintaining the Nation’s nuclear weapons and reducing nuclear dangers; and ensuring the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.”
$2.3-billion is directed to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). “Within EERE, the Budget increases funding by nearly 80 percent for energy efficiency activities to improve the energy productivity and competitiveness of our industries and businesses. “
$310 million is directed to the SunShot Initiative, with a goal of making solar energy cost-competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade.
$95 million for wind energy, including off-shore wind technologies.
$65 million for geothermal energy and enhanced geothermal systems.
$350 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, a program that funding “transformative” energy research.
“Fossil energy” still gets $421 million, which includes $12 million to improve technologies in developing natural gas. “Specifically, DOE, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey, will focus on understanding and reducing the environmental, health, and safety risks of natural gas and oil production from hydraulic fracturing in shale and other geologic formations.”
$290 million for R&D on innovative manufacturing processes and “advanced industrial materials.” “The Budget also continues to support the development of competitive new manufacturing processes for advanced vehicles, biofuels, solar energy, and other new clean energy technology, to help ensure that the technologies invented here are manufactured here.”
$5-billion to the Office of Science for long range R & D to keep America competitive. This funding supports research to understand the molecular structure of materials and the processes of chemical reactions.
The budget document then goes into how it will cut some spending to pay for the new spending. It did my heart good to read, “As we continue to pursue clean energy technologies that will support future economic growth, we should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world. That is why the Budget eliminates inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to address the threat of climate change.”
And for the consumer: “The Administration continues to call on the Congress to pass the HomeStar bill, or other mandatory funding legislation aimed at creating jobs by encouraging Americans to invest in energy saving home improvements.”
For the small business, “Through the Federal Energy Management Program, DOE will help other Federal agencies improve the energy efficiency of all Federal buildings (representing over 3 billion square feet) with agencies’ total investment to exceed $2 billion through performance-based contracts over the next two years, all at no net cost to the taxpayer. This is achieved through contracts that provide enough savings in energy to more than pay for the investments.”
For national security:
“The Administration proposes $7.6 billion for Weapons Activities, an increase of $363 million or 5 percent above the 2012 enacted level, to maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent as described in the Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of 2010.”
“$1.1 billion, a $9 million increase above the 2012 enacted level, to support work on naval reactors, including continued operational support of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, and reactor development for a replacement to the OHIO class ballistic missile submarine.”
“The Budget includes $5.65 billion to ensure our Nation’s legacy of nuclear wastes from the production of weapons during the Cold War are processed, secured, and safely disposed of in a timely manner. …The program’s cleanup actions include removing radioactive wastes from underground storage tanks, decontaminating and decommissioning old production facilities, and installing groundwater monitoring wells primarily at sites in Washington, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and New Mexico.”
“The Budget includes $2.5 billion, a $163 million or 7 percent increase above the 2012 enacted level, which reflects completion of accelerated efforts to secure vulnerable nuclear materials within four years,”
Anyone actually reading this section of the budget will have no doubt that this president is looking toward a future that is cleaner and safer for all Americans. I’d like to see less money going into nuclear weapons, but understand that it is necessary as a deterrent. I’m hoping that the focus on small reactors might result in a small reactor design that would eliminate the kinds of threats posed by large reactor melt-downs. I applaud the president for taking on the oil and gas industry’s fossil fuel tax loopholes, but worry a bit about continued investment in fracking—although there has been industry interest in developing and promoting green frack fluids.
By the way, we are not taking this in the order that it was presented. I can’t help myself, some things interest me more than others, so today we are looking at Department of Energy, which runs from page 105 to 109.
For controversial starters, this is one section of the budget that is proposed at a higher level than was the 2012 budget, up 3.2% to $27.2 billion. “In light of the tight discretionary spending caps, this increase in funding is significant and a testament to the importance of innovation and clean energy to the country’s economic future.” The argument is that if we don’t invest in the energy of the future, we won’t have much of a future. The oil and gas industry will be howling about the focus of this budget because it eliminates $4-billion in “inefficient and outdated” fossil fuel subsidies, but provides subsidies for clean energy and “advanced manufacturing.”
Now let’s get into the weeds…
Obama’s narrative begins with a mission statement for the Department of Energy: “The Department of Energy (DOE) is charged with advancing the national, economic, and energy security of the United States; promoting scientific and technological innovation in support of that mission; maintaining the Nation’s nuclear weapons and reducing nuclear dangers; and ensuring the environmental cleanup of the national nuclear weapons complex.”
$2.3-billion is directed to the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). “Within EERE, the Budget increases funding by nearly 80 percent for energy efficiency activities to improve the energy productivity and competitiveness of our industries and businesses. “
$310 million is directed to the SunShot Initiative, with a goal of making solar energy cost-competitive without subsidies by the end of the decade.
$95 million for wind energy, including off-shore wind technologies.
$65 million for geothermal energy and enhanced geothermal systems.
$350 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, a program that funding “transformative” energy research.
“Fossil energy” still gets $421 million, which includes $12 million to improve technologies in developing natural gas. “Specifically, DOE, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey, will focus on understanding and reducing the environmental, health, and safety risks of natural gas and oil production from hydraulic fracturing in shale and other geologic formations.”
$290 million for R&D on innovative manufacturing processes and “advanced industrial materials.” “The Budget also continues to support the development of competitive new manufacturing processes for advanced vehicles, biofuels, solar energy, and other new clean energy technology, to help ensure that the technologies invented here are manufactured here.”
$5-billion to the Office of Science for long range R & D to keep America competitive. This funding supports research to understand the molecular structure of materials and the processes of chemical reactions.
The budget document then goes into how it will cut some spending to pay for the new spending. It did my heart good to read, “As we continue to pursue clean energy technologies that will support future economic growth, we should not devote scarce resources to subsidizing the use of fossil fuels produced by some of the largest, most profitable companies in the world. That is why the Budget eliminates inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that impede investment in clean energy sources and undermine efforts to address the threat of climate change.”
And for the consumer: “The Administration continues to call on the Congress to pass the HomeStar bill, or other mandatory funding legislation aimed at creating jobs by encouraging Americans to invest in energy saving home improvements.”
For the small business, “Through the Federal Energy Management Program, DOE will help other Federal agencies improve the energy efficiency of all Federal buildings (representing over 3 billion square feet) with agencies’ total investment to exceed $2 billion through performance-based contracts over the next two years, all at no net cost to the taxpayer. This is achieved through contracts that provide enough savings in energy to more than pay for the investments.”
For national security:
“The Administration proposes $7.6 billion for Weapons Activities, an increase of $363 million or 5 percent above the 2012 enacted level, to maintain a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent as described in the Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of 2010.”
“$1.1 billion, a $9 million increase above the 2012 enacted level, to support work on naval reactors, including continued operational support of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers, and reactor development for a replacement to the OHIO class ballistic missile submarine.”
“The Budget includes $5.65 billion to ensure our Nation’s legacy of nuclear wastes from the production of weapons during the Cold War are processed, secured, and safely disposed of in a timely manner. …The program’s cleanup actions include removing radioactive wastes from underground storage tanks, decontaminating and decommissioning old production facilities, and installing groundwater monitoring wells primarily at sites in Washington, South Carolina, Idaho, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and New Mexico.”
“The Budget includes $2.5 billion, a $163 million or 7 percent increase above the 2012 enacted level, which reflects completion of accelerated efforts to secure vulnerable nuclear materials within four years,”
Anyone actually reading this section of the budget will have no doubt that this president is looking toward a future that is cleaner and safer for all Americans. I’d like to see less money going into nuclear weapons, but understand that it is necessary as a deterrent. I’m hoping that the focus on small reactors might result in a small reactor design that would eliminate the kinds of threats posed by large reactor melt-downs. I applaud the president for taking on the oil and gas industry’s fossil fuel tax loopholes, but worry a bit about continued investment in fracking—although there has been industry interest in developing and promoting green frack fluids.
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