Republican House spending bill would cut DOE renewables, boost nuclear

[kristopher]

Last edited Fri Apr 27, 2012, 10:41 AM - Edit history (1)

US (Republican) House spending bill would cut DOE renewables, boost nuclear
Washington (Platts)--25Apr2012/448 pm EDT/2048 GMT

The US House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday passed on to the full chamber a Department of Energy spending bill that would cut $345 million from the agency's fiscal 2013 budget, providing it with $26.1 billion, and would shift emphasis from renewable energy and energy efficiency to fossil fuels and nuclear power.

"While the decisions involved were difficult ... I am proud that this committee will be the tip of the spear in helping to restore sustainability to the agency budgets within this bill," said Representative Hal Rogers, the committee chairman and a Kentucky Republican....

http://www.platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/ElectricPower/6224880

[kristopher]

1. House passes the bill largely on party lines

House Passes $31B DOE Spending Bill

By Allison Grande

Law360, New York (July 15, 2011, 7:25 PM ET) -- The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday approved a $30.6 billion spending bill to fund U.S. Department of Energy programs and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water projects in 2012, slashing nearly $6 billion from President Barack Obama's requested budget.

The House voted 219-196 to pass the appropriations bill, H.R. 2354. All but 21 Republicans voted for the bill, while only 10 Democrats approved the measure...

http://www.law360.com/energy/articles/258393/house-passes-31b-doe-spending-bill-

[PamW]

2. I warned you!!!

I warned you what we would be telling the decision makers with regard to renewables!!!

Thank yourself.

PamW

[kristopher]

3. Poor Gregory...

The point of the OP is that nuclear and fossil fuels are the choice of Republican lawmakers serving corporate interests.

[bananas]

4. That's dated July of last year? nt

[kristopher]

6. Ooops.

I was looking for more information and that turned up in the news search. I need to proofread better.

Thanks for the heads up.

[bananas]

5. When I google "DOE Spending Bill" I get "Fusion Wins Big in House Spending Bill"

specifically ITER funding, not the other fusion projects:

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2012/04/fusion-wins-big-in-house-spendin.html?ref=hp

Fusion Wins Big in House Spending Bill
by David Malakoff on 25 April 2012, 6:09 PM

<snip>

To help pay for the fusion increases, the committee made major cuts to DOE's Basic Energy Sciences account, which funds studies in an array of fields, including chemistry, geosciences, and biology. That account would get $1.7 billion, $36.9 million below this year's level and $142.5 million below the Administration's request. The bulk of the savings would come from canceling or delaying construction projects.

The bill also takes a bite out of Biological and Environmental Research programs. The panel approved $542 million, which is $69.8 million below current levels and $83.4 million below the request.

DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy also fares poorly. Spending would drop from the current $275 million to $200 million; the Administration had requested $350 million.

Research into fossil and nuclear energy, meanwhile, would grow. The bill includes $554 million—$207 million above last year's level—for development of coal, natural gas, oil, and other fossil energy technologies. It also includes $765 million for nuclear energy research.

<snip>

[bananas]

7. Slightly off-topic: House passes bill that would call for a single website tracking federal spending

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/26/data-act-passes-house-vote/

House passes bill that would call for a single website tracking federal spending
By Dana Wollman posted Apr 26th 2012 10:34AM

The last time a proposed law captured our attention it was so widely loathed it was never even put to a vote, but today we bring you the kind of no-brainer legislation that seems to have strong support on both sides of the aisle. The US House of Representatives has passed the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA), a bill that calls for the creation of an independent board to log all federal spending on a single, centralized website. What's more, these expenses need to be recorded with identifiers and markup languages that make them more easily searchable. As Computerworld notes, the vote happens to come on the heels of a recent dust-up involving the US General Services Administration spending $823,000 on a conference in Vegas -- precisely the sort of excess this proposed website would be designed to expose. The next step, of course, is for the bill to win Senate approval, though for now it seems the legislation has garnered strong bi-partisan support: in a rare showing, all of the lawmakers who discussed the DATA Act on the House floor argued in favor of it.

Via: Computerworld, The Verge
Source: Library of Congress
More coverage: New York Times