Before adjourning to watch yule logs and eat holiday hams, Congress actually managed to pass a 2012 budget bill. ITIF's Matthew Stepp provided us with an early analysis of the bill's impact on energy innovation funding. Funding for key Department of Energy (DOE) innovation offices are up by a modest 2.5 percent relative to the 2011 budget, with impacts on specific programs summarized in the table below...

Today, nuclear energy blogger Dan Yurman dives into one of those key offices, with a detailed breakdown of the 2012 budget's funding for DOE's nuclear energy program at ANS Nuclear Cafe.

The Fiscal Year 2012 budget dedicates $768 million to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, a nearly 6 percent increase from FY2011 levels. As with overall funding for DOE innovation offices, the 2012 budget thus halts and begins to reverse the declines in federal energy innovation funding initiated in the 2011 budget, which saw nuclear energy funding fall 15 percent (or $132 million) from 2010 budget appropriations.

Continue reading "2012 Budget Increases Nuclear Energy Research Funding" »

By Matthew Stepp, Clean Energy Policy Analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and 2010 Breakthrough Generation Fellow." Originally published at the ITIF Blog.

The FY2012 Omnibus Appropriations bill, passed through the House and Senate conference committee last week, provides a small 2.5 percent increase in DOE energy innovation investment-related Offices and programs compared to FY2011. The budget includes key investments for new Energy Innovation Hubs, next-generation small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) RD&D and licensing programs, as well as a boost in funding for ARPA-E. Compared to the roughly $800 million cut to energy innovation investments in FY2011 and the additional cuts sought in the House version of the appropriations bill, the FY2012 budget provides renewed, albeit modest, government support for developing affordable and viable clean energy technologies.

To be clear, the 2012 federal budget still falls short of FY2010's peak in energy innovation investments made through the Stimulus and represents only 72 percent of what the President requested for next year. It's vital that more work is done to increase public investments in clean energy innovation, as the government must play an energetic role in supporting the development of next-generation technologies. However, the FY2012 budget does take steps to stabilize, and in some cases boost, high-impact clean energy investments (Figure 1, below). Below are a few of the highlights:

Continue reading "2012 Federal Budget Halts Further Cuts to Energy Innovation" »

Twenty-three years ago, Ronald Reagan addressed the nation to defend federal investments in research and development, even amidst dire budgetary constraints, prefacing the innovation hawks of today. The following is excerpted from Reagan's 1988 national address:

Federal funding for science is in jeopardy because of budget constraints. That's why it's my duty as President to draw its importance to your attention and that of Congress.

...The remarkable thing is that although basic research does not begin with a particular practical goal, when you look at the results over the years, it ends up being one of the most practical things government does... Major industries, including television, communications, and computer industries, couldn't be where they are today without developments that began with this basic research.

...one thing is certain: If we don't explore, others will, and we'll fall behind. This is why I've urged Congress to devote more money to research. After taking out inflation, today's government research expenditures are 58 percent greater than the expenditures of a decade ago. It is an indispensable investment in America's future.

...Some say that we can't afford it, that we're too strapped for cash. Well, leadership means making hard choices, even in an election year. We've put our research budget under a microscope and looked for quality and cost effectiveness. We've put together the best program for the taxpayers' dollars. After all, the American tradition of hope is one we can't afford to forget.

It's not often that we agree with Ronal Reagan's policy prescriptions. But even Reagan recognized the difference between productive government investment and government spending, and called for increased investments in science and innovation even at a time of tight fiscal concerns. Reagan's speech stands in stark contrast to the ideology of modern-day Congressional Republicans, who continue to push cuts to critical federal investments in energy innovation, wholly disregarding the critical role that federal investments in innovation have played in driving the nation's economic growth.

Updated 6/23/2011

Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its FY12 Energy and Water and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, legislation that if passed would set FY12 funding levels for the Department of Energy and various other federal agencies. While the exact language of the bill has yet to be released, its high level summary suggests that the legislation would fund the DOE at $850 million below last year's levels and $5.9 billion below President Obama's FY12 request.

Within the DOE, the bill would:

• fund the Office of Science at $4.8 billion, cutting $43 million from its FY11 enacted budget, $616 million below the President's FY12 request.

• cut $491 million from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)'s FY11 levels, funding the office at $1.3 billion, $1.9 billion below President Obama's FY12 budget request.

• fund the Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy at $100 million, a cut of $100 million from the agency's FY11 enacted levels, and $450 million below Obama's FY12 request for the agency.

Updated 6/23/2011

One week ago, the House Appropriations Committee approved this fiscal year 2012 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which will be put up for full House consideration after Independence Day. The text of the bill largely matches the funding cuts outlined above; stripping $400 billion from DOE's EERE 2011 funding level, and about $80 billion from ARPA-E's FY2011 funding level.

Stay tuned for continued coverage of the budget battle and implications for federal energy innovation investments.

See Also: Budget Battle, FY2011