Share
Budget Cuts Series: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programs by 72%
In Smart Dissent's Budget Cuts Series, we are examining the White House proposed budget cuts to learn what's hidden beneath the surface and later update based on Congressional budget proposals and actions. This is our first to focus on proposals related to 2019. Since Congress never got their act together for 2018, most of Trump's proposals didn't go into effect fortunately. For 2019, who knows?
The Trump administration is poised to ask Congress for deep budget cuts to the Energy Department’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs, slashing them by 72 percent overall in fiscal 2019....
The Energy Department had asked.... for more modest spending reductions but.... the Office of Management and Budget had insisted on the deeper cuts..... underscores the administration’s continued focus on the exploitation of fossil fuel resources....
This is even more severe than the proposed 2018 cuts that have not been put into effect.
The cuts would also be deeper than those the Trump administration sought for the current fiscal year but was unable to implement because of the budget impasse in Congress.
Spending for the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is set at $2.04 billion for the current fiscal year....For 2019, the administration’s draft proposal would lower that request.... to $575.5 million.
This is aggravating, but can't be surprising knowing that Trump and the simple minds surrounding him are beholden to the oil and gas industry and don't care about climate change in the slightest.
However, please look at the specific programs that would be cut by this loss of funding:
.... the administration will ... ask Congress to 1) abolish the weatherization program, which has trained thousands of workers and helped reduce utility bills for thousands of homeowners.... 2) eliminate state energy grants.... 3) ax research in fuel efficient vehicles by 82 percent, 4) bioenergy technologies by 82 percent, 5) advanced manufacturing by 75 percent and 6) solar energy technology by 78 percent.... 7) chop spending on more efficient building technologies and 8) research into geothermal, hydro and wind power.
Keep in mind that in January, somehow Trump had the power to impose tariffs on solar related imports which will crush that industry. Pure evil to appease corporate overlords.
....the funding requests for next year represent a double whammy for renewable energy after the administration last week imposed tariffs on imported solar panels. The tariff action is likely to decrease the installation volumes of solar energy in coming years, according to industry analysts.