Among the majority of western nations fulfilling their civic duty in concern with anthropogenic climate change, the Trump administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) has held back nearly $1 billion in funds that were set aside for Clean Energy Research and Development Program.
This was reported at a congressional Democrats hearing on Wednesday. Bill Foster a Democratic Representative of Illinois, said $823 million in funding that was appropriated by Congress was not spent by the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Foster who is chairman of the panel’s Investigations and Oversight subcommittee, goes on to say:
When Congress passes a budget, we expect that budget to be followed. It’s unclear to many of us there has been a completely good-faith effort.
Those funds were to provide grants and go towards research to boost renewable energy, electric vehicles, and energy efficiency. The EERE also canceled a $46 million program that was meant to fund solar research and development.
Arjun Krishnaswami, the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Climate and Clean Energy Program analyst, left a testimony:
The magnitude of carryover funds is an indication of whether DOE is following congressional guidance and spending appropriated funds in a timely manner—and more carryover funds means less money from prior years is getting to clean energy innovators to do their work. The agency is flouting congressional intent.
Daniel Simmons, a Trump-appointed EERE assistant secretary, claims the department “fully intends to utilize its appropriated research funding.” However, Simmons is a known critic of renewable research and development. He has openly criticized federal support of wind power and went on to claim wind power is hurting farmers, despite paying the landowners nearly $222 million per year.
Simmons has also openly bashed solar projects as well, not surprising from the long time Koch affiliate. Charles Koch, having served as a member of President Carter’s energy task force, has actively fought against the entire concept of the US DOE for decades, as far back as 1977. Simmons was previously vice president for policy at the American Energy Alliance and Institute of Energy Research (IER), both of which are Koch-funded groups.
The Trump administration has been proposing to cut the EERE’s budget for years. Last year they tried to cut the EERE’s office spending by 86%, but Congress ignored that request. In 2018 Trump proposed to cut the Department of Energy by $1.6 billion and the EERE’s budget by 70% or $1.4 billion.
The administration also replaced the Clean Power Plan, allowing CO2 emitting coal plants to remain open longer, removed emissions standards for power plants and scaled back auto emissions standards.
This is also the same administration that pushes for logging in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, in what Trump calls a personal interest in “forest management.” Trump also issued an executive order to expand logging practices on public lands because it will curb wildfires.
Pretending that climate change isn’t real, even after presented with evidence, is turning a blind eye on the future. This administration has a civic duty to its constituents, ignoring climate change is an attack on the people the administration is supposed to protect.
The time to act is now and the United States is drastically falling behind, anyone can see that the rest of the world is waking up.
