The Trump administration will propose a 72% funding cut for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in fiscal year 2019, The Washington Post reported Jan. 31.
The report came out shortly after President Donald Trump decided to impose tariffs on imported solar cells and panels and as his administration moves to ease regulatory obligations for fossil fuel producers.
The Post obtained a draft budget document showing that the White House will request $575.5 million for the DOE efficiency and renewable energy office in fiscal year 2019, down from Trump's request of $636.1 million for fiscal year 2018 and below current funding of $2.04 billion. The White House, however, is not expected to release its final fiscal-year 2019 budget request until sometime in February, and therefore the proposal could change before it is officially issued.
Under the draft budget, funding for research on fuel-efficient vehicles would be slashed by 82%, bioenergy technologies by 82%, advanced manufacturing by 75% and solar energy by 78%.
Such a proposal likely would encounter resistance in Congress. The U.S. House of Representatives passed an energy spending measure that proposed $1.1 billion in funding for the DOE's efficiency and renewable energy office in fiscal year 2018, which is down from 2017 levels but still well above Trump's request. The Senate Committee on Appropriations proposed $1.9 billion for the same office for fiscal year 2018.
But the full Senate has yet to take up its energy spending bill for 2018. Once it does, it then will need to reconcile the legislation with the House's bill.
Congressional lawmakers thus far have been unable to pass regular appropriations bills for most agencies for fiscal year 2018, instead approving short-term continuing resolutions that have largely kept government funding in line with the prior year.
