“The Trump Administration unfortunately never misses an opportunity to take a wrong turn on climate action,” said EESI Executive Director Daniel Bresette. “The 2021 budget proposal released today could—and should—provide a path to significantly reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, but instead it does the exact opposite.”

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The President’s FY 11 budget request for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EE/RE) programs is $2.36 billion (approximately eight percent of the total DOE budget), an increase of $113 million (five percent above the FY 10 appropriations). Nuclear Energy programs received an increase of $42 million (five percent above FY 10 appropriations) and Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability programs increased by $14 million (five percent above FY 10 appropriations). The budget request for fossil energy decreased by $191 million (20 percent below FY 10 appropriations), primarily through a $105 million cut (43 percent below FY 10 appropriations) in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) program was authorized in the America COMPETES Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-69), and is responsible for funding specific “high-risk, high-payoff, game-changing research and development projects to meet the nation’s long-term energy challenges.” The FY 11 budget includes a request of $300 million for this program, following its initial FY 09 funds of approximately $400 million.

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Livability—the administration’s term for increased emphasis on how transportation shapes community development and can provide Americans more travel options—is evidenced in the proposed budget by more than $500 million in new funding, split between the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A focus on livability is expected to have benefits for air quality, public health, energy savings, and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. The rest of the proposed budget, however, represents very little change in how these issues and public goals are addressed. A special fund to help reduce GHG emissions within FTA, in fact, saw a significant decrease from $75 million to $53 million. Though it is ultimately more important how these smaller funds leverage and influence larger capital expenditures, a substantial decline in resources for these efforts is inconsistent with the need for transportation to play a proportional role in meeting the nation’s GHG reduction goals.

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“Clearly the stimulus and economic recovery bill will provide the greatest boost to changing the outlook for clean energy investments, rather than the proposed FY 2010 budget,” said Carol Werner, EESI Executive Director. “While the proposed budget heads the country in the right direction overall in its increased support for investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies, and should be commended for that, at the same time we were disappointed that EPA’s Energy Star program received essentially flat funding. DOE’s water power program not only had received no additional investment in the stimulus package but was cut 25% ($10 million) in the proposed FY2010 budget, and yet these technologies offer immense near-term benefits. As the country grapples with how to make very significant progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the near term, the willingness of the administration and Congress to invest in accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy will be tested by the FY2011 budget….because it will not have the advantage of this year’s major stimulus package to bolster it.” Below are clean energy budget highlights from DOE, USDA, EPA, HUD, DOL and DOT.

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The President’s FY 10 budget request for DOE includes: • $145 million increase in the Solar Energy Program (83% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $97.7 million increase in the Building Technologies Program (70% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $20.0 million increase in the Wind Energy Program (36% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $60.1 million increase in the Vehicle Technologies Program (22% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $18.0 million increase in the Biomass and Biorefinery Systems R&D (8.3% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $6.0 million increase in the Geothermal Energy Program (13.6% increase from FY 09 appropriations) • $101 million cut in the Fuel Cell Technologies Program (formerly Hydrogen Technology) (60% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $10.0 million cut in the Water Power Program (25% decrease from FY 09 appropriations) • $115 million in new funding for RE-ENERGYSE, a new program undertaken by the DOE to “build the foundation of a vibrant American workforce to participate in the green economy.”

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In signing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (HR 6, P.L. 110-140) on December 19, 2007, President Bush said the Act makes "a major step toward reducing our dependence on oil, confronting global climate change, expanding the production of renewable fuels and giving future generations of our country a nation that is stronger, cleaner and more secure."

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The President’s FY 2008 budget calls for a $426 million cut in EPA’s overall budget (6% cut from FY 06 appropriations) of $7.2 billion, thus reducing financial support for a wide range of environmental and climate programs.

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Carol Werner, Executive Director of the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI), issued the following statement on the release of the president’s FY 08 budget for the U.S. Department of Energy.

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