America COMPETES Reauthorization Act Of 2015 Includes Cuts To Clean Energy Research Funding

On May 20, 2015, the House voted to pass the
America
COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2015 (H.R. 1806)
(COMPETES), a research funding bill that was originally
enacted in 2007 to further U.S. scientific and
technological advantages. The new version of COMPETES
increases funding for nuclear energy and fossil fuel
research programs, while cutting clean and renewable
energy programs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy will have
funding reduced by 30 percent, or nearly $500 million,
while the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
will see funding cut by 50 percent. The
Obama
Administration has threatened to veto the bill, stating
that “the Administration believes that H.R. 1806 would be
damaging to the Administration’s actions to move American
competitiveness, innovation and job growth forward through
a world-leading science, technology and innovation
enterprise.”