The Senate introduced a bipartisan energy and water appropriations bill Monday that flies in the face of some of President Trump proposed budget priorities, such as killing off the Energy Department’s advanced energy research agency, known as ARPA-E.
“This bill demonstrates our commitment to building and maintaining our nation’s water infrastructure, to driving forward basic energy research in the Office of Science and high-impact research at ARPA-E, and to strengthening our national security by maintaining our nuclear weapons stockpile,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Appropriation Committee’s energy and water panel.
The energy spending bill is part of an omnibus spending measure issued Monday that would extend funding for the government until Sept. 30, the end of fiscal 2017. The bill does not support most of Trump’s proposed budget cuts to clean energy programs. Under the budget blueprint for fiscal 2018 issued by the White House in March, the Energy Department’s Office of Science and ARPA-E would be shuttered.
The omnibus bill must be passed by Friday or risk a government shutdown.
Democrats touted the inclusion of the funds as a victory over Trump’s budget priorities. The increased funding for Energy Department research came as Democrats placed increased pressure on Energy Secretary Rick Perry on Monday to support wind and solar energy in a study he is leading on the electric grid.
In a letter to Perry, Democrats said his study favors coal and fossil fuels over wind, which they say is increasingly important to the nation’s energy supply. The study looks at only coal, natural gas, nuclear and hydropower.
The water bill also provides record funding to support water infrastructure to the tune of more than $6 billion by beefing up programs overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Department of Energy’s Office of Science, supporting basic energy research, is funded at more than $5 billion, “a record funding level in a regular appropriations bill,” according to Alexander.
ARPA-E, which is meant to boost cutting-edge energy technologies to help along renewables and other energy technologies, received more than $300 million in additional funds. But the energy and water bill isn’t as kind to an international program meant to advance a yet-to-be-developed fusion power plant in France.
“The appropriations process is how Congress sets priorities and conducts oversight, and this bill is consistent with the spending limits Congress set in the Budget Control Act and the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015,” Alexander said, adding that the senior Democrat on the panel, Sen. Diane Feinstein of California, shares the same priorities.
“Sen. Feinstein and I have worked hard to set bipartisan energy and water priorities, and I urge my colleagues to support these provisions,” Alexander said.
The Nevada delegation said the bill also cuts funding for Yucca Mountain that Trump wanted to see increased.
“Nevadans have never supported this project and should not have a nuclear waste dump forced upon them,” said Rep. Dina Titus, a Democrat of Nevada’s first district.
“That is why Congress must pass my legislation to mandate that any repository have the consent of state, local and tribal officials in the proposed area,” she said.
The compromise may have been that the energy and water bill contains a boost for advanced nuclear reactors that Alexander and other Republicans support. “The legislation sends a strong signal of support for developing new technologies that will support the next generation of nuclear power plants and continues ongoing work to help ensure the lives of existing reactors can be safely extended,” said a statement from Alexander’s office.
The bill contains $94.5 million for advanced reactor programs, a $21 million increase from the president’s budget request. It also provides $95 million for the Small Modular Reactors program supported by former President Barack Obama and $40 million in continuing research and development to extend the life of existing reactors from 60 to 80 years, while providing additional funds for advanced computer modeling for reactor development.
