Senate Democrats expressed support Wednesday for a Republican alternative to the progressive “Green New Deal,” one that calls for doubling federal energy research funding to spur clean and affordable energy.
Democrats said Sen. Lamar Alexander’s, R-Tenn., “New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy” could produce bipartisan agreement on areas such as spending on advanced nuclear energy research, natural gas, carbon capture technologies for fossil fuel plants, advanced batteries for energy storage, energy efficient buildings, cheaper solar energy technologies, and electric cars.
“Rather than a gimmick vote on the floor, you are looking at real proposals and things we can find some common ground on,” said Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., during a hearing hosted by the Appropriations Committee’s energy subcommittee focused on the Energy Department’s budget proposal.
But Democrats said the Trump administration’s budget proposal for the Energy Department could undermine efforts to increase research and development spending on clean energy solutions to combat climate change.
“I really wish the president’s budget reflected that unanimity of view that we should be investing and leading in energy research globally,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who credited Alexander for delivering a “remarkable” speech earlier this week on his climate change proposal, which Coons said “goes in exactly the opposite direction” as the Trump administration.
[Read more: Most Democrats vote ‘present’ on Green New Deal]
Still, Democrats’ endorsement of Alexander’s plan is a marked shift from the confrontational partisan politics surrounding the Green New Deal and shows that some Democrats see an opportunity to work with a segment of Republicans who are ready to negotiate on climate change legislation.
“It is the kind of initiative we need to see more of here,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, of Alexander’s proposal.
Alexander has said he will retire from Congress in 2020, while Collins is a centrist Republican facing re-election that year.
At the hearing, senators of both parties opposed the Trump administration’s approach to clean energy spending as reflected in the Energy Department’s fiscal 2020 budget request.
The Energy Department’s renewable energy office’s budget would be slashed by 70 percent, from $2.3 billion to just under $700 million, while the agency would eliminate funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy, which focuses on advancing groundbreaking renewable energy technologies. The president has tried and failed to kill ARPA-E in previous budget requests, with bipartisan margins in Congress deciding to fund it at record levels.
Alexander said Wednesday that funding for ARPA-E is critical to achieving his climate change spending proposal.
“I want to make sure that agency is properly funded to be an important part of that,” he said, referring to his “New Manhattan Project.”
Energy Secretary Rick Perry, asked by Udall about Alexander’s plan, conceded the senator’s proposal is a “step in the right direction.”
He defended the Trump administration’s commitment to clean energy despite the proposed funding cuts.
“The line item is in no way indicative of a lack of support for the renewable energy sector,” Perry said at the hearing. “We will continue to advance and expand our commitment to renewable energy.”
