Two days ago I dairied on
the knife the Right-Wing Congress took to the Clean Energy budget and what a failure that is in light of the recent successes of Clean Energy and the failures of the fossil fuel industry.
Today, The Denver Post weighed in.
ENERGY LAB SHOULD BE EXPANDED, NOT CUT
Congress is cutting funds for the Energy Department's renewable energy lab in Golden, just as the need for its work becomes more urgent.
Just as it's become clear that America needs to urgently expand production from alternative energy sources, the federal government has hatched plans to cut the key research budget.
Up to 100 scientists, engineers, technicians and support staff at the National Renewable Energy Labs in Golden likely will lose their jobs within weeks, as $20 million to $30 million is chopped from NREL's $200 million annual budget. A 10 percent workforce reduction will curb some of the labs' most important research projects. It's a shortsighted step: NREL's mission, finding clean new energy sources, is vital to national security and crucial to our environment. The cutbacks are a leap backwards for our nation's energy priorities.
Most at-risk are projects involving wind, solar, hydrogen and biomass - energy sources that promise either free or at least home-grown fuels. The renewables represent a realistic hope for addressing global warming and weaning ourselves off imported oil and costly natural gas. But once the cutbacks occur, it will be hard to restart the research or recruit prestigious experts.
The retrograde move has two equally culpable parents. Congress pretended to be frugal by limiting research funds in the energy and water appropriations bill that passed this fall and was signed by President Bush. Instead of allocating funds for national priorities like NREL, Congress specified dollars for pet projects.
[snip]
The situation is dire but not hopeless. The Department of Energy could use discretionary dollars to make up part of the shortfall. We urge department officials to do so. Alternative energy is just now catching some wind, and this is no time to dial down the effort.
I dont think it comes as much of a surprise to any of us here in our favorite echo chamber, but Americans support Clean Energy. They want Clean Energy. A September 2005 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press found that a solid majoriity of Americans wanted the government to invest in Clean Energy. Building more solar power facilities was considered a "good idea" by 90% of the public; 87% support expanded wind farms; and 86% wanted to see increased funding for renewable energy research!!!
HELLO?!?!
Instead to running around trying to drill every last bit of land we have, wind energy, for example, could be added to the electricity mix, 'turning down' the need for sources from oil, gas and coal. By the end of next week, extant wind farms in the USA will be saving over a half billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. If expansion of wind farms increases at the slow rate it has, by 2010 the amount of natural gas saved would double to around 365bcf/year - about 10% of the total annual gas production in thge entire Rocky Mountain region.
Thats if we dont speed it up!!
That hardly seems worth devastating the multi-million dollar recreation economy the Valle Vidal generates for the people of Northern New Mexico, for 100 bcf does it?
Clean Energy is the cheapest, fastest, most reliable way to deal with our energy crisis. Devastating our best loved, most valuable places is a bitter and needless sacrifice when we could be solving our nation's energy crisis with Clean Energy.
Unfortunatly, Congress is so Goddamned out of touch they're killing us.
Let's hope the NREL innovators targeted for layoffs by a hopelessly baffled US Congress will find places in our society to express their creativity in finding real energy solutions for the future.