WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
Perry’s commitment to energy research questioned as Trump calls for cuts.
WASHINGTON — House Republicans and Democrats are questioning Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s commitment to research to energy research, following the Trump administration’s proposed budget cuts to those programs.
During a hearing before the House Science Committee, the chairman, Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas, asked Perry whether he was committed to the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program, considering the administration’s request to eliminate the $366 million research effort. The program, known as ARPA-E, is modeled after Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which, among other innovations, developed the communications system today known as the internet.
Perry, the former Texas governor, distanced himself from that cut.
“I respect (Office of Management and Budget’s) work and what they do. But to be honest, I respect this Congress more,” he said. “This (budget request) is a starting point, and I recognize that. We’re going to expend the dollars, hopefully very wisely, that Congress appropriates.”
Since coming into office, President Donald Trump has repeatedly posed massive cuts to the Energy Department, only to watch Congress go ahead and increase the funding from the previous year.
The House is already moving towards increasing the budgets of ARPA-E and other research programs at the Department of Energy.
Republicans, too, have expressed concern about the department’s spending. On Tuesday Rep. Randy Weber, R-Beaumont, asked Perry why the department had yet to request money for a research center for advanced nuclear reactors, as directed by Congress last year.
“This is critical to the development of advanced reactors,” Weber said. “How did we not get that in the budget?”
R&D advocate
Since taking the energy secretary position in 2017, Perry has supported the department’s research programs. At a Senate hearing in the spring, Perry said cited research and development of several technologies, including carbon capture, advanced nuclear power and solar energy, pointing out his department had just made available $130 million to advance solar technology, which he called the “largest in history.”
Earlier this year, Perry launched a new battery recycling program that would include a $5.5 million innovation prize and $15 million for a new Department of Energy research facility to study battery recycling. The goal is to reclaim lithium and cobalt and reduce dependence on foreign markets for these raw materials.
He also has presented himself as an eager advocate for the department’s National Laboratories, opening last week’s House committee hearing with a video showing him touring facilities across the country. The Energy Department operates 17 National Labs, which conduct basic scientific research with an eye toward translating discoveries into real-world innovation. Their work ranges from addressing climate change to discovering the origins of the universe.
Tough crowd
But at least among Democrats, Perry’s support for his department’s work does not supersede the Trump administration’s efforts to cut its budget.
“Enthusiasm alone is not enough for the American people,” Johnson said. “We need to see constructive, forwardlooking budget proposals being submitted to Congress.”
House leaders from both parties express concern over administration budget proposal’s requests to eliminate programs