HOUSE BEGINS CONSIDERATION OF FY2013 ENERGY-WATER SPENDING BILL

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
06/01/12

The full U.S. House of Representatives began consideration of its version of the Fiscal Year 2013 appropriations bill for energy and water programs today, kicking off debate of the $32.1 billion measure. Earlier this week, the House Rules Committee cleared the legislation under an open rule, allowing for unlimited amendments that could be attached to the bill. While the spending measure on the whole is considered one of the less controversial spending bills Congress is expected to consider this year, it still has the potential to garner controversy. In particular, the House bill faces stiff opposition from the White House, which in a statement of administration policy May 31 vowed to veto the legislation.

The Administration said it “strongly opposes” the spending bill mainly because it does not adhere to the $1.047 trillion cap on discretionary spending agreed to in last summer’s debt ceiling negotiations. Instead, the budget blueprint proposed by House Republicans works under a $1.028 trillion spending cap for discretionary programs. While the Energy-Water topline falls closer to the Administration’s Feb. 13 budget request than several of the other appropriations bills, the White House said it was worried that the Energy-Water allocation could hurt budgets for other more politically divergent policy areas such as education, health care and environmental regulations. “Passing [the House Energy-Water appropriations bill] at its current funding level would mean that when the Congress constructs other appropriations bills, it would necessitate significant and harmful cuts to critical national priorities such as education, research and development, job training and health care,” the statement of administration policy says. 

Within the House Energy-Water spending bill, the Obama Administration said it particularly objects to cuts to the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program budget. Under the House spending bill, that program budget would be cut $150 million below the President’s request to $200 million. The Administration also criticizes cuts to DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Office of Science, which recommends budgets that are $886 million and $191 million below Obama’s request, respectively. “This bill undermines key investments in clean energy and scientific research and development, building blocks of our nation’s future economy,” the statement of administration policy states. “Investing in these areas is critical to the nation’s economic growth, security and global competitiveness.”

House Measure Largely Restores Fossil R&D Funding 

The version of the Energy-Water appropriations bill being considered on the House floor focuses heavily on mitigating rising gas prices, significantly boosting funding for DOE’s Fossil Energy R&D program beyond the levels recommended by the Obama Administration in its Feb. 13 budget request, which call for cuts from the program’s currently enacted budget. The funding bill passed by the House Appropriations Committee April 25 provides $554 million for the program, a nearly 32 percent increase over the White House’s budget request.

In its FY2013 budget request, the White House asked for $420.58 million for Fossil Energy R&D programs, a roughly 21 percent cut from currently enacted FY2012 level of $534 million. In its budget justification, the White House said much of the cut would be offset by extra money previously allocated under the 2009 stimulus bill, adding that program coffers would not be as small as they initially appear in the budget request. The Appropriations Committee’s report on the spending bill argues that steady funding levels for Fossil Energy R&D are needed to help produce cheaper sources of domestic electricity like coal and natural gas at a time of rising gasoline prices.

Within the Fossil Energy R&D program, the House spending bill increases the funding for the CCS and Power Systems program to $384.29 million, $108 million above the Administration’s request. For carbon capture and carbon storage programs, the Administration’s request recommends $60.44 million carbon capture and $95.48 for carbon storage research, which represent approximately 12 and 17 percent cuts compared to FY2012 enacted levels, respectively. The House measure roughly matches current funding levels and notably carves out $16 million in additional support for enhanced oil recovery technologies and projects. The House measure also increases funding for Fossil Energy’s Advanced Energy Systems and Cross-Cutting Research programs compared to the Administration request, which proposed 45 and 40 percent budget cuts, respectively, compared to currently enacted levels.