The Senate’s version of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Bill reached the floor this week. The upper chamber has been slowly wading through amendments and a vote on the bill, which funds Department of Energy fossil energy research and development at $632 million, is expected next week.
Fossil energy R&D funding in the bill, which is flat from fiscal 16, does fall short of the funding recommended in the House of Representatives. Under the House version of the bill, reported out of committee Tuesday, fossil energy R&D is set at $645 million.
In the Senate bill, the DOE Office of Fossil Energy’s carbon capture and storage and advanced power systems programs would receive $377 million, $5.3 million more than the department’s request. Within that allocation, $101 million is earmarked for carbon capture, $8.2 million less than the request. The bill would provide $106 million for carbon storage, $15.1 million more than the request. Advanced energy systems would be funded at $105 million, an increase of $51.3 million from the request. All of these funding allocations are in line with enacted levels in the current budget.
The committee’s allocation for CCS and advanced power systems also includes $30 million “to support a new solicitation for two awards for post-combustion carbon capture retrofits to existing coal plants greater than 350 MWe,” according to the committee report.
Coal state senators, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), have applauded the funding levels for these programs in the bill. “The Department of Energy’s own Energy Information Administration predicts that coal will still make up about one-third of U.S. electricity generation for decades to come. If the administration itself acknowledges that fossil fuels will be critical to electricity generation, we must ensure that we are using these in the cleanest way possible,” Capito said on the Senate floor Wednesday.
A widely supported amendment by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) boosting funding for DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program was approved Wednesday by a vote of 70-26. The Schatz amendment funds the program at $325 million, $32 million more than the committee bill.
As the Senate works through amendments to the bill, a group of environmental organizations, including the Environmental Defense Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Sierra Club, have urged senators to avoid anti-environmental riders.
“Our organizations, along with our millions of members and supporters, urge you to oppose all anti-environmental amendments proposed for inclusion in the Energy and Water Appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2017,” the groups wrote in an April 20 letter. “The appropriations process should not be used to roll back fundamental health and environmental safeguards.”
