HOUSE CLEARS FY13 E&W BILL WITH FULL FOSSIL ENERGY FUNDING INTACT

Tamar Hallerman
GHG Monitor
06/08/12

The House passed the Fiscal Year 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations bill this week after fending off several attempts to gut the Department of Energy’s Fossil Energy R&D program. The lower chamber passed the $32 billion measure 255-165 June 6 with the support of 48 Democrats following three days of debate on the House floor. Throughout the week, the House nixed a handful of amendments from both Democrats and conservative Republicans aimed at significantly cutting funding allocated to DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy. The chamber handily defeated an amendment from Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) on a vote of 138-249 that would have zeroed out the Fossil Energy R&D program, instead directing the $554 million allocated for the program towards deficit reduction. Members also rebuffed an amendment from Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) that would have reduced the budget of Fossil Energy R&D, along with several other DOE program offices, by 24 percent to $421 million.

The House also killed a pair of provisions from two Democrats looking to shift funding from the Fossil Energy R&D program to various DOE clean energy programs. Members rejected an amendment sponsored by Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) that would have reduced Fossil’s coffers by $100 million, instead shifting half of that money to DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy program. They also defeated an amendment 131-257 from Rep. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) to transfer $133.4 million from Fossil to DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy program, which experiences significant funding cuts under the House’s version of the spending bill.

Amendment Votes Reflect Growing Rift in GOP

The proposals and their subsequent defeats reflect an ongoing divergence in the Republican Party regarding the role of government spending, particularly in the context of funding fossil fuel-related R&D. While expanding the use of domestic fossil fuels for energy security purposes continues to be a main cornerstone of GOP energy policy, a growing faction of fiscally conservative Republicans have vowed to slash as much government funding as possible, including to fossil fuel-centric programs.

Republicans, however, united to pass a measure by voice vote that prohibits the federal government from enforcing a 2005 law that bans the Pentagon from purchasing synthetic or alternative fuels that emit more greenhouse gas emissions than conventional fuels, a list that includes coal-to-liquids-based fuels and oil shale. They remained split, though, on an amendment that would have blocked funding for the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center, a $150 million research collaborative that includes an advanced coal research program. That amendment was ultimately defeated by a margin of 181-229.

House Measure Largely Restores Fossil Energy R&D Funding

The appropriations bill passed by the House significantly boosts funding to DOE’s Fossil Energy R&D program far beyond the levels recommended by the Obama Administration in its budget request (see table). In February, the White House asked for $420.58 million for Fossil Energy R&D programs, a roughly 21 percent cut from the currently enacted level of $534 million. The House version provides $554 million for the program, a nearly 32 percent increase from the White House’s budget request and a slight increase compared to current funding levels.

Within the Fossil Energy R&D program, the spending bill passed by the House increases funding for CCS and Power Systems 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 for those programs 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 faced 45 and 40 percent budget cuts in Obama’s budget request, respectively, compared to FY2012 enacted levels.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), chairman of the House Appropriations Energy-Water Subcommittee, said that the investments made in the bill will help lower gas prices down the line. “This is a fiscally conservative bill which funds critical national security, jobs and infrastructure priorities while helping to fight future gasoline price increases,” he said in a statement. “All of our constituents are wrestling with how to pay for higher gasoline bills on limited budgets. There is no such thing as a quick fix to this problem, but the bill does strengthen the Department of Energy’s programs, addressing the causes and impacts of higher gasoline prices down the road.”

Measure Still Faces Presidential Veto Threat

Despite clearing the key hurdle of House package, the measure as is still faces a veto threat from the White House, which vowed last week to reject the measure in its current form. In a statement of administration policy released May 31, 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 House budget operates under a $1.028 trillion spending cap for discretionary programs. The White House said it was worried that other key government programs—particularly controversial ones such as health care and education—could suffer financially under that lower cap. Meanwhile, the full Senate has yet to take up its version of the E&W funding measure, but the chamber’s Appropriations Committee cleared its version—which adheres to the $1.047 trillion discretionary cap—in late April.