By Shelbie Bostedt
WASHINGTON – Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz defended his near $30 billion budget request for 2016 during an appearance Wednesday before a skeptical House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
The panel, controlled by Republicans critical of the Obama administration, criticized the energy budget, saying it was disproportionately large compared to the work ahead of the agency.
“I have respect and admiration for [Moniz], but not a lot of respect for this administration’s energy policies,” said Rep. Edward Whitfield, R-Ky., as he opened the hearing. “DOE’s budget request is growing, yet the agency’s role in setting the nation’s energy policy is shrinking.”
The department is requesting a nine percent increase over its current spending, amounting to an additional $2.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year.
But Whitfield, the chairman of the energy and power subcommittee, challenged a cutback in funds allocated for fossil fuel energy research, while President Barack Obama imposes stiffer regulations on coal-fired power plants.
Fred Upton, R-Mich., chairman of the full committee, emphasized the importance of expanding and modernizing existing energy resources as the U.S. remains the largest oil and natural gas producer in the world.
Upton called on the department to shift more money to a focus on fossil fuels already available, such as oil and natural gas.
“Our energy potential makes us more secure at home and more powerful abroad,” Upton said. “We can diminish the political influence of other energy exporters like Russia and Iran… if energy security and geopolitical benefits become a part of our policy decision-making.”
To this end, Whitfield claimed that increasing regulations limits the United States’ ability to compete on the world energy stage, saying that the United States is limited in the kinds of “state-of-the-art” power plants it can build while still abiding by U.S. EPA regulations.
The Obama budget seeks $5.3 billion for the Office of Science and $2.72 billion for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to promote research and development for new clean energy resources.
This spending, according to Whitfield, is “well out of proportion to the potential benefits and the realities of our nation’s energy needs.” He said he would rather see the money spent in sectors that “better reflected the reality of America’s current and future energy mix.”
Moniz was “prepared to defend this budget” to a Congress with a Republican majority when he unveiled it earlier this month. Moniz said the Energy budget proposal reflects the agency’s dedication to ending U.S. dependence on oil and natural gas, aligning with the president’s strategy of sustainable energy development.
But it is this goal that Republicans leaders of the committee take issue with.
“My issues with the proposed budget reflect my issues with the direction the administration has taken on its climate driven energy policy,” Whitfield said.
