Energy programmes under attack as Republicans call for cuts to applied research

Republicans from the House Science, Technology and Space Committee are proposing to make more than $1.5 billion of cuts in fiscal year 2012 by, among other measures, taking $1.2bn (€1.1bn) from the budget of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).

In a letter, dated 14 October, to the chairs of the Deficit Reduction Committee, who are charged with finding $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions over 10 years, the 11 House Republicans claimed that EERE—currently receiving $1.8 million—has a focus on near-term, incremental, low-impact technology that does not warrant prioritisation.