Clean energy sources

 

Currently our country uses several sources to produce the energy required to keep everything running.

We use energy from some sources, such as oil, coal and natural gas, which are neither clean nor renewable, much more than others.

We also use nuclear (renewable but not clean), solar, wind, geothermal, and hydro-electric.

In President George W. Bush’s last State of the Union address, he said, “To build a future of energy security, we must trust in the creative genius of American researchers and entrepreneurs and empower them to pioneer a new generation of clean energy technology. Our security, our prosperity, and our environment all require reducing our dependence on oil.”

 

But, in Bush’s Fiscal Year 2009 budget proposals for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency programs, there are cuts in vital areas including climate protection, solar energy, and tribal energy, while funding for fossil and nuclear energy was increased. And some programs, such as Weatherization Assistance Grants, and the Renewable Energy Production Incentive, were cut out entirely.

Here is a partial breakdown from Bush’s budget proposal: (Source: Center for American Progress)

Total fiscal year 2009 budget request for Department of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs: $1.26 billion.

Decrease in funding from fiscal year 2008 appropriations level: 27 percent.

Thirty-seven percent increase in nuclear energy funding over fiscal year 2008 appropriations: $385.5 million.

 

Twenty-five percent increase in fossil energy funding over fiscal year 2008 appropriations: $222.7 million. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program proposed cut to The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which assists low income households to meet their immediate home energy needs: $570 million.

This is a 22 percent cut from fiscal year 2008, even before adjusting for changes in energy prices.

The new energy law authorizes $5.1 billion for this program.

Home energy prices have risen 65 percent since 2001.

 

Weatherization assistance

Proposed budget for Weatherization Assistance Grants, which increase the energy efficiency of dwellings occupied by low-income Americans, thus directly reducing their energy costs, electricity use, and global warming emissions: $0. This is a 100 percent cut from the $227 million allocated in fiscal year 2008.

 

 

Renewable energy

Proposed budget for the Renewable Energy Production Incentive program, which provides financial incentive payments for electricity produced and sold by new qualifying renewable energy generation facilities: $0. This is a 100 percent cut from the $5.0 million allocated in fiscal year 2008.

Proposed cut to the hydropower program, whose purpose is to develop, conduct, and coordinate research and development with industry and other federal agencies to improve the technical, societal, and environmental benefits of hydropower, which includes wave, tidal, and traditional dam hydropower: $6.9 million. This is a 70 percent cut from the fiscal year 2008 appropriations level.

 

Proposed cut to the solar energy program, which was created to accelerate the development of solar technologies as energy sources for the nation and the world, as well as to educate the public about the value of solar power as an energy choice: $12.3 million. This is a seven percent cut from the fiscal year 2008 appropriations level.

Increase in biomass and bio-refinery systems R&D: $26.8 million. This is a 13 percent increase from fiscal year 2008 appropriations and should be commended as an investment in low-carbon alternatives.

Increase in geothermal technology funding: $10.2 million. This is a 51 percent increase from fiscal year 2008 appropriations and also should be commended as an investment in low-carbon alternatives.

 

 

Tribal energy

Proposed cut to tribal activities such as the Tribal Energy Program, which provides financial and technical assistance to Native American tribes for feasibility studies of renewable energy development on tribal lands and offers assistance to tribes for the initial steps toward renewable energy and energy efficiency development: $4.9 million. This is an 83 percent cut from the fiscal year 2008 appropriations level.