President Obama released his 2013 budget, saying:
"We must transform our economy from one focused on speculating,
spending, and borrowing to one constructed on the solid foundation
of educating, innovating, and building.
The Budget targets scarce federal resources to areas critical to
growing the economy and restoring middle-class security: education
and skills for American workers, innovation and manufacturing, clean
energy, and infrastructure.
There are many innovative, practical provisions in the overall
budget, but here are the ones that impact clean energy.
Although it has a slim-to-none chance of passing the GOP, a
Clean Energy Standard is included saying, "it's the
centerpiece of the Administration's strategy to ensure strong
American leadership in the clean energy economy."
The budget also asks that renewable energy tax credits
be extended and for the revival of the lapsed program that provides
tax credits for domestic manufacturing of renewable energy and
energy efficiency equipment.
It eliminates many fossil fuel and agriculture subsides, and
continues supporting renewable energy, efficiency and electric cars.
Dept of Energy (DOE)
DOE's budget would rise 3.2% to $27.2 billion
- $2.3 billion for Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, a 29% increase;
- $770 million for research on advanced small nuclear
reactors;
- $12 million for research on improving the safety of natural
gas fracking.
- DOE's Office of Science: $5 billion, a 2.4% increase.
-
SunShot Initiative: $310 million
to make solar cost-competitive
- Wind technology research: $95 million
- DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy
(DARPA-E): $350 million
-
Advanced Manufacturing Partnership: $290 million for R&D on
innovative manufacturing processes and advanced industrial
materials to help companies to cut manufacturing costs by using
less energy
DOE didn't ask for new funds to expand its loan guarantee program
- it will focus on deploying its remaining $170 million in credit
subsidy and $34 billion in loan authority.
Instead, the budget moves the ability to make expanded investments
in efficiency/ renewables in the Dept of Defense (DOD): $1
billion for energy efficiency investments, up from $400 million in
2010.
Including these provisions in DOD's budget instead of DOE's
avoids harassment from the GOP related to Solyndra, while helping
reduce consumption in DOD - the world's largest energy consumer.
The Dept of Interior would receive $386 million for offshore oil
and natural gas development, a $28 million increase. It would be
used hire new inspectors, engineers and scientists to monitor
oil drilling, improve oil spill research, and review company oil
spill response plans.
Read about the
EPA budget.
Among the provisions to "Jumpstart Job Creation"
are energy efficiency measures:
- $30 billion to modernize at least 35,000 schools
- Project Rebuild, a series of policies to help people get
work in distressed communities by re-purposing residential
and commercial properties
Among the provisions for "American Innovation &
Manufacturing":
- Eliminate 12 tax breaks to oil, gas, and coal companies,
raising $41 billion over 10 years.
- $140.8 billion for R&D overall, an increase of 5% from 2012
levels, would double the budgets of three key basic research
agencies: National Science Foundation, DOE Office of Science,
and National Institute of Standards and Technology Labs.
Expands and makes permanent the R&D tax credit.
- $2.2 billion for advanced manufacturing R&D, a 19% increase
over 2012.
- Provides tax incentives for manufacturers who create jobs in
the US; doubles the deduction for advanced manufacturing; ends
tax deductions for shipping jobs overseas; and establishes a
Manufacturing Communities Tax Credit to encourage investment in
communities affected by job loss.
- Supports the goals of: putting 1 million electric vehicles
on the road by 2015; doubling the share of electricity from
clean energy sources by 2035; and reducing buildings' energy
use by 20% by 2020.
Among the provisions for "Build America: A 21st Century
Infrastructure":
- National Infrastructure Bank to fund projects of national
importance.
- 6-year, $476 billion surface transportation reauthorization
bill - expanded to included inter-city passenger rail
Fully paid for through current user-financed mechanisms and part
of the savings from ending the war in Iraq and winding down
operations in Afghanistan.
Read the full budget overview: