The Presidents fiscal year 2011 (FY2011) budget request includes a $28.4 billion discretionary budget for the Department of Energy (DOE). Despite a discretionary budget freeze, this proposal represents a $2 billion increase over DOE’s FY2010 budget of $26.4 billion. While TCS applauds the President’s continued commitment to end fossil fuel subsidies, we are disappointed with his overwhelming support of energy technologies that taxpayers have already spent billions financing—clean coal, biofuels and nuclear reactor projects. This funding will mainly benefits large, established energy companies that have received decades of subsidies and don’t need taxpayer support.

The President’s budget includes a $4.7 billion investment in clean energy technologies, a $113 million increase over the FY2010 budget. This includes a $302 million for solar energy, $325 million for advanced vehicle technologies, and $231 million for improving building energy efficiency. In addition $545 million is slated for clean coal technology, $220 million will finance biofuels and biomass research and development (R&D), and $793 million would be available to civilian nuclear energy programs. The budget also includes $5.1 billion for the Office of Science, $1.8 billion of which will go toward basic energy research.

For more information, please contact Autumn Hanna at (202) 546-8500 x112 or autumn [at] taxpayer.net.