Press Releases

Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett Criticizes "Business As Usual" Energy R&D Budget

Senior Member of the House Committee on Science and Technology Committee Admonishes Administration Official

Washington, Feb 14 -

Congressman Roscoe G. Bartlett, a senior member of the House Committee on Science and Technology Committee, criticized the Administration’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2009 Budget request for energy research and development as “business as usual” at a hearing today with Dr. John M. Marburger III, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy.

“The International Energy Agency (IEA) and our own Energy Information Administration (EIA) have both documented that world oil production has been virtually unchanged at a plateau during the last 30 months while demand has increased. That’s why oil is over $90 a barrel. The federal government has paid for four reports that have been ignored warning that global peak oil is imminent, for all practical purposes, and requires urgent action to prevent unprecedented negative consequences.

“This budget is business as usual in the area of energy research and development. In particular, most of the effort is focused on electricity. I’m pretty sanguine about sources of energy for electricity. But I’m really worried about liquid fuels for transportation. We really need an ARPA-E. The proposed budget doesn’t come close to meeting the seriousness of the situation and the really big threat and real challenge of energy in the world.”

Links to the hearing information are below.

http://www.science.house.gov/publications/hearings_markups_details.aspx?NewsID=2076

http://gop.science.house.gov/hearings/full08/Feb14/index.htm