WASHINGTON, DC — Late last night, Congressman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) offered a bipartisan amendment to H.R. 2609, the Fiscal Year 2014 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, that would provide funding for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to distribute to critical energy research projects throughout the country. Innovations funded by ARPA-E have spurred millions in economic activity and helps the U.S. economy compete in emerging energy markets.
“Our ability to compete in energy innovation is critical to the national economy,” said Butterfield. “ARPA-E plays a critical role in supporting the research and development that creates new paths to energy sustainability. Eliminating this research program would cost the country important jobs and harm our global competitiveness in emerging energy markets.”
H.R. 2609 cuts funding for the U.S. Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers, and all federal water projects by $2.9 billion, while providing $29 million in excess of what the President requested for fossil fuel research and $98 million in additional funding for nuclear weapons. Butterfield’s amendment would have redirected the monies for fossil fuel research and nuclear weapons to energy research.
Since 2009, ARPA-E has supported 275 innovative energy technology projects. In North Carolina, the Research Triangle Institute has used ARPA-E funds to develop technologies to reduce the cost of carbon capture to coal-fired power plants and to convert biomass into transportation fuels.
Butterfield’s amendment failed to pass the House but received bipartisan support from 150 of his congressional colleagues.