Report of proposed cuts to renewable energy programs comes after State of the Union Address declaring war over “on clean coal”

Washington (January 31, 2018) – On the heels of a State of the Union Address in which President Donald Trump declared, “We have ended the war on American Energy -- and we have ended the war on clean coal” come media reports that the Trump administration is looking to cut the Department of Energy’s renewable energy and energy efficiency programs by 72 percent in the 2019 fiscal year budget. According to the Department of Energy, third party evaluations of the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) “assessed one-third of EERE’s research and development portfolio and found that an EERE taxpayer investment of $12 billion has already yielded an estimated net economic benefit to the United States of more than $230 billion, with an overall annual return on investment of more than 20%.”

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee and Chair of the Senate Climate Task Force, released the following statement:

“President Trump says he has ended the so-called war on coal, but he’s really declared a war on clean energy. A clean energy revolution is happening across the globe, but President Trump wants to cede countless American clean energy jobs and the development of new technologies to China, Germany, India, and other nations. If we do not fund clean and renewable energy research and development projects, we will never get these innovative technologies out of the lab and into the marketplace. Cutting these programs will destroy countless future American jobs that will come on the heels of a renewable energy renaissance.

“Withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, repeal of the Clean Power Plan, rolling back strong fuel economy standards, a job-killing solar tariff – these are just a few of the litany of sins President Trump has committed against America’s clean energy future. We need Congress to reject President Trump’s fossil fuel-backed folly and embrace America’s clean energy economy that is creating millions of jobs and ensuring American competitiveness around the world.”

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