Garamendi Votes Against Radical and Dangerous Republican Energy and Water Appropriations Bill

Press Release

Congressman John Garamendi (D-Walnut Creek, CA), former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Interior Department and a Member of the House Natural Resources Committee, today voted against H.R. 2354, the Republican Energy and Water Appropriations bill. The bill passed by a 219-196 vote, with 209 Republicans voting for it and 175 Democrats voting against it. By slashing funds for clean energy research, lifesaving flood protection, and more, this appropriations bill jeopardizes job creation, economic growth, and national security.

"This shortsighted and destructive legislation is further evidence of how good job-creating public policy has fallen to radical partisanship indifferent to pollution and the clean technology investments that will determine America's standing in the coming century," said Congressman Garamendi. "As we move toward reducing the deficit, we must not slash those programs that save lives and money and create jobs."

Congressman Garamendi offered two amendments to H.R. 2354. Garamendi's first amendment removes money from fossil fuel research in order to invest in the Advanced Research Projects Agency -- Energy (ARPA-E), which supports breakthrough domestic clean energy innovators. The House failed to approve this amendment. Click here to watch video of the Congressman speaking about ARPA-E. The second amendment increases funding for the National Nuclear Security Administration by $35 million and was praised in a Huffington Post article by the President of Ploughshares Fund, a global security foundation. This bipartisan amendment, introduced with Representatives Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), and Rick Larsen (D-WA), passed the House by voice vote.

The Republican Energy and Water Appropriations bill:

* Eliminates $80 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency--Energy (ARPA-E); providing less than one-fifth of the funding President Obama requested for the agency for FY12;
* Prevents the Army Corps of Engineers from engaging in Administration-wide efforts to protect clean water -- blocking them from clarifying which waterways are covered by Clean Water Act protections, as called for by the Supreme Court. The bill slashes funding for the Army Corps at a time when our nation's dams, levees and inland waterways are graded at D and D- by the American Society of Engineers and when the levees for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are under enormous strain;
* Slashes 40 percent from the President's clean energy jobs request, ranging from solar to biomass to wind and new technologies for more energy efficient cars and building- threatening the nascent clean energy industries of Northern California-- while actually increasing the fossil fuels budget;
o Clean Energy & Energy Efficiency: The bill provides $1.3 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy research programs, $1.9 billion below the President's request. Meanwhile, the legislation increases funding for DOE's Fossil Energy Office by $32 million;
o Solar Energy: Cuts research into solar energy by more than 60% from the President's request;
o Fuel Efficient Vehicle Technologies: Cuts investment to improve cars' fuel efficiency with better engines, advanced batteries and engines that burn clean, domestic fuel by more than 50 percent from the President's request. The bill also reduces Vehicle Technology Deployment by more than $200 million, a program which expands electric transportation initiatives. In 2008, the U.S. produced just 2 percent of the world's batteries to power the next generation of electric cars, but with investments U.S. will have the capacity to produce 20 percent of the world's advanced vehicle batteries in 2012;
o Building Technologies: The bill provides $150 million, $321 million below the President's request. These funds are used to research energy-efficient technologies in buildings which account for roughly 40% of all U.S. energy use.
o Weatherization Assistance: The bill provides $33 million, $141 million below FY2011 and $287 million below the President's request. This will cut, by nearly 30,000, the families that get help to make their homes more energy efficiency and save money on their energy bills compared to the President's budget.
* Cuts America's nuclear non-proliferation budget by $428 million below the President's request, threatening vital national security programs, reducing our ability to secure vulnerable nuclear materials around the world, delaying the removal of bomb-grade uranium, and limiting our capacity to detect illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. On a local level, this cut will undermine the ability of workers at Lawrence-Livermore and Sandia National Labs to perform their job- securing our nuclear stockpile.

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