Morning Bell: Time to Make Cuts in the Department of Energy

Mike Brownfield / April 21, 2011

Disco, mood rings and bell-bottom pants are relics of the 1970s relegated to the dustbin of cultural history. But one product of the 70s is still going strong and growing at a rapid rate, despite America’s monstrous fiscal crisis. It’s the Department of Energy (DOE), and in the last 10 years it has seen its budget grow by over $11 billion — a staggering 76 percent. If Congress wants to cut government spending, the DOE would be a good place to start.

At a town hall meeting broadcast yesterday on Facebook, President Barack Obama spoke about some of that spending, proclaiming that his Administration made “the largest investment in history in clean energy research,” while also lamenting that he has not yet reached his dream of putting 1 million electric vehicles on the road. That’s with good reason. As President Obama admitted, the technology is “heavy” and “expensive.” In other words, electric cars can’t stand on their own two legs (or four wheels) without government support.

That’s the story of President Obama’s DOE. The agency has seen its mission evolve from basic research and development to spending billions to commercialize technologies that aren’t yet viable — and might never be. (more…)