House passes energy funding bill

Science : As US lawmakers argued over long-term deficit reduction, the Republican-controlled House managed to pass a few energy measures on Friday. An amendment to bring proposed 2012 funding for the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy up to the current-year level of $180 million passed by a vote of 214–213. In addition, the House approved an amendment to add $10 million to the solar energy research program, increasing the appropriations committee draft amount from $163 million to $173 million. Although the funding is significantly lower than what the Obama administration had requested, it did show that “there is a small majority in the House that continues to support these programs,” said Nathan Facey, deputy chief of staff to Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who sponsored the solar energy amendment. With the vote, the House has now passed 5 of the 12 federal spending bills for the upcoming fiscal year.