House version of spending bill keeps DOE budget steady

Science : Today the US House Appropriations Committee is considering a spending bill for 2015 that provides $5.071 billion to the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. That is just $40 million less than requested by President Obama and about the same amount as was provided in 2014. Only a few of the top-level allocations have been made public. Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy is being held flat at $280 million, also slightly below Obama’s request. However, the bill makes cuts to renewable energy research and development in favor of increased spending for fossil fuel and nuclear energy research. It also prevents contributions to ITER, the international fusion energy reactor being built in France, until DOE certifies that the project is implementing reforms suggested by an external review. As the Senate has its own spending bill to consider, a final budget will likely not be released until after the elections in November.