A report in Science Magazine outlines changes made by the Department of Energy to the new RE-ENERGYSE proposal for FY 2011. After Congress did not fund the $115 million proposal for 2010, the DOE cut down certain programs to bring the budget request down to $50 million.
Kristina Johnson, undersecretary for Energy, helped rework the proposal to address concerns that RE-ENERGYSE overlapped too much with initiatives of the National Science Foundation and Department of Education. The changes include a reduction in the number of funded graduate fellowships and interdisciplinary masters programs in energy studies. Despite the trimdowns, Johnson underscored the urgency of RE-ENERGYSE.
“This year, about 6% of entering college students say they are interested in engineering and about 4.4% of them graduate with an engineering degree . . . It’s pretty hard to compete globally when you’re relying on such a small segment of the population to provide the innovation we need. We know from studies NSF has done that we lose kids in grades three to five. And if they don’t maintain an interest in science and math, they won’t take enough courses to be able to become an engineer.”
Then why the changes? In the face of criticism, passing some version of the proposal takes priority over expanding its size. Getting started down the road can also serve as a learning opportunity for future energy education initiatives, as Johnson says:
“We’ve scaled back. We’re going to start small and we’ll build it up once we see what’s working.”
Positive responses from congressional aides show that Johnson’s adjustments have had an effect. And in the current political climate, the strategy offers lessons for future DOE initiatives. With money tight in all areas of government, convincing lawmakers and the general public to fund RE-ENERGYSE and further federal investments in clean energy will take more than just highlighting the problem. We must also, as Johnson does, explain how specific bills will contribute to the solution.
A central part of this mission comes from focusing on learning from previous initiatives. Johnson stresses that the smaller budget proposal will identify areas that work and ideas that do not succeed. For successive rounds of funding, the DOE will have specific achievements to point to for funding the programs they want.
Federal investment in clean-energy should follow the same model in requesting government funds. With billions of dollars for thousands of programs, the stimulus provides the perfect jumping point for future funding requests. By identifying areas that succeed, the Department of Energy will be able to request money for programs that have already proven to succeed. Not only will this strategy improve the effectiveness of investment, it will also, in the coming era of extreme belt-tightening, help keep the flow of investment coming.
