Tim Puko reports that "[e]nergy efficiency and renewable power research money would be slashed under President Donald Trump’s proposed $31 billion budget for the Department of Energy, while research spending on fossil-fuel power rises."

The story notes, "[t]he department's spending plan unveiled Monday is nearly unchanged from current spending, up less than 2%. Most of the increase would come from a $1.8 billion boost for managing the country’s nuclear-weapons stockpile, completing programs for safeguarding and extending the life of nuclear warheads. Cybersecurity defenses were also a priority ... a steep cut for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, down by... $1.3 billion of its nearly $2 billion in funding," and that funding for Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) an incubator for next-generation technology would be eliminated while $81 million would be added for fossil energy research, bringing that program up to $502 million...

“It’s disappointing that this administration is turning its back on the technologies critical for prosperity in the 21st century,” said Malcolm Woolf, who oversees policy at Advanced Energy Economy, a trade group representing business consumers. “We’re not investing in the technologies of the future.”

See the Wall Street Journal story here (scroll, no sub. req.)