Appropriations Act Boosts DOE Funding for Renewables and Efficiency

January 2, 2008

President Bush approved an omnibus appropriations act on December 26th that provides a 17% increase in funds for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The new act appropriates nearly $1.74 billion for EERE, but then rescinds 1% of that, leaving EERE with roughly $1.722 billion for fiscal year 2008. That represents a significant boost above the $1.474 billion that was included in a continuing resolution approved in February 2007. The appropriations act also provides $5.45 million for the administration of DOE's Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program. See the White House press release on the signing; Division C, Title III of the appropriations act (most easily found by searching the act's index for "efficiency") on the Library of Congress Web site; and for comparison, the article from the EERE Network News on the 2007 funding.