House Passes Landmark Clean Energy Jobs Legislation, Includes Provisions From Science and Technology Committee

(Washington, DC)—Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. The final legislation included provisions approved by the House Committee on Science and Technology.

“The path towards lowering our carbon emissions, meeting our needs for energy, and growing new sectors of the economy—and the jobs they provide—is through research and development of new energy technologies,” said Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN). “This bill contains provisions to increase our investments in high-risk, high-reward energy technology development. It will establish the National Climate Service to ensure that all decision-makers have access to the information they need.”

The bill included legislative language approved by the Committee as HR 2407, the National Climate Service Act of 2009.

Currently, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has an extensive network of regional and local offices delivering weather and climate information. NOAA also works in partnership with state climate offices, private sector weather providers, universities and other organizations with experience in developing and delivering information on weather and climate.

The bill will create a Climate Service Office at NOAA to coordinate information, fill in any gaps in information, and serve as a single point of dissemination.

“The National Climate Service will ensure that everyone—state and local policy makers, private industry, farmers—has access to the most comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date information so they can make the best decisions,” said Gordon. “Just as the National Weather Service gives information for the coming day or week, the National Climate Service will provide information about longer-term trends.”

The bill also directs funding towards the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Energy, or ARPA-E, a newly-established agency at the Department of Energy (DOE) that will pursue high-risk, high-reward energy technology development. The bill will direct 1.05% of the allowances to fund ARPA-E; the amount is estimated by Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to be approximately $650 million by 2012 and will increase beyond there.

“To create the jobs of the future in the U.S., we need to ensure the U.S. leads in developing the transformational technologies that will make it possible for us to meet our growing need for energy without the corresponding increase in greenhouse gas emissions,” said Gordon. “ARPA-E will bring together the best and the brightest from the private sector, academia, and the national labs. Their first Funding Opportunity Award yielded thousands of applicants, which tells me there is a hunger for this sort of high-risk, high reward research.”

For more information, including about the Committee’s work on National Climate Service or ARPA-E, please see our website.

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