How Will Energy and Environmental Programs Fare in the Budget Showdown?

While Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill succeeded last week in passing a stopgap funding bill to keep the government running, the grinding budget fight will hold funding for different agencies and programs hostage and create hurdles for the rollout and management of forthcoming EPA regulations and key energy programs.  Any and all government programs are subject to the budget wars that will continue to play out over both the FY 11 and FY 12 budgets. The sharp disagreement over the size and the target of cuts to public spending make any sort of compromise an exceedingly difficult goal, though both President Obama and House Speaker Boehner have voiced their commitment to preventing a shutdown from happening.  Moreover, even if an agreement is reached on the budget – both for the current fiscal year and for 2012 – pressure from the conservative base of the GOP will make deep budget cuts virtually inevitable.  Today’s GR Energy and Climate Brief analyzes the latest developments on the budget debate, as well as what the energy and environmental impacts of a shutdown may be and what a way forward on the budget might look like.

Where the Budget Debate Stands

The continuing resolution passed by House Republicans to fund the government through the end of the current fiscal year cut a total of $61 billion, mostly to domestic discretionary programs.  The Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are particularly targeted by the GOP's proposal: ARPA-E and other energy innovation programs would be slashed, while the EPA would be prohibited by the budget proposal from spending any money on greenhouse gas and other air pollution programs, in addition to having its administrative budget reduced. 

Full article here.