Budget whackers need to leave ARPA-E alone

By Jesse Berst

For months now we've been hearing rumblings about the fate of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, the DOE program that was created with Recovery Act money to pilot our country back into the energy innovation game. I'm worried that it may be game over.

Earlier this month the House Appropriations Committee, by a single vote, managed to restore ARPA-E funding to FY2011 levels. That's some 67% below what the White House asked for in its 2012 budget. And not even close to the funding levels recommended by such groups as the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute.

The problem is, though the folks in the White House seem to get why energy research is so critical to the country's economic well-being, I'm not so sure Congress as a whole has a clue. And with the current acrimony over the debt ceiling and budget proposals flying every which way, my guess is we may see some wrong-headed decisions in the next week.

Do you think ARPA-E is vulnerable? And do you agree that it's worth saving? Are there energy programs you think ought to be cut?

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