'How Do You Justify All This Nice Talk?': Angus King Grills DoE Nominee Over Staffing Cuts

Forbes Breaking News

During a Senate Energy Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Angus King (I-ME) spoke about budget cuts to the Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Chairman one of the sages of New England Ralph Waldo Emerson said

00:09what you do speak so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. I have never

00:14been at a hearing where what's being done is at such variance with what

00:18is being said. Mr. Prochaska you waxed eloquent about the talented and

00:26dedicated staff of ARPA-E and all the great work that they've done their

00:30budgets being cut by 57% how do you justify all this nice talk about what

00:39you're going to do when your agencies being cut more than in half I don't you

00:45can talk to your blue in the face but what speaks here is 57% cut tell me and

00:52and and you went through your entire testimony all of your answers to your

00:56questions until you got to Senator Cortez Masto and never once mentioned

00:59renewables the fastest growing cheapest source of electricity in the United

01:03States today and let me read from the budget document green new scam

01:09technologies are not supported that's in the ARPA-E budget document green new scam

01:14technology are not supported that means no renewables right you've got an order

01:19from the president United States no renewables is that correct that is not

01:23correct so what did so he didn't mean news what does he mean news green new scam

01:28technologies he's talking about solar and wind everybody knows that senator I can't

01:33opine on what the definition of that language is I can commit to if confirmed

01:39that the ARPA-E and the portfolio that we investigate and we look into will

01:44include all technologies as I mentioned when you listed the technologies the

01:49nearest you got to renewables was a mention of geothermal last you never

01:54mentioned solar and wind and you use the code word reliable which is a new code

01:58word for we don't like solar and wind because they're intermittent but as you

02:02indicated in your answer to Senator Masto Cortez Masto when you have batteries

02:08with solar and wind it's baseload is that correct a senator it very well could be it

02:14depends on the situation but the portfolio that we will investigate will

02:20include all technologies and reliable is important to the energy that we need for

02:26the future to fund some of the some of the emerging technologies that we've

02:31talked about I appreciate what you're saying here what I'm going to watch is

02:33what you do understood budgets are policy and this budget the policy of this

02:38budget is a drastic cut a drastic cut more than half in the in ARPA-E I think one

02:45of the most important agencies the United States government it's where fracking

02:49started the shale revolution started with research funds from the Department of

02:53Energy and we're talking about a more than half cut so I'm gonna I'm gonna watch

02:58what you do and not what you say now mr. Mamala you talked about the importance

03:07of data and science and all of those kinds of things and yet there have been

03:11reports in the last few weeks that biological research in the in the USGS

03:16is being cut entirely and 25 water science senators centers which are stream

03:22gauges measuring storms I get the feeling this is like if we don't measure

03:27anything on climate change it'll go away is that what's going on here I don't

03:32think so senator thanks for the question let's discuss it again I'm not at the

03:37survey but I want to take a look if confirmed I want to go out and look at

03:40each and every single program its budget and cuts proposed somebody's already done

03:45that and cut your budget 37 percent before you even walk in the door yeah well

03:50again not the the cut assuming Congress agrees which I hope they won't yeah I

03:55I don't know that about that either but I'm not from it but the the program the

03:59the what's the contents of the program that has a cut associated with it I'm not

04:04familiar I don't know what's in what's being cut I thought you're pretty familiar

04:08with USGS I am but I don't know what you do you believe it's appropriate to cut

04:12all of their biological research programs well I have to see what they're

04:16talking about if they're talking about all means all as I understand yeah well I

04:20still I would be more comfortable once confirmed looking at that and saying

04:26okay is this a cut deserved or should we actually have a plus-up or what I want

04:32to be about eliminating 25 water research centers around the country is that a

04:35good idea you talked rhapsodically to Senator Hickenlooper about data and how

04:40important data is this is critically important data that appears we're not

04:44going to collect anymore I want to see again what cuts they're talking about

04:49that'll tell me where the data is either being cut or not being cut and then

04:53what's left on the table then we say yes we can still do our mission with what has

04:58not just to me like what's being cut is data that will be produced to

05:02demonstrate the danger of climate change to our economy to our people to our

05:08country to our environment that's if and it could you know not collecting the

05:13data doesn't mean the problem isn't going to be there collecting the data can

05:16alert us to where there are problems and where we can deal with them I hope that

05:21you're you say you're going to look at this the problem is as I say you're

05:24walking into a into a shop that's already been cut by more than a third so mr.

05:29chairman I you know this isn't personal for you people I don't know you I'm sure

05:35you want to do the right thing but let's get real here and and try to face the

05:40reality and to come in here and talk you know about how wonderful USGS is and how

05:46wonderful ARPA-E is which I think it is at the same time that it's being cut

05:53these two agencies are being cut in one case by over 50% by other case by more

05:56than a third just it just doesn't it doesn't pass the straight face test thank

06:01you mr. chairman

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