US fossil energy R&D funding partly restored

The US House of Representatives has restored partial funding for fossil fuels research and development in its recently approved 2006 energy and water appropriations bill.

May 27, 2005

By OGJ editors

HOUSTON, May 26 -- The US House of Representatives has restored partial funding for fossil fuels research and development in its recently approved 2006 energy and water appropriations bill.

Passage of the bill counteracted the George W. Bush administration's proposal for cuts in the 2006 fiscal year budget that would have terminated key US Department of Energy fossil energy R&D programs. The administration cuts also would have scratched DOE's Office of Oil and Natural Gas, the only federal agency exclusively responsible for oil and natural gas policy.

"We are hopeful the Senate will follow suit [in restoring this funding]," said Christine Hansen, executive director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission. "R&D funding is a critical component of any national energy plan."