"Budget: Trump Proposes Slashing DOE Clean Energy Research"

While the Energy Department's nuclear weapons program get an 11% increase under the Trump budget, "clean energy, smart grid and electric vehicle initiatives favored under the Obama administration are singled out for elimination or sharp cutbacks."

"President Trump today issued his "America First" budget blueprint that fulfills campaign promises with a proposed $54 billion increase in defense spending and border security, coupled with sharp cutbacks in funding for environmental protection, climate-related and clean energy programs, federal land acquisition, foreign aid, and other domestic programs.

The fiscal 2018 budget request includes $28 billion for the Department of Energy, a $1.7 billion cut, or 5.6 percent less than the current-year continuing spending resolution approved by Congress. The nuclear weapons programs that form nearly half the department's budget would get an 11 percent increase. The clean energy, smart grid and electric vehicle initiatives favored under the Obama administration are singled out for elimination or sharp cutbacks, based on the president's conviction that research aimed at jump-starting new technology should be left to the private sector.

'The budget for DOE demonstrates the administration’s commitment to reasserting the proper role of what has become a sprawling federal government and reducing deficit spending,' the blueprint says."

Peter Behr reports for EnergyWire March 16, 2017.