Washington, DC- Representative Edward J. Markey, a senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, reacted to President Bush’s visit to the National Renewable Energy Lab hours after the Administration had reversed cuts in the lab’s funding made in the president’s budget. The president’s budget initially called for cuts that would have forced the layoffs of 32 employees.

“The cuts in the funding for the National Renewable Energy Lab should never have been made in the first place,” said Rep. Markey. “The president’s rhetoric on energy continues to be out of step with his actual policies. This is yet another example of a president ‘conflicted by oil’ while complaining that we are addicted to it.  The president said today that he acknowledges that he has sent some ‘mixed signals’ on funding for NREL, but he continues to send mixed signals on his energy policy as a whole. While saying that renewable energy is the key to ending our ‘addiction’ to oil, the president’s budget has cut the total funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy by $26 million dollars.”

“If America wants to be a world leader in energy resources we need to double renewables, efficiency, and alternative energy research over the next five years. The president needs to put his money where his mouth is on renewable energy. The president’s budgets calls for solar energy research to only receive $149 million dollars, that’s roughly 5 percent of the $2.9 billion that the state of California has dedicated to a solar initiative over the next 10 years.”

For more information on Rep. Markey’s work to promote America’s energy independence -- check out http://markey.house.gov/