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Biden: Failure to invest in clean energy would be nation’s ‘biggest mistake’
A failure by the United States to lead the world in developing clean-energy technology would be the “the biggest mistake this nation has made in its entire history,” Vice President Biden said Tuesday.
Biden, speaking at an energy summit in Nevada organized by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), called on policymakers to put aside their ideological differences and make the investments necessary to build what the Obama administration has termed a “clean-energy economy.”
“I can assure you that the president is not going to listen to those voices, and I hope to God you are not going to either,” Biden told a crowd at Reid’s fourth annual National Clean Energy Summit.
“There’s absolutely no reason why the United States can’t lead the world in clean energy,” he continued.
Biden announced that five companies that received funding from the Energy Department to develop innovative technologies have attracted $100 million in private investment.
The companies, which are developing technology to charge electric vehicle batteries more quickly and turn heat from power plants into electricity, received a total of $15.5 million in investment from the Energy Department.
“America is at its best when we innovate — and [Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy] supports the very best of American innovation,” Biden said. “These five companies are swinging for the fences, pioneering new technologies that could help answer the energy challenge and create jobs.”
DOE made the investments as part of ARPA-E, which makes investments in high-risk, high-reward projects with the aim of making major technological breakthroughs.
“This isn’t science fiction; this is in our grasp,” Biden said. “This is possible.”
DOE is slated to announce in September the next round of investments as part of the ARPA-E program.
But such programs as ARPA-E could face cuts as the congressional supercommittee looks to slash $1.5 trillion from the deficit.
A major environmental group teamed up with a conservative think tank last week to call for cuts to a number of industry subsidies. The groups also called on lawmakers to cut funding for ARPA-E.
But Biden said Tuesday that those who call for cuts to clean-energy programs such as ARPA-E are wrong.
“I would argue that at every junction, they have been proven wrong,” he said.
