I couldn't swing by, so I'm firing off a memo. I'm glad you're aware that NREL and our other national labs need high-level, visible support for the upcoming budget battles. As you know, these labs providethe taxpayer with a big bang for the buck in bringing emerging technologies to market. And the business model is great. The taxpayer pays next to nothing and in return sees big innovations taken to market by the private sector. That creates jobs, stimulates the economy, boosts American competitiveness and improves our lives.Joe, the alternative—slashing the tiny amount we spend on federally coordinated researchand development—is penny-wise and pound foolish. Use your bully pulpit to convince your former colleagues in Congress to keep our country competitive by supporting the national labs.
What exactly do the labs do? I had the opportunity to visit NREL three times recently—sorry, beat you to it—to learn about grid integration issues, storage technologies and a wind-to-hydrogen program that could help the United States on its path to energy independence and economic security.By the way, President George W. Bush preceded you, too. His Congressional allies had slashed NREL's budget in 2005, sending dozens of top scientists to the unemployment lines in early 2006. When Bush visited NREL for a backdrop to
tout his support for energy independence in February 2006, he learned of the layoffs and ordered them reversed. Crazy stuff, huh? This energy independence and economic
security thing is actually a bi-partisan, common-sense issue!
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