federal support of fossil and nuclear energy sources. The 1982 budget calls for $17 billion for energy supply activities, and continues some $6.5 billion in tax subsidies and depreciation allowances for energy companies. The nuclear budget is up 36%, and the government has agreed to subsidize the Clinch River Breeder Reactor. The distinctions between corporate socialism and fiscal conservatism are definitely blurring. October 1981 RAIN Page 19 By the way, the energy task force that developed NEP III has been criticized by the General Accouting Office for being unrepresentative of the range of national energy interests. Eleven of the 22 members of the task force were major energy corporation executives,-four were college professors, and three were state govern- . ment officials. Local government and consumer interests were not included. DD ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ *********************** ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ ************************* ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ Even more interesting than NEP III's yearning for days gone by is · the reaction of the Reagan Administration to dissident elements within DOE. The political fallout from the recent report compiled by the Solar Research Institute (SERI), Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and the Mellon Institute is a prime example. In Congressional hearings last May, two senior staffers testified under oath that a DOE , representative had threatened that SERI jobs, funding, and contracts would be eliminated if the report was released. DOE's Assistant Administrator for Conservation and Renewable Energy denied the charge, then proceeded to launch a blistering attack on the integrity of the report. As the authors of the report have pointed out; however, ':While DOE takes issue with the techniques used to ' measure market response, they do not seem to take issue with the fundamental conclusions of the report." SERI Director Denis Hayes likened the attack to "being called ugly by a frog," describing the repor.t as "the best piece of ,work done anyplace" in the field. Shortly afterwards, DOE announced plans to eliminate SERi's public information and commercialization programs, reduce SERI to a basic research institution, and replace Denis Hayes as soon as a replacement with a more technical background could be found. On June 23, Hayes called a press conference to denounce the cuts as a "declaration of open war on solar energy." He was immediately fired. The Reagan Administration is also sitting on a recent report by Oak Ridge National Laborato_ry that examines the need for federal energy conservation programs. Oak Ridge sees a role for government in helping to overcome several barriers to effective and widespread implementation of increased energy efficiency, including fuel prices that do not reflect marginal costs, lack of adequate information about energy options and constrained access to capital for individuals and small businesses, as well as some utilities. "The future course of fuel prices, OPEC actions, discoveries of additional oil and gas and performance and costs of emerging energy technologies are all uncertain. Investing in conservationthrough outreach, financial incentives, standards, regulations and research and development-represents an important national insurance policy, one whose premiums are small and whose payoff is likely to be quite large."DD
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