Jobs Restored At Government Lab

One day before President George W. Bush visited the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., to promote his energy plan, the Energy Department found $5 million to immediately restore 32 jobs that were cut earlier this month due to budget shortfalls.

"The programs at NREL are critically important to realizing the President's vision to diversify and strengthen our nation's energy mix," Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman said in a Feb. 20 statement. "The action we are taking today will allow the dedicated employees at NREL to continue their work that will bring us great innovation in renewable energy technologies."

In his State of the Union address last month, Bush proposed spending millions more dollars on renewable energy research. However, congressional Democrats and environmental activists questioned the Administration's commitment when jobs were being eliminated at the government's renewable energy lab. The President toured the lab on Feb. 21 and participated in a panel discussion on energy conservation and efficiency.

To ensure the laboratory will have the workforce to carry out the Administration's research agenda, DOE transferred $5 million over the weekend to the Midwest Research Institute, the contractor that operates NREL, to restore the jobs that had been eliminated due to a $28 million budget cut in fiscal 2006.

Bush's fiscal 2007 budget request seeks a 78% increase in solar energy research, a 65% boost in biomass research, and a 42% rise in hydrogen research—all core areas of research work done at NREL. "The President's visit sends a powerful message to the lab that its work on these technologies is a very important component of the Administration's energy research and development policy," said Robert J. Noun, NREL's deputy associate director.