WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources questioned the efficiency of Department of Energy loan guarantees at a hearing Wednesday.
In its fiscal 2008 budget request, the Energy Department asked for a $5 billion increase in its loan guarantee program. The office was only recently established and the pace of action was criticized by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., chairman of the committee.
Bingaman said the loan guarantee program was passed in 2005 and there is a growing level of frustration because project proposals have not been advancing passed the application stage. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said there was a funding request turned down in the 2006 budget and there's another request in the 2008 budget. He insisted a management staff for the loan guarantee office is necessary before the program can advance and project proposals can be evaluated.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., was more optimistic, but wanted to see more specific appropriations as well as more substantial funding.
The only way, Domenici said, to escape the stranglehold of gasoline and crude oil, is to invest more money in incentives for innovative technology. Domenici suggested the $8 billion or $9 billion requested for the loan guarantees to fund new technology is not enough. He suggested three to four times that amount should be invested.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
