Commercial, Energy Efficiency, Industrial, Regulation, Regulation, Solar, Wind  -  March 16, 2017

Trump budget cuts Energy Star, 3,200 jobs from EPA

Following a series of leaked excerpts from President Donald Trump's 2018 federal budget proposal, the White House on March 16 released the document, which made official the president's call for drastic cuts to the U.S. EPA. 

At EPA, the proposal calls for a $5.7 billion total budget, representing a 31% reduction for the agency compared to its 2017 budget and an estimated 3,200 job cuts. The cut is the largest proposed for any U.S. department or agency, and is deeper than earlier reports indicated.

Specific cuts included a total elimination of funding related to the Clean Power Plan, climate change related research, related partnerships and related efforts, in addition to the elimination of more than 50 EPA programs including Energy Star. More details on the EPA cuts begin on page 41 of the president's plan. 

For the U.S. DOE, the proposal sets a budget of $28 billion, representing a 5.6% reduction compared to 2017. Specifically, the budget calls for the elimination of the DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, known as ARPA-E, and a refocusing of funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. More details on the proposed DOE funding changes begin on page 19. 

More broadly, the president's first budget proposal, named "America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again," calls for an increase in defense spending by $54 billion while cutting spending at 18 other agencies, including the DOE and EPA. 

Editor's note: Energy Star is a Smart Energy Decisions content partner, and Smart Energy Decisions has called on the administration to spare its elimination. 

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