The climate, health care, and tax reform bill was passed by the U.S. Congress. Basic research in an array of fields will be carried out at the 10 national labs overseen by the DOE.
Bill Madia was the director of two DOE national laboratories. Science got nothing in this bill. Leland Cogliani warns that the extra money is only a down payment for many projects in the future. It may seem like a lot of money, but it isn't very far.
President Joe Biden had proposed a $3.2 trillion plan for social, environmental, and economic reforms last year. TheBuild Back Better Act included tens of billions of dollars for other federal research agencies.
The legislation went through a lot of changes. Despite the removal of funding for the other research agencies, the IRA still invests in the DOE lab infrastructure.
The IRA was the result of lengthy negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) Both bills were killed due to Manchin's opposition to climate and spending provisions in the original plan. The Democrats were able to prevail in the Senate on 7 August after Manchin changed his mind. On August 12th, the House of Representatives approved the measure on a party-line vote of 220 to 207, and Biden signed it into law on August 16th.
I’m surprised science got anything in this bill.
The National Energy Technology Laboratory in Manchin's home state is one of 17 national labs supported by the Department of Energy. $150 million would be given to the lab by the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management.
The original version of build back better spelled out how much DOE should spend on each project. Madia applauds the approach of the IRA, which divides the office's 1.5 billion dollars into seven research programs and leaves other decisions to DOE.
The specific spend plan is being finalized in the office of science. It is not difficult to guess where the money is going.
The only high energy physics lab in the US is preparing to build a huge experiment. It has a price tag of $3 billion, so it could use some assistance. The extra money could kick-start a project to build an electron collider at a cost of up to $2 billion.
The DOE will favor projects that are nearing completion and advance schedules. The White House and Congress will be consulted. Before any funding will be allocated, all of these approvals are needed.
Update, 17 August, 3 p.m.: The original story noting the anticipated passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has been updated to note that the bill has now been passed and signed into law. It also includes additional comments on the science provisions.
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