--- title: Donald Trump Tries to Cut Renewable Energy Programs description: The Trump Administration has moved to dramatically cut funding for a program supporting research and development of clean energy. canonical: https://time.com/5128572/donald-trump-clean-energy-research/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-01T16:56:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:56:00.945Z article:section: Politics og:title: This Clean Energy Research Has Been a Bipartisan Priority for Decades. Trump Wants to Cut It by 72% og:description: It's part of a broader effort against renewable energy og:url: https://time.com/5128572/donald-trump-clean-energy-research/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1d663e8f123977/6988fa39db2987b52225e97f/donald-trump-clean-energy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: donald trump clean energy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Clean Energy Research Has Been a Bipartisan Priority for Decades. Trump Wants to Cut It by 72% twitter:description: It's part of a broader effort against renewable energy twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbd1d663e8f123977/6988fa39db2987b52225e97f/donald-trump-clean-energy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Clean Energy Research Has Been a Bipartisan Priority for Decades. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4a4e55cc-1312-4a1b-8508-d580c17bffde&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/mia6Tcb8.m3u8) (2:11)  _Published 2017-09-26. The Legal Reasons Why President Trump Won't Take A Stand On Climate Change_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 1, 2018 4:56 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 1, 2018 4:56 PM UTC The Trump Administration has moved to dramatically cut funding for a Department of Energy program supporting research and development of clean energy technologies, the president’s latest attempt to stall renewable energy sources like wind and solar to benefit fossil fuels. The 72% cut would be imposed on the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, according to a Washington _Post_ [report](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/white-house-seeks-72-percent-cut-to-clean-energy-research-underscoring-administrations-preference-for-fossil-fuelsv/2018/01/31/c2c69350-05f3-11e8-b48c-b07fea957bd5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.845b1e93b24c). The office, which received $2 billion in funding the current fiscal year, supports research in a variety of clean energy technologies from electric vehicles to to solar power. Trump’s move bucks decades of bipartisan efforts to advance clean energy. Investments in clean energy technology help fight climate change, but they also support a burgeoning domestic industry at a time when the world increasingly demands clean energy. Democrats and Republicans alike have also argued that alternative energy programs help ensure U.S. energy security: relying less on oil and gas in the power sector ensures a steady domestic supply and supports the goal of exporting energy. For those reasons, the cuts are unlikely to be approved by Congress. Top Republicans have balked at the Trump’s past efforts to cut funding for renewable programs. “The president has suggested a budget,” Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee [said](http://time.com/4703638/donald-trump-budget-energy-arpa-epa/) last year in response to similar proposals. “But, under the Constitution, Congress passes appropriations bills.” But protests from fellow Republicans are unlikely to stop Trump’s broader energy agenda. The Administration has launched a multi-pronged effort to stem the growth of renewable energy sources while propping up the ailing coal industry. Trump has [proposed new rules](http://time.com/4838705/fight-over-the-electric-grid-green-power-boom/) to support coal-fired power plants that are not financially viable, cut climate change programs and imposed a steep [tariff](http://time.com/5084108/solar-energy-tariff/) on imported solar panels. Energy analysts say that those moves are unlikely to help coal companies, a Trump constituency, though they may still hurt the growing renewable energy sector. The Energy Information Administration, the federal agency responsible for energy data, [shows](https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=34572) coal production falling in the next two years. Meanwhile, solar power companies have already experienced a slowdown as a result of the tariffs. ## Transcript As a candidate Donald Trump had no problem giving his opinion about climate change. So Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming, and a lot of it's a hoax, it's a hoax, I mean it's a money making industry okay . >> But as president he won't say what he things and neither will his administration. The president himself during the campaign called climate change a hoax. Have you had that conversation with him? I have not had that conversation with him. He no longer believes what he tweeted during the course of the campaign in years earlier, that it's a hoax? Look, you're gonna have to ask him. I'll ask it one more time. Does he believe global warming's a hoax? Does he believe- You should ask him that. When asked their own opinions, other members of the Trump administration generally agree the climate is changing and humans may play a role. Climate is changing, it always has. Man at this particular point in time is having an effect on it, how much effect is what's at debate here. So why is Trump himself so cagey? Part of it is political, polls show the majority of Americans believe global warming is real and is caused by human activities. Part of it personal, Trump does not like to admit he was wrong about an issue in the past As can be seen from his brief and begrudging admission this his crusade over President Obama's birth certificate was mistaken. President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period. But there's a legal reason too. The Environmental Protection Agency has found that the greenhouse gases, which cause climate change Are a form of pollution that endanger human health and wellbeing. And thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, that means the EPA must act on those findings. If the Trump Administration were to say climate change isn't real it would be open to lawsuits from environmentalists for not acting on its own EPA findings. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is careful to say that it's real in some form. I indicated That in fact global warming is occurring. That human activity contributes to it in some manner. That doesn't mean the EPA has to keep the Obama administration's plans in place. In fact members of the Trump adminstration have been steadily rolling back regulations designed to fight climate change. They just can't say they're doing that. Because climate change isn't real. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5128572/donald-trump-clean-energy-research/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5128572/donald-trump-clean-energy-research/"},"headline":"This Clean Energy Research Has Been a Bipartisan Priority for Decades. 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