Eighty Members of the U.S. House of Representatives took time this week to send a letter to President Bush seeking substantially higher funding levels for renewable energy and energy efficiency in the White House's Fiscal Year 2008 (FY'08) budget request for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Circulated by Representatives Mark Udall (D-CO) and Zach Wamp (R-TN), the letter notes that "renewable energy and energy efficiency can have the most immediate and longest lasting positive effect on energy availability, stable prices, and greenhouse gas emissions." Consequently, it urges the Administration to "develop a request that fully funds the renewable energy and energy efficiency programs in the U.S. Department of Energy and other federal agencies at the levels authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005." In particular, the letter calls for full funding of the advanced hydropower program and geothermal power programs as well as the biomass/biofuels, wind, and solar programs in addition to the buildings, industry, and vehicles efficiency programs. The signers conclude that "a budget request that fully funds the range of federal sustainable energy programs will go a long way toward meeting the nation's goals of reducing energy imports and controlling energy prices while also improving the economy, national and homeland security, and the environment and public health."
In particular, the letter calls for full funding of the advanced hydropower program and geothermal power programs as well as the biomass/biofuels, wind, and solar programs in addition to the buildings, industry, and vehicles efficiency programs.