Shitstain's Budget Will Gut National Energy Labs In OR, CO, WA; Climate, Energy Efficiency Core Missions At These Sites

National research laboratories in Colorado, Oregon and Washington focused on addressing climate change and its impacts and improving energy efficiency and affordability for Americans would be gutted under budgets proposed by President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, based in Richland, Washington and Portland, Oregon, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, based in Golden, Colorado, would see their funding in the year ahead nearly halved under the Trump administration’s proposed 2026 budget for the U.S. Department of Energy. Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are negotiating spending bills for the next fiscal year that begins in October and will decide on the energy agency’s budget after Sept. 2, when they return from their August recess.

The national labs are meant to lead research and scientific experimentation in climate and clean energy strategies, including measuring extreme weather risks by collecting and analyzing atmospheric data from around the world and improving battery and grid technologies to get more wind and solar energy flowing to homes and businesses. They also study energy efficiency across U.S. infrastructure and commerce, all of which is meant to save Americans and businesses money and to curb climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Andrea McMakin, a former communications specialist and 34-year veteran of the Northwest Laboratory in Richland, said the U.S. risks losing its best scientists if the proposed funding cuts go through. McMakin is part of the group Friends of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which has been raising concerns about the cuts. McMakin said the group learned in June that the lab’s former director told staff in a meeting that up to 1,000 people could be cut if the current budget passes, a number that’s been echoed by state leaders. “Those people leave. They have to find jobs someplace. And we’re seeing that a lot of other countries are stepping up their recruiting to get U.S. scientists and engineers,” McMakin said. “We don’t want to see that. We want to keep our energy competitiveness and we want to keep our brain power here in the U.S.”

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Trump proposed in May cutting next year’s budget for the U.S. energy department by about $3.5 billion. Of that, $2.5 billion would be cut from the agency’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy — a 74% reduction from its current budget. The Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy office, established following the 1973 oil crisis, in recent years has focused on researching, developing and deploying technologies meant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the country’s electricity sector. That technology includes batteries that can hold large amounts of wind and solar power, and white LED light bulbs that require far less energy than incandescent and fluorescent lights.

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https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/08/04/trump-cuts-renewable-energy-labs/