Task Force on American Innovation Urges Support for ARPA-E:
ARPA-E-10-06-FinalClick here for a printer-friendly version.
Text of release:
Washington, DC – The Task Force on American Innovation (TFAI), a coalition of businesses, trade groups, scientific and engineering societies, and university organizations, urges Congress to fully support bipartisan efforts to reauthorize and fully fund the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) by passing the ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2017 (H.R.3681) and Senate Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year 2018 (S. 1609).
The Department of Energy (DOE) is the leading source of federal investment in basic physical science research, providing nearly 47 percent of total funding. DOE’s ARPA-E provides funding for the high-risk, high-reward research and development (R&D) efforts that would otherwise go unfunded, especially with federal budgets as tightly constrained as they are today. ARPA-E is an indispensable part of our innovation ecosystem. As the recent National Academy of Sciences’ review of the agency stated: “ARPA-E has the ability to make significant contributions to energy R&D that likely would not take place absent the agency’s activities.”
ARPA-E researchers have started over 50 new companies and attracted $1.8 billion in private sector investment. From fuel and smart grid technology advancements already having an impact in Wisconsin to carbon capture technology breakthroughs by researchers in Kentucky, ARPA-E projects are leading to increased energy security, better automotive technology, and critical upgrades to our energy systems.
The Task Force on American Innovation urges Congress to demonstrate its continued bipartisan commitment to U.S. leadership in R&D by passing the ARPA-E Reauthorization Act of 2017 and providing at least $330 million for ARPA-E in a final fiscal year 2018 appropriations bill.