Colorado labs may lose funds, jobs

Udall warns budget cuts will hurt energy research

By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Federal dollars could dry up for many Colorado energy research and development centers next year, leading to hundreds of job cuts.

Some of the possible cuts in 2004 include a nearly 2 percent, or $6 million, funding loss for the Golden-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

And the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration facility in Boulder, which researches weather and global warming, is facing a $7.5 million cut.

Another Boulder center, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, could see similar cuts although the exact amount has yet to be ascertained.

One reason for the NOAA budget cuts, contained in the federal commerce, justice and state spending bill, is that research on global warming is not a priority for the Bush administration, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Boulder, said.

He said the budget reduction could lead to more than 130 lost jobs, mainly Boulder scientists.

Udall spoke Wednesday at a news briefing at the University of Colorado on energy and science issues. Udall used the briefing to give an update on the energy legislation and how it would affect his congressional district.

Rocky Mountain National Park Superintendent Vaughn Baker and Patricia Nelson Limerick, a CU professor of history and environmental studies, also spoke.

NOAA’s budget cuts will adversely affect many research programs at CU and Colorado State University, Udall said.

The universities have relationships with the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and the Co-operative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.

Moreover, the commerce, justice and state spending bill for 2004, which has been approved by the House, calls for consolidating NOAA’s research facilities. Besides from Boulder, it has facilities in Maryland.

"If this consolidation plan goes in, it will have an impact on the number of jobs in Colorado," said Lawrence Pacheco, Udall’s press secretary.

Meanwhile, two research programs of the National Renewable Energy laboratory are facing budget cuts: $4 million for Distributed Energy and Energy Reliability and $2 million for Buildings Efficiency.

But NREL spokesman George Douglas downplayed the concerns, noting it was too early to speculate on the final outcome of the proposed cuts. He said even though two programs are facing dollar losses, others could be bringing in more money. NREL, which sponsors dozens of programs, is funded by the federal energy appropriation bill.

"We are early in the system; the Bush administration is yet to present its budget to Congress, and Congress has yet to vote on it," Douglas said. "Each year at this time, we discuss higher or lower numbers. But NREL’s budget has remained steady for the past 10 years."

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