ADY.WC II) I \l Rt.-l IK HNOIOl.lls 



931 



most enthusiastic appraisals of private industry and citizen groups, 

 while McCormack and Goldwater both cautiously weighed the advice 

 and opinions of those officials charged with implementing these pro- 

 grams in the executive branch. 



In 1977, the figures looked like this when the committee took its 

 bill to the House floor on September 13: 



[Dollar amounts in millions] 



President's Committee Total commit- 



Program operating expenses budget in 1977 increase tee bill, 1977 



Solar 



Geothermal 



Conservation 



THE THREE VIEWPOINTS ON BUDGET FIGURES 



Here is what the three leaders on the McCormack subcommittee 

 had to say about the above figures: 



McCormack. I firmly believe that the authorization approved by the Committee 

 on Science and Technology represents an aggressive and efficient pace for moving 

 forward in solar energy, geothermal energy (and) energy conservation. * * * There 

 is well-established evidence that there are serious limitations to the speed with 

 which one can increase the size of research programs. Creating false expectations 

 hurts us all and authorizing expenditures beyond those limits of efficient use hurts 

 the credibility of the legislative process. 



Goldwater. While I did not personally propose many of the increases made in 

 the funding for individual subprograms, I feel that the committee has reached gen- 

 erally reasonable levels in most areas. 



Ottinger. Why isn't a greater push being made in this area? Why are we talking 

 about it as a 21st-century operation? * * * All the information the public's been 

 getting from ERDA is that this is a 21st-century operation without promise of being 

 able to produce a significant amount of electricity. 



During the amending process in 1977, Representative Paul E. 

 Tsongas (Democrat of Massachusetts) — who later became a U.S. 

 Senator — pushed through two amendments to increase funding for 

 solar energy. The first added $4.75 million for energy traineeships and 

 went through without opposition. The second added $38 million for 

 one-year purchase of solar cells for use in Federal facilities and tech- 

 nology development in solar photovoltaics. (Solar photovoltaics, as 

 opposed to solar heating and cooling, is the conversion of sunlight 

 directly into electric energy.) Tsongas, who was supported by Ottinger 

 and Gore, told the House that solar cells "cost too much because there 

 is no market, and there is no market because they cost too much." He 

 proposed to break the "vicious cycle" through a Federal buy to help 



