TASK FORCE AND SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY, 1971-74 677 



Department of Energy and Natural Resources including a new Energy 

 Research and Development Administration, and announced a 5-year, 

 $10 billion program for energy R. & D. Following the Yom Kippur 

 war and the Arab oil embargo in October 1973, Governor Love was 

 replaced by William Simon to set up a new Federal Energy Office in 

 the White House. In November, President Nixon announced "Project 

 Independence" to make the United States energy self-sufficient by 

 1980. He also asked in November that Congress give separate and 

 priority attention to the proposed Energy Research and Development 

 Administration (ERDA) before dealing with the cabinet Department 

 of Energy and Natural Resources. 



On November 26, 1973, McCormack persuaded Teague to convene 

 a special all-day meeting of the Research Management Advisory Panel 

 to discuss policies and legislation in the area of Federal organization 

 for energy. McCormack presided over the meeting, which was a hush- 

 hush and off-the-record affair. Teague, Fuqua, Symington, and Mosher 

 were the only Members present. Almost all the RMAP members were 

 there, as well as Daddario, who by that time had been designated as 

 the OTA Director. Hon. Dixy Lee Ray, Chairman of the Atomic 

 Energy Commission, briefed the group on a report the President had 

 asked her to prepare on how to allocate an additional $100 million in 

 Federal funds for energy. Several other administration energy officials 

 also talked about the current administration thinking on energy 

 organization. Committee members came away disappointed that there 

 apparently was no strong disposition to consolidate the bits and pieces 

 of energy activities spread around in various departments and agencies. 

 To McCormack especially, the concept that one R. & D. agency 

 (ERDA) be divorced from the Federal Energy Administration, and from 

 policy assessment work in the Department of the Interior, Federal 

 Power Commission and other agencies amounted to proliferation of a 

 disorganized, confused nature. 



MCCORMACK's APPRAISAL OF ERDA LEGISLATION' 



On November 28, 1973, McCormack testified before the House 

 Government Operations Committee against the bill to create ERDA. 

 He argued, as had the December 1972 task force report, that there 

 must be a systems approach along with one central agency to control 

 all "research, development, and demonstration" as well as assessment 

 and policy. 



He raised the question why solar heating and cooling and geo- 

 thermal power development were being transferred out of NSF, while 

 other solar energy R. & D., wind energy, battery R. & D., and fuel 

 cells were not being transferred. He asked: 



If solar heating and cooling is included, why not housing design and standards 

 for energy efficiency? 



