950 



HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 



"The country cannot afford more waiting for a solar policy," 

 Ottinger declared, pointing out that Congress had been way ahead of 

 the administration in its actions in the area. On the other hand, 

 Wydler stated that in five years "we have sunk over a billion dollars 

 into solar and commercialization. It is about time we start to look to 

 see if we are getting anything for our money * * *. I am also con- 

 cerned as to whether our large annual increases for solar have led to 

 an orderly, expanded program, which is what we wanted, or a mix- 

 ture of chaos and solar 'pork,' as some have charged." Wydler cited 

 the example of the Grumman Corp. in his area, which had suffered 

 from "all of the discussions we had about tax credits for solar heating 

 devices." Wydler stated: 



When those discussions started, the bottom fell out of their market and a com- 

 pany which was making good progress in commercial sales of solar heating devices 

 found that that market had disappeared. While we meant well, as a practical matter 

 what we did do was to hurt the sound development of solar energy in our Nation. 



20 PERCENT SOLAR BY 2000 



The President's June 20, 1979, plan to produce by the year 2000 

 20 percent of all energy by solar means received differing reactions 

 from committee members. Fuqua hailed the initiative as a "necessary 

 move to focus attention on the alternatives available and an expression 

 of leadership in the energy field to which the public can rally." 

 Gore indicated: 



While I am encouraged by the leadership which has finally been exhibited by 

 the President, my enthusiasm is somewhat tempered by the delay until fiscal year 

 1981 for an increase in the budgetary commitment to solar energy and the similar 

 delay in funding the Solar Development Bank. 



Fish remarked: 



Unfortunately, I find nothing new in the President's remarks. Left out was a 

 call for any additional solar R. & D. While a goal was stated, a firm commitment 

 was lacking. No program was spelled out to attain the goal. 



Ottinger introduced a resolution, with a number of cosponsors, 

 to make solar residential tax credits retroactive, in order to avoid 

 having people delay their initiative until sometime in the future. 



Wydler suggested that the congressional review of solar R. & D. 

 was not as rigorous as for other emerging energy technologies. He 

 stated that Congress was not requiring DOE to designate specific 

 milestones every year for solar energy. Wydler added that the Presi- 

 dential goal of 20 percent solar energy by the year 2000 was "approxi- 

 mately equal to the amount of energy we are now getting from coal, 

 nuclear, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, and biomass energy sources 

 combined. This is no small feat and we are certainly not going to be 



