The Trump Administration and many of its members came into office with a well-deserved reputation for being skeptical of government programs, particularly those thought to influence or replace activities common to the private sector. Indeed, several members of President Trump’s cabinet (e.g., HUD Secretary Ben Carson, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos) have in the not-too-distant past openly questioned whether the organizations that they have been chosen to lead should even exist.
Given that backdrop, it is somewhat surprising, but certainly welcome, that a senior Trump Administration official would actively support a federal government program that is under attack within the Administration and in some quarters on Capital Hill. It is even more surprising that this defense comes from an individual who, like several of his colleagues, once advocated abolishing the entire department in which his program is housed. Yet, here we are.
As reported in several media sources (The Washington Post, Triple Pundit), Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has become an avid supporter of a somewhat obscure program managed by the Department of Energy (DoE). The program is called the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), and is analogous to the better known Department of Defense program (DARPA) that focuses on weapons development but also has spawned inventions and technologies that have literally changed the world (e.g., the internet, GIS, Google maps). ARPA-E focuses on energy technology development, serving as an incubator and resource for startups and as a bridge between academia and commerce.
Although ARPA-E has only been in existence for a few years, it has already spawned some important innovations in such areas as battery technology, solar power cells, and biofuels. Importantly, from a public investment standpoint, technologies funded by the program have attracted substantial private investment. For example, projects funded in 2014 to the tune of $95 million have generated $625 million in private funding, or a ratio of 6:1. This success as a catalyst for potentially important energy technologies is why the program is attracting growing support in the U.S. Congress. Despite the fact that the Trump Administration has twice attempted to zero out the program in its proposed federal budget, supporters of ARPA-E in the Congress are having none of it. And now they have a new ally—Rick Perry.
Perry has not been shy in expressing his skepticism of “big government” during his tenure as Governor of Texas and as a presidential candidate. Yet he has come to understand the important role that government programs can play in performing or supporting basic research, promoting collaboration, brokering relationships, and perhaps most importantly, taking big risks that might yield game-changing breakthroughs (i.e., the types of investments that corporations are often reluctant to make). He explains his support in this video, prepared for participants in this year’s ARPA-E conference: https://twitter.com/SecretaryPerry/status/974015768240238598.
During this time of hyper-partisanship and political chaos, I find it reassuring that a devout, small-government conservative is willing to consider new facts, judge a situation on its merits, and break ranks with his (and his President’s) ideology to lend support to an objectively valuable program that will benefit us all. I can only hope that, moving, forward, other principled conservatives will demonstrate similar vision and fortitude during these challenging times.
For further information, see articles here https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2018/03/19/the-energy-202-the-white-house-wants-to-kill-this-popular-energy-program-but-rick-perry-calls-it-impressive/5aaf0fa030fb047655a06d64/?utm_term=.b45f2a142934 and here https://www.triplepundit.com/2018/03/rick-perry-white-houses-unlikely-advocate-arpa-es-renewable-success/?utm_source=Daily+Email+List&utm_campaign=caf77aa372-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9dedefcee3-caf77aa372-220553125.
