What Is the Department of Energy, and How Does It Affect You?

The Department of Energy (DOE) has been in existence for 25 years, and is primarily a national security agency. Its purpose is to ensure energy security and maintain the safety of the nuclear weapons stockpile.

Since the DOE is primarily concerned with national energy security, it affects you by making sure energy is provided cheaply and reliably. Here are two specific initiatives signed into law in 2006:

1. Advance Energy Initiative - Provides funding for solar, wind and advanced battery research. It also includes further energy development of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, the Outer Continental Shelf, and the Alaska Gas Pipeline.
2. American Competitiveness Initiative - Continue the tax credits to private sector energy research funding, including bio-fuels, such as turning switch-grass into ethanol-based gasoline.