Senator Lamar Alexander Releases Manhattan Project for Clean Energy Proposal

With the Senate’s recent vote on the Green New Deal, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) recently introduced a new proposal he dubbed the “New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy.” Sen. Alexander is a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development.

Sen. Alexander’s proposal is a five year project comprised of ten grand challenges. These challenges serve as building blocks that Alexander asserts would allow the U.S. to develop and use cleaner, cheaper energy. Alexander also states that achieving these ten grand challenges will strengthen U.S. research and development capabilities and reinstate the U.S. as a global leader.

“Meeting these Grand Challenges would create breakthroughs in advanced nuclear reactors, natural gas, carbon capture, better batteries, greener buildings, electric vehicles, cheaper solar and fusion,” Lamar explained. “To provide the tools to create these breakthroughs, the federal government should double its funding for energy research and keep the United States number one in the world in advanced computing. This strategy takes advantage of the United States’ secret weapon, our extraordinary capacity for basic research, especially at our 17 national laboratories. It will strengthen our economy and raise our family incomes.”

These ten grand challenges are:

• Advanced Nuclear
• Natural Gas
• Carbon Capture
• Better Batteries
• Greener Buildings
• Electric Vehicles
• Cheaper Solar
• Fusion
• Advanced Computing
• Double Energy Research Funding

For further information on Sen. Alexander’s new proposal, click here: https://www.alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2019/3/one-republican-s-response-to-climate-change-a-new-manhattan-project-for-clean-energy-10-grand-challenges-for-the-next-five-years