NREL Renamed As National Laboratory Of the Rockies in the US

Continuing with its inexorable drift away from renewable goals and commitments, the US Department of Energy (DOE) has renamed the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) the National Laboratory of the Rockies. The change follows significant staff cuts at the NREL a few months back, and will seek to douse any further role for the organisation in being among the frontrunners of research and data on renewable energy, particularly solar and wind. 

A statement on the move claimed the name change reflected the Trump administration’s “broader vision” of the organisation’s applied energy research.

In a statement that is as much a word salad than a clear enunciation of the way ahead for the body, Assistant energy secretary Audrey Robertson said: “The energy crisis we face today is unlike the crisis that gave rise to NREL. We are no longer picking and choosing energy sources. Our highest priority is to invest in the scientific capabilities that will restore American manufacturing, drive down costs and help this country meet its soaring energy demand. The National Laboratory of the Rockies will play a vital role in those efforts.”

The Trump administration has moved to strike at most of the Biden administrations move to push for a higher share of renewable energy into the US grid, From cancelling confirmed wind energy permissions, to pre-poning deadlines for projecst to be eligible for guaranteed incentives, and further efforts to claw back incentives already disbursed, the administration has made no secret of its disdain for renewables or many of the reasons it was pushed in the first place. Efforts to mitigate methane emissions from oil and gas drilling have been almost abandoned for instance, a direct reversal of climate linked efforts.