Clean Tomorrow Report Calls for $25 Billion DOE Investment to Secure U.S. Energy Innovation Leadership by 2030

Clean Tomorrow has released a new report, Re-Energizing America, outlining the need for an $25 billion investment in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by 2030 to secure the nation’s global leadership in energy innovation. The roadmap emphasizes four policy priorities—energy security, affordability, economic opportunity, and decarbonization—as essential pillars for America’s competitive edge through the end of the decade.

The report builds on the 2020 energy innovation roadmap Energizing America, evaluating what has worked, identifying existing gaps, and defining strategic areas where investment is urgently needed. According to Clean Tomorrow, the U.S. faces new pressures including rising electricity demand from widespread electrification, increasing AI-driven power loads, industrial modernization, and the transition to clean energy systems.

Evan Chapman, Senior Director of Policy at Clean Tomorrow and co-author of the report, said the U.S. is “entering a new frontier in American energy,” noting that massive increases in power demand and rapid clean energy transitions require bold, proactive investment to maintain U.S. leadership built over the past 150 years. “We can lead the world in energy innovation while gaining economic and geopolitical advantages—if we choose to act,” he said.

Co-author Claire C. Cody, Senior Innovation Policy Analyst at Clean Tomorrow, highlighted that the U.S. currently ranks 13th globally for energy innovation investments. She stressed that to maintain leadership in discovering and scaling future energy technologies, the country must pursue sustained federal support and significantly higher funding commitments.

David Sandalow, co-author of the original 2020 roadmap, warned of national and global repercussions if the U.S. fails to deploy clean technologies at scale. “The next fifty years will be defined by how we respond to today’s challenges,” he noted, calling for renewed national purpose and forward-looking investment.

The Re-Energizing America report proposes five key recommendations to implement the $25 billion plan:

• Establish a unified innovation framework that links research to deployment.
• Enable cross-program planning and sustained collaboration across DOE divisions.
• Improve agility through alternative funding mechanisms beyond traditional procurement.
• Strengthen partnerships with industry to accelerate market-driven innovation.
• Build institutional continuity through multi-year budget authority and long-term partnerships with states, universities, and industry.

Clean Tomorrow recommends raising energy research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) funding by 80% from FY2025 levels, reaching $25 billion by FY2030. This investment—less than 0.4% of the federal budget—would restore the U.S. to a top-tier global position in energy innovation relative to GDP.