Witnesses urge U.S. to fund demonstrations, export credit and permitting reform to scale clean technologies

During questioning, senators pressed witnesses on where limited federal funds would be most effective: domestic efficiency measures or investment in technologies that can be exported to developing countries.

Rich Powell said he would ‘‘put the vast majority of the resources in the latter bucket’’ — investing in demonstrations for a suite of technologies (carbon capture, advanced nuclear, geothermal, long-duration storage and cleaner cement and steel processes) and establishing smart incentives to deploy and scale those solutions. Powell said export-credit and development-finance tools are critical to offer developing countries credible, sovereign-backed alternatives to China’s Belt and Road financing.

Powell also emphasized that U.S. permitting rules inflate cost and time for demonstrations, arguing reform would stretch federal dollars further by reducing barriers to building pilot projects domestically. Ms. Goodman agreed that paired domestic action and international support — including nature-based solutions — would strengthen both national security and commercial competitiveness.

Witnesses cited the Energy Act of 2020 as a statutory foundation for demonstration programs and urged Congress to consider funding levels and mechanisms to accelerate deployment; no appropriation or vote occurred during the hearing.