Just in case our Congressman, Dick Nugent, is too busy with his responsibilities making soundbites for TV showing how hard he's working for us in Washington or serving on the critically important Committees on House Administration and the House Rules Committee, I sent him this e-mail today...

Dear Congressman Nugent,

The Department of Energy's (DOE) Fiscal Year 2012 budget request is $29.5 billion, an 11.8 percent or $3.1 billion increase from FY 2010 current appropriation levels.

We never had a DOE until President Carter established it in 1977. Back then a primary purpose for the new cabinet-level department was to respond to the gas shortages during Carter's Presidency with a comprehensive, long-term energy policy. In addition, DOE is concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. Its responsibilities include the nation's nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production.

Here we are, 34 years later, and DOE's budget request is skrocketing. Why? We have no energy policy; we haven't built a nuclear reactor since DOE was established; we haven't changed the way we store spent nuclear fuel; we have many fewer nuclear warheads than in 1977; our production of nuclear-powered ships has slowed. Basically, there appears to be less work for DOE than when it was formed in 1977. But it's budget is going through the roof.

A good example of the waste generated by DOE is the Yucca Flats nuclear waste storage facility in Nevada. After studying various sites around the country beginning in 1978, finally construction was started on Yucca Flats 23 years later in 2001--not exactly a brisk pace for the project. The latest revised estimate from DOE shows that from start to finish, the Yucca Mountain radioactive waste repository will cost taxpayers $96.2 billion, a 38 percent increase from the $57.5 billion estimate published at the beginning of the project. At one point, there were as many as 4,000 people employed by DOE at Yucca Flats. At this point, the facility is ready to accept nuclear waste, but not one single pound of material has been deposited there. Nor are there any plans to do so.

There are many examples, but Yucca Flats is as good as any. Why do we need the DOE at all? It seems to me that little would be lost if we simply eliminated the DOE. We'd save almost $30 billion per year. Unfortunately, it's too late to save the almost $100 billion already spent to build the white elephant Yucca Flats nuclear waste storage facility.

Why not?

Next, I have a few ideas for the Department of Education.