Inside the research-and-development budget are robust investments: a $450 million increase in basic science, doubling (from three to six) the number of Energy Innovation Hubs to encourage collaboration among universities, government labs and the private sector; $550 million for the fledgling Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, known as ARPA-E, which looks into cutting-edge ideas. There’s also a $1 billion increase for renewable energy and energy efficiency, and a $588 million jump — 88 percent — for advanced vehicles.  The main area of agreement between Mr. Obama and the Republicans seems to be nuclear power. Both sides support extensive loan guarantees to an industry that hasn’t built a new reactor in years but could supply a lot of clean power if it ever got going.  Otherwise, as expressed in their budget resolution, the Republican agenda is breathtakingly negative: a mere $50 million for ARPA-E, $900 million less for basic science, $900 million less for energy efficiency and alternative fuels, a much-reduced loan program for deploying clean power sources like wind, solar and geothermal.  Some of these programs would take extra hits because the bill would, unconscionably, strip them of unused stimulus money, a hefty $10 billion in the case of efficiency and renewables.  The message to the White House and the Democratic leadership is clear: get ready to fight. Mr. Obama was AWOL in last year’s struggle for a comprehensive climate bill — a great pity because he had more support in Congress than he does now. He’ll need all the energy he failed to expend last year — and more — to achieve even his slimmed-down objectives this year.  A version of this editorial appears in print on February 22, 2011, on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: The Dirty Energy Party. Today's Paper|Subscribe
Even President Obama’s more modest climate policy is sure to whip the Republicans into a fresh frenzy of opposition.