Don't wait for oil and gas production to run dry, the former U.S. Energy Secretary said, Instead, bet on technological advances in alternate and efficient energy.

Overall R&D at DOD will drop below sequester levels, but early-stage research and technology programs dodge further cuts.

AAAS this week sent letters to President Barack Obama and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner (R-Ohio), urging them to “work together to achieve a bipartisan compromise that avoids the fiscal cliff and moves the country on to solid fiscal footing without sacrificing our nation’s crucial investments in science and technology.”

The proposed U.S. House of Representatives’ 2013 budget, though unlikely to gain Senate approval, sets a baseline for deep cuts to federal research and development spending for energy and other non-defense areas, according to a new AAAS analysis.

Specifically, the House budget would reduce total spending in key areas by 5% and total R&D by 3% below President Barack Obama’s requested budget of $142.2 billion for fiscal year 2013, said Matt Hourihan, director of the AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program.