Energy Secretary Steven Chu set out this year to address America's energy future with a network of new research labs. But lawmakers drafted their own blueprint: Instead of fully funding Dr. Chu's request, an energy-spending bill sets aside millions of dollars for such projects as an aviation-research institute, an environmentally friendly locomotive and air conditioning for a New Jersey museum.

When President Barack Obama signed a spending bill for the 2009 fiscal year in March, he said he wanted earmark-laden legislation to be an "end to the old way of doing business, and the beginning of a new era of responsibility and accountability."
Congress, however, hasn't given up earmarks -- the term for seemingly parochial projects funded at the behest of lawmakers.

The Obama administration didn't request these energy projects; it has proposed eliminating many of them.

Critics of the proposals -- which total more than $400 million in the legislation nearing Senate approval -- say they threaten to distract the Energy Department at a time when it is trying to disburse roughly $37 billion that Congress approved earlier this year for fuel-efficient vehicles, a modernized electric grid and other projects.

"The best that can be said is that they are a nuisance," said David Conover, who was principal deputy assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the department during the administration of President George W. Bush.

Overall, the legislation provides the department with $27.1 billion, $1.3 billion less than Mr. Obama and Dr. Chu sought. To achieve those savings, lawmakers slashed Dr. Chu's request to fund eight new research-and-development labs, at a cost of $280 million. The legislation would allow the department to fund three of the labs Dr. Chu wants, but largely with money from other parts of DOE's budget.

Lawmakers say their proposals are consistent with the goals of U.S. energy policy.

Sen. Robert Byrd (D., W. Va.), who championed a plan to spend $1.25 million on a study of coal liquefaction in China, has said it could help the U.S. "better pursue coal-to-liquids transportation fuels projects." Environmentalists say emissions associated with liquefied coal exacerbate climate change.

Rep. Todd Tiahrt, (R., Kan.), says a provision to direct $1.5 million to the National Institute for Aviation Research at Wichita State University will allow small businesses to take advantage of research by the institute on composite materials often used in aircraft but that also could be used in products made by constituents.

The proposal was one of several flagged in a recent "pork alert" by Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington nonprofit; the alert noted that the institute's Web site lists several large aerospace companies as clients.

"We've got bright people at DOE, but they don't look at how we grow the economy," Mr. Tiahrt said.

Similarly, a spokesman for Rep. Bill Shuster (R., Pa.) says the $1 million sought for a new electric locomotive to be developed by Pennsylvania State University is consistent with the government's interest in ensuring "a good, firm transportation infrastructure." The Energy Department proposed cutting off funding for the project.

As for the $1.5 million for new air conditioning at the Newark Museum, Reps. Donald Payne (D., N.J.) and Rodney Frelinghuysen (R., N.J.) say the money would help the facility become a model of energy efficiency. Asked whether the museum could fund the project by raising admission fees, as Citizens Against Government Waste has suggested, Mr. Payne said the museum needs government money for such projects and to "continue making its collection accessible to the American public through affordable admission rates."

Museum officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

All told, the bill would provide $445 million for "congressionally directed projects" at DOE. That's a decline of 5.9% from the 2009 fiscal year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science. But factoring out defense-related portions of the agency's budget, earmarks at the department would total $421 million in fiscal 2010, an 8.4% increase from 2009, the group says.

"No one expects Congress to simply rubber stamp a budget with no changes," a DOE spokesman said. "We're pleased that members of both parties and both houses have worked quickly to produce a budget...that reflects our shared commitment to energy independence and creating the clean energy economy of the future."

Mr. Obama is expected to sign the legislation.