Department Of Energy ‘May Consider’ Whether Scientist Is A Minority When Awarding Grants
President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) appears to be taking race into consideration when awarding grants.
In a funding announcement for the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, applicants were encouraged to make racial minorities, women, and veterans the “prime applicant” or a “proposed partner to the prime applicant.” The announcement claims that a “Selection Official may consider the inclusion of these types of entities as part of the selection” process.
The announcement reiterates that the DOE wishes to “encourage the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups.” Applicants are also encouraged to “include individuals from groups historically underrepresented in STEM” on their teams.
The DOE’s funding application process will now force applicants to provide a “diversity plan” to explain how “diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives will be incorporated” into projects such as research on geothermal energy.
“Applicants are required to submit a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan that describes the actions the applicant will take to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment, support people from underrepresented groups in STEM, advance equity, and encourage the inclusion of individuals from these groups in the project,” the funding announcement reads.
The announcement also included the Biden administration’s pledge to equity and racial justice in the federal government.
“The Federal Government should pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality,” the policy reads. “Affirmatively advancing equity, civil rights, racial justice, and equal opportunity is the responsibility of the whole of our Government.”
“Because advancing equity requires a systematic approach to embedding fairness in decision-making processes, executive departments and agencies (agencies) must recognize and work to redress inequities in their policies and programs that serve as barriers to equal opportunity,” the policy continues.
The Department of Energy did not respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.
This is not the Biden administration’s first attempt at distributing funds based on race. The administration included several provisions for race-based funding in its $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package, including one that provided loan forgiveness to “socially disadvantaged” farmers.
12 farmers across nine states filed a lawsuit against the policy. NBC News reported that a Wisconsin federal judge placed a temporary halt on the program, ruling that the white farmers “are likely to succeed on the merits of their claim” and that the “use of race-based criteria in the administration of the program violates [the farmer’s] right to equal protection under the law.”
The Daily Wire reported that a federal judge in Florida issued a preliminary injunction on Biden’s relief program for farmers as well. The Florida judge argued that the program was marred in “governmentally imposed discrimination based on race.”
The COVID relief bill also included a provision that seemingly discriminated against white restaurant owners. A federal appellate court ruled that the racial and gender preferences included in the law violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause.
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