You will be surprised at the tremendous research done in physics, chemistry, chemistry, biology, and other sciences at the laboratories funded by dept of energy. I did work at one of those laboratories, many years ago, and that basic research filters into hundreds of uses in industrial applications.
That research is done by taking research money from private corporations and I am sure handled like most Government largess, cents on the dollar ever reaches research.
Actually, I worked at a DOE research lab early in my career too, and I see their value. However, their scale of spending is not matched by the economic return. I’m okay with some federal funding for basic and applied research, but not when it’s treated like Monopoly money, where too little attention is paid to whether the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth.
[ and that basic research filters into hundreds of uses in industrial applications.]
As long as “climate change” isn’t one of those...