WILL NEW ENERGY GET PAST CONGRESS?

Environmentalists hope stimulus package will push ‘green' goals
Renee Schoof, January 11, 2009 (McClatchy Newspapers via Miami Herald)

"…Environmental groups cheered last week when President-elect Barack Obama said the U.S. should use the stimulus package to double its production of renewable energy in three years and cut its use of fossil fuels by modernizing more than 75 percent of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of 2 million homes.

"The questions now, however, are whether Obama's plan will sail through Congress or clash with other interests, and whether environmentalists will be able to use the recovery package to press other of their ideas, including installing solar panels on school roofs and spending money on mass transit instead of new highways."

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"…shifting money away from highway construction to other transportation uses will be one of the most difficult aspects of pressing home a green agenda as part of the stimulus package…Companies that benefit from federal dollars for highway construction are a powerful lobbying opponent…

"…Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said the stimulus plan should include $1 billion in grants to spur the production of batteries for electric vehicles in the United States…Most of the technology for lithium ion batteries was invented in the United States, but Pacific Rim countries now are producing nearly all these batteries…

"The wind and solar industry also are arguing for government support…Studies show that energy efficiency and renewable energy are the cheapest way to make the sharp greenhouse gas emissions reductions scientists warn will be necessary to avoid serious climate disruption…

"Seventeen environmental groups sent a detailed list of more than 80 stimulus proposals to Obama in early December. They argued their plans could create 3.6 million jobs…"