President Barack Obama is expected to sign the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act this week. The 1,071-page American Recovery and Reinvestment Act cleared the House Friday 246-183, without any Republican support, and received final passage in the Senate later that night on a 61-37 vote with three Republicans supporting it.
According to an analysis by the Center for American Progress (www.americanprogress.org) Washington State receives a recovery package equivalent to 3.34% of its Gross State Product which is estimated at $10.41 billion for the state. This map shows state-by-state allocations of the provisions for which we could establish where the money is going. This constitutes 69 percent of the total cost of the act. The map compares the amount that each state will get relative to the size of its economy, measured using each state's 2007 gross state product.
In a speech on the Senate floor Senator Patty Murray (WA) said the bill will help put thousands of Washingtonians to work rebuilding roads and bridges, cleaning up Hanford, and helping to expand green energy options through the Bonneville Power Administration. The bill will also direct millions of dollars in aid to the state and to local communities, enabling them to help working families and keep teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other essential workers on the job.
Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) stated the state could receive $3 billion to invest in infrastructure which would create green manufacturing jobs and provide for tax incentives for consumers buying new plug-in vehicles. "More than 200,000 job cuts have been announced this year, and in Washington State, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed to 7.1 percent," said Cantwell. "We still have a long way to go to get our economy back on track. However, with this federal support, Washington state will be able to make investments in infrastructure projects and improvements, create jobs, provide training and education, provide the neediest among us with health care, and invest in areas critical to the development of clean, renewable energy technologies."
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman (NM) appointed Senator Maria Cantwell (WA) to lead the Subcommittee on Energy. The subcommittee's jurisdiction includes oversight for: new technologies research and development; commercialization of new technologies including, solar energy systems; Federal energy conservation programs; energy information; global climate change; nuclear, coal and synthetic fuels research and development; nuclear and non-nuclear energy commercialization projects; nuclear fuel cycle policy; DOE National Laboratories; nuclear facilities siting and insurance program; liquefied natural gas projects; oil and natural gas regulation; refinery policy; coal conversion; utility policy; strategic petroleum reserves; regulation of Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and other oil and gas pipeline transportation systems within Alaska Arctic research and energy development; and oil, gas and coal production and distribution.
"The next few decades will be all about finding ways to make our energy supplies cleaner and more affordable, efficient, diverse, and distributed. We must seize this opportunity to invest in clean energy technologies in order to make America more energy independent, mitigate global warming, and lead what will be the largest growth industry of the 21st century," said Cantwell. "Working closely with Chairman Bingaman, I also want to find ways to make our nation's transmission grid smarter and more robust, leverage the incredible brainpower and innovation at our national labs, get our nuclear waste clean up efforts back on track, and ensure fair and functioning energy markets. I believe the Committee also has an important role to play in crafting climate change control legislation, and I'd like to focus on innovative ways to make climate policy simpler, more equitable, and more transparent."
The quest for clean and green energy is generating a lot of interesting ideas and policy proposals. The latest comes from a group of researchers affiliated with the Brookings Institution that recommend the creation of a nationwide series of Energy-Discovery Innovation Institutes.
The institutes would serve as regional hubs for a network linking the nation's best engineers, scientists, and facilities. Each hub would compete to receive Federal funds (up to $200 million per year) and would specialize around key theme or research focus, such as solar or wind power. Each hub would be located at a major university, a Federal lab, or a satellite research center. In addition to spurring regional development, the centers would be linked into a national network that would enhance collaboration and build important cross-sector partnerships.
Report: "Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes: A Step Toward America's Energy Sustainability" from the Brookings Institution.
There could be no better investment in America than to invest in America becoming energy independent! We need to utilize everything in out power to reduce our dependence on foreign oil including using our own natural resources. Create cheap clean energy, new badly needed green jobs, and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. The high cost of fuel this past year seriously damaged our economy and society. The cost of fuel effects every facet of consumer goods from production to shipping costs. After a brief reprieve gas is inching back up. OPEC will continue to cut production until they achieve their desired 80-100. per barrel. If all gasoline cars, trucks, and SUV's instead had plug-in electric drive trains, the amount of electricity needed to replace gasoline is about equal to the estimated wind energy potential of the state of North Dakota. There is a really good new book out by Jeff Wilson called The Manhattan Project of 2009 Energy Independence Now. http://www.themanhattanprojectof2009.com
Posted by: Ben | February 16, 2009 at 04:31 PM