Washington, DC - This
afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an economic recovery
package containing nearly $80 billion in clean energy, energy efficiency,
public transit, rail and green transportation funding.
“With the clean energy and green transportation investments
in this package, Congress can deliver a green economic recovery that will
repower America and recharge our economy,” said Environment Ohio Program Director
Amy Gomberg.
The final
bill invests $32.80 billion for clean energy, $26.86 billion for energy
efficiency, and $18.95 for green transportation. Environment Ohio highlighted the following
provisions:
- Extending and “recession proofing”
the renewable energy incentives, which will prevent 55.8 million tons of
global warming pollution per year by the end of the three year extension
and create or protect 254,000 jobs in the near term;
- Creating a renewable energy
manufacturing tax credit;
- Fully funding the Green Jobs Act
at $500 million over 2 years which will train 70,000 workers in renewable
energy and energy efficiency job;
- Invest $4.5 billion to upgrade our
electricity transmission system to better take advantage of renewable
energy and improve efficiency;
- Providing $5 billion for the
Weatherization Assistance Program, enough to prevent 9.7 million tons of
global warming pollution and create 375,000 jobs;
- Providing $4.5 billion to improve
energy efficiency of federal buildings, the nation’s biggest energy user;
- Funding the State Energy Program
at $3.1 billion to help citizens and business save energy;
- Providing $3.2 billion in block
grants for local government energy efficiency and renewable energy
projects;
- Providing $8.4 billion in public
transit, which will save 10.3 million barrels of oil and create or
preserve 252,000 jobs, with $1.5 billion set aside for expanding capacity
and upgrades to existing transit systems;
- Investing $8 billion for new high
speed rail projects.
In 2008, the wind energy industry installed enough new
power capacity to avoid nearly 44 million tons of global warming pollution and
increased U.S. wind industry jobs by 70 percent. Fixing the renewable energy
tax incentives was a top priority to keep increasing the development of clean,
renewable energy and reducing global warming pollution.
Environment Ohio also commended the House and Senate leaders
who removed billions of dollars in loan guarantees from the final bill that
could have been used for nuclear power and liquid coal.
“The clean energy investments we need to protect our
environment and start solving global warming will create more jobs and
stimulate the economy more than the dirty technologies of the past. We urge the
Senate to quickly deliver this final bill to President Obama so America can get
on the path to a clean energy economy,” concluded Gomberg.
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Environment Ohio is a statewide, citizen-based
environmental advocacy organization working for clean air, clean water, and open space.
