New Energy Future News

Obama Delivers on Promise to Make Clean Energy a Cornerstone of Economic Recovery Plan

Today, President Obama signed an economic recovery plan that delivers $78.6 billion in clean energy, energy efficiency, and green transportation investments. These provisions will prevent approximately 68 million tons of global warming pollution annually, reduce oil consumption by 15 million barrels per year, and create more than 1.5 million jobs.

“President Obama’s election campaign was energized by millions of Americans who support a clean energy future. Now, his economic recovery plan will repower America and recharge our economy by investing in solar and wind, more efficient homes and public transit,” said Environment Illinois Program Director Max Muller.

Environment Illinois applauded both the president and Congress for delivering a plan that will put Americans to work in good jobs weatherizing homes and federal buildings, installing renewable energy projects, and expanding our public transit capacity to meet growing demand.

The final bill invests $32.80 billion in clean energy, $26.86 billion in energy efficiency, and $18.95 billion in green transportation. Environment Illinois highlighted the following provisions out of a long list of clean energy projects funded by the plan:

• Extending and “recession proofing” the renewable energy incentives, which will prevent 61 million tons of global warming pollution per year by the end of the three year extension and create or protect 670,000 jobs in the near term;

• Providing $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program, enough to prevent 2 million tons of global warming pollution, create 375,000 jobs, and weatherize more than a million homes.

• Investing $8.4 billion in public transit, $1.3 billion in Amtrak and intercity rail, and $8 billion in new high speed rail, which combined will save 14 million barrels of oil per year and create or preserve nearly 296,000 jobs.

“The president’s recovery plan is a down payment on a clean energy transformation of our economy that will help solve global warming, reduce our dependence on oil and create more jobs,” said Muller.

Environment Illinois’s summary of economic and environmental benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is posted at here.

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Environment Illinois is a citizen-based, non-profit, non-partisan environmental advocacy organization with over 20,000 members statewide. For more information visit www.EnvironmentIllinois.org.