A bipartisan coalition of Senators led by Idaho's Mike Crapo and Iowa's Tom Harkin is asking Senate appropriators to ensure that programs improving renewable energy production receive the full funding possible in the coming fiscal year....In other words, putting federal funds into renewable energy development is a good investment. Considering how much money our government tends to pour down the drain, this seems like a no-brainer, even for politicians... Shoot, you can even satisfy the "let's run the government like a business" crowd with these figures... Of course, government accounting has a lot in common with a magic act, and the devil will certainly reside in the details, but why not hold Dubya to his big push for renewables earlier this year...?
"This renewable energy program creates jobs in rural America, saves energy, and produces a cleaner environment," said Crapo, who is Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Forestry, Conservation and Rural Revitalization.
The Senators are calling for minimum funding of $23 million to continue the renewable energy programs. The letter, dated March 24th, which Crapo and 21 other Senators signed, notes that Section 9006 of the 2002 Farm Bill expanded the use of renewable energy such as wind, solar power, ethanol and biodiesel. In the letter, they note that over the past three years, Section 9006 programs invested nearly $62 million in 270 projects that brought an estimated return of nearly $834 million, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. (my emphasis)
Categories: renewable, energy, funding, investment, senate, US
