Stimulus Wind Power

Photo Source: the Russians are here

The political season is upon us and with it comes debate about whether the stimulus worked or not.  Sure, the stimulus had its problems, but the funds allocated to renewable energy projects have been effective.  Recently the RNCC has aired ads claiming that the stimulus funds for renewable energy put our country in deeper debt while creating green jobs in China.  A recent Time article points out that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

“When credit markets froze in 2008, the U.S. wind industry froze as well. Since the first Bush Administration, Congress had extended bipartisan tax credits to promote renewable energy projects, but after the financial meltdown those credits became virtually unusable; when no one has profits, no one needs tax credits. Wind projects were stalling, and turbines the size of 747’s were lying in fields; the industry was bracing for a 50% decline in new capacity in 2009. So the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided nearly $2 billion in direct grants to wind projects, in effect “monetizing” the tax credits.

The results were immediate and impressive. The industry came back from the dead to add a record 10,000 megawatts in 2009, almost a 20% increase. AWEA credits the stimulus with saving at least 40,000 jobs in construction, engineering, trucking and yes, manufacturing. According to the Department of Energy, the U.S. only imported 40% of the components for its wind turbines in 2009, down from about 80% in 2006. And according to the International Trade Commission, less than 5% of those components came from China. In a Facebook posting in February that helped inspire the Republican wind-bashing, Sarah Palin claimed that “80% of the $2 billion they spent on alternative energy went to purchase wind turbines built in China.” In fact, only 3 of America’s 33,000 turbines were built in China.”

For those interested in doing their own research on stimulus spending, visit recovery.gov.