President Obama and his administration have come across a dilemma in the department of funding for alternative energy. He wants to pull funds from the federal loan gaurantee program that is meant to help the construction of wind and solar farms and other alternative energy projects. He believes the taxpayers money could be spent more wisely elsewhere. His decision to pull money form the program would hurt his alliance with congressman as well as hurt his reputation that has been spent promoting a Recovery Act program. As of now, Obama's senior advisers are reporting that the alternative energy project would move forward without a loan grant because the administration doesn't see any benefits and too many things would have to fall into place in order for the loan guarantee to be effective.
The response to this is provided by GE who says "This project, already under construction, is generating a significant number of jobs in an area of Oregon that has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state,"(Wall Street Journal). Although Obama's stance on this matter seems clear, a spokeswoman for the president says "We are taking steps to streamline the [loan guarantee] process while still protecting taxpayers who, ultimately, are the ones investing in these projects," (Wall Street Journal). This debate has not been resolved yet, but Obama would rather see the taxpayers money go towards.
-Nicole Lombardo
(Wall Street Journal, Stephen Power)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703506904575592843603174132.html?mod=WSJ_Energy_leftHeadlines
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