Green stimuli?
How much green for greentech in the "stimulus" bill that looks to be headed to law? I have not read the whole 1400 pages and I will not use the energy it would take to do so. But here's some of what I've gleaned. $20 bn for tax incentives to those adopting energy efficient tech over the next decade. $16.4 bn for mass transit and high speed rail. Some of this in grants to states. How big is this pile of money? Well, California estimates it will take $45 billion just to built a statewide high speed rail system in that one state. $11 billion for an updated "smart" electric grid. Less waste of electricity lost over long distance transmission lines. The Department of Transportation 2008 budget: $67 billion. Exxon's profits in 2008: over $45 billion. $6 bn for local clean water projects. Coke which sells bottled water and other liquids made nearly a billion in profits in Q4 alone. $4.5 bn for updating federal buildings and making them more energy efficient. $4 bn for renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction projects.$3 bn for National Science Foundation. On the bi-centennial of Charles Darwin's birth. How's that for intelligent design of a national research program? $3.2 bn tax refund for General Motors. $2 bn for next generation battery technology. Crucial if the US is to have plug-in cars using American-made parts instead of batteries imported from Asia. Extends tax breaks for wind facilities and other renewable energy facilities and provides other tax incentives to encourage development of renewable energy facilities. Extends tax credits for energy-efficient improvements to existing homes. A tax credit for purchase of "plug-in" electric vehicles of at least $2,500. The credit is increased depending on the battery capacity of the car purchased. A new 30 percent investment tax credit for facilities producing renewable energy technology and conservation. This could please some venture capitalists. Not in the bill: nuclear power plants. Australia has just enacted a stimulus plan of its own--$28 billion US. Some of that money will go for free home insulation for Aussies. In the U.K. they've got a plan to update the insulation in all private homes by 2030. No hurry.