Congressional negotiators in the House of Representatives and the
Senate agreed late Wednesday night on a $789 billion stimulus bill.
President Obama could sign the bill in a matter of days, marking
the end of his administration’s first legislative battle, in which it
was barely able to scrape up enough Republican support to pass the bill
in the Senate. If anything is clear from the process, it is that the
hopes for bi-partisan cooperation on future legislation may be empty.
The complete terms of the compromise are not yet available.
However a Bloomberg report yesterday said negotiators were considering
dropping $7.7 billion in renewable-energy grants. House and Senate
versions of the bill were separated by a difference of roughly $14 billion on cleantech spending.
However, numerous environmental groups are celebrating the removal of
$50 billion in loan guarantees that could have been used by the nuclear
and coal industries, as well as for renewable energy projects.
"This is a big victory for common sense and the American
taxpayer," said Kevin Kamps of Beyond Nuclear who helped lead the
campaign on Capitol Hill to cut the $50 billion for nuclear power. "The
nuclear industry cannot solve the climate crisis and fattening the
nuclear calf has deprived real energy solutions like renewable energy
and energy efficiency programs of essential support for decades."
The Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry association, noted
that the Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program could have
supported all energy projects that avoid, reduce or store air
pollutants or greenhouse gases and employ new or significantly improved
technologies–not just nuclear.
In Related News…
The economic stimulus bill includes more than $9 billion for the
Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency. The money
would be used to shutter abandoned mines on public lands, to help local
governments protect drinking water supplies, and to erect
energy-efficient visitor centers at wildlife refuges and national
parks.
For a summary of these and other environmental projects tha could be
funded when President Obama signs the bill, read the Associated Press
coverage at the link below.
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