A Wall Street Journal investigation into the relationship between job-creation claims by the Obama administration and stimulus money targeted toward the development and expansion of our nation’s “green” energy sector has revealed an apparent disconnect between rhetoric and reality.
Specifically, the Journal report focused on funds apportioned to companies developing renewable energy from with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). According to Section 1603 of ARRA, allocated resources should be dispensed to create jobs and renewable energy such as wind, geothermal, and solar, exclusive of oil and fossil fuel sources.
Since the passage of ARRA, over $10 billion in stimulus funds have been distributed through the 1603 program, which expired in December 2011. According to the Obama administration, this has been a boon to America’s renewable energy sector.
Money allocated through the 1603 program “has played a central role in the dramatic expansion of renewable energy generation in the United States, with energy generated from wind and solar set to double in the president’s first term,” a White House spokesman said to the Wall Street Journal.
But where, again, are all those “green” jobs? Click here to find out.