NYT:Obama Plans Great Jolt To Economy!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Sweet! Finally! It's a new era like The US Renaissance! I am so optimistic really!

Obama plots green jolt to economy

Energy-saving, transit projects would be part of larger stimulus

By JOHN M. BRODER

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama and leaders in Congress are fashioning a plan to pour billions of dollars into a jobs program to jolt the economy and lay the groundwork for a more energy-efficient economy.

The details and cost of the so-called green-jobs program are still unclear, but a senior Obama aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a work in progress, said it would probably include the weatherizing of hundreds of thousands of homes, the installation of "smart meters" to monitor and reduce home energy use, and billions of dollars in grants to state and local governments for mass transit and infrastructure projects.

The green component of the much larger stimulus plan would cost at least $15 billion a year, and perhaps considerably more, depending on how the projects were defined, aides working on the package said.

During the campaign, Mr. Obama supported a measure to address global warming by capping carbon emissions while allowing companies to buy and trade pollution permits. He said he would devote $150 billion of the revenue from the sale of those permits over 10 years to energy efficiency and alternative energy projects to wean the nation from fuels that are the main causes of the heating the atmosphere. Not waiting for global warming bill

But the Obama adviser who discussed the green energy project said Mr. Obama would not await passage of a global warming bill before embarking on the new energy and infrastructure spending. House and Senate supporters of a climate bill said they would continue working on legislative language but did not expect quick action on a cap-and-trade law because of the economic emergency.

That means that the green-jobs program would not be financed with pollution credits bought by power generators and other carbon emitters, but instead would be added to the budget deficit.

Congressional officials working with the Obama administration said the stimulus program was also likely to involve tax breaks or direct government subsidies for a variety of clean energy projects, including solar arrays, wind farms, advanced biofuels and technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants.

The programs will be a part of a larger economic stimulus package whose outlines are faint but which is expected to cost $400 billion to $500 billion. Mr. Obama has said that his goal is to create or save 2.5 million jobs in the next two years. He has assigned to his economic and environmental advisers the task of devising a proposal that is expected to combine a shot of new federal money into existing federal and state programs and the possible creation of agencies modeled on New Deal public works programs.

"We'll put people back to work rebuilding our crumbling roads and bridges, modernizing schools that are failing our children, and building wind farms and solar panels, fuel-efficient cars and the alternative energy technologies that can free us from our dependence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead," Mr. Obama said in a radio address last month, echoing a campaign promise with a new sense of urgency. The political climate seems favorable to an economic stimulus plan, but large sums of new money touch off lobbying frenzies and energy projects spur debate between conservationists and those who want to more fully exploit domestic sources of oil, natural gas and coal.

Poor record of intervention?

Some experts said the record of government's intervention in energy markets and new technologies was not promising, citing as a spectacular example the Carter-era Synthetic Fuels Corporation, which spent more than $3 billion without producing any commercially usable amount of coal-based liquid fuel.

Ethanol and other non-oil-based fuels have also not proved their commercial value, in some cases yielding less energy than was needed to produce them, or, in ethanol's case, diverting land to corn and driving up food prices.

The plan could also face resistance from fiscal hawks. In 2004, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, almost single-handedly blocked a $100 billion energy package, saying the billions of dollars in subsidies for ethanol and other alternative fuels were little more than a special-interest boondoggle. The bill was revived a year later at half the cost, and much of the money in it has not been spent.

"Now they're talking about some large amount of money — what, $100 billion? — and spending it on windmills, job training, whatever," said David Kreutzer, who studies energy economics and climate change at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research group. "But where do you get the $100 billion in the first place? Are you going to take $100 billion from some other part of the economy, are you going to tax some people to pay for it? Are you just going to print it or borrow it? The money has to come from somewhere."

The Obama team and Congressional leaders say they want a plan ready shortly after Congress reconvenes in January. Mr. Obama has said that, after stabilizing the economy and the markets, putting the nation on the path to a more energy-efficient future is his top priority. The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California, said this week that rebuilding infrastructure and creating green jobs was "the first order of business that we will have" when Congress reconvenes in January. Several hearings are planned even before Mr. Obama takes office on Jan. 20.

Transit authorities ready to go

State officials say a lack of financing has stalled billions of dollars in projects. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California told Mr. Obama this week that the states were ready to break ground with $136 billion in infrastructure projects that could provide new jobs within two years.

The American Public Transportation Association, which represents local mass transit authorities, said there were $8 billion in "ready-to-go" projects that could preserve or create thousands of jobs and provide more energy-efficient transportation. Beverly A. Scott, the chief executive of Atlanta's transit agency and head of the national association, told Congress in October that the projects included diesel-electric hybrid buses for Chicago; a new bus maintenance shop for Eugene, Ore.; and a set of crossover tracks to allow San Francisco's rapid transit trains to turn around more quickly and carry more riders.

The Obama aide said the residential smart meters were a relatively small project that would not create a large number of jobs, but the aide said they would be an essential building block for the electric grid of the future. The new grid — a multiyear, multibillion-dollar project — would more efficiently move electricity from its source to its destination and would reward those who saved power or used it during off-peak hours.

Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, who heads the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said he was sympathetic to Mr. Obama's desire to pump up the economy and reduce energy usage. But Mr. Bingaman said he was wary of big government spending programs without sufficient oversight or expertise.

"Just buying smart meters for everybody doesn't really move the ball very far," said Mr.

Bingaman, who will hold a hearing next week to gather ideas for energy-related stimulus spending. "Realistically speaking, getting money properly spent in a short period of time requires some degree of competence in the government agency doing it. The best plan is to start with existing programs that work, like weatherization, and build on those."

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28041978/

Edited December 4, 2008 by Olivia*

[NickD 202]

Ethanol and other non-oil-based fuels have also not proved their commercial value, in some cases yielding less energy than was needed to produce them, or, in ethanol's case, diverting land to corn and driving up food prices.

Ethanol in fuels cost me over a thousand bucks in parts last year causing major corrosion in fuel systems that were not designed for this moisture absorbing fuel. Almost wrecked my new car as I got only the cheap gas, very low octane, detonation, had to drive home in 3rd gear to avoid ruining the engine averaging only 17 mpg instead of 37, that was extremely expensive fuel at over four bucks a gallon. Really have to look hard to find ethanol free gas stations. Somehow the vehicle designers had no say in this fuel. Alcohol and gas do not mix!

What the brains did not plan with ethanol that the price of corn would go up from $1.50 a bushel to close to nine bucks a bushel due to the demand, but was good for the farmers.

Gas in Venezuela was less than 12 cents per gallon, only other things that were cheap was the subway tickets, 23 cents, and arepa flour, rest was out of sight. Roads and the subway was packed. Took us two hours just to move five blocks in downtown Caracas, we elected to park near the outskirts of town and take the subway. Who said there is always room for one more, had to wait till the 3rd train before we could even jam ourselves into the door. Was interesting, wife and I met a young man from France that was an electrical engineer for subway, France built their system. Where is the USA in this I questioned to myself?

The CTA was quite strong in Chicago, but went completely broke in the mid 60's, they are pouring gas tax into this system today letting the roads go to hell and with the EPA screaming like crazy whenever they dig a whole, costing a huge fortune to build anything today. In our town cost over 2 million in legal cost with a three year delay just to build an overpass over a railroad track at a cost of a million bucks. Three times the price that mostly made the attorneys rich. Plus land with houses on it had to be purchase at or above the assessed value, but some guys got rich on this deal selling wrecks to the city. Okay, I am jealous, it wasn't me.

The stupid Venezuela Consulate with two tiny offices just has to be located in downtown Chicago in an insurance building with no place to park, did find one after much slow driving for 17 bucks an hour plus we had to walk a mile in cold windy Chicago to that consulate. They played around with us that should have taken five minutes, but several hours, we were the only ones there, so we hit the rush hour taking three hours to get out of downtown Chicago to north of O'Hare before the traffic finally broke and I could hit 55 mph again. Second time, we took the metro, three of us, could only buy a one way ticket at six bucks each, that was 36 bucks, but still cheaper than parking and only took an hour parked outside of Chicago. But had to watch my clock as the last train left at 6:00 PM, otherwise we would have had to pay over 200 bucks for a night at a hotel. Can't sleep in the train station, they lock it up tight.

Does it really take a 250,000 pound locomotive to pull a couple of passenger cars? And all that steel, what about the passenger to vehicle weight ratio, is this thing really saving energy? Plus all those people doing track maintenance and selling tickets, most were hanging around during nothing. Is this public transportation that is going to save us? Probably why they went broke in the 60's, but now the government like ethanol is heavily subsidizing them, no wonder our taxes are so high!

How's this for an econmical system, build a 3000 foot tower in downtown with cables strung to different destinations, each passenger wears a harness with a pulley on the end, goes up the tower, hooks on the pulley to their correct cable and slides down to home. Course the FAA will scream, but will not require buying houses and tearing them down. Certainly some group will complaine as birds may hit a cable and get hurt or cured.

Nothing will work in this country as long as we have 1,525 governmental agencies with Gestophol type power.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Sweet! Finally! It's a new era like The US Renaissance!

You have a flair for the dramatic, don't you?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Sweet! Finally! It's a new era like The US Renaissance!

You have a flair for the dramatic, don't you?

Yeah. When it's nearly 2 am I get .

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Where is the money coming from?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

According to the reports AJ is posting 56,500 jobs have just been eliminated across America.

[mawilson 2,133]

Where is the money coming from?

Who cares?

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Where is the money coming from?

Who cares?

My Broadcast News Prof that's who. That was the question he stonewalled me with when we had to discuss news of the day. The answers came back as it's Monopoly money. They're just printing more.