WASHINGTON — Teachers and most governors were thrilled over Congress’ approval Tuesday of a $26 billion rescue package for states, but it left advocates of renewable energy furious.
The move underscored difficult choices both parties face in the new era of pay as you go.
Of the total Congress allocated to save teacher jobs and prevent cuts to Medicaid, about $1.5 billion comes from cutting a Department of Energy program that provides loan guarantees for renewable-energy proj ects — a program the Obama administration has lauded as a model for using federal tax dollars to create jobs and advance green-energy production and manufacturing.
A letter by the four leading renewable industry associations to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed “strong opposition” to the provision, noting that $2 billion had already been taken from the $6 billion program to pay for the federal Cash for Clunkers initiative.
Failure “to restore funding to the DOE Loan Guarantee Program will jeopardize the renewable energy industries’ efforts to develop clean electric generation and create tens of thousands of jobs,” said the letter, signed by associations representing producers of wind, biomass, solar and hydroelectric power.
Democratic Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder said the cuts made sense because they were taken from funding in the stimulus bill. Preventing the elimination of teacher jobs represents a better use of the money, he said.
“The Democrats are showing they are fiscally responsible,” he said.
