Charles Dharapak/AP
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At the end of the week, representatives in both the House and Senate continue to tinker with the details of a $790 billion economic stimulus bill that is hoped to help workers and small businesses. Voting was delayed on Thursday and is expected to take place on Friday or over the weekend.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is touring the nation to promote the plan. In Peoria, Illinois, he told the employees of Caterpillar Inc. that "right now, we have a once in a generation chance to act boldly, to turn adversity into opportunity, and use this crisis as a chance to transform our economy for the 21st century." The new administration hopes that the plan will be enough to slow economic decline and serve as a catalyst for redevelopment.
To do this, the plan combines $286 billion in tax cuts with $311 billion in federal programs. The tax cuts will be delivered directly to the paychecks of workers, amounting to an average $13 increase in weekly pay, and business, which will also get a break. An additional $193 billion will be given to support benefit programs. The goal, as explained by Amy McAnarney of the Tax Institute at H&R Block, is to "give you money to spend, and then they're going to give you incentives to spend it."
There are some provisions for supporting green industries as well. The most likely to benefit are renewable power developers and utilities, and green tech companies. Money has also been set aside for alternative energy transmission and research, efficiency improvements, mass transit development, and green jobs training.
How good are these provisions? Good enough for Brent Blackwelder, president of Friends of the Earth, to say that "this is a huge win, for our planet and for taxpayers who want stimulus funds to be invested wisely." We hope he is right.
For more environmental news, check out Focus Earth: February 14, 2008: The Economic Stimulus Bill and A World Without Chocolate.
Read more about green economics:
Focus on Focus Earth: The Green New Deal
