House Vote Deals Blow To Renewable Energy
Updated: Tuesday, 10 Aug 2010, 4:52 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 10 Aug 2010, 4:52 PM EDT
(NewsCore) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted Tuesday to slash federal renewable-energy subsidies, to help finance instead a $26 billion emergency aid package for state and local governments.
The House voted to transfer $1.5 billion from the renewable-energy and transmission loan-guarantee program, dealing yet another blow to solar, wind and ethanol companies.
It was the second reduction in a year and left the program's size at about $25 billion, less than half the amount originally envisioned when the Democratic-led Congress used an economic stimulus package to steer money into alternative energy projects. The Senate has already approved a similar measure.
"I understand why they're doing it -- it's a nice juicy pot that's unspent," said Bryan Ashley, the chief marketing officer for solar-cell maker Suniva Inc. Still, "it's always concerning when you're robbing Peter to pay Paul."
The vote Tuesday will help states pay for rising costs for Medicaid, a federal program that provides health care for poor Americans. It will put at a disadvantage renewable-energy projects that have applied more recently for government funding and have not yet cleared through initial rounds of review.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will continue to seek assurances for restoration of the funds, an aide said. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has also vowed to restore funding.
But at a time of big budget deficits, the funding could be hard to restore.
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