White House taking credit for wind farms created under Bush

More important than POTUSbama taking credit for Bush era windfarms:

1. number of jobs created

He acknowledges that these figures were provided by a wind industry trade and lobbying group. The trade group, in turn, cites a government study, which found that most of the jobs are short term.

2. which ‘Americans’ got the grants

German developer E.On Climate and Renewables estimated that 620 construction jobs were created, and on Sept. 22, 2009, the project received $121.9 million in stimulus money. FAA records show the last tower had been built on Dec. 11, 2008.

E.On Climate’s web site states:

E.ON Climate & Renewables North America is a subsidiary of E.ON AG, one of the world’s largest energy companies, and the largest investor-owned utility in the world. E.ON possesses the financial strength, expertise and commitment to meet the growing demand for safe and reliable renewable energy. E.ON is committed to its projects from design through long-term operations. The company finances, owns and operates all of its U.S. wind facilities. With nearly two hundred U.S. employees, we are creating tomorrow’s energy sources today.

$121 million borrowed tax dollars, 200 permanent jobs, and how many of those were there before any borrowed gov dollars changed hands?

3. How the ‘Americans’ are required to spend their grant money

Because of the way the law was written, the Section 1603 grant program has no language requiring that recipients reinvest their grant money in the United States. Rogers said he was basing his claim on the fact that many companies have reported to the administration that they reinvested their grants in future wind projects in the U.S.

I did meet an American citizen who got a small cut of stimulus money, an unemployed fellow paid to train as a windmill repairman in the city of Detroit. He agreed there was a dearth of windmill farms in our area, and State. He said the they were paying him to train. His unemployment had run out and the money was keeping him going.

Imagine if they had trained him to be a truck driver. Occasionally there are also job openings for truck mechanics, which normally require training certs.

entagor on October 21, 2010 at 12:56 PM