How significant is the stimulus act in putting the US on a new course for energy policy?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Act) sets the nation on a different course for energy policy. The Act embraces a new set of national energy priorities that are backed by an unprecedented commitment of federal financial resources.The purposes of the Act — to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, add green jobs and reduce dependence on insecure energy sources through expansion of renewables, greater energy efficiency and upgrade of the transmission grid — are not themselves unique. Congress has provided tax incentives to renewables in the past and it sought to induce more investment in the transmission grid in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Many states have implemented strong programs to encourage the development of renewable energy, many of which, such as mandatory renewable procurement standards for utilities, are actually more aggressive than the measures contained in the Act. What is unprecedented is that the Act articulates a focused set of specific energy objective
