Reassessing the Green Stimulus in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

The stimulus package passed by the US Congress in early 2009 was billed as the biggest downpayment on a transition to clean, renewable energy in American history; now, more than a year since it was passed, what is clear is that it has generated unprecedented levels of investment in certain, targeted areas, like EVs and the smartgrid, but has fallen significantly short fundamentally transforming the way the United States produces and consumes energy.  When the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act was passed in February of 2009, President Obama pronounced that money from the stimulus plan would spur cutting-edge research, develop clean-energy technologies, and provide incentives for private research.  "These investments will establish the foundation for America's future economic prosperity, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and help combat climate change," the White House said at the time. The Recovery Act allocated more than $61.5 billion in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures and $88 billion in overall energy and environmental programs, with the majority of funds have already been spent.  While it is clear that the Recovery Act has had a significant and sustained impact on certain industries, the broad transformative effects that its political champions originally promised have failed to materialize.

Green Winners in the Recovery Act

In the year and a half since its inception, over $500 billion in stimulus funds have been paid out.  During this time, several trends have emerged indicating which industries are set to win in America’s new green economy.  While hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels were favored by government programs to traditional fossil fuel-based transportation, both these technologies have fallen out of relative favor in recent years as funding and legislation have shifted toward other renewables.

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