"Green" Infrastructure in Doubt

'Green' energy plan in Obama stimulus may be losing steam

By Jim Tankersley, Los Angeles Times January 16, 2009

From the article:
Reporting from Washington -- Barack Obama portrays his stimulus plan as a quick jolt for the ailing economy and a "down payment" on his priorities as president. But those goals appear to be colliding in at least one key area: energy independence. The stimulus package increasingly appears unlikely to include major investments in "green infrastructure" -- the wires and rails that could deliver renewable energy to Americans' homes and help end the nation's addiction to oil. . .

500 kV lattice steel tower

I-84 Transmission Corridor along the Columbia River

It's a timing issue. The blueprints and, in many cases, the authority don't exist to . . . build a sprawling web of power lines to create a truly national electric grid. "Before you spend billions of dollars on new lines, you have to spend millions of dollars on design work . . . "

The United States now uses a series of regional power grids that make it impossible for a wind farm in Texas to send electricity to a skyscraper in New York. Advocates say that could change under a vastly expanded national grid, opening markets for wind, solar and other energy alternatives. . .

. . . Obama's Energy secretary nominee, Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu . . . acknowledged the biggest obstacle: determining where to put those power lines. States, municipalities and landowners have protested plans to string transmission networks through their backyards. . .

"Getting approval to build renewable-energy transmission to bring wind and solar to market from remote areas is something where states have an interest and landowners have an interest," said Reid Detchon, executive director of the Energy Future Coalition in Washington, who has pushed for grid upgrades in the stimulus plan. "You're not going to see big transmission towers going up overnight."

Advocates haven't given up on major green infrastructure investments from Congress even if they don't make the stimulus package. Grid expansion -- and regulations easing its way -- could wind up in a comprehensive energy bill this year. . . Several environmentalists say they expect the stimulus package to include up to $2 billion for smart-grid (wind and solar) technology. . .

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-obama-energy-stimulus16-2009jan16,0,46026.story