Stimulus money already spurring a clean recovery

Let’s check in on what the Federal government’s recovery funds are doing to create clean jobs around the country.

In Nebraska:

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will use recovery funds to improve groundwater. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded more than $200,000 to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality.

Brian McManus of the Nebraska DEQ says his agency and the state Department of Natural Resources will use the money to enhance the quality and management of surface and ground water in the Platte River Basin. The grant comes from $39 million of stimulus funds to be awarded nationally to states for water quality management planning.”

In South Carolina:

An estimated $3.6 million in federal grants will go to help communities in South Carolina clean up “brownfields” (former industrial and commercial sites) in the state ($1.6 million from the Recovery Act and $2 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.)

The grants will help to assess, cleanup and redevelop abandoned, contaminated properties known as brownfields. Brownfields are sites where expansion, redevelopment, or reuse may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. In addition, the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act of 2002 expanded the definition of a brownfield to include mine-scarred lands or sites contaminated by petroleum or the manufacture of illegal drugs. Grant recipients are selected through a national competition. The Brownfields Program encourages development of America's estimated 450,000 abandoned and contaminated waste sites.”

More solar in sunny Arizona thanks to the federal recovery funds:

The solar energy sector posted gains in recent weeks as confidence returns to the market. Driven by expected increases in demand for solar energy supported by funding from the $800 billion US stimulus bill and other government initiatives, solar has again gained strength.

In Ohio:

The federal government will give car-manufacturing communities $50 million in grants to train laid-off workers for jobs in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors, the White House's auto recovery leader said Thursday.

The funds also will provide job counseling and placement services.

"American workers are the best in the world, and they have been hard hit by changes in the auto industry," said Ed Montgomery, President Barack Obama's director of recovery for auto communities and workers. "This funding will help workers gain new skill sets that build upon their manufacturing experience."

The $50 million is part of $500 million provided by the federal stimulus law.

And in Oklahoma:

The Tulsa Transit Authority is expecting more than $13 million in stimulus money, which will be used to begin converting the fleet to compressed natural gas.

MTTA officials say the plan is coming at the perfect time.

All 62 buses in the Tulsa Transit fleet run on diesel, but officials are going after economic stimulus money to replace the diesel with compressed natural gas.

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"First of all, someone's got to build these buses," Cartwright said. "Now these buses will not be built in Oklahoma. They'll be built elsewhere in the United States, but it's going to employ people directly building these vehicles. It's going to employ people here in Oklahoma, directly converting our maintenance shop to a CNG facility and building a fueling station."

Cartwright says the transit authority will be using a mixed fleet of diesel and CNG buses for at least the next 10 years.