Associated Press:

A Democratic senator is calling on the Obama administration to reject an expected request for economic stimulus money for a $1.5 billion West Texas wind energy project.

The joint venture between U.S. and Chinese energy companies will be financed largely by China’s export-import bank.

But Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., says the project organizers reportedly are planning to ask for 30 percent financing — or $450 million — from the federal stimulus program designed to produce U.S. jobs.

Yet, all of the 240 wind turbines on 36,000 acres in West Texas will be made in a plant in China, producing Chinese jobs. So, Schumer is writing Energy Secretary Steven Chu, urging the administration to reject a request for a federal grant should one arrive.

Senator Schumer’s letter to Secretary Chu is below.

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Via the EPW website, here is the agenda for the first hearing:

Full Committee hearing entitled, “Legislative Hearing on S. 1733, Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act.”
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
09:30 AM EDT
EPW Hearing Room – 406 Dirksen

Witnesses

Opening Remarks

Panel 1

The Honorable John F. Kerry
United States Senator (D-MA)

Panel 2

The Honorable Steven Chu
Secretary
United States Department of Energy

The Honorable Ray LaHood
Secretary
United States Department of Transportation

The Honorable Ken Salazar
Secretary
United States Department of the Interior

The Honorable Lisa Jackson
Administrator
United States Environmental Protection Agency

The Honorable Jon Wellinghoff
Chairman
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Wonk Room:

A Spanish paper that claimed support for green jobs “may destroy two jobs for every one created” has been debunked by an official publication of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The paper’s conclusions — led by Exxon-funded libertarian Gabriel Calzada — have been cited by GOP leaders, Fox News, right-wing columnists, conservative think tanks, and Big Oil front groups to attack President Obama’s green economic agenda. However, the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) finds that the Spanish authors’ claim that renewable support kills jobs “is not supported by their work.“

NREL –

Green Inc:

The Department of Energy announced $27.6 million in research grants on Monday, for projects intended to simulate the underground storage of carbon dioxide.The 19 awards, to be distributed over four years, will be supplemented by $8.2 million paid by the recipients, which are predominantly universities.

Carbon capture and storage technology — or C.C.S. — is especially important for coal-fired power plants, which account for close to half of the country’s electricity use and a substantial portion of its carbon emissions.

Press Release from the Department of Energy below the fold.

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IG-0817 –

Celsias has the story:

The US Department of Energy has spent the past several months in promotion and funding of renewable energy and efficiency , yet it manages to set a less-than-stalwart example by failing its own energy audit.

The 21-page energy audit (pdf) by the DOE’s Office of the Inspector General highlights several sectors where the department’s own buildings, though equipped for efficient management, are not being utilized as such. In particular, the Office of Science and National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Y-12 National Security Complex came under scrutiny.