Obama’s Green Stimulus and how it breaks down

Obama just signed his $767 billion dollar stimulus, and whether it helps the US economy or multiplies its financial woes, it’s hard to find an environmentalist who doesn’t sing its praises. In total, $60 billion, or about 8 per cent, is devoted to causes like energy efficiency and clean tech. A total of $8 billion is going towards high-speed rail links. [And according to Politico.com, Obama will outline another billion for high-speed rail in his budget next week.] The Department of Defense is supposed to get $3.6 billion to pay for energy efficiency projects and facilities upgrades.

Here’s how the green stimulus breaks down, (courtesy of the Natural Resources Defense Council)

$6 billion for clean and safe water
$4.5 billion for greening federal buildings
$2.5 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy Research and Development
$5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance Program
$6 billion in loan guarantees for renewables, transmission and leading edge biofuels
$2 billion for advanced batteries
$9.3 billion for intercity rail, including high-speed rail
$27.5 billion for highways (this large pot of money is not exclusively for highways, and states and cities must use this flexibility to invest in fuel-efficient public transportation)
$8.4 billion for transit
$1.5 billion in competitive grants for transportation investments (which could be used for public transportation)

The full conference report is available here.