Stimulus act not very green so far

Only $1.5b spent so far

Steve Hawley, Dec 02, 09.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which was approved in February and was promoted as a transformative bill that would make the United States more environmentally friendly, is not as “green” as advertised so far, according to the Green Building Law Blog.

According to the article, $1.5 billion in ARRA money has been spent on green projects so far. The author notes, “This is not nothing, and [it is] a vast improvement from the summer.” That figure includes $824 million in public transit funding, $366 million for the Environmental Protection Agency, and $348 million in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

But environmental spending pales in comparison to the rest of the $787 billion bill. The Green Building Law Blog notes that $83.7 billion in tax benefits has been distributed so far, as well as $3.7 billion in highway funds, with more on the way.

However, it should be noted that a large portion of ARRA money has yet to be spent. For instance, while only $824 million has been spent on transit so far, that number should jump to $17.7 billion - including $8 billion in high-speed rail expenditures - by the stimulus deadline. That is still less than the $27.7 billion in expected highway funding, but it is a significant improvement over the current federal transportation bill, which dedicates 80 percent of the money to highways and just 20 percent to transit.