Want to know more about where that $787 billion dollars in the stimulus package is going? Here are links to a couple of timely articles with all the details about how the stimulus package will encourage renewable energy and energy efficiency.

 • “Will the Stimulus Help Wind and Solar?” from the New York Times blog, Green Inc.

 •  “What the Stimulus Means for EcoGeeks,” from the EcoGeek blog.

 • “Stimulus Act Expands Clean Energy Tax Credits for Homes and Businesses” from the Department of Energy's EERE News site.

Also worth knowing about, there’s a new government website, Recovery.gov, designed to help people learn more about the recovery package and track how the money is being spent.

President Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus package today, and it includes a lot of green spending. An article in Grist says that a total of about $82 billion of that money will be used for green initiatives, including investing in renewable energy, energy efficiency, public transportation, improvements to the grid, and training for green jobs.

The hope is that by investing in green energy, both economic and environmental problems will be solved at the same time. Right now about 400,000 people work in the renewable energy industry in the United States, but that number is predicted to be in the millions in the near future. (Read 37 Million Green Jobs Are Possible.) An example of a source for green jobs is in the wind energy industry. According to the Worldwatch Institute, every megawatt of installed wind energy capacity creates 4.85 full-time jobs in the United States. Not bad, but let’s hope this stimulus package works.

The United States is struggling to restore its economy, when it should be working to reshape or rebuild it. There’s a profound difference between the two.

Unfortunately, in our panic to revive the economy many of our congressional representatives have failed to fully realize one fundamental fact: Not all dollars are created equal.

New highways, bridges, and economic stimuli that return the economy to its former state and end up putting more people back into gas-guzzling RVs or too-large or energy-stupid homes do not hold a candle to stimuli that promote home weatherization, new wind farms and green transportation.

Let’s be fair. The economic recovery package recently passed by Congress provides funds for jobs and businesses that promote sustainability like energy retrofits, renewable energy and green transportation. But I fear that much of the rest is meant to simply restore business as usual.

As many who have responded to my first blog realize (A Smart Road to Economic Recovery), we can’t solve the problems we’ve created with the same logic that created them. So what do we do?

I urge all readers to write or call their legislators and write editorials in their local newspapers emphasizing the need to promote sustainable economic activity. What should we be promoting?

How about a solar hot water system on every home in America? How about incentives or requirements that all new homes be built to exacting energy-efficiency standards? How about incentives or laws that require solar electric modules on every government building, office building and new home? How about moving forward the deadline on which auto manufacturers are to achieve higher fuel efficiency standards?  How about laws or incentives that promote the use of green building materials, recycled products in all aspects of society, organic farming, environmental education in K-12, water conservation, and restoration of damaged waterways, farm fields and forests?

Let’s be specific.

Let’s propose a list of action items that contributes to a truly sustainable society — one that makes sense for people, the economy and the environment now and over the long term. 

And as some of you have suggested, let’s vote with our dollars, too. Let’s take steps personally to promote these activities, starting in our own homes and businesses. We can’t wait for Washington to solve our problems. We must take action individually. If not us, who? If not now, when?

President-elect Barack Obama traveled to Capitol Hill Monday to gauge congressional support of his proposed $775 billion economic stimulus package. He met with Senate and House leaders from both sides of the aisle.

The stimulus plan includes billions in tax cuts for workers and businesses and billions in tax incentives for job creation.

The president-elect urged Congress to pass the stimulus plan within one month.

The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) is asking its supporters to mail their Senators and Representatives a letter requesting that the stimulus plan invest in green jobs.

The ELPC has a sample letter for supporters to copy and mail. The letter says, “As my representative, I ask you keep the stimulus clean by investing in public transit, passenger rail and smart growth solutions ...”

The letter encourages Congress to invest in green transportation rather than new roads, creating new jobs while ending the country’s dependence on oil. Of the $775 billion package, more than $100 billion is tax incentives for businesses with job creation. The ELPC is asking that those new jobs be green.

Visit the House and Senate websites to find the addresses of your Representative and Senators and tell them what you think about the proposed stimulus package.