Schumer Sends Letter On Stimulus Funds To China

Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) has got it right.

In a letter [1] to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Sen. Schumer said [2] the Obama administration should bar a $1.5 billion wind-farm project in Texas from receiving U.S. government stimulus funds because most of the power turbines would be made in China.

In a draft of the letter, Schumer noted:

The idea that stimulus funds would be used to create jobs overseas is quite troubling.  I urge you to reject any request for stimulus money unless the high-value components, including the wind turbines, are manufactured in the United States.

Earlier this week, AAM Executive Director Scott Paul submitted a similar letter to the Obama Administration [3], urging that clean energy projects paid for with stimulus funds be given to U.S. firms.  His letter also referenced a Texas wind farm that would be built with Chinese-made turbines. [4] 

Bottom line: aggressive steps are needed to ensure that clean energy jobs are created here in the U.S.  The latest jobs report [5] notes that the U.S. lost another 61,000 manufacturing jobs last month.  It makes no sense for stimulus funds to create jobs overseas at a time of significant recession.