The Obama administration has been willing to kickstart the recovery process through federal incentives and loan guarantees. The nearly $2 Billion loan to two solar companies is a representation of that policy. President Obama was the first to admit on his weekly radio and Web address that the recovery from recession will be a slow and tortuous affair. He said,
“It’s going to take months, even years, to dig our way out and it’s going to require an all-hands-on-deck effort.”
Private hiring did rise in June to 83,000 as reported by the Labor Department. But there’s still a lot to be done. For example, the load guarantees to the two solar companies will create 5000 new ‘green’ jobs. The loan is a slice of the $1.85 billion in money taken from the $787 billion economic stimulus that Obama drove through the U.S. Congress in early 2009 over the energetic Republican opposition.
One of the companies is Abengoa Solar Inc (a business unit of the Spanish renewable energy and engineering company Abengoa SA) that will help to build one of the largest solar generation plants in the world near Gila Bend, Arizona. The solar project is named as Solona. The construction itself will create 1,600 jobs in the short term.
He was also happy when he said that “After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs right here in America.”
Abengoa Solar Inc will take the lion share of the loan while the remaining $400 million will go to Colorado-based Abound Solar Manufacturing. The company will manufacture advanced solar panels at two new plants, creating more than 2,000 construction jobs and 1,500 permanent jobs.
One of the plants will come up in an empty Chrysler factory.
The focus on green technologies and green jobs is close to President Obama’s heart and in tune with earlier outlined policy direction. He also knows that these steps won’t turn the situation around overnight. He reiterated “I know folks are struggling.”
The steps came through even as political bushwhacking continues in Washington between Democrats and Republicans over the rising national debt.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
