"The Energy Department official overseeing DOE stimulus spending said today that suspending renewable energy grants as urged by Senate Democrats would hurt domestic job creation.

'Halting the program at this point would not be helpful for jobs,' Matt Rogers, senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced legislation yesterday that would restrict grants to companies that rely on materials manufactured in the United States and create the bulk of jobs domestically.

Schumer cited a report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University that states 79 percent of the $2 billion in renewable energy grants doled out from the stimulus went to foreign companies, as well as a controversial proposal by a U.S.-China joint venture to apply for $450 million in funding from the stimulus."

Katherine Ling reports for Greenwire March 4, 2010. [2]

See Also:

"Will U.S. Companies Be Shut Out of Clean-Tech Markets by China and Other Competitors?" (ClimateWire) [3]

"China Winning Green Race: Venture Capitalist" (Reuters) [4]

"IBM Banks on China for Growth in Energy Div" (Reuters) [5]

"Labor, Environment Groups Push 'Green' Broadband'" (Reuters) [6]