Economy

Pressures on Fuel Ethanol Production Capacity

November 18, 2009 -- Capacity to produce fuel ethanol from corn nearly tripled between January 2006 and January 2009. However, over the past 18 months, a combination of surplus production capacity, the decline of gasoline prices from their mid-2008 peak level, and high corn prices that boosted producers’ input costs have resulted in a sharp decline in ethanol margins. The combination of economic pressures on capacity led some producers to idle plants, and in some cases, file for bankruptcy.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Commerce awarded $6.4 million in competitive Recovery Act grants to 43 applicants in small cities and counties for energy efficiency and conservation projects. Projects include energy audits and building retrofits, as well as energy efficient traffic signals and street lighting.

The funding is targeted to reduce fossil fuel emissions and help communities be more environmentally sustainable through reduced energy usage and improved energy efficiency in the building and transportation sectors. The work is also expected to save or create more than 100 jobs.    » read more »

Federal Recovery Funds Will Help Local Governments, Non-Profit Groups Reduce Energy, Save Money

Nov. 17, 2009 -- Harrisburg – Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced Pennsylvania’s Conservation Works! grant program will save more than 570 million kilowatt hours of electricity, generate an additional 14.4 million kilowatt hours, and reduce natural gas use by 2.1 million thousand cubic feet over the lifetimes of the various projects.

Conservation Works! is a $22 million competitive grant program, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to help local government and non-profit organizations improve energy efficiency, curb energy consumption and reduce energy costs by at least 25 percent.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO) will introduce amendments to the Financial Stability Improvement Act (HR 3996) aimed at helping prevent future economic downturns.

The first amendment enables regulators to limit the size of financial firms that could pose a risk to the system on an institution-by-institution basis. Once a financial holding company becomes subject to stricter standards, the amendment would allow the regulators to work with the company to divest its commercial or investment banking activities in an orderly manner without causing the traditional banking side of the organizations to fail.    » read more »

Just the Beginning of a Sustained Commitment to Science

November 17, 2009 -- Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Congressman Rush Holt, Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming Chairman Edward Markey, Congressman Bill Foster, and Robert Shelton, President of the University of Arizona, held a press conference this afternoon to highlight the benefits of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to the science and research community.

The Recovery Act provided $22 billion for scientific research and development at universities, to establish new facilities, and to purchase lab equipment. Below are the Speaker’s remarks as prepared:    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., introduced legislation today that would provide flexible loans to small businesses suffering from a lack of credit due to poor economic conditions or changes in the financial market.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- “As American families prepare to gather for Thanksgiving, we received an unsettling report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that found that hunger rose significantly last year. This trend was already painfully clear in many communities across our nation, where food stamp applications are surging and food pantry shelves are emptying.

It is particularly troubling that there were more than 500,000 families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times over the course of the year. Our children’s ability to grow, learn, and meet their full potential – and therefore our future competitiveness as a nation – depends on regular access to healthy meals.    » read more »

Economic Research Service Report Demonstrates Need for Action

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2009 - USDA's Economic Research Service's (ERS) today released its annual report on Household Food Security in the U.S., which revealed that in 2008, 17 million households, or 14.6 percent, were food insecure and families had difficulty putting enough food on the table at times during the year.

This is an increase from 13 million households, or 11.1 percent, in 2007. The 2008 figures represent the highest level observed since nationally representative food security surveys were initiated in 1995. The full study is available at www.ers.usda.gov/features/householdfoodsecurity/.    » read more »

November 17, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today released Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for September 2009. The next release, which will report on data for October 2009, is scheduled for December 15, 2009.

Net foreign purchases of long-term securities were $40.7 billion.

* Net foreign purchases of long-term U.S. securities were $55.7 billion. Of this, net purchases by private foreign investors were $44.8 billion, and net purchases by foreign official institutions were $10.9 billion.
* U.S. residents purchased a net $15.0 billion of long-term foreign securities.

Net foreign acquisition of long-term securities, taking into account adjustments, is estimated to have been $31.7 billion.    » read more »

Heads for disposal facility in New Mexico

ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 16, 2009) – The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory has been removing transuranic (TRU) waste from its site for three years, but the Oct. 15 shipment of radioactive material to a disposal facility near Carlsbad, New Mexico marked the first time the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) picked up the tab.

The cleanup work is paid for by DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The influx of ARRA funds will allow the laboratory to ship out more than four times as much TRU waste (including both remote- and contact-handled) in the next 24 months as it has since the project was conceived three years ago.    » read more »

November 16, 2009 -- (Washington, DC) -- Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-Wisc.) today announced that Milwaukee will receive $5,839,100 in Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) funding awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Recovery Act. These funds are intended to create local green jobs and help improve energy efficiency in communities across the country by reducing energy use and fossil fuel emissions.    » read more »

November 12, 2009 -- Diplomatic Reception Room -- THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Before departing for Asia this morning, I’d like to make a brief statement about the economy.

Over the past 10 months, we’ve taken a number of bold steps to break the back of this recession. We’ve worked to stabilize the financial system, revive lending to small businesses and families, and prevent responsible homeowners from losing their homes. And through the Recovery Act, we’ve cut taxes for middle class families, extended and increased unemployment insurance, and created and saved more than a million jobs.    » read more »

November 12, 2009 -- Washington, DC – Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced that the Department of Transportation has jumpstarted more than 10,000 transportation projects across America thanks to its swift allocation of Recovery Act dollars. As of this week, state agencies reported a total of 10,041 approved    » read more »

ARRA Watershed Project Creates Jobs in Local Economy

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2009 – San Jose, Calif., is using $18 Million in Recovery Act funds to rebuild a flood control structure that will protect homes and businesses from the threat of disaster, as well as stimulate the local economy by adding as many as 700 jobs. Watch this Recovery Act success story video at: www.youtube.com/usda#p/a/u/0/FFE8WGF5YW8 .    » read more »

Saudi Aramco Announces New U.S. Pricing Formula

November 12, 2009 -- The U.S. imported slightly more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from Saudi Arabia during the first 8 months of 2009. Despite a decline of more than 33 percent compared to the same period in 2008, Saudi Arabia was still the third largest source of U.S. crude oil imports during the first 8 months of this year, according to EIA import data.    » read more »