This week, CNN has been taking a good, hard look at the Recovery Act and examining some of the projects being funded across the country to create jobs and drive economic growth. As they do this, they’re asking some questions about how Recovery dollars are being spent. We wanted to provide the full set of facts about some of the projects featured. For example:
On the big picture, one report claims that the Recovery Act’s weatherization program, part of an unprecedented investment in energy retrofits, is moving too slowly. A closer examination shows something different:
After starting a little slower than we’d hoped, the program has picked up steam and we are now on a path to reach our target of weatherizing 20,000-30,000 homes a month.
Grantees have now spent over $445 million in the weatherization program, and the pace of spending continues to accelerate. The states and local agencies spent the summer gearing up – training and hiring new workers and putting in place the accountability and transparency mechanisms that are central to the Recovery Act. In the fall, the local agencies began to weatherize homes in earnest and are continuing to increase the pace of weatherization every month.
And states are already able to put to work the first 50 percent of their Recovery funds. As part of the oversight and management process under the weatherization program, states are required to weatherize 30 percent of their estimated units and demonstrate they are meeting the accountability, transparency and job creation goals of the Recovery Act before they can access the remaining 50 percent of obligated funds.
Fonte: White House