The proposed economic stimulus package looks to have turned the final corner and be approaching the finish line: the Senate put in an extra day’s work on Saturday and cut around $110 billion to make the bill more palatable to its detractors.

Unfortunately those cuts hit education especially hard, but education still makes up a large portion of the proposed spending.

On the whole the bill seems to advance President Barack Obama’s agenda of rebuilding the essential elements–education, transportation infrastructure, health care, security/law enforcement, and energy infrastructure–of a public sector that has long been allowed to fall-short using the mantra “hey, we’re the government we’re supposed to waste money.”

One of the primary concerns of a reinvigorated public sector focused on long-term development needs to be energy. Energy is the lifeblood of our economy and, really, our society.

However, the way we currently produce our energy is simply not sustainable: if every human being lived the lifestyle of the average North American we would need an estimated 5 planets to provide the necessary resources, a sizable part of this comes from our energy consumption and the resulting emissions and pollution.

Obama has, in fact, made sustainable energy a priority, setting a goal of doubling the U.S. production of renewable energy over the next 3 years.

This stimulus bill should be a step in the right direction. The bill realizes that creating a sustainable energy market requires both energy efficiency and the production of renewable energy.

Energy efficiency means reducing the amount of wasted energy, getting the most out of the energy we produce. The concept of a “smartgrid”–a buzzword these days–refers to an electricity infrastructure that utilizes the latest in technology to cut down on waste.

Just as crucial to achieving energy efficiency as a sophisticated grid is making improvements at the individual building level: insulation, windows, appliances, etc. (See ecomii’s Green Building section for more.) The stimulus package looks to spur investment in energy efficiency by homeowners at the same time as the government looks to refit its buildings for energy efficiency.

While the “negawatts” produced (or saved) by energy efficiency can drastically reduce electricity production, the volume produced will still be enormous. Ideally as much as possible will come from renewable sources. The Senate version of the bill reportedly calls for $8.5 billion to subsidize loans to renewable energy projects plus $13 billion in additional tax credits for renewable energy production.

The bill also allocates money to research nuclear waste clean up, which could prove to be important because nuclear is a scalable, zero-carbon source. It remains controversial, but perhaps innovative new methods could make nuclear a more comfortable option. $4.6 billion for “fossil fuel research” also seems to have mysteriously found its way into the package…

It’s important to think of this stimulus package not only for its immediate impact on the economy, but also for its long-term impact on society. No one is realistically expecting this to be a “magic bullet” cure for the current economic recession, but it could support recovery while laying the groundwork for the future of several key sectors.

The sustainability of our energy supply is one issue that is as important as any for society to thrive in the long-term–to raise the living standards, quality of life, and happiness not only of every American, but of the 7 billion members of our global society. Just as the bill on the whole, isn’t likely to magically undo the recession it’s also unlikely to single-handedly deliver us a sustainable energy market.

However, if the funds are properly used, it will make a sizeable impact and act as a first step towards getting serious about energy sustainability.

Here are a the main energy projects in the stimulus from MSNBC:

Energy

• Senate — $40 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, including $2.9 billion to weatherize modest-income homes; $4.6 billion for fossil fuel research and development; $6.4 billion to clean up nuclear weapons production sites; $11 billion toward a so-called “smart electricity grid” to reduce waste; $8.5 billion to subsidize loans for renewable energy projects; and $2 billion for advanced battery systems.
• House — $28.4 billion for energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, including $6.2 billion to weatherize homes; $11 billion to fund a “smart electricity grid”.

Home energy credit

• House — $4.3 billion to provide an expanded credit to homeowners who make their homes more energy-efficient in 2009 and 2010. Homeowners could recoup 30 percent of the cost up to $1,500 of numerous projects, such as installing energy-efficient windows, doors, furnaces and air conditioners.
• Senate — Same.

Energy production

• House — $13 billion to extend tax credits for renewable energy production.
• Senate — Same.

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