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THE AUDACITY OF A MAN WHOSE ADMINISTRAITION HAS SPENT OVER 5 TRILLION DOLLARS IN JUST THREE YEARS!

By picking Joe Biden as a running mate, Barack Obama may have reassured the electorate about his lack of experience and foreign policy bona fides, according to some pundits. But the coal-state senator may have also taken a step toward shoring up his enviro cred. The Delaware senator is as serious as a heart attack about energy policy-a point The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Ball made this weekend.

Will support energy efficiency efforts nationwide that will create 87,000 jobs and cut energy bills for families Washington DC -- Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Chu today detailed an investment of nearly $8 billion in state and local weatherization and energy efficiency efforts as part of the President's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. With an investment of about $5 billion through the Weatherization Assistance Program and about $3 billion for the State Energy Program, the Department of Energy will partner with state and local governments to put 87,000 Americans to work and save families hundreds of dollars per year on their energy bills. To jump-start job creation and weatherization work, the Department of Energy is releasing the first installment of the funding - about $780 million -- in the next few days. The Department will release additional funding over time as states demonstrate that they are using the funding effectively and responsibly to create jobs and cut energy use.

The trip from Salt Lake City to southern Utah's red-rock playground-thousands of us make the drive to Moab during a typical year-will never be the same. There, where U.S. Highway 6 starts its cut through Spanish Fork Canyon, stand nine breathtaking, milk-white giants-the busily whirring turbines of the Spanish Fork Wind Project. The windmills are 405 feet high, and their blades, which from ground level look deceptively slow moving, spin at 170 mph, says Spanish Fork Mayor Joe Thomas. He should know. Shortly before the official ribbon cutting at the wind farm in early October, Thomas got the chance to climb to the top of a turbine.

The ABC recently had a report on plans to power north-west Queensland with low temperature geothermal power using hot water from the Great Artesian Basin. A Brisbane-based company says it could supply geothermal power to all of north-west Queensland. Clean Energy Australasia wants to build a $50 million geothermal power station near Longreach. But it has now also revealed plans to build a pilot geothermal project near BHP's Cannington mine at McKinlay, south of Cloncurry. The company's Joe Reichman says the Mount Isa region needs about 500 megawatts of power a year and geothermal resources could easily provide that. "It'll change the region into a powerhouse," he said. Mr Reichman says the company has applied for federal and state government grants and has support from the major mining companies in the region. If the projects proceed they would be the first geothermal power plants in Australia.

TENNESSEE The average Tennessee household uses 41 percent more electricity than the typical American household, but Joe Hoagland is determined to lessen that disparity. As senior vice president of energy conservation for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Dr. Hoagland heads a $99 million program this year to help convince Tennessee Valley power users to buy less of what TVA sells. With today's increase in power rates of 2 percent, his job has gotten a little easier.

HUD-DOE Agreement Will Help Spur a New Industry to Create Jobs for the Middle Class Philadelphia, PA - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu today announced a major partnership between HUD and DOE that will streamline and better coordinate federal weatherization efforts to make it much easier for families to weatherize their homes and spur a new home energy efficiency industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs. Vice President Joe Biden, joined by Secretary Donovan and Secretary Chu, praised the announcement during his remarks at a meeting of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families in Philadelphia.

Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced plans to invest $3.2 billion in energy efficiency and conservation projects in U.S. cities, counties, states, territories, and Native American tribes. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program, funded by President Obama's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will provide formula grants for projects that reduce total energy use and fossil fuel emissions, and improve energy efficiency nationwide. "These investments will save taxpayer dollars and create jobs in communities around the country," said Vice President Biden. "Local leaders will have the flexibility in how they put these resources to work - but we will hold them accountable for making the investments quickly and wisely to spur the local economy and cut energy use."

On Thursday, while visiting Jefferson City, Mo., with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, Vice President Joe Biden announced that, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, more than $3.3 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring, and technology viability were being made available. "By investing in updating the grid now, we will lower utility bills for American families and businesses, lessen our dependence on foreign oil and create good jobs that will drive our economic recovery-a strong return on our investment," Biden said.

It seems the new initiative would certainly become handy in the times of recession.

Announces plans for nearly $4 billion in technology deployment, monitoring and viability Washington, DC - Vice President Joe Biden, on a visit to Jefferson City, Missouri, today with Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, detailed plans by the Department of Energy to develop a smart, strong and secure electrical grid, which will create new jobs and help deliver reliable power more effectively with less impact on the environment to customers across the nation. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Vice President outlined plans to distribute more than $3.3 billion in smart grid technology development grants and an additional $615 million for smart grid storage, monitoring and technology viability.