Sarah Palin Says No to Federal Energy Stimulus Funds
Energy Efficiency & Demand Response Programs ” width=”71″ height=”94″ />Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin recently vetoed $80 million from annexation bills, including $28.6 million from the national stimulation finances for energy efficiency. In spite of force from some lawgivers and others to take on the federal money, the Republican governor said she will not accept finances attached to acceptance of construction codes by local governments.
“Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independency and opposing many authorizations from Washington, D.C.,” Palin said in a statement announcing the veto. “This principle of utmost self-government for local communities is also set out in our constitution. There isn’t a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes, but legislative assembly can always exert checks and balances by overriding my veto.”
Palin had earlier admitted about $900 million in other federal stimulant funds, all available to the state except the energy funds. Palin at first suggested she would accept only 69 percent of the total amount of money usable, but said lawmakers could ascertain how much of the rest to accept, after a public vetting process. The energy stimulus is the only amount from the federal package Palin at last disapproved.
Sens. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, and Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, who head the Senate Resources Committee, have urged Palin to accept the money to address needs in a state with some of the greatest energy costs in the nation.
State budget director, Karen Rehfeld, said the governor’s resistance was not across concerns about taking the money, but in being compelled to take an active role as to advance the adoption of local energy efficiency codes throughout the state.
Lawmakers observed that the United States Department of Energy accepted Missouri’s approach to rely on local governments to adopt standards rather than imposing a statewide code.
To qualify for the federal money, 90 percent of new and renovated structures would have to be manufactured under energy efficiency standards between 2009 and 2017.
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