Earth Equity News

Green Auto Fund Seems Stuck. By Leslie Wayne, NYTimes, February 27, 2009. "The Energy Department has $25 billion to make loans to hasten the arrival of the next generation of automotive technology -- electric-powered cars. But no money has been allocated so far, even though the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan program, established in 2007, has received applications from 75 companies, including start-ups as well as the three Detroit automakers. With General Motors and Chrysler making repeat visits to Washington to ask for bailout money to stave off insolvency, some members of Congress are starting to ask why the Energy Department money is not flowing yet. The loans also are intended to help fulfill President Obama's campaign promise of putting one million electric cars on American roads by 2015... Energy Department staff members said they were still sifting through loan applications, dozens of which arrived on the filing deadline of Dec. 31... Money can be given only to companies and projects that are deemed 'financially viable.' G.M. and Chrysler, which have applied for a combined $13 billion from the Energy Department, must wait until the end of March for the Obama administration to decide whether the companies' restructuring plans would make them viable. The program's small staff -- around a dozen part- and full-time employees -- must also sort through complicated proposals, up to 1,000 pages long."