Colorado (Matthew Boyle-The Daily Caller) – President Barack Obama’s “green jobs” initiatives suffered another major blow late Monday, as the nonprofit National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado, announced a plan to lay off roughly 10 percent of its staff through a voluntary buy-out plan.
According to the Denver Post, the lab plans to eliminate between 100 and 150 of its 1,350 jobs. The Obama administration supported the NREL in 2009 with roughly $200 million in stimulus grants. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu visited Golden in May 2009 to promote the NREL as a beneficiary of those funds.
At the time, the Associated Press reported that the stimulus grants included $68 million to build a demonstration model of an energy-efficient office building; $19.2 million for solar, geothermal and fuel cell equipment; $10 million for testing and evaluation of wind technology; and $45 million to research and test drive-train systems for wind turbines.
The lab’s mission is to handle U.S. Department of Energy research and development programs.
NREL spokesman Bob Noun blames Congress for the organization’s failures. The Denver Post reports that he believes the gridlocked U.S. Congress forced the NREL to find $8 million in new budgetary savings.
“We don’t see any budget scenario where the lab doesn’t face budget cuts,” Noun said. “We just want to be proactive in managing the budget so we continue our core mission.”
Amy Oliver of Colorado’s conservative Independence Institute said one way to look at these potential “green jobs” shortcomings is that the NREL is exaggerating its claims. Oliver told The Daily Caller that the government-funded lab has seen a surge in government funding in recent years.
“Their funding for 2008 was $328 million,” Oliver said in a phone interview.“In 2010 it was $536.5 million. They’ve had a 64 percent increase in their funding during the Obama administration.”
windpisser
June 15, 2012
After more than 3 decades of sucking money, these clowns have insider knowledge and connections on grant approvals, locking out valid researchers. Once you have the money, why even bother taking too much time on research? Time wasted on research means less time getting good at sucking money. Unfortunately, you’re still required to go through the motions, so you constantly churn new college grads at 2x minimum wage to do some “research” and pump out bs publications. With the reduced stress, you can now comfortably collect your 100-300k salary depending on how well you “secure” next year’s or multi-year funding, which is your ultimate criteria for performance.
the gaslamp post
June 15, 2012
Hi Windpisser, thanks for posting. Sounds like you get it! It’s a machine, that’s all this is, and it’s US paying for it.
If you liked this one, just wait till you see what I’m putting out tonight. They’re all in on it!