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Our Views: Federal energy funds should not create jobs overseas

Money spent on wind turbines from China will not jump-start an industry in America.

The whole point of the federal government's stimulus program is to create jobs. In America.

Unfortunately, that's not how it's working out, according to four U.S. senators who raise concerns that should not be ignored.

According to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and three of his Democratic colleagues, a program aimed at building wind farms and other clean-energy projects is spending too much with overseas vendors. That might generate economic activity, but it won't do us much good if it's in the wrong economy.

The main reasons that green energy was an appropriate area for stimulus spending was that it would not only create short-term construction jobs, but it would also jump-start a domestic industry that would play a growing role in our future.

President Obama has repeatedly said that the best things about green energy jobs is that they are sustainable and they can't be outsourced. But it appears that American companies that benefit from Recovery Act funds could do just that, by buying technology from foreign manufacturers.

Schumer has focused on Cielo Wind Power of Austin, Texas, which has said it may apply for up to $450 million in stimulus funding for a massive wind farm that would be powered by turbines built in China.

Other countries may be ahead of us in alternative energy technology, but that's why our industry needs the jump-start. Emerging energy equipment companies in Maine could miss out on this wave of investment if the use of the money is not restricted.

If U.S. companies want to trade with foreign vendors, that's their option, but American taxpayers should not bankroll the deal. Jobs created by this program should be created in this country.