President Obama is starting out strong, doing many great things for this nation. From helping banks and consumers get back on their feet, to figuring out ways to save the environment and the economy at the same time, he seems to be on top of his game. The most recent addition to this ambitious investment is part of the economic stimulus package that is in the works. $80 billion has been budgeted into that stimulus to be spent directly on loans, tax incentives, and spending that will help create and improve renewable energy sources for the American people. By itself, this is going to go down as the biggest energy bill in the history of the United States.

This isn’t a global warming bill, as it says nothing about helping the environment or creating new, clean energy technology like a global warming bill would. Tackling the climate change will require a much broader scope and a much bigger budget. However, this $80 billion can easily be seen as the easy way to jump start the U.S. with alternative energy, and to help end the dependence on foreign oil that has held the country back for so long. Consumers and businesses have been doing their own alternative energy projects for a long time, and now it seems that the government wants to jump in and lend a helping hand.

With the country in such a volatile state, everyone is scrambling to try and figure out how they can fix the economy. Investing in renewable energy sources has many different advantages. Aside from ending the country’s dependence on foreign oil, using the government’s money to invest in renewable energy sources can also help people to eliminate the expenses that come with power and electricity that are keeping so many from being able to pay their bills. $80 billion is a lot of money, but it will be heavily regulated by a variety of federal agencies to ensure that it is spent how it needs to be spent.

This is a bright spot for the economy, but only if it is regulated properly. If this spending ends up anything like the first bank bailout, people might never know where the money went or how it was used, and it could be a total disaster. As long as the country makes sure that the money is spent on renewable energy sources and not just padding the wallets of the investors and energy creators, it should work out alright.