New Field for Earmarks in U.S. Goals on Energy

Tucked away among the $3.2 billion in Congressional earmarks in the recently passed energy and water spending bill is a $4 million grant to a small company in suburban Chicago that is trying to solve the problem of capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions.

...The case of Jupiter Oxygen is an example of how companies in a variety of energy-related businesses, solar, biofuels and wind power, are lining up at the federal trough as the government shovels out billions of new dollars to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and combat global warming.

Enthusiasts call it cutting-edge research on a crucial national priority. Critics of this new genre of federal spending call it “green pork.”...

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