It's all about energy and infrastructure. Finally.

Okay, it may not be ALL about energy and infrastructure, but finally it looks like we've got people paying attention to infrastructure engineering rather than just financial engineering. President-elect Obama's stimulus plan appears to go in the right direction. I'd argue it's not enough, of course, and that we need more on research and development and more for energy storage in particular (to support those renewables!), but it's something. Here are some of the details (list from WSJ):


Highlights of Economic Recovery Plan
Spending

Energy
$32 billion Funding for "smart electricity grid" to reduce waste
$20 billion + Renewable energy tax cuts and a tax credit for research and development on energy-related work, and a multiyear extension of renewable energy production tax credit
$6 billion Funding to weatherize modest-income homes


Science and Technology
$10 billion Science facilities
$6 billion High-speed Internet access for rural and underserved areas


Infrastructure
$32 billion Transportation projects
$31 billion Construction and repair of federal buildings and other public infrastructure
$19 billion Water projects
$10 billion Rail and mass transit projects