The Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects of the 1930’s have been well documented and are so well built that they are still around today.  However, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) projects, the WPA projects of our time, are barely recognizable to most people. Case in point: what is all around us, but well nigh invisible.  This morning, I did a load of laundry in our new washing machine, which was purchased on Earth Day 2010, as part of the appliance rebate program.  After breakfast, I hopped on my bike to commute to work as usual.  Crossing the Santa Fe River on a bike bridge, I looked down at the dozens of trees planted this spring, courtesy of ARRA.  The early morning sun had barely appeared on the horizon, and I rode through my neighborhood park - where the City of Santa Fe has used ARRA funding to hire a MacArthur Genius award-winning sculptor to design light poles topped with PVs to power LED lights.  As I neared work, I got on a bike path (partially funded by ARRA) and noted two other ARRA projects: a PV array at the Railrunner commuter station, a train service that now runs on Sundays courtesy of, you guessed it, ARRA money.  I arrived at my building, which has recently undergone an energy efficiency retrofit and now sports 577 new solar panels on the roof – both paid for by ARRA funds. 

Since I work at the State Energy Office, I am aware of these projects and of the involvement of the Recovery Act funding in each one, yet not one sign is posted nearby to inform someone less familiar than I that these projects were made possible through Recovery Act.  From my home to work– 8 projects that the “Average Joe” would not know as being paid for by ARRA.

Content courtesy of Ken Hughes, Clean Energy Specialist, New Mexico State Energy Office