Freshman Rep. Allen West, a Tea Party favorite, electrifies the conservative base with his impassioned arguments to cut federal spending. Just last week, the Florida Republican was lamenting on Fox News the Obama administration's decision to spend billions on green energy, declaring “we have already have a question mark on some of these green energy programs” and “that's not the place where American taxpayer dollars should be.”
But letters obtained by The Daily Beast show West has appealed to two different agencies in his first months in office for federal largesse for renewable energy and transportation projects in his home state of Florida.
Last month, West wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu asking for funding under the Energy Department's Sunshot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge, a program created by the Obama administration in the spring to “make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade.”
West, writing with three other members from the Florida delegation, said the funding would “reduce fragmentation” and “upgrade the rooftop solar market” in Broward County, part of which is in Florida's 22nd congressional district that West represents.
“If funded by the Department of Energy, this innovative program will benefit residents, small commercial establishments, the local economy, and environment for many years to come,” West and his colleagues wrote. “We are proud to support solar power as a smart choice for commercial and residential property owners, as well as the development of new and innovative strategies to reduce market barriers and costs.”
Upgrading the solar energy market in the area would bring considerable benefit to solar manufacturing and installation companies in the region. Some energy executives supported West in his election. For instance, employees at Hypower Inc., an energy and consulting company with its headquarters just outside of West's district, donated $11,500 to West's 2010 campaign. A spokesperson for the company was not immediately available for comment Thursday night.
