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How much will it take to get the economy back on its feet?

President-elect Obama’s team has begun working on a plan to spend up to $500 billion in new funds if the economy continues to worsen. President-elect Obama promised to create 5 million new green jobs in the alternative energy sector. However with the economic outlook worsening daily, will he be able to put his money where his mouth is?

“The situation in the economy is the biggest impediment to any strategy,” said Christine Tezac, an energy and policy analyst at the Stanford Group Co. in Washington, D.C.

There is speculation that some of Obama’s ‘green plans’ might need to give way to more pressing economic issues like rescuing the housing market and creating jobs in other (not necessarily green) sectors. That could cost not just green job creation but also funding for the green economy. Obama might have a tough time passing the much-anticipated climate change bill, whose higher costs for utilities would ultimately mean heftier electricity bills for consumers. Failure to pass a bill that would create a system to sell carbon credits would also dry up one key source of funding for Obama’s $150 billion in promised alternative-energy investments.

And what about his proposed climate legislation that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% over the next four decades? Implementing a cap-and-trade program that would assign a cost to carbon dioxide emissions potentially provide funds for alternative energy initiatives.

What do you think? Do we have a case of economy vs. green or will we see the green economy that Obama has promised?