WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) commended Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for his announcement today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will provide a total of $31,956,664 in grants and loans for 433 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in Iowa. The funding is administered under the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which assists farmers, ranchers and rural small businesses in developing renewable energy systems and in making energy efficient improvements in their operations. Harkin, as the then-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, authored REAP in the 2002 farm bill and improved it in the 2008 farm bill. Harkin is now a senior member of the Agriculture Committee and of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds USDA and rural energy initiatives.
"By helping Iowa's agricultural producers and rural businesses make energy efficiency improvements, today's funding will lower energy costs, help our state to become more energy secure and create economic opportunities for business development. This is great news for our local and rural economies and will help to spur growth and create jobs across the state," said Harkin. "I commend Secretary Vilsack and his team for expeditiously executing this program so that it benefits farmers and rural America as intended."
A full list of the recipients of today's funding can be found here.
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