At the end of August, the White House attacked an AP report critical of Team Obama’s weatherization program. An excerpt:
More than 30 states have already weatherized more than 30 percent of their targeted homes: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Our focus at the Department of Energy has been on getting this money moving into the economy quickly, while making sure that the funding is spent well, with transparency and accountability. It seems like the AP can’t decide if we’re spending the money too fast or not fast enough. We think we’re effectively balancing those goals, supporting a successful program that has now reached a critical milestone.
Which brings us today and this must-read from Byron York on the Inspector General report outlining just how bad the weatherization program is in Obama’s home state. The opener:
Projects to weatherize homes are a key part of the Obama administration’s fusion of stimulus spending and the green agenda. But a new report by the Department of Energy has found serious problems in stimulus-funded weatherization work — problems so severe that they have resulted in homes that are not only not more energy efficient but are actually dangerous for people to live in.
The study, by the Department’s inspector general, examined the work of what’s called the Weatherization Assistance Program, or WAP, in Illinois. Last year, the Department awarded Illinois $242 million, which was expected to pay for the weatherization of 27,000 homes. Specifically, Energy Department inspectors took a close look at the troubled operations of the Community and Economic Development Association of Cook County, known as CEDA, which is the largest recipient of weatherization money in Illinois with $91 million to weatherize 12,500 homes. (Cook County is, of course, home to Chicago.)
The findings are grim. “Our testing revealed substandard performance in weatherization workmanship, initial assessments, and contractor billing,” the inspector general report says. “These problems were of such significance that they put the integrity of the entire program at risk.”
Department inspectors visited 15 homes that were being weatherized by CEDA and paid for by stimulus funds. “We found that 14 of the 15 homes…failed final inspection because of poor workmanship and/or inadequate initial assessments,” the report says. In eight of the homes, CEDA had come up with unworkable and ineffective plans — like putting attic insulation in a house with a leaky roof. In ten of the homes, “contractors billed for labor charges that had not been incurred and for materials that had not been installed.” The report calls billing problems “pervasive,” with seven of ten contractors being cited for erroneous invoicing. And the department found “a 62 percent final inspection error rate” when CEDA inspectors reviewed their own work.
The rest here.