President Obama has a tall task in front of him: He needs to actually show some initiative toward accomplishing his lofty energy policy goals – namely the one about switching our country over from 85% fossil fueled energy to 80% clean, green energy by 2035. But the Fed is taking baby steps down that road now, with the advent of a new opportunity that allocates $70 million to geothermal energy projects over the next three years.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced a distribution of $11.3 million  to five states for the funding of eight geothermal energy advancement projects, citing the need for a diverse energy portfolio and innovation in our nation’s alternative energy development. The Department of Energy’s multimillion dollar investment is also likely to create a fair amount of new jobs – a refreshing bonus in the sagging economy.

Here’s the breakdown of those five states receiving Federal funds from the $11.3 million pool:

#1 – California………… $6,582,000

#2 – Texas……………….$2,850,000

#3 – Louisiana…………..$997,000

#4 – Utah…………………$671,000

#5 – Connecticut……….$200,000

Geothermal energy is a form of alternative energy that uses heat from geothermal energy (primarily steam), tapped from deep below the Earth’s crust, to generate electricity. Right now, our global production of electricity with geothermal methods is about 0.25%, yet by 2050 could increase to about 3% with these types of projects, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).