A group of four U.S. senators have announced legislation to amend last year’s energy stimulus package so that it will focus only on those green projects that support American companies

"The legislation was proposed in a letter signed by Democratic Senators Charles E. Schumer, Bob Casey, Sherrod Brown and Jon Tester, who criticized the current stimulus package for siphoning money off to overseas countries.

The new legislation, called the American Renewable Energy Jobs Act, would amend last year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which released $800 billion in new investment designed to kick start the U.S. economy.

The new amendment would make the Department of Energy and the Treasury obliged to only award stimulus funds to clean energy projects that create and preserve jobs in the U.S.

In their letter to the Treasury the senators said: "We propose to stop Treasury from using American tax payer dollars to support foreign manufacturers and foreign jobs, and respectfully request that you placed a moratorium on distribution of section 1603 grants until our legislation becomes law."

Section 1603 of the Recovery Act allocates grants for energy property in lieu of tax credits.

The Senators have singled out a particular wind project in Texas for criticism. China's Shenyang Power Group, the U.S. Renewable Energy Group and a Texas company called Cielo Wind Power are involved in a joint venture to build a 648MW wind farm. The Senators says the project is on the verge of receiving $450 million in grants, despite the fact it uses Chinese-made turbines, and that the lion's share of jobs it creates are in China.

The letter will be embarrassing to the Obama administration, which worked hard to get the stimulus bill past the Republican party last year. So far, 38 percent of the total stimulus funding has been paid out."

Edited by Ellie Duncan`"