Given the scale of nationwide energy efficiency initiatives like those in the U.S. and, as recent news reports remind us, Australia, there are bound to be mistakes that precipitate both practical responses and political theater.

Partisan opponents of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Environment Minister Peter Garrett, former lead singer of the eco-advocacy rock band Midnight Oil, have spent the past few weeks trying to make political hay over Garrett’s handling of a $3.34 billion program designed to provide rebates for roof-insulation installations. Four workers hired through the initiative, known as the Home Installation Program, died from electrical shocks when the reflective foil insulation they were installing was positioned or stapled in a way that caused contact with exposed wiring. Although spray foam and traditional batt installations were covered under the program, shortages of those products apparently prompted some contractors to turn to reflective foil, whose improper installation has been linked to 93 house fires.

The fallout

Last week, Rudd stripped Garrett of his role in managing climate-change and water-resource initiatives, leaving him with responsibility only for environmental protection, heritage, and the arts. The prime minister put a hold on the current program (a move that some sources say could cost as many as 6,000 jobs) and assigned development and administration of alternative programs to Climate Change Minister Penny Wong and junior Climate Change Minister Greg Combet.

Worries about the type of insulation chosen for the program, and the training needed to install ceiling insulation properly, were aired publicly several weeks before the program’s July 1 launch in 2009. The industry group Master Electricians Australia, for example, posted an advisory on May 18 that cited the potential for fire-safety problems linked to inadequate separation between the insulation and ceiling-light fixtures, particularly those that generate a lot of heat.

While house fires linked to insulation installations certainly became part of the problem for Garrett and others in the Rudd administration, the deaths of the installers naturally dominated their concerns. By mid-October Garrett’s office said it was investigating the electrocution of a worker in Brisbane who was doing an installation of reflective foil insulation. A second worker died by the time Garrett imposed new strictures on installation procedures, and two more installers have been electrocuted since.

A political dance

Tony Abbott, leader of the center-right Liberal Party, has been at the forefront of the ensuing political backlash. Rudd’s popularity has slipped, a recent poll shows, although he does continue to enjoy a substantial lead over Abbott in most poll categories. Garrett’s demotion, meanwhile, is being seen by Australia’s arts establishment as a positive, according to a story by the country’s ABC News organization. The director of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Liz Ann Macgregor, told the ABC that she is pleased the minister will have more time to devote to the arts.

“Inevitably ministers have to prioritize in their portfolio and we did see a lot of focus on the environment last year,” Macgregor said. “But I think the minister also has taken an interest in the arts and we’re very pleased that he’s going to be able to focus on it with this shift in responsibilities.”

Political scrutiny of the vastly expanded – and long-established – Weatherization Assistance Program in the U.S. has been driven by general objections to the size of the federal stimulus package, claims that the program will be more susceptible than ever to fraud, and the $5 billion program’s relatively slow implementation. Confusion over certain program requirements has finally been addressed, and with the WAP machinery only recently getting up to speed, it is still far too early to measure the initiative’s effectiveness as a stimulus measure or claims by those who say it won’t work. But as the weatherization rollouts here and in Australia illustrate, big government programs will always be buffeted by a chorus of political yeas and nays.