Solyndra And Green Energy
While we were out there, while we were building it – cause it is a half a billion dollar plant – everyone already knew that China had developed a more inexpensive way to manufacture these solar panels. Everyone knew that the plant wouldn’t work. But they still did it. They still built it.
Obama's controversial DOE green energy loan program sparked a firestorm when Government Accountability Institute (GAI) President Peter Schweizer revealed that 80% of all $20.5 billion in DOE loans were given to Obama's top campaign donors. 
President Obama’s campaign promises of millions of green jobs haven’t materialized. A draft report by the Government Accountability Office found that the Labor Department’s $500 billion program to train people for green jobs produced just 55 percent of its targeted job placements—and most of those jobs were not in the solar or biofuels industries. -Walter Russell Mead
Workers at a Michigan battery plant built with a $150 million federal stimulus grant but never opened played games and watched movies while their wages were paid for by U.S. taxpayers, according to a government report.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy, Waste
The federal government spent more than $4.28 billion in stimulus money on green upgrades to public buildings — but today, it has no idea if those huge expenditures actually made the facilities any more energy efficient. “I don’t have the data to say that,” says Nick Goco, the General Services Administration’s deputy assistant inspector general for real-property audit... Though the Energy Policy Act requires federal buildings to track consumption of energy by the hour, some of the buildings receiving stimulus funds had their meters disconnected for two months or longer.
Environmentalist, Warming, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Science, Brilliance, Oops, Energy
The hills of southern Iowa bear the scars of America's push for green energy: The brown gashes where rain has washed away the soil. The polluted streams that dump fertilizer into the water supply. Even the cemetery that disappeared like an apparition into a cornfield. It wasn't supposed to be this way...
As farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land, destroyed habitat and polluted water supplies, an Associated Press investigation found. Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished on Obama's watch. Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil.
Democrat, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Waste
Missouri-based Smith Electric Vehicles said this week that it is suspending operations in the United States due to a “tight cash-flow situation.” Its financial troubles came despite nearly $30 million in funds from the Department of Energy (DOE) granted to the company through President Barack Obama’s 2009 stimulus package.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Oops
Five million acres of land set aside for conservation — more than Yellowstone, Everglades and Yosemite National Parks combined — have vanished on Obama’s watch. Landowners filled in wetlands. They plowed into pristine prairies, releasing carbon dioxide that had been locked in the soil. The consequences are so severe that environmentalists and many scientists have now rejected corn-based ethanol as bad environmental policy. But the Obama administration stands by it, highlighting its economic benefits to the farming industry.
When Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded Boeing's fleet of 787 Dreamliner commercial jets last week due to unexplained battery fires, one of President Obama's favorite green energy technologies got another black eye. Technologists and safety experts had long warned of problems with the lithium ion battery when in 2009 the president began betting billions of tax dollars that it should be the green power of choice for cars, trucks, and even aircraft. -Richard Pollock
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy, Debt
Cleanup of the former production facility contaminated and abandoned by bankrupt Abound Solar Inc. is estimated to cost as much as $3.7 million, according to documents obtained by the Business Report. As lawyers, regulators, bankruptcy officials and the landlord spar over the case, the building lies in disrepair, too contaminated to lease. The company had borrowed almost $70 million on a $400 million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy. Taxpayers are expected to lose $40 million to $60 million as a result of its bankruptcy.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Waste
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says Abound Solar is responsible for thousands of "unsellable" solar panels containing cadmium in warehouses. Barrels of toxic liquid also were found. Colorado health and environment officials have ordered Loveland-based Abound Solar, the bankrupt solar-panel maker, to clean up hazardous waste at four Front Range locations... Abound… spent $70 million of a $400 million federal loan guarantee that will leave taxpayers with a bill of $40 million to $60 million, once the bankruptcy is settled…
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Fraud, Waste, Debt
An Inspector General’s report from the Department of Energy (DOE) recently revealed that the LG Chem auto battery plant in Holland, Michigan “inappropriately claimed and was reimbursed for labor costs that did not support the purpose/objective” of a government grant. According to the IG’s office, this included the costs for staffers to perform “volunteer activities, play games and watch movies during regular work hours.” The IG points the finger at LG Chem and DOE, saying Department officials did not establish appropriate oversight protections into the $142 million grant that was awarded to LG Chem to build the Holland plant.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops, Energy
Washington — The Obama administration approved the sale of most of bankrupt battery maker A123 Systems' assets to Chinese firm Wanxiang Group Corp. The company's U.S. subsidiary, Chicago-based Wanxiang America, said it has received approval from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. to complete its acquisition of substantially all of the non-government business assets of A123 Systems, Inc.
"All in all in the solar field, l think it is extremely easy to pick losers and l really do not know how to pick winners." -Jim McCrea, Department of Energy, Nov. 18, 2009
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Brilliance, Oops
Electric car battery maker A123 Systems received a $946,830 check from the U.S. Energy Department on the day it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month -- providing more ammunition for critics who say the Obama administration is blindly funding failed clean energy companies. The Waltham, Mass.-based company also told two U.S. senators in a letter this week that it may seek more money from the $249.1-million Energy Department stimulus award it won in 2009.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Battery maker A123 Systems vowed thousands of new jobs when it received a nearly quarter-billion-dollar stimulus grant in late 2009, but federal job-tracking figures show only a few hundred positions were created before the company joined a growing list of federally backed energy businesses that ended in bankruptcy.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Crime, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Debt, Jobs
Abound Solar, the defunct solar-panel manufacturer, is under criminal investigation for possible securities fraud, consumer fraud and financial misrepresentation, the Weld County district attorney's office said Thursday. Loveland-based Abound closed its Colorado plant in July and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in a move that left 125 workers without jobs and taxpayers holding the bag for up to $60 million in defaulted loans. Abound has become the subject of political controversy over its failure after the U.S. Department of Energy approved up to $400 million in federal loan guarantees for the company.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Another solar company that received taxpayer support before going bankrupt is facing tough questions from Congress and a criminal investigation -- following in the footsteps of solar-panel firm Solyndra. The company facing scrutiny is Abound Solar, based in Longmont, Colo. Colorado's Weld County has launched a securities fraud investigation following allegations that Abound may have misled investors and a bank before securing funds. "Our goal is if crimes were committed to make sure individuals are held accountable," said Weld County District Attorney Ken Buck.
Workers at LG Chem, a $300 million lithium-ion battery plant heavily funded by taxpayers, tell Target 8 that they have so little work to do that they spend hours playing cards and board games, reading magazines or watching movies. They say it's been going on for months.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Massachusetts-based solar company Satcon Technology Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, becoming the second taxpayer-backed green energy firm this week to do so. Satcon also benefited from federal grants under the Obama administration, though it has received far less than A123 Systems. According to the Energy Department, the company was approved for two separate stimulus awards worth $3 million each.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Editorial, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Corruption
Even as advanced battery maker A123 Systems struggled for financial viability, it played the Washington insider game, where political money and access go hand in hand. The Massachusetts firm dished out nearly $1 million to hire a powerhouse lobbying firm with close ties to President Barack Obama between 2007 and 2009, and two of its top executives made personal donations to several high-profile Democrats in Congress as it won federal funding for its efforts to build the next generation of lithium batteries for electric vehicles.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Short of cash and hurting from weak sales of electric cars, battery maker A123 Systems Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection on Tuesday and quickly sold its automotive assets. The Chapter 11 filing is likely to spawn more criticism of the Obama administration’s funding of alternative energy companies. The lithium-ion battery maker received a $249 million grant from the Department of Energy in August 2009 to help it build U.S. factories.
Environmentalist, Government, Incompetence, Financial, Oops, Energy
A Danish wind turbine company whose subsidiaries received over $50 million in U.S. stimulus dollars announced on Friday it has cut more than 800 jobs in the United States and Canada this year and may be forced to lay off another 800 employees in North America.
So far, 36 companies that have received federal support from taxpayers have either gone bankrupt or are laying off workers and are heading for bankruptcy. This list includes only those companies that received federal money from the Obama Administration’s Department of Energy.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
LONGMONT, Colo. - A bankrupt Longmont-based company that received $68 million in stimulus money is under investigation by the Weld County district attorney's office. 7NEWS has confirmed Abound Solar is under investigation.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops
President Obama touted it in 2010 as evidence "manufacturing jobs are coming back to the United States,” but two years later, a Michigan hybrid battery plant built with $150 million in taxpayer funds is putting workers on furlough before a single battery has been produced.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Seven months after calling themselves the “anti-Solyndra,” the Colorado-based solar panel manufacturer Abound Solar announced it was filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, arguing that cheap Chinese solar panels flooding the market caused their demise. Abound Solar was given a $400 million loan guarantee by the Energy Department, and drew on about $70 million dollars of the guarantee before DOE cut them off in September 2011 — the same month the Solyndra scandal began.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Law
Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon regarding the testimony of Morgan Wright. Wright is the Obama administration’s Director of Strategic Initiatives in the Department of Energy. According to Issa’s statement, Wright has refused to appear for a subpoena in the investigation into Solyndra, the failed “green” tech company that lost more than half a billion taxpayer dollars in the form of a government-backed loan approved by the Obama administration.
Week after week, [White House economic adviser Christina] Romer would march in with an estimate of the jobs all the investments in clean energy would produce; week after week, Obama would send her back to check the numbers. "I don't get it," he'd say. "We make these large-scale investments in infrastructure. What do you mean, there are no jobs?" But the numbers rarely budged. -Noam Scheiber, The Escape Artists: How Obama's Team Fumbled the Recovery
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Spinner was last in the headlines in October, when emails surfaced showing he had pushed for the Solyndra loan from his post in the Energy Department, apparently in an effort to score the loan as a political victory for President Obama. "How hard is this? What is he waiting for?" Spinner wrote in one of them. "I have OVP [the Office of the Vice President] and WH [the White House] breathing down my neck on this." The fast-tracked Solyndra loan became the showpiece of the Obama administration's Green Energy loan program -- a plan to give a jolt of federal aid to firms developing new forms of alternative energy.
Democrat, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Waste
Solyndra CEO Chris Gronet referred to the federal government as “The Bank of Washington,” in a 2009 email released by the Republican National Committee Research blog Thursday. The Washington Post reported Wednesday that now-White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew may have ignored warning from Office of Management and Budget analysts about attempts to save Solyndra in 2011.
Democrat, Hypocrisy, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Greed, Waste
As the Obama administration moved last year to bail out Solyndra, the embattled flagship of the president’s initiative to promote alternative energy, a White House budget analyst calculated that millions of taxpayer dollars might be saved by cutting the government’s losses, shuttering the company immediately and selling its assets, according to a congressional investigation. Even so, senior officials in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget did not discourage the Energy Department from proceeding with its plan to restructure a federal loan to Solyndra — a move that put private investors ahead of taxpayers for repayment if the company closed, the investigation by Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee found. The restructuring went forward, but within months Solyndra failed anyway, leaving federal taxpayers on the hook for much of the half-billion-dollar federal loan.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
The Amonix solar manufacturing plant in North Las Vegas, heavily financed under an Obama administration energy initiative, has closed its 214,000-square-foot facility 14 months after it opened. Officials at Amonix headquarters in Seal Beach, Calif., have not responded to repeated calls for comment this week. The company today began selling equipment, from automated tooling systems to robotic welding cells.
On the day it closed, Solyndra said it was laying off 1,100 full-time and temporary employees. But 1,861 workers lost their jobs as the solar panel manufacturer shut its doors, according to U.S. Labor Department documents provided to The Bay Citizen under the Freedom of Information Act. The documents also show the Fremont-based company increased production in 2011, even though it failed to sell all the panels it made the previous year.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Energy
A geothermal energy company with a $98.5 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration for an alternative energy project in Nevada — which received hearty endorsements from Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — faces financial problems, and the company’s auditors have questioned whether it can stay in business. Much like Solyndra LLC, a California solar-panel manufacturer with a $535 million federal loan guarantee that went bankrupt, Nevada Geothermal Power (NGP) has incurred $98 million in net losses over the past several years, has substantial debts and does not generate enough cash from its current operations after debt-service costs, an internal audit said.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Corruption
A new book by Hoover Institution fellow Peter Schweizer details the startling extent of the cronyism that has pervaded President Obama’s “green jobs” push. According to Schweizer, 4 out of every 5 renewable energy companies backed by the Energy Department was “run by or primarily owned by Obama financial backers.”
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops
Three months ago, CBS 5 caught Solyndra tossing millions of dollars worth of brand new glass tubes used to make solar panels. Now the bankrupt solar firm, once touted as a symbol of green technology, may be trying to abandon toxic waste. It’s a tedious process. Slowly but surely, the shattered remains of brand new solar panel tubes head to a recycling plant in Hayward. Meanwhile the next phase of the company’s liquidation is under way. It involves getting rid of all the heavy metals left inside the building that were used to make the panels.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
The U.S. Treasury Department was given one day to review Solyndra LLC’s $535 million U.S. loan guarantee after learning the Energy Department was ready to announce the award publicly, according to a Treasury audit. While Treasury staff say they had enough time to review the loan, internal e-mails cast doubt on whether staff suggestions were addressed by the Energy Department, the Treasury’s Inspector General’s Office said yesterday in the report.
The Obama administration short-cutted bureaucratic procedures to slide billions of dollars to allies of the Democratic Party who ran “green energy” scams. Some of them went out of business, costing the taxpayers billions. Worse, many of them did not, which means that the energy markets have been distorted by government favoritism so that someone else–someone who hadn’t contributed enough to the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign–was, perhaps, driven out of business instead. “Green energy” is the worst example of government cronyism in American history.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
In keeping with the recent trend of so-called green companies going into the red, another solar energy company supported by President Obama's top administration officials declared bankruptcy today. Solar Trust for America received $2.1 billion in conditional loan guarantees from the Department of Energy -- "the largest amount ever offered to a solar project," according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu -- for a project near Blythe, Calif., but declared bankruptcy within a year.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
April 2011: The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $2.1 billion loan guarantee to Solar Trust of America for a solar thermal power plant near Blythe, Calif... April 2012: WILMINGTON, Del. — A California solar energy company that was unable to meet a deadline for an Energy Department loan guarantee last year has sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware. Solar Trust of America’s Chapter 11 filing on Monday listed assets between $1 million and $10 million, and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Narrative, Oops, Energy
Several key White House offices were involved with the Obama administration’s messaging plans and other preparations as the collapse of the taxpayer-backed solar company Solyndra was imminent, newly released documents show. The latest White House documents delivered to House Republicans on Friday again highlight the extent to which senior administration officials braced for the fallout as Solyndra – a company President Obama had personally visited – was about to go under.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Character, Oops
During the interview, Obama was asked about Solyndra, one of the more well-known solar panel companies that failed after receiving a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
However, Obama told Marketplace that "this was not our program." Obama attempts to make the case that this falls on the lap of Congress because they put together the loan guarantee program.
Solyndra collapsed two weeks ago, leaving taxpayers liable for the $535 million loan. One e-mail from an OMB official referred to “the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra.” Another complained, “There isn’t time to negotiate.”
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
With $30 billion in taxpayer money at risk, the DOE under Steven Chu didn’t bother to conduct the reviews it claimed it would on applications for loan guarantees, didn’t keep records of what reviews they did accomplish, and signed off on loans with incomplete documentation and inadequate oversight of the risk. The result -- perhaps $6.5 billion immediately at risk, according to CBS, and possibly most of the $30 billion.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Longmont-based Abound Solar, recipient of a $400 million federal loan guarantee to expand solar panel production, said Tuesday it is laying off 280 workers and delaying a new factory in Indiana.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops
Just seven months after California-based solar power company Amonix Inc. opened its largest manufacturing plant, in North Las Vegas, the company’s contractor has laid off nearly two-thirds of its workforce.
Democrat, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
After months of financial turmoil, an Energy Department-backed lithium ion battery company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company, Ener1, received a $118 million grant from DOE in 2010 as part of the president’s stimulus package. The money, which went to Ener1 subsidiary EnerDel, aimed to promote renewable energy storage battery technology for electrical grid use.
While we were out there, while we were building it – cause it is a half a billion dollar plant – everyone already knew that China had developed a more inexpensive way to manufacture these solar panels. Everyone knew that the plant wouldn’t work. But they still did it. They still built it.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Energy
CBS News' Sharyl Attkisson takes a look at 11 more Solyndras that were part of Obama's Energy program. Attkisson was one of the original reporters that uncovered the Solyndra scandal. CBS News counted 12 clean energy companies that are having trouble after collectively being approved for more than $6.5 billion in federal assistance. Five have filed for bankruptcy: The junk bond-rated Beacon, Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, AES' subsidiary Eastern Energy and Solyndra.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Financial, Oops
The Labor Department today announced that it had approved Trade Adjustment Assistance for the former employees of the bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra. That means all of the firm’s 1,100 ex-employees are eligible for federal aid packages, including job retraining and income assistance. The department has valued packages at about $13,000 a head.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops, Energy
WASHINGTON — A major donor to President Barack Obama discussed with White House officials a solar energy company that received a half-billion dollar federal loan and later went bankrupt, newly released emails show. The emails released by a House committee appear to contradict repeated assurances by the Obama administration that the donor, George Kaiser, never talked about Solyndra Inc. with the White House.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops, Energy
We note that the White House has repeatedly stated that no political influence was brought to bear with regard to Solyndra, and that Mr. George Kaiser, a Solyndra investor and Obama fundraiser, never discussed Solyndra during any of his 17 visits to the White House. Documents recently obtained by the committee directly contradict those statements.
Why was the White House pushing so hard? Was it because a major Solyndra investor, billionaire George Kaiser, is also a major fundraiser for Obama? Did the president personally approve such a large loan? And where’s our money now?
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Greed
Karen Alter, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Solyndra, received $55,000 on April 15, 2011 and $55,000 on July 8 to go along with her quarter-million-dollar salary. Ben Bierman picked up $60,000 on April 15 and another $60,000 on July 8 to supplement his $276,000 salary. Bierman was EVP of Operations and Engineering and was presenting cheery, optimistic PowerPoint obfuscation sessions as late as July, as well.
Democrat, Environmentalist, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops
(Reuters) - Beacon Power Corp filed for bankruptcy on Sunday just a year after the energy storage company received a $43 million loan guarantee from a controversial U.S. Department of Energy program. The move comes about two months after solar panel maker Solyndra also filed for bankruptcy, setting off criticism of the government loan program.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Corruption
LightSquared, a wireless network backed by billionaire Democratic donor Philip Falcone, could beam broadband Internet everywhere—but some military officials fear it could interfere with critical GPS signals. Now, as The Daily Beast's Eli Lake exclusively reports, two U.S. officials allege the White House tried to influence their testimony to rush key testing, to LightSquare's benefit.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy, Waste
The Obama administration’s Department of Energy was poised last summer to give Solyndra a second major taxpayer loan of $469 million, even as the company’s financial situation was growing more dire.
Earlier this week, Stimulus beneficiary Evergreen Energy bit the dust. Then, Ener1, a manufacturer of batteries for electric vehicles and recipient of Stimulus largesse, filed for bankruptcy. And today, the Las Vegas Sun reports that Amonix, Inc., a manufacturer of solar panels that received $5.9 million from the Porkulus, will cut two-thirds of its workforce...
Obama, Corruption
Gen. William Shelton, head of the Air Force Space Command, told House members in a classified briefing earlier this month that he was pressured to change prepared congressional testimony in a way that would favor a large company funded by Philip Falcone, a major Democratic donor, congressional sources told Fox News.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
New e-mails released Monday show the White House was warned about Solyndra's potential problems even before President Obama visited the company's Fremont, Calif., headquarters and used it as a backdrop for his push for renewable energy investment and green jobs. “What’s terrifying is that after looking at some of the ones that came next, this one [Solyndra] started to look better," another OMB e-mail exchange said of Solyndra. "Bad days are coming.”
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
Out of the hundreds of out-of-work employees, vendors, investors and other creditors in the bankruptcy of government-backed solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC, one name stands out: the California Democratic Party. Why California Democrats would be creditor to a company that received more than a half-billion dollars in federal loans to build a solar-panel plant isn’t clear. Even party officials say they’re not sure.
Democrat, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
The Obama administration is in a race against the clock to close by month’s end more than a dozen renewable-energy loan guarantees totaling $9 billion. Of that, just over $3 billion would come from the federal government’s coffers. It now has to do that amid an escalating political battle over a federally backed solar company spiraling into bankruptcy and facing an FBI probe. President Obama once praised the company, California-based Solyndra, as “the true engine of economic growth.”
Ahuja, who had never donated to Democrats before and has not since, gave the maximum allowable $30,400 contribution to the Democratic National Committee on the same day his lawyers were trying to arrange a meeting for him at the White House with top Obama technology adviser Aneesh Chopra and other officials.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
Solyndra, the solar panel company whose highly publicized failure and consequent investigation by federal authorities has flashed across headlines recently, isn't the only business to go belly up after benefiting from a piece of the $800 billion economic stimulus package passed in 2009.
Democrat, Liberal, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
While we were out there, while we were building it – cause it is a half a billion dollar plant – everyone already knew that China had developed a more inexpensive way to manufacture these solar panels. Everyone knew that the plant wouldn’t work. But they still did it. They still built it.
Democrat, Liberal, Crime, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
Newly uncovered emails show the White House closely monitored the Energy Department's deliberations over a $535 million government loan to Solyndra, the politically-connected solar energy firm that recently went bankrupt and is now the subject of a criminal investigation.
Democrat, Liberal, Crime, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy
Miller said the company is "fully cooperating" with federal officials. He said he did not know the purpose of the search, but he speculated it could have something to do with the $535 million in loan guarantees the Department of Energy awarded to Solyndra, a company President Obama visited in May 2010, touting the company as the wave of clean technology and the future for alternative fuel sources.
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According to White House visitor logs, between March 12, 2009, and April 14, 2011, Solyndra officials and investors made no fewer than 20 trips to the West Wing. In the week before the administration awarded Solyndra with the first-ever alternative energy loan guarantee on March 20, four separate visits were logged.
Government, Incompetence, Obama, Oops, Energy, Economy, Regulation
“This was an unexpected outcome and is most unfortunate,” Solyndra chief executive Brian Harrison said in a statement. “Regulatory and policy uncertainties” made it impossible to raise capital to quickly rescue the operation, he said.
Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Oops, Energy, Economy
Solyndra was touted by the Obama administration as a prime example of how green technology could deliver jobs. The President visited the facility in May of last year and said "it is just a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world. And you guys all represent that. " I was told by a security guard to get my [stuff] and leave," one employee said. The company employs a little more than 1,000 employees worldwide, according to its website.
Democrat, Liberal, Crime, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Energy
FBI agents armed with search warrants descended this morning on bankrupt solar company Solynrda this morning. The investigation comes after a request by the Department of Energy's inspector general, FBI spokesman Peter Lee told NBC Bay Area News. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy last week, shocking both workers and the Obama administration, which had given the startup hundreds of millions of dollars in low interest loans. Congress has demanded a hearing into the matter.
Democrat, Liberal, Crime, Government, Incompetence, Obama, Financial, Politics, Energy
Solyndra collapsed two weeks ago, leaving taxpayers liable for the $535 million loan. One e-mail from an OMB official referred to “the time pressure we are under to sign-off on Solyndra.” Another complained, “There isn’t time to negotiate.”