The Solyndra standard: on loan guarantees, military spending, and clean energy policy

This is the second test failed in a row for the WaveRider - an aircraft technology, which the military close to $300 million on the development between spent already has. And this is only on a program. We have worked on Hypersonic Flight programs since the 1960?s.

But even with more than a quarter billion dollars in hardware now sits in the Pacific Ocean (small change for the Pentagon) not we have heard a view from anyone in Washington on the crash. No calls for an investigation of the Congress, no outrage over hundreds of millions of dollars fall in 15 seconds, no public floggings mod Guide.

But hell, if a few innovative clean energy companies receive crash after support from the Federal Government, they are used as a tool by the national Republican party, to make the idea of strategic investments in Cleantech in question.

It is almost a year since Solyndra, the solar producers who receive a loan guarantee for $527 million in bankruptcy. Since then, House lawmakers have held 12 hearings and meet official, bought more than 300,000 documents, two Subpenas, and probably more than $1 million for the investigation issued.

What did they find?

"No evidence of wrong-doing," reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

The Washington Post went further in a recent study: "the records are not produced, that someone under pressure the Department of energy the Solyndra loan used to approve participants in favour of political."

This is not to say that we from the bankruptcy of Solyndra and other clean energy companies should shrug. Congress is mission to determine whether the tax makes sense - issued and throws you a view of the causes and consequences of such incidents is important for transparency.

But as we predicted when the Solyndra story first broke out, these studies have turned into a political SideShow. A year later, based on political Insider offers GOP legislators demonstrated, not their theory that decisions to offer that to clean energy loan guarantees. Still Theycontinue call to extend more documents and may have additional hearings, in the hope, the meme of "Nepotism" Solyndra until after the election.

Representative Jim Jordan (R - OH) which was most stump about the GOP's plan for Solyndra: press the manufactured scandal until November and then put it after the election.

E & E News reported Jordan's comments in March:

For all the talk about possible "Smoking Guns" may some wrongdoing on the part of the Obama management on Solyndra or other Department of energy loans, show that the House Republican confirmed yesterday that several GOP on the subject of probes are in some ways a game for votes on election day.

"Ultimately we it stop on election day, hopefully. " "And attention to these things will help the voters and the nature of the decision which I hope will make the country, which helps them as they assess who they are for in November votes."

That's exactly how it is to play. The politically manufactured outrage about Solyndra to an all-out campaign made - with tens of millions of dollars, issued season this election specifically for targeting Federal renewable energy investment. Mitt Romney has jumped on the bandwagon, with Solyndra as a key part of his campaign.

And here is the really amazing separate: while supporting tens of thousands of jobs, the credit guarantee program is expected that $2 billion less cost than Congress, according to an analysis by Herb Allison, John McCain's former National Chairman finance scheduled.

Meanwhile in the midst of the Solyndra saga we accept passing a $300 million aircraft errors, without batting an eye. No outrage. No sustained political campaign. It's just another day test our military toys.

Why? Because we often do not see programs such as "Failure" in the political arena. We would never use a failure as an excuse to leave investment in new technologies. Most politicians accept losses in the R & D of military spending, because after all, the long-term benefits are potentially so important for national defense and for the development of technologies for civilian use.

We should always aim to make programs as efficient and cost-effective as possible. But a few bankruptcy clean energy companies, representing a fraction of the cost of the programme is no excuse for the task of the Federal investment in clean energy - a strategically important sector which is one of the greatest drivers of the business in this century.

Expect Oh, not anyone publicly this admit. As the campaign unfolds season, political leaders are all too willing to practice the Solyndra standard.

This article appeared originally on the climate progress and was republished with permission.

View the original article here

Obama Fundraiser Linked To Loan Program That Aided Solyndra

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
President Barack Obama lifts a solar panel with Solyndra Chief Executive Officer Chris Gronet during a tour of the company in May 2010. (Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images)

Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles— The White House faced mounting political complications as a second top fundraiser for President Obama was linked to a federal loan guarantee program that backed a now-bankrupt Silicon Valley solar energy company, and as two California lawmakers called for investigations of a state tax break granted to the firm.

Steve Spinner, who helped monitor the Energy Department's issuance of $25 billion in government loan guarantees to renewable energy projects, was one of Obama's top fundraisers in 2008 and is raising money for the president's 2012 reelection campaign.

Spinner did not have any role in the selection of applicants for the loan program and, in fact, was recused from the decision to grant a $535-million loan guarantee to Solyndra Inc. because his wife's law firm represented the company, administration officials said Friday.

But Spinner's role as a top official in the Energy Department program, which had not been previously revealed, is likely to spur new inquiries into whether political influence played a role in the handling of the "green" energy fund. Solyndra faces a congressional probe, a criminal investigation and separate internal inquiries at the Energy and Treasury departments.

"This will fuel more questions, and now you've got real people involved at the inspector-general level who will be turning over chairs and cabinets, asking questions," said Stanley Brand, a criminal defense and ethics lawyer in Washington who has served as general counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives.

He noted that none of the details that had emerged suggested any laws had been broken. "It's embarrassing, it's ham-handed, it looks bad, but so far all we have is the White House trying to advantage itself in a political way with a loan," he said.

The largest investments in Solyndra were funds operated on behalf of the family foundation of billionaire George Kaiser, another major fundraiser for Obama in 2008. Kaiser has denied personally investing in the solar energy company or talking to White House officials about the loan.

Some Republicans in Congress charge that the White House pushed to get the loan approved for political reasons, which the White House denies.

Before its collapse, Solyndra was a showcase of the White House initiative to develop clean-energy alternatives. Obama visited the factory in May and praised Solyndra as a green technology company that would create jobs and help lead the country's economic recovery.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sept. 6. Two days later, agents with the FBI and Energy Department's inspector general served a search warrant at Solyndra headquarters in an inquiry focusing on whether the company misled the government in applying for the loans.

In announcing its closure, Solyndra cited an unexpected reduction in demand for its products and intense competition from Chinese companies that drove down the price of solar panels it could sell.

Spinner, who raised at least $500,000 for Obama in 2008, is leading efforts to raise money from the technology industry for the president's reelection campaign. He did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Last week, he invited Obama fundraisers who were in Chicago for a national finance committee meeting to the launch of the Technology for Obama fundraising program. In July, the Obama campaign credited Spinner with raising between $200,000 and $500,000 so far this year.

Spinner was a Silicon Valley investor who founded a sports and wellness company before he joined the administration in April 2009 after serving on Obama's transition team. He was named an advisor to Energy Secretary Steven Chu and was charged with helping oversee a loan guarantee program authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the economic stimulus program.

"Steve Spinner acted as a liaison between the Recovery Act Office and the Loan Programs Office," Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera said in a statement Friday. "In that capacity, he played no role in the decision-making or evaluation of the Solyndra loan application."

During his tenure, the program approved 20 loan guarantees totaling $25 billion for energy storage, wind power and solar generation, according to Spinner's resume on LinkedIn. Among them was final approval for Solyndra, which planned to manufacture thin solar modules for flat rooftops.

The company applied for a loan guarantee in December 2006, filing under a program created by George W. Bush's administration. It received a conditional commitment for $535 million in March 2009, shortly before Spinner arrived.

In the months that followed, department staffers negotiated the final terms and provided the Office of Management and Budget with data as it assessed the risks of the deal.

In August 2009, while that risk assessment was underway, White House officials began expressing interest in having Vice President Joe Biden announce the deal during a trip to California the following month, according to emails released to House investigators this week. That spurred exchanges between officials

View the original article here

Solyndra Solar Is Bump In The Road

That the federal government wastes money isn’t news. Expenditures from the Iraq War have been estimated at $3 trillion or more by the Washington Post. It bears repeating that the Iraq War wasn’t even necessary to begin with, and it has cost many lives. Politicians who are attacking the Solyndra federal loan as an indication that solar energy is not worth subsidizing, are wrong, and are simply trying to make partisan hay from a single mistake. Some of them seem to have very conveniently forgotten that Big Oil, Big Coal and Big Agriculture all receive federal subsidies amounting to a great deal of money, year after year.

The oil industry receives about four billion dollars a year in tax breaks from the U.S. government. Robert Kennedy Jr. said in an interview that?oil and coal each receive about one trillion dollars a year in subsidies both directly and indirectly. Also, corn farming in the United States received $77 billion in subsidies from 1995-2010. These are just several examples of industries receiving support from the federal government.

Renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal and wave power also require support, especially as they are emerging technologies subject to volatile changes in the market and haven’t found solid footing in mainstream culture. They need help because when they mature they mean cleaner air for Americans, and far less dependence on foreign oil, which is a waste of an enormous amount of money, and is geo-politically troublesome to say the least. About $25 billion dollars a year from America goes for Persian Gulf oil. Much more goes to Canada, though fortunately they are a stable democratic nation.

The coal industry receives subsidies even though burning coal to make electricity has been linked to deadly air pollution. One report says 13,000 premature deaths a year result from coal burning. Another study says there are potentially an extra 60,000 cancer cases a year due to coal mining via mountaintop removal. This explosive practice has also destroyed ten of thousands of acres of once pristine natural forests and polluted countless water sources both for wildlife and people.

Solar power plants don’t produce deadly air pollution. They don’t even produce sickness-inducing air pollution. Neither do wind turbines, geothermal power, or wave energy. Clean energy doesn’t kill or sicken people or wildlife like fossil fuel-based energy does.

In the long run we could save a large portion of the money we spend on foreign oil by investing in renewable energy sources now. If we don’t do it now, we probably will eventually later simply because it is the way the whole world is going, because it is necessary given climate change problems, and pollution problems due to fossil fuel use. Most of the world’s power may be solar-based by the year 2060.

The faster we develop our own clean energy sources, the better change we have to be leaders in this field, rather than followers. As leaders we stand some chance at licensing and selling our clean energy technology to other countries and making money. As followers we might end up paying more, and having little chance of pursuing international business opportunities. In information technology we are leaders with companies like Google, Apple, Twitter, Microsoft and so on. There is no reason we can’t also be leaders in clean energy, but we need our politicians to understand clean energy vs. dirty energy, public health, climate change, and long-term economic trends. We don’t need more petty infighting and finger-pointing over relatively small mistakes. Moving an entire nation to new sources of energy isn’t going to be a perfectly smooth transition.

Image Credit: Public Domain

Related Links

Extra 60,000 Cancer Cases from Coal?

Coal Damages Health

Register today for free for Oprah's Lifeclass* and be entered in a drawing where a lucky Care2 member will win a trip to meet Oprah!**

Thank you for registering Oprah's Lifeclass Please check the email address provided for information about the contest.

* You will receive additional information and updates from Oprah.com.
** US Residents only, subject to the Care2 Oprah's Lifeclass Promotion rules available at http://bit.ly/care2contestrules

View the original article here