The Loan Guarantee Program was a Bush Program. When Dr. Chu was nominated and confirmed he promised to move the applications along since the beginning of the program in 2005. Solyndra was next in line and it is just that simple. There was no crony capitalism for Solyndra, it had the application in place long before the new administration took over.
There is no cronyism, the country's economy needed an infusion of capital to create jobs. Solyndra had the right idea. I do not know if the FBI will turn up any wrong-doing, but, it seems to me what was thought to be a good method of moving from a research based enterprise to one that manufactured the product it researched came up short in order to move the company to an IPO.
The problem with Solyndra has been the problem with alternative energies for as long as I can remember; there is no capital invested in the industry because of the overwhelming power of the petroleum industry. If alternative energies were going to impact the 'energy market place' they needed the government to provide SUBSIDES and not just loan guarantees.
Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
Keith Olbermann
"Subsidies for oil and gas companies make up 88 percent of all federal subsidies. Just cutting the oil and gas subsidies out would save the U.S. government $45 billion every year." (click title to entry - thank you)
The stockholders of Solyndra included the Kaiser Family Foundation (click here) which makes sense, healthier air makes for a healthier nation and why would they not want that to happen.
Alternative energies are vital to all the nations of the world, not just the USA, but we are behind the curve and competing with companies that stacks the deck against companies like Solyndra. Currently, Solydra was selling their product for 50% less than it cost to manufacture due to unfair market competition.
As an example to how the market place has mistreated the solar industry in the USA, "Xunlight," a dreamscape of a PhD at the University of Toledo (Ohio) has aspirations to expand its production. But where? In the USA? No, in China because the labor there can compete with the imports here.
The numerous federal and state loans, grants, and tax incentives that the company has received include a $34.5 million federal tax credit approved in January, a $4 million state loan granted this year for the installation of a production line, and nearly $7 million in grants from Ohio's Third Frontier program, the state's $2.1 billion investment pool for advanced technology research, development, and expansion. One of the Third Frontier grants is intended to help Xunlight ramp up its local assembly operations.
Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, said state officials were aware of Xunlight's Chinese plant and are confident that state funding has been used only for local operations….
The fact of the matter is the cheaper labor in China and India are exactly the problem. There is also a ton of bad credit circulating as Xunlight has had to lay off workers in the USA because of a $5 million deal that proved to yield no payments for their product. Solyndra's perdicament is much larger than simply a 'bad loan.' Solyndra had $1 billion already invested in it by the time it applied for loans during the Bush White House.
04/12/2011
Xunlight Corporation has laid off 30 workers at its Toledo plant and has stopped paying several executives because it has not received payment for a $5 million order of the company's solar-panel modules. The company also plans to lay off 70 workers from its production facility in Kunshan, China. The decision leaves 60 Xunlight workers in northwest Ohio and will leave 70 workers at the China plant. The cuts came after an Italian customer delayed payment for an order of 2.5 megawatts worth of Xunlight's thin-film solar panels. The customer, who ordered the modules in January, has been waiting for Italy's government to finalize a set of financial incentives for the solar industry. The company has projected its 2011 sales will fall between $20 million and $40 million.
Recently, Toledo, Ohio has offered Xunlight a place in the city with property the city assisted in funding. Toledo, Ohio and others have brought the development of this USA company along from its inception and Toledo is trying to make a place for it to give workers jobs.
...Inside Xunlight, (click here) that optimism is pervasive. The firm, founded by University of Toledo physics professor Xunming Deng, moved into new offices just a few weeks ago. Last week the cubicles still had a pristine, unsullied look to them, and some employees didn't yet have working phones. The firm hasn't even made its first sale, but employees say its product - a superthin, flexible solar cell created using sheets of stainless steel - should be in high demand. Within two years, Deng expects to employ hundreds. Many will be twentysomethings, but there are veterans, too. "The excitement of being in a start-up is the same whether you're 32 or 52," says facilities VP Stan Rubini, as he surveys the mammoth empty warehouse in which Xunlight hopes to manufacture more than $200 million worth of solar cells each year. As fuel costs rise and concern about climate change spreads, investors and employees aren't the only ones hoping firms like this one find a viable solution. Almost everyone is.
The reality of the USA market place extends to far more than simply a bad loan to Solyndra. It has extensive dynamics that begins with the collapse of 2008, but, it sure as heck doesn't end there. As if the present administration doesn't have enough to contend with, it might want to investigate the 'credit rating agencies' to find out exactly how 'bad faith' is occurring as well.
Amazingly, the Republicans are relishing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Solyndra as an indicator of poor judgement by the current administration. I don't think so. To begin, the depth of the 2008 Great Recession is still contracting and no one knows exactly the extent of the entire mess. And by all measure it is a mess.
Not only that, but, when the loans were being moved through after the 2008 collapse there were plenty of Republicans with their hands out pushing loans through the Energy Department.
"I understand the importance of accessing the domestic energy resources we have, like coal, in an environmentally conscious manner," wrote Vitter, who also backed projects for nuclear power, renewable diesel fuel and a company that makes fuel-efficient cars.
Vitter and other Republicans have pounced on the bankruptcy of Solyndra, saying the White House rushed to approve a loan guarantee to the politically connected Fremont, Calif., company without adequate oversight.
He said in a statement Monday that "in the age of Solyndra, we need full transparency and accountability."
Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of a subcommittee investigating the Solyndra deal, also has supported projects that promote green jobs.
Stearns, who heads the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, endorsed a battery manufacturing plant in Jacksonville.
The Saft America plant makes lithium-ion battery cells for military hybrid vehicles and solar and wind energy storage. It received a $95.5-million grant from the Energy Department through the stimulus law.
It doesn't stop there. Now, Vitter is screaming about better monitoring of Green Energy.
Published: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 9:00 AM
WASHINGTON -- Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said there's nothing inconsistent about seeking loan guarantees for renewable and other energy projects while advocating legislation that would require increased scrutiny of taxpayer-assisted renewable energy products.... And this is from today: Wasn't he involved in some kind of sex scandal, too?
PRESS RELEASE
Sept. 20, 2011, 10:30 a.m. EDT
From misusing taxpayer funds to aid a violent criminal to blatantly trying to bribe the Secretary of the Interior, it has been another bad year for shameless Sen. David Vitter (R-LA). The morally and ethically bankrupt senator once again has been named by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) as one of the Most Corrupt Members of Congress. Click here to read the full report on Sen. Vitter.
"Sen. Vitter solicited prostitution, employed a known criminal, and even tried to bribe a cabinet member," said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. "What will it take for the Senate Ethics Committee to take notice of Sen. Vitter's endless misconduct?"...
Why not subsidies. I mean you have got to be joking. This plant not only received government monies to develop their technology, they had a guaranteed market place with the USA military when they were ready to market the stuff. If that isn't 100% government funded, don't ask me what is?
From above:
Stearns, who heads the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations, endorsed a battery manufacturing plant in Jacksonville.
The Saft America plant makes lithium-ion battery cells for military hybrid vehicles and solar and wind energy storage. It received a $95.5-million grant from the Energy Department through the stimulus law.
Give me a break, the USA needs these technologies today and in the future. These technologies are the future of our children and we have to perfect them. There is no reason to continue to supply subsidies to oil and gas companies while they out maneuver these new technologies in the market place. Solyndra is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They'll reorganize their debt and be back producing their product. The question is will their market place be one where they can survive. If Solyndra was an airline no one would blink an eye. Enough already!
Solyndra was employing 3400 people at last head count before they laid off 1100 when Chapter 11 came into play. According to departing employees, they loved their jobs and the factory was growing with new mechanized production on a regular basis. $527 million wasn't enough to securely launch Solyndra into an IPO, but, let's hope eventually they will.
I look forward to the findings by the investigation by the Solicitor General.
Sep 20, 2011
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Despite the recent collapse of federally-backed solar maker Solyndra, two new studies find economic and climate benefits in helping to finance energy efficiency and clean tech industries.
Energy efficiency loans are a stable investment with low default rates and large-scale potential, according to a study released Tuesday by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. The review of 24 loan programs found default rates ranged from 0% to 3% throughout the life of the financing and remained largely unchanged despite the near collapse of the real estate market over the past few years….
The lastest in solar energy is 'the thin film' solar array.
20 Sep 2011 | United States
One of the largest solar power developers in the United States, NRG and the Washington Redskins celebrated FedExField's energy future with the help of former NFL quarterbacks and Redskins' fans during the "NRG Solar Bowl" Quarterback Challenge and an official "flipping of the switch" at halftime to inaugurate the new NRG solar power installation at FedExField.
The solar power system - with more than 8,000 solar panels - is capable of providing all power to the stadium on non-game days and up to 20% of its needed electricity on game days - the equivalent of providing 300 homes with energy for a year. In addition to being the largest solar installation at an NFL stadium, it is the largest solar installation in the D.C.-metro area.
A variety of green energy technologies, including translucent solar panels and a specially designed sculpture created using thin film solar technology will generate power through the solar entry plaza at Gate A. The sculpture - a 30-foot tall silhouette of a football player dubbed "solar man" -showcases the flexibility of this innovative solar technology and also is one-of-a-kind work of art welcoming fans to FedExField....
