The government’s backing of Solyndra, which could cost taxpayers more than a half-billion dollars, came as the politically well-connected business began an extensive lobbying campaign that appears to have blinded government officials to the company’s financial condition and the risks of the investment, according to a review of government documents and interviews with administration officials and industry analysts.
While no evidence has emerged that political favoritism played a role in what administration officials assert were merit-based decisions, Solyndra drew plenty of high-level attention. Its lobbyists corresponded frequently and met at least three times with an aide to a top White House official, Valerie B. Jarrett, to push for loans, tax breaks and other government assistance.
Read it all. Also, see James Pethokoukis–“Solyndra, the logical endpoint of Obamanomics” which may be found over here.
Leaving the Obama bashing aside (or to others), the whole Federal Govt/DOE headlong rush to photovoltaic power is a sham. PVP (Photovoltaic Power) has applications it is good for, remote power needs, back up power (I designed and installed such a system in my workshop). But it is in no way a power source capable of providing a steady, reliable source of energy for the US power grid and economy. Even the military in its own hair-brained embrace is trying to figure out what soldiers will do on a rainy/cloudy day (declare a truce?).
Solar power is not “green”. It is energy intensive to produce mono- and polycrystalline silicon, the panels use toxic rare-earth metals and no one has addressed the end-of-life disposal of panels. The electronics to convert panel output (which wildly varies in current and voltage with changing conditions) to usable form are sophisticated and delicate.
The idea that just throwing billions of $$ at the problems will make them go away is silly. Just as silly as all the Global Warming hoaxes. And the end result is the same: a lot of huffing, puffing, and toilet flushing of $$ for no good end.
What’s this “U.S. Missed. . .”? The Bush administration denied Solyndra the loan, so the headline should correctly read “the Obama Administration missed.” That said, Capt Deacon Warren is absolutely right in comment #1.
Close #2….but the truly accurate headline would read, “the Obama Administration ignored….”
This scandal–if it had been the Bush Admin. that was knee deep in it–would be blazing headlines, constant delving and probing, and unending media chatter. But the Bush Admin shot it down. And then the Obama Admin made it a half-billion dollar pet project of theirs (making it ALL theirs). But you would never know it from much mainstream news coverage.
The extremely left Boston Globe (the NY Times New England farm team) has regularly buried the story in tiny, “bottom of the page” inside insignificance.
Even the solar panel tax money devourers hiding behind the Fifth Amendment didn’t seem to get a rise from some of the media.
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