FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2012
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CONTACT: Press Office
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In Case You Missed It…
Energy and Commerce Report
Shines Spotlight on Solyndra Scandal
The
Obama administration ignored warnings from its own analysts to cut its
losses on a $535 million loan to Solyndra, and instead restructured the
deal, leading to bigger costs to taxpayers when the solar panel maker
went bankrupt, Republican investigators said on Thursday.
In
its final report on its 18-month probe into the failed loan, the
Republican-led House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee
said the Democratic administration rushed into the deal, then helped
keep the company going despite a series of red flags and explicit
warnings.
The
147-page report highlights analysis done by a financial analyst at the
White House Office of Management and Budget who flagged early in January
2011 that the government would recover more of its money if it allowed
the struggling company to go bankrupt instead of giving Solyndra another
chance.
Instead,
the Energy Department restructured the loan, which put the government
behind private investors in the eventual bankruptcy. …
Senior
Obama Administration officials decided to restructure the government's
half-billion-dollar loan to the California solar energy firm Solyndra
even after government analysts had concluded it would cost taxpayers far
less to allow the company to fail, according to a newly released report
on the investigation into the Solyndra matter by House Republicans.
The
decision appeared to be made at least in part out of concern with how
it would look if Solyndra -- the first recipient of government funds
meant to spark growth in the nation's production of cleaner burning
fuels -- went bust, according to the report, which quoted extensively
from internal administration emails. …
A
House GOP report capping a probe of the Obama administration's backing
for Solyndra calls the solar firm's collapse a “cautionary tale” of
political pressures and misguided policy leading to the loss of about a
half-billion taxpayer dollars.
House
Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans on Thursday released a report
on their investigation of Solyndra, the solar panel-maker that
struggled after receiving a $535 million Energy Department loan
guarantee in 2009 and went belly-up last year.
“Solyndra
is a prime example of the perils that come when the Federal government
plays investor, tries to keep a company and industry afloat with
subsidies and attempts to pick the winners and losers in a particular
marketplace. Policy and political pressures inevitably come into play to
the detriment of taxpayers, as it did with Solyndra,” states the
154-page report available here. …
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. …
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Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire
Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Energy and Commerce Report Shines Spotlight on Solyndra Scandal
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