Government-backed solar companies have taken a beating over the last few months, with Solyndra garnering most of the attention. But since the solar company’s bankruptcy in late August, another sector of the “green economy” has moved to the edge of a financial cliff: the renewable electricity grid. Like Solyndra, a …
Americans have heard all about how the Obama Administration gave a $535 million loan guarantee to the now-bankrupt solar company Solyndra, but details are emerging about others who have won a windfall on the taxpayers’ dime. The latest example? President John F. Kennedy’s nephew, Robert Kennedy, Jr., who secured a $1.4 …
The Energy Department’s Inspector General has recommended that the loan guarantee program that financed Solyndra be placed on a department “watch list.” The IG’s report raises concerns over the “exposure to risk” created by the program, but stops short of recommending its repeal. Solyndra secured a $535 million loan guarantee …
Scribe has reported extensively on the tendency of large government spending projects to reward the politically connected. It’s a virtual constant of federal interventions in the market, and perhaps nowhere is it more evident than in the Obama administration’s “green jobs” push. Writing on National Review Online today, I detail …
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.” …
In a move that is sure to intensify the already testy exchanges between the White House and congressional investigators, the House Energy and Commerce Committee today released a series of emails showing that Obama donor and Solyndra investor George Kaiser explicitly mentioned the now-bankrupt solar company in talks with administration …
Two new chapters in the Solyndra scandal were written today, one involving a potential bailout of the company and the latest regarding Congress’s move to subpoena the White House for related communications. Meanwhile, the Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General is “is investigating more than 100 potential instances of …
When the government-backed Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, policymakers supportive of the loan-guarantee program said variations of the following: “If this were a venture capital firm and only one out of 10 projects failed, they would be a great success.” That would be fine if it were private money, …
Bloomberg columnist Jonathan Alter really missed the mark last week with a commentary singing the praises of “The Obama Miracle, a White House Free of Scandal”, as the headline stated. Alter’s limited discussion of a couple of the scandals that have plagued the administration comes up short, while a laundry …
It’s yet another inauspicious announcement the Obama Administration didn’t want you to hear. Late on Friday, the White House announced that it ordered an independent review of loans made by the Department of Energy to energy companies after months of weathering criticism for its $528 million loan to the now-bankrupt …
