Energy Department Touts Solar Power That Generates 0.14% of Electricity
The U.S. Department of Energy this week touted the growth of solar power, complete with an impressive chart that boasts, “Solar Generation Has a Bright Future.” Yet… Read More
FACT CHECK: Salazar Exaggerates Obama’s Record on Energy Production
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar touted President Obama’s record on reducing oil dependence in a speech delivered in Charlotte, NC, this week. Salazar pointed to a decrease in… Read More
Morning Bell: The Green Graveyard of Taxpayer-Funded Failures
Solar-cell manufacturer Solyndra became a household name when it collapsed, taking $627 million in American taxpayer dollars with it. It’s the poster company for the… Read More
“No More Solyndras Act” Shows Addiction to Energy Subsidies Is a Bipartisan Problem
The latest political squabbling over the No More Solyndras Act is a reminder that politically entrenched energy subsidies enjoy bipartisan support. The No More Solyndras… Read More
DOE Sent Confidential Information to Loan Guarantee Applicant
Emails uncovered by congressional investigators show that a top Energy Department adviser sent confidential government information to representatives of a company vying for federal financing…. Read More
Solar Company Hired Biden Staffer to Help Secure $1.6 Billion Federal Loan
Internal emails show that BrightSource Energy, which received the largest federal loan for a solar energy project under President Obama’s stimulus package, leveraged its considerable… Read More
Subsidies and Costs in the Solar Industry
According to Germany’s environment minister, Norbert Roettgen, “Solar is a success story made in Germany.” “Success” appears to mean having the world’s largest amount of… Read More
‘Solyndra Was Just the Beginning’: Experts Predict Solar Industry Collapse
Industry analysts are predicting a massive bout of bankruptcies for hundreds of American solar firms as the market for solar panels, inflated by zealous government… Read More
Labor Department May Sink Another $14 Million into Solyndra
Taxpayers will likely shell out another $14.3 million in federal aid to the 1,100 people formerly employed by defunct solar company Solyndra. The Labor Department… Read More
Report: 80% of DOE Green Energy Loans Went to Obama Backers
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… Read More
Leaked Emails Fuel Perception of Cronyism in Solyndra Loan
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… Read More
White House Won’t Say If It Will Comply With Solyndra Subpoena
The White House will not say whether it will comply with a subpoena from a House committee related to its involvement in the Solyndra scandal…. Read More
U.S. Way Ahead in Clean Energy Race
If clean-energy means “low-carbon” (a definition to which I object), then the U.S. is way, way ahead of China in the clean-energy race. If it… Read More
Solyndra to Auction Assets, But Taxpayers Won’t See a Dime
As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, defunct solar company Solyndra will auction off thousands of items from its California production facility on Nov. 2 and… Read More
Government Backing for Solar Firms Remains an Economic Drag
The economic damage inherent in federal backing for solar power companies extends beyond Solyndra-style bankruptcies, in which taxpayers pour money into unprofitable but politically popular… Read More
Solyndra Poured Money Into Lobbying While It Struggled Financially
Internal communications and testimonials from former Solyndra employees provide a stunning window into the consequences of federal support for private companies. Political backing, in short,… Read More
Email Shows Solyndra Violated Pledge to Answer Committee’s Questions
Solyndra executives scheduled to testify before a House committee on Friday were likely expecting some tough questions. In general, Republicans will wonder whether their political… Read More
Solyndra’s Legal Team: Five Attorneys at $2,550 Per Hour
Solyndra has hired a team of five high-powered attorneys to help get it through its bankruptcy proceedings, according to documentation the company has filed in… Read More
Congressional Investigator: More Solar Bankruptcies to Come
A top congressional investigator said on Tuesday that he believes more companies that benefitted from the stimulus bill’s renewable energy loan guarantee program will go… Read More
News
Politically Connected Solar Firm Goes Under Despite Federal Support
Major donors to President Obama have received favorable treatment throughout his administration. Today’s news that solar company Solyndra is going bankrupt demonstrates the consequences of… Read More
One Near-Fatal Flaw to Obama’s Energy and Electric Car Plans: Snowstorms
Last week, The Washington Post pointed out one near-fatal flaw to Obama’s plans for subsidizing green energy and electric cars: snowstorms. On Wednesday a snowstorm… Read More
White House Solar Installation Symbolic of Solar Energy Push
President Obama is channeling his inner Jimmy Carter again. In 1979, President Carter had solar panels installed on the roof of the White House, and… Read More
The Stimulus Solar Boondoggle
According to a press release, Energy Secretary Steven Chu says that the billions of dollars in federal stimulus money directed toward solar-power will cut solar… Read More
Market Loser Is a Political Winner
President Obama has picked another “winner” among green technologies meant to portend an energy revolution. This time it is a Korean-owned battery factory in Michigan,… Read More
Green or Not So Green?
By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude… Read More
Solar Investments: Stimulating the Economy or Reshaping It?
So much for shovel-ready. In February of 2009 President Obama signed the $862 billion stimulus bill into law and of that; $36.7 billion was allocated… Read More
Solar’s Bubble Busted
The White House’s National Economic Council’s September 2009 report, A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs, informs us: “A strong… Read More
Green Jobs or Green Gyms?
How do you solve homelessness, obesity and global warming all at once? A green gym, of course: Cass Community Social Services (Cass) will further its… Read More
Solar Shutdown: Feinstein to Block Energy Projects
We need to transform to a new, clean energy economy but we can’t build solar panels in the Mojave Desert if California Senator Diane Feinstein… Read More
Reagan’s Lessons Amid Clean Energy Posters
As Americans travel to and from work out of Union Station in Washington DC, they are bombarded with dozens of posters created by Clean Energy… Read More
