Solyndra Bombshell

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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via sda:


This Is Awkward

This is the first time Obama’s inner circle has been tied to the restructuring and its illegal subordination of those taxpayer loans. If Daley was briefed on the details of that restructuring before it got put in place and it still went forward, one can infer that Daley didn’t raise any objections to it. It’s hard to imagine that Daley would have gone out on that limb without getting approval from the man to whom he directly reported — Barack Obama.​
h/t Chris in Texas
small dead animals: This Is Awkward


Bombshell: Obama chief of staff Daley briefed on Solyndra concerns six months before bankruptcy


The Solyndra scandal took a big step up the ladder today, as ABC News uncovers new evidence that shows fears over a collapse reached all the way into the West Wing. An OMB analyst tried to raise red flags on the Obama administration’s attempt to rescue the now-bankrupt green-tech firm, before the Department of Energy rejected her advice and restructured the loans in March 2011, which illegally subordinated taxpayers in case of default. An e-mail from Kelly Colyar in August 2011 reminded recipients that she had predicted that very scenario — and that White House chief of staff had been briefed on her warning in February, before the restructuring:
Buried in the treasure trove of White House emails related to Solyndra released Thursday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee is one suggesting that concerns about Solyndra’s viability were shared all the way up to then-White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley a full six months before the company went bust. …

As Solyndra began sinking for good last August, Colyar sent an email summarizing the events leading to a near total taxpayers loss of the $535 loan.

“You may recall that DOE announced in March that they had restructured the Solyndra loan,” Colyar writes. “Prior to this restructuring, OMB staff expressed reservations about the prospects of the company and DOE’s proposal.”
And here’s the key line: “The issue was discussed with the NEC and the Chief of Staff.”


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Bombshell: Obama chief of staff Daley briefed on Solyndra concerns six months before bankruptcy « Hot Air

 

damngrumpy

Executive Branch Member
Mar 16, 2005
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I am above that sort of thing, I hate everyone equally no favourites at all
I especially hate all my friends equally too.
The problem with this story is that people will soon hate the Republicans
more. It will go nowhere.
The premise of a democratic election comes down to this in our modern world.
If you want to win an election

Make Sure the electorate hates your opponent more than they hate you.

If you can master that one item you will win.
 

Locutus

Adorable Deplorable
Jun 18, 2007
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That ABC reported this at all, is in itself, newsworthy.
 

B00Mer

Keep Calm and Carry On
Sep 6, 2008
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Alternative energy has to get government finding to get an edge over BIG oil..

Hopefully, wind and solar will soon become affordable and efficient.

 

Cabbagesandking

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Apr 24, 2012
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Alternative energy has to get government finding to get an edge over BIG oil..

Hopefully, wind and solar will soon become affordable and efficient.

Wind is already cheaper than new plants using fossil fuels. Solar is getting there and new developments all the time are bringing down the costs.

If externalities are considered, both are far cheaper already.

This is new for Solar. Of course, it may bring about a couple of "solyandras" but that is not a negative in the big picture.

UCLA's new transparent solar film could be game-changer - latimes.com
 

taxslave

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What they don't explain is exactly how one is supposed to store all this electricity so that when it is dark and the solar cells are no longer producing one caan still have a light. To date the batteries we have are not efficient enough to be practical.
 

BaalsTears

Senate Member
Jan 25, 2011
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In America alternative energy has been politicized. That means alternative energy has no future in America. Besides, America sits on an ocean of shale oil and natural gas. When Americans become desperate enough those resources will be developed.
 

Cabbagesandking

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Apr 24, 2012
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What they don't explain is exactly how one is supposed to store all this electricity so that when it is dark and the solar cells are no longer producing one caan still have a light. To date the batteries we have are not efficient enough to be practical.

There are all manner of storage methods. Pumped storage is improving and can store power for close to 24 hours. Batteries are developing and are efficient. There are proposals for min storage batteries in the thousand all storing power along a grid.

But none of the storage methods is so critical. The answer is interconnection and that will come: plus a variety of renewable methods. There is nothing lacking except the political will.
 

tay

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May 20, 2012
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Many in Congress fumed last year when a green energy company – Solyndra – defaulted on a $535 million government loan, resulting from some bad management decisions and the market falling out from under the company.

What happens when the government spends $5 billion on a poorly managed plutonium program that has no market?

The plutonium project is the Mixed Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility. It sounds good on paper. If completed, the facility would help turn 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors.

In practice, MOX is a government oversight disaster in the making. Think Solyndra, but multiply the dollars by ten and add nuclear bomb material.

MOX has no customers. Electricity producers – like Duke Energy and the Tennessee Valley Authority – are reluctant to even test the fuel, understanding that MOX fuel has a troubled safety record and is more difficult to use and store. Undeterred, the government is moving forward with a $5 billion plant to produce the fuel that no company is expected to buy. Making matters worse, the program raises nuclear proliferation concerns by legitimizing the use of weapons plutonium for commerce and crowding out funds for essential nonproliferation programs.

These problems have not escaped the attention of some in Congress.

Last week, Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) pointed out the program’s serious flaws and questioned its “viability and fiscal wisdom” in a letter to the Secretary of Energy.

Rep. Markey, who has long opposed the program on environmental impact and nonproliferation concerns, is now questioning if the program is “both wasting taxpayer dollars and ultimately failing to reduce our store of surplus weapons-grade plutonium.”

This is the latest effort in a growing, bipartisan push that is challenging the MOX program.

Last April, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to its energy and water appropriation bill that would cut the MOX budget by $169 million in FY2013. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), the amendment’s sponsor, said “MOX has cost billions in taxpayer dollars with little practical effect.”

Halting the MOX program and pursuing better alternatives would be a victory for good government. It would prevent budget waste and put the US on a safer, more sustainable track for managing its excess plutonium.

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Plutonium Waste Begets Budget Waste | Ploughshares Fund
 

Highball

Council Member
Jan 28, 2010
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The near new Solyndra facility i still not being utlized to its potential. I'd told it was seized by the feds. Maybe it could make a Maximum Security Prison out of it to house the many sentenced felons from the Bay Area? There are several felons serving in the California state government who have yet to be indicted, tried and sentenced.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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tayorjayorwhatever said:
What happens when the government spends $5 billion on a poorly managed plutonium program that has no market?
It makes uranium investors like myself really, really freakin' happy. I hope that clears things up for you?
 

tay

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After Solyndra Loss, U.S. Energy Loan Program Turning A Profit








In 2011, solar panel company Solyndra defaulted on a $535 million loan guaranteed by the Department of Energy. The agency had a few other high-profile bankruptcies, too — electric car company Fisker and solar company Abound among them. But now that loan program has started turning a profit.


Overall, the agency has loaned $34.2 billion to a variety of businesses, under a program designed to speed up development of clean-energy technology. Companies have defaulted on $780 million of that — a loss rate of 2.28 percent. The agency also has collected $810 million in interest payments, putting the program $30 million in the black.


When Congress created the loan program under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, it was never designed to be a moneymaker. In fact, Congress imagined there would be losses and set aside $10 billion to cover them.


Still, when the Solyndra case emerged, Republicans on Capitol Hill had pointed criticism for the Obama administration. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., called the Solyndra case "disgusting," and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, labeled it "a colossal failure." The conservative group Americans for Prosperity produced a television ad accusing President Obama of paying back campaign contributors.


There was an FBI raid on Solyndra's headquarters and an investigation but, so far, no prosecutions.


Now that the loan program is turning a profit, those critics are silent. They either declined or ignored NPR's requests for comment.

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After Solyndra Loss, U.S. Energy Loan Program Turning A Profit : NPR