More great moments in the history of crony capitalism

The San Diego Tribune really wants us to get over the Solyndra scandal


Solyndra Aside, State Leads U.S. in Solar Jobs Tally*

California has the most solar industry jobs of any state by far — 25,575 — but was ranked sixth in per-capita employment, according to a survey by The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit education and research organization.

The study, published Monday, runs counter to the gloomy picture conjured by the demise of Northern California solar manufacturer Solyndra and the uproar over a half-billion dollar federal loan guarantee to the company.

Yeah, we probably should just get over this half-billion dollar adventure in cronyism as it's just one example that doesn't prove the entire green sector is rife with corruption, especially when there is another one brewing that makes Solyndra look like child's play.

How did a failing California solar company, buffeted by short sellers and shareholder lawsuits, receive a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee for a photovoltaic electricity ranch project—three weeks after it announced it was building new manufacturing plant in Mexicali, Mexico, to build the panels for the project.

The company, SunPower (SPWR-NASDAQ), now carries $820 million in debt, an amount $20 million greater than its market capitalization. If SunPower was a bank, the feds would shut it down. Instead, it received a lifeline twice the size of the money sent down the Solyndra drain.

Two men with insight into the process are SunPower rooter Rep. George R. Miller III, (D.-Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee and the co-chairman of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, and his SunPower lobbyist son, George Miller IV.

That $1.2 billion dollar loan is for the construction of a solar farm in the San Luis Obispo County that will create 350 construction jobs over two years and 15 permanent jobs. 15.... for $1.2 billion.

Go to the link and check out the political conections and the interesting timing of some of the events surrounding the loan approval and you'll understand how SunPower may just be the latest green jobs boondoggle to blow up in the administration's face.



* We went with the title the U-T used in their print edition today.

Another great moment in the histroy of crony capitalism (An update)

While the Feds and Congressional committees will be asking the hard questions of just who it was in the administration that signed off on those loans to Solyndra, why don't we just go to the good people of Solyndra themselves as they appear confident as to who gave the go-ahead for that $535 million loan guarantee at below market interest rates.

From Solyndra's website:

Fremont, CA, March 20, 2009 – Solyndra, Inc. announced today that it is the first company to receive an offer for a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Solyndra, a Fremont, California-based manufacturer of innovative cylindrical photovoltaic systems, will use the proceeds of a $535 million loan from the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank to expand its solar panel manufacturing capacity in California.

“The leadership and actions of President Barack Obama, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and the U.S. Congress were instrumental in concluding this offer for a loan guarantee,” said Solyndra CEO and founder, Dr. Chris Gronet. “The DOE Loan Guarantee Program funding will enable Solyndra to achieve the economies of scale needed to deliver solar electricity at prices that are competitive with utility rates. This expansion is really about creating new jobs while meaningfully impacting global warming.”

(italics, ours)

This was still on their website as of this A.M. (H/T: The Corner)



And when you lose Jon Stewart...

It even kind of looks like TOTUS...

... so what the heck are they waiting for?

The Obama administration has nixed the idea of reinstalling solar panels on the White House roof.

Some 32 solar panels were first installed on the executive mansion's roof by then President Jimmy Carter as part of his efforts to tout clean, renewable energy during the 1970s, when the U.S. faced severe shortages and price spikes after an oil embargo by Arab countries. Carter held a rooftop news conference in 1979 to show off the panels and discourage reliance on foreign oil.

The panels were yanked off after Ronald Reagan took office a year later, but they didn't disappear. Instead, some of them have been stored for the past 30 years by environmentalists at Unity College in Maine, where they were used to heat water in the school's cafeteria. Last week, a group of students loaded one of the vintage 6-by-3-foot panels into a biodiesel van headed for Washington.

The group was led by Bill McKibben, founder of the environmental group 350.org, who described the mission on his blog: "If the president can't climb up on the roof and hammer in some solar panels, clearly we need to push him up."

The technology used in the Carter-era solar panels is now outdated, but a California company called Sungevity offered to outfit the White House with new panels for free. More than 8,000 people have signed on to a Facebook group in support. McKibben appeared on David Letterman's "Late Show" last week to plug the effort as well.

What does it say about an administration that they, after constantly lecturing the rest of us country classers on the noble and moral merits of green power, wouldn't follow through on this easy button-type of substantively meaningless yet highly symbolic gesture?

The article indicates that some inside the administration are skittish about doing so because it may lead to Carter comparisons. That horse has left the barn, folks - and the fact that it's solar panels, for crying out loud, providing the Carter-Obama nexus which has the regime spooked amuses us to no end.

And now a few words from Senator McCain and your investment tip of the week.

McCain on ethanol (excerpts from a speech made in Ames, Iowa no less, this past November):

"Yes, I oppose subsidies. Not just ethanol subsidies. Subsidies. And not just in Iowa either. I oppose them in my own state of Arizona. I am a proud of the conservative tradition that the government can sometimes best serve the interests of the American people by knowing when to stay out of their way

There is no economic force on this globe that is stronger than free people. Entrepreneurs lie at the heart of innovation, growth, and advancing prosperity. Entrepreneurs should not be shackled by excessive regulation that raises the cost of business. Entrepreneurs should not be disadvantaged by earmarking and pork-barrel spending that favors politically connected competitors.

I trust Americans, I trust markets and I oppose subsidies. As President, I'll propose a national energy strategy that will amount to a declaration of independence from the risk bred by our reliance on petro-dictators and our vulnerability to the troubled politics of the lands they rule. That strategy won't be another grab bag of handouts to this or that industry and a full employment act for lobbyists."

We like it when McCain talks to us like this and we'll freely admit that this ability to tell Iowan farmers probably what they didn't want to hear was fully underappreciated by us.

We have a Naval Reservist in our office doing his 2 weeks active duty rotation. In real life he works for an investment firm that specializes in green and renewable energy for public utilities. We’re big fans of “money”… as in “private money”… as in “what’s the private money doing?” as this is a great indicator of the relative strength of an idea or technology as there is inherent risk with private money… public money (your tax dollars invested by the Government), not so much.

This is why we supported President Bush when he denied federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Moral dilemmas aside, if stem cell research was the medical Big Idea, then why wasn’t there the amount of private investment there that would suggest it was so?

Anyway, we asked him: “Where’s the green money going?” “Batteries”. “Batteries?” “Yeah. There is promise in wind and solar power but unfortunately, when its needed at peak hours in the evening, the wind dies down and the sun sets. This is the problem with that technology currently, so the money is going towards finding ways to store the megawatts of energy that can be used when the demand is there.”

What’s the money doing with ethanol? Not much. The smart money knows its ultimately a dead end.