Solyndra Loan an Ant Hill Compared to Mountain of ‘Military Boondoggles’

September 20th, 2011 by Stephen Lacey

Nobody likes to see $500 million in taxpayer funds lost. But as Congress investigates the loan guarantee given to the now-bankrupt solar manufacturer Solyndra, it’s important to put the failed loan into historical context.

America spends a staggering amount on the military (see hereand chart to the right, which is NOT the Chart of the Day). Heck, the U.S. Military spends $20 billion a year just on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan!

America has always backed ambitious military ventures — many of which have ended up as spectacular failures after sucking up tens of billions in taxpayer dollars. Political leaders accept these failures because advances in military technologies are deemed strategically important.

Clean energy plays an equally-important strategic role for our energy security, economic security, environmental security, and, most especially, national security. Unrestricted emissions of greenhouse gases are now the greatest preventable threat to the security of Americans. Yet the Solyndra failure is being used to label clean energy as a “pet” project of the Obama Administration. Some politicians are now threatening to derail an industry that every other country in the world sees as an important driver of economic growth.

Somehow, we can tolerate hundreds of billions of dollars in spending on military programs that may not produce results. But when a solar company goes bankrupt, the whole idea of making strategic investments in renewable energy is called into question. It doesn’t make sense.

So where does the Solyndra loan guarantee match up with previous security programs? The chart of the day, created by Philip Bump, says it all:

This chart is by Philip Bump of Green for All, who responded to Grist’s request to create an infographic.

The original source is what the NY Times called the Pentagon’s “biggest boondoogles” [click on that link for details on each bar in the above chart].

h/t SmartPlanet.

This story was originally published at ClimateProgress.org and was cross-posted with permission.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: military, military spending, Solyndra, solyndra vs military, solyndra vs military spending, us military spending

About the Author

Stephen Lacey is an editor at Greentech Media. Formerly, he was a reporter/blogger for Climate Progress, where he wrote about clean energy policy, technologies, and finance. Before joining CP, he was an editor/producer with RenewableEnergyWorld.com. He received his B.A. in journalism from Franklin Pierce University.

Pingback: “Quotation Marks” in Post Titles | IM Trolley
Anonymous

odd that Israel is NOT on the list. odd that Saudi Arabia is on the list considering the huge difference between Israel and Saudi Arabia military capability
Jlwy

Military and greenhouse gases are apples and oranges, but good try at the old Dems argument. Dems try to spend on all there programs like they are the military it is high time they realize military protects them so they can fight for free handouts for their base. As well as, exist in a free society; go live in those other countries if you like the way they run their government spending
- Anonymous
  
  Money is money.
  
  Whether it should be spent on clean energy or protecting our oil supply in the middle east at a very high cost is not apples & oranges.