Originally published on the ECOreport. The Loan Program Office’s (LPO) success rate is impressive by any standard. Given that it works with businesses that find it difficult to obtain bank loans, it is nothing short of phenomenal. Tesla, America’s rapid deployment of utility-scale solar PV, and the first US-produced battery … [continued]
The US electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Motors announced this week that it has paid off its federal clean energy loan years earlier than required, and brand new Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Ernest Moniz could not resist a little celebration at the expense of the loan program’s critics. In one … [continued]
This article was originally published on Climate Progress. By Jeff Spross The Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program was started in 2005 under the Bush Administration, but ramped up thanks to the 2009 stimulus passed by President Obama and the Democrats. It has gotten a bad rap ever since the high-profile failure of Solyndra, … [continued]
This article below is reposted with permission from Climate Progress: By Joe Romm This excerpt from a 2011 post is relevant again today as advanced battery maker A-123 Systems files for bankruptcy protection…. You can read the Department of Energy response here. The National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2001 that a handful of … [continued]
The impending Zombie Apocalypse is real and it’s coming to a solar power project near you! At least, that’s what a group of four conservative organizations is saying in a new statement. The foursome is concerned that the proposed “No More Solyndras Act” does not go far enough to choke off federal support for new energy projects that are already in the Department of Energy’s loan pipeline, enabling the survival of “a number of the ‘zombie’ projects that would be allowed to live.” Sounds like the elevator pitch for a Grade B zombie flick, right? And what’s all this about No More Solyndras not going far enough? […]
This article was originally published on Climate Progress. It has been republished here with full permission. One year ago today, the solar manufacturer Solyndra filed for bankruptcy after receiving a $527 million loan guarantee. The bankruptcy set off a political firestorm in Congress, and eventually worked its way into … [continued]
Another baseless attack on the solar industry, a highly successful industry in the US with over 100,000 employees and over 5,000 companies, has popped up in Congress. Of course, it is named after one of the very few failures in the industry — Solyndra. Here’s a response from SEIA: … [continued]
In an attempt to keep the political war against renewable energy in the headlines, Republicans are holding another hearing to question the value of government investments in the sector. Looks like ten political sideshows on Solyndra weren’t enough. If tomorrow morning’s hearing were being used as a chance to objectively assess where the … [continued]
Check out this great post by John Griffith and Richard Caperton of the Center for American Progress (via Climate Progress): The U.S. government is arguably the largest and most influential financial institution in the world, with about $2.7 trillion outstanding in loans and loan guarantees. Among other things, these … [continued]
US small business owners support government clean energy investment, EPA CO2 emissions regulations and ending oil-and-gas industry subsidies, but who’s listening on Capitol Hill?
