solyndra // Current TV

“The Obama Administration’s Green Energy Gamble”

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 industry stands, that would be one thing. But the title of the meeting gives away the real political intent: “The Obama Administration’s Green Energy Gamble: What Have All The Taxpayer Subsidies Achieved?”

Actually, those green energy investments have yielded substantial returns. And before the political grandstanding begins in the House of Representatives tomorrow, here are five important things you should know about how promotion of clean energy has supported American businesses and consumers:

1. The 1603 grant program supported up to 75,000 jobs and 23,000 renewable energy projects during the height of the recession. When the recession hit, it was very difficult for project developers to find banks that were willing to utilize tax credits. So a cash grant program was created to give companies an easier way to finance projects. While it’s very difficult to know the exact influence of the grant on each project, the program played a major role in maintaining momentum — helping support $25 billion in gross economic activity, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

2. The production tax credit helps leverage up to $20 billion in private investment annually. With this key tax credit in place, the wind industry has dropped costs by 90% over the last few decades. It’s helped states like Iowa reach 20% wind penetration — bringing that state over 215 businesses that support 5,000 workers. Across the rest of the U.S., the entire industry supports 75,000 jobs, with 30,000 in manufacturing. However, up to 37,000 of those jobs could be at risk due Congressional lawmakers’ inability to extend the tax credit.

3. The loan guarantee program is expected to cost $2 billion less than budgeted. This program has gotten a black eye due to the bankruptcies of a few companies — most famously Solyndra — that received guarantees. But according to John McCain’s National Finance Chairman, Herb Allison, the cost to taxpayers will likely be far less than initially thought. In fact, over the last 20 years of experience, the U.S. government has shown a knack for managing risk — with loans and loan guarantee programs only costing tax payers 94 cents for every $100 dollars invested.

4. Home weatherization grew 1000% from April to June of 2011, creating 14,800 jobs. After a slow ramp-up, efficiency programs supported by the stimulus package have helped weatherize hundreds of thousands of homes. In addition to supporting the retrofits of individual homes, the Obama administration has supported the Better Buildings Initiative, a program that has leveraged billions of private dollars to upgrade more than 4 billion square feet of public and private buildings in the next two years. That’s enough demand to support over 100,000 jobs.

5. ARPA-E has supported dozens of potentially groundbreaking technologies in advanced materials, renewable fuels, electricity generation, waste heat, and battery storage. Helping enhance America’s lead in technological innovation, the Advanced Research Research Projects Agency for Energy — initially funded through the stimulus package — has helped inventors, companies, and university labs boost their work. This program has immense bi-partisan support for promoting the “innovative research that makes America great and has fueled our economic growth for generations.”

Despite these successes, Republicans continue milking the Solyndra bankruptcy for an election-year story that doesn’t hold up — dragging the rest of the clean energy industry into the mud.

The sector has gone through some high-profile shake-ups and bankruptcies, so it’s the duty of lawmakers to understand how tax payer dollars are being deployed. That’s a supportable endeavor. But holding yet another hearing to lambast the President for a so-called “gamble” in clean energy isn’t productive for anyone.

By Stephen Lacey on May 15, 2012 at 4:57 pmIn an attempt to keep the political war against renewable energy in the headlines,... more

coolplanet
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TV media hypes Solyndra while ignoring Keystone XL scandal

The Solyndra bankruptcy and emails are the royal wedding of energy stories for many in TV media. Just from August 31 to September 23, there were 190 mentions and 10 hours of coverage — 8 on Murdoch’s Fox News. But, as Media Matters reports, TV news outlets have entirely ignored the scandalous emails showing bias for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline within the State Department.

The environmental group Friends of the Earth released e-mails this week revealing a cozy and collaborative relationship between TransCanada Corporation lobbyist Paul Elliott and an employee at the U.S. State Department, the agency currently weighing approval of TransCanada’s permit application for the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

A New York Times report notes that the emails show the State Department official providing “subtle coaching and cheerleading” for TransCanada:

A State Department official provided Fourth of July party invitations, subtle coaching and cheerleading, and inside information about Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton’s meetings to a Washington lobbyist for a Canadian company seeking permission from the department to build a pipeline that would carry crude from the oil sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The emails also suggest the State Department understood that after securing approval of the pipeline, TransCanada would reverse the concessions it made in respose to safety concerns. From the Times report:

TransCanada lobbyists exchanged e-mails with State Department officials in July about their intention to drop their request to operate the Keystone XL pipeline at higher pressures than normally allowed in the United States to win political support, but then suggested they would reapply for the exception once the project had been cleared.

So far, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC have ignored the story.

Environmental groups say the e-mails fit into a pattern of behavior indicating that the State Department is not objectively or rigorously evaluating the project. Almost a year before the Environmental Impact Statement was completed, Secretary Clinton said that her office was “inclined” to sign off on the pipeline. The State Department’s Environmental Impact Statement was prepared with the help of Cardno ENTRIX, a consulting firm that works for TransCanada. The draft EIS, which said the pipeline would have “limited adverse environmental impacts,” was deemed “inadequate” by EPA reviewers. Cardno ENTRIX is also running the public hearings on the pipeline and maintaining the State Department’s website about the Keystone XL project.

In an earlier batch of e-mails released by Friends of the Earth, TransCanada’s Elliott said then-energy envoy for the State Department David Goldwyn had provided “insight on what he’d like to see by way of on the record comment during this public comment period of this Keystone KXL draft environmental impact statement.” Elliot added: “We are working with our stakeholders, shippers and vendors to deliver on the insight David shared with us and to do so by the June 15 deadline.” In another e-mail, Elliott, who previously worked on Secretary Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, again wrote that State Department officials had advised TransCanada on how to respond to environmental arguments against the pipeline.

An October 2009 cable obtained by Wikileaks previously showed that Goldwyn had instructed Canadian officials on how to improve “messaging” about tar sands by “increasing visibility and accessibility of more positive news stories.” Goldwyn left the State Department in 2011 and testified this year in support of Keystone XL.

Friends of the Earth concludes that “the State Department no longer has credibility on the Keystone XL question” and calls for authority over the pipeline to be taken away from the agency.

More at the linkThe Solyndra bankruptcy and emails are the royal wedding of energy stories for many in... more

JanforGore
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8 months ago
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Crony Capitalism?: 'SolyndraGatePocalypse' (VIDEO)

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StewSteve
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8 months ago
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Solyndra plays w/Chicago politics and loses

Solyndra Executives set up to be the fallguys

DDJohnAdams
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8 months ago
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Is Obama depressed?

Not looking good since Tuesday and Solyndra:... more

DDJohnAdams
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9 months ago
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A bad day for transforming "Amerika"

It was a bad day for President Obama, much worse than anyone could imagine:... more

DDJohnAdams
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9 months ago
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0 comments

Solyndra is just the tip of the iceburg

millions, possibly billions of tax dollars being wasted

DDJohnAdams
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9 months ago
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tagged w/ solyndra

“The Obama Administration’s Green Energy Gamble”

Solyndra Refuses to Clean Up Toxic Waste

U.S. Set to Okay New Nuclear Plants

Another Obama-Backed Green Company Files for Bankruptcy

Michele Bachmann: Solyndra 'Makes Watergate Look Like Child's Play'

TV media hypes Solyndra while ignoring Keystone XL scandal

Crony Capitalism?: 'SolyndraGatePocalypse' (VIDEO)

Solyndra plays w/Chicago politics and loses

Is Obama depressed?

A bad day for transforming "Amerika"

Solyndra is just the tip of the iceburg

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