Obama’s
Green Energy “Poster Child” Files For Bankruptcy, Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees

President
Obama:“Every Day That You
Build This Expanded Facility, As You Fill Orders For Solar Panels To Ship Around
The World, You're Demonstrating That The Promise Of Clean Energy Isn't Just An
Article Of Faith, Not Anymore.”
(President Barack Obama, Remarks At Solyndra, Inc., Fremont, CA,
5/26/10)
OBAMA TOUTED SOLYNDRA AS
THE EPITOME OF HIS GREEN ENERGY VISION BUT IT FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY AND
ELIMINATED 1,100 JOBS
“Solyndra Was The Epitome Of What The
Government Envisioned To Be Our Green Tech Future… Confidence Was So High That
Solyndra Got A $535 Million Stimulus Program Loan To Build A New Factory Along
I-880 In Fremont.” (David Louie, “Fremont
Solar Panel Maker Solyndra Scales Back Expansion Plans,” The Oakland Tribune, 11/4/10)
·
“Solyndra Had
Repeatedly Been Highlighted As A Model By The Obama Administration. Chu Attended
The Groundbreaking Of The Factory Solyndra Built Using The Federal Loan, And
Vice President Biden’s Image Was Beamed To The Ceremony Through A Video Feed.”
(Joe
Stephens & Carol D. Leonnig, “Solyndra Solar Company Fails After Getting
Controversial Federal Loan Guarantees,” The Washington Post, 8/31/11)
Solyndra Announces That It Will File For
Bankruptcy, Immediately Laying Off 1,100 Employees. “Solyndra, a Fremont solar tech
manufacturer, announced Wednesday it is suspending operations and immediately
laying off 1,100 employees. The company said it will also file for bankruptcy.”
(George
Avalos, “Fremont Solar Tech Firm Solyndra To Shut Down, Lay Off 1,100 Workers,”
The [San Jose] Mercury
News, 8/31/11)
“Solyndra Is The Third U.S. Solar
Manufacturer To File For Bankruptcy In A Month As Falling Panel Prices And Weak
Global Demand Is Driving A Wave Of Industry Consolidation.” (Ehren Goossens,
“Solyndra, Maker Of Solar Modules, To File For Bankruptcy, Cut 1,100 Jobs,”
Bloomberg News, 8/31/11)
Solyndra’s President And CEO Brian
Harrison: “Regulatory And Policy Uncertainties In Recent Months Created
Significant Near-Term Excess Supply And Price Erosion.” (Ehren Goossens,
“Solyndra, Maker Of Solar Modules, To File For Bankruptcy, Cut 1,100 Jobs,”
Bloomberg News, 8/31/11)
OBAMA’S GREEN AGENDA IS
NOT WORKING OUT MUCH BETTER FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
“The Green Economy Is Not Proving To Be
The Job-Creation Engine That Many Politicians Envisioned.” “In the Bay Area as in much of the
country, the green economy is not proving to be the job-creation engine that
many politicians envisioned. President Obama once pledged to create five million
green jobs over 10 years. Gov. Jerry Brown promised 500,000 clean-technology
jobs statewide by the end of the decade. But the results so far suggest such
numbers are a pipe dream.” (Aaron Glantz, “Number Of
Green Jobs Fails To Live Up To Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/11)
“Federal And State Efforts To Stimulate
Creation Of Green Jobs Have Largely Failed.” “Federal and state efforts to stimulate
creation of green jobs have largely failed, government records show. Two years
after it was awarded $186 million in federal stimulus money to weatherize drafty
homes, California has spent only a little over half that sum and has so far
created the equivalent of just 538 full-time jobs in the last quarter, according
to the State Department of Community Services and Development.” (Aaron Glantz, “Number
Of Green Jobs Fails To Live Up To Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/11)
·
“Job Training
Programs Intended For The Clean Economy Have Also Failed To Generate Big
Numbers.” “Job training
programs intended for the clean economy have also failed to generate big
numbers. The Economic Development Department in California reports that $59
million in state, federal and private money dedicated to green jobs training and
apprenticeship has led to only 719 job placements — the equivalent of an $82,000
subsidy for each one.” (Aaron Glantz, “Number
Of Green Jobs Fails To Live Up To Promises,” The New York Times, 8/18/11)
At This Rate, The “Greening” Of The
Economy Equates To Just 17 Jobs Per $1 Million Spent. “‘If you took the government’s stimulus
program on green activities, you get 17 jobs more or less per $1 million of
expenditure,’ said economist Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts
Amherst, whom the Commerce Department hired to run the numbers.” (Ari Shapiro, “Is Obama’s
Bet On Green Jobs Risky?” National Public Radio, 6/13/11)
“The
Company [Solyndra], Received $535 Million In Taxpayer Money From The U.S.
Department Of Energy And $1.1 Billion In Private Venture Capital Funding.”
(George Avalos, “Fremont
Solar Tech Firm Solyndra To Shut Down, Lay Off 1,100 Workers,” The [San Jose] Mercury
News, 8/31/11)
Taxpayers May Be Left “On The Hook” For
The Federal Loans Received By Solyndra. “Taxpayers might be on the hook for the
full amount of the loan if Solyndra is unable to repay, experts in the stimulus
and loan guarantee program said Wednesday. The Energy Department could seek
repayment in court, but receiving more than a nominal amount is unlikely because
of the company’s lack of cash and assets.” (Joe Stephens & Carol
D. Leonnig, “Solyndra Solar Company Fails After Getting Controversial Federal
Loan Guarantees,” The Washington Post, 8/31/11)
·
Administration Bypassed Steps To Protect
Taxpayers. “The Obama
administration bypassed steps meant to protect taxpayers as it hurried to
approve an energy loan guarantee to a politically-connected California solar
power startup…”
(Ronnie
Greene And Matthew Mosk, “Was White House In Hurry To Spur Green Jobs – Or Favor
Firm Backed By Fundraiser,” iWatch News, 5/24/11)
“President Obama Faces Political
Catastrophe In The Form Of Solyndra -- A San Francisco Bay Area Solar Company
That He Touted As A Gleaming Example Of Green
Technology.”(Scott McGrew, “Solyndra
Filing A Disaster For Obama,“ NBC Bay Area
News, 8/31/11)
Non-Partisan Government Accountability
Office: “The Administration Didn’t Do Its Due Diligence” When Celebrating The
$535 Million In Stimulus Funds For Solyndra. “It's not his statements the
administration will regret; it's the loan guarantees. The President was
celebrating $535 million in federal promises from the Department of Energy to
the solar startup. The administration didn't do its due diligence, says the
Government Accountability Office. ‘There's a consequence if you don't follow a
rigorous process that's transparent,’ Franklin Rusco of GAO told the website
iWatch News.”
(Scott
McGrew, “Solyndra Filing A Disaster For Obama,“ NBC Bay Area
News, 8/31/11)
· “A Government Accountability Office
Report Said The Department Bypassed Required Steps For Funding Awards To Five
Applicants, Including Solyndra.”(Joe Stephens & Carol
D. Leonnig, “Solyndra Solar Company Fails After Getting Controversial Federal
Loan Guarantees,” The Washington Post,
8/31/11)Research: www.gop.com