Bankrupt solar company with fed backing has cozy ties to Obama admin
.................................................................................................
09/01/2011 By C.J. Ciaramella
dailycaller.com
A solar energy company that intends to file bankruptcy received $535 million in backing from the federal government and has a cozy history with Democrats and the Obama administration, u]campaign finance records show.
Shareholders and executives of Solyndra, a green energy company producing solar panels, fundraised for and donated to the Obama administration to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Tulsa billionaire George Kaiser, a key Obama backer who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the president’s election campaign, is one of Solyndra’s primary investors. Kaiser himself donated $53,500 to Obama’s 2008 election campaign, split between the DSCC and Obama For America. Kaiser also made several visits to the White House and appeared at some White House events next to Obama officials.
Campaign finance records show Kaiser and Solyndra executives and board members donated $87,050 total to Obama’s election campaign.
And now, just two years after securing a half-billion-dollar federal loan, Solyndra has said that it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
In a statement, Solyndra wrote “global economic and solar industry market conditions” forced it to close its Fremont, California, factory and layoff 1,100 employees.
“Regulatory and policy uncertainties in recent months created significant near-term excess supply and price erosion,” Solyndra president and CEO Brian Harrison said. “Raising incremental capital in this environment was not possible. This was an unexpected outcome and is most unfortunate.”
The company was cited by Obama as model of success for his touted green energy industry. In fact, the Obama administration fast-tracked the solar startup’s $535 million loan application to the Department of Energy — a move later criticized by the Government Accountability Office.
Solyndra and the administration originally projected the loan would help Solyndra create 4,000 jobs.
During a visit to the Solyndra facility in 2010, Obama said the factory is “a testament to American ingenuity and dynamism and the fact that we continue to have the best universities in the world, the best technology in the world, and most importantly the best workers in the world.”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/09/01/bankrupt-solar-company-with-fed-backing-has-cozy-ties-to-obama-admin/#ixzz1WjJ2EtdF |
