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Politics : The Solyndra Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wayners who wrote (239)	11/1/2011 1:43:50 PM
From: joseffy	1 Recommendation Respond to of 1400

Jobs Panel Member Whose Solar Firm Won Loan Guarantees Raises 'Conflict of Interest' Concerns .......................................................... By Judson Berger November 01, 2011 Shown here is the Desert Sunlight solar project in California. A clean-energy firm led by a member of President Obama's jobs council has a stake in projects that have reaped nearly $2 billion in loan guarantees from Washington, a case that has raised conflict-of-interest concerns as the same jobs council pushes for more "government-backed" investment in renewable energy. The company, NextEra Energy, secured a loan guarantee in August for a solar project in California. An affiliate has taken over another California project that won a separate guarantee in September. The firm is no lightweight -- NextEra Energy Resources, the subsidiary working on both solar projects, is the biggest producer of wind and solar energy on the continent. But the company also enjoys a connection to the Obama administration -- company Chairman and CEO Lewis Hay sits on the president's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, which last month issued a report calling, among other things, for a new federal financing program to attract private investment for clean energy projects via loan guarantees and other tools. To the backdrop of the uproar in Washington over the $535 million loan guarantee to now-bankrupt solar firm Solyndra and a $43 million guarantee to another firm called Beacon Power Corporation also filing for bankruptcy, some are raising concerns about the role of members like Hay on the jobs council. Unlike Solyndra, NextEra is turning a profit. Its second-quarter report showed net earnings of $580 million, better than in the second quarter of 2010. Third-quarter earnings for the company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, will be announced Friday. The concern with NextEra centers more on Hay's work on the jobs council than the loan itself. "A person who receives a loan of over $2 billion for his private company certainly would not be an independent voice in whether or not energy loans are wise investments for the taxpayer," Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, told FoxNews.com. "He is in a position that he couldn't possibly be objective." The conservative National Center for Public Policy Research described the jobs council's recommendations as a case of "self-dealing." Tom Borelli, director of the group's Free Enterprise Project, said Hay and other members with a stake in the industry should recuse themselves from drafting guidelines that would benefit that sector -- a point Sessions echoed. "It's crony capitalism," Borelli said. "In a jobs panel, it's a clear conflict of interest." He said members of the jobs council whose companies bet big on green energy are now feeding the president recommendations to support those bets. He also raised questions about council Chairman Jeffrey Immelt's involvement, considering his company GE has heavily invested in the clean energy sector -- it also shares a stake in one project with NextEra. Borelli's group receives some funding from the Exxon Mobil Corporation -- though so do an array of prominent think tanks, ranging from the Brookings Institution to the Council on Foreign Relations. The group is a persistent critic of President Obama's environmental policies. Asked about NextEra, the Energy Department noted that the White House jobs council "has no role in evaluating any loan applicants." That job falls to career officials at the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office. Without discussing the recommendations made by the jobs council itself, the department defended the loan guarantees awarded to NextEra. "Decisions are made on the merits of the project after extensive due diligence by the career officials in the DOE loan office. These projects were carefully reviewed and analyzed by officials in the loan program and were approved because they will create jobs while helping America win the clean energy race. Together these two projects are expected to support more than 1,400 jobs. Since utilities have already agreed to buy clean electricity from these new power plants for many years to come, there is a revenue stream in place to repay the loan," the department said in a statement. Requests for comment from NextEra were not returned. Hay earns nearly $10 million in total compensation from NextEra, according to Forbes estimates. Though the National Center for Public Policy Research accused the jobs council of crony capitalism, in the case of Hay it's unclear where the quid pro quo would lie. Hay, appointed to the jobs council in February 2011, is a prolific contributor to mostly Republican candidates. Recipients of his largesse include Republican Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Marco Rubio of Florida and the political action committee run by House Republican Leader Eric Cantor. He contributed to Sen. John McCain's campaign in 2008, not Obama's. Still, Borelli claimed the jobs council is skewed to favor clean-energy investment recommendations. In the jobs council's latest October report, the group called for more federal involvement to help renewable energy firms compete with their counterparts in places like China and the United Kingdom. "Without bold action, the United States risks falling behind its international competitors in the clean energy industry," the report reads. Noting credit is tight, the group said "federal financing incentives" can help attract private investment and called for a new institution to do just that. The council estimated that a new program leveraging federal resources to attract private investment for clean energy could spur the creation of more than 100,000 jobs. Dan Mitchell, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, said Hay's involvement on the jobs council represents an "obvious conflict of interest." Mitchell said any top-level jobs council would be expected to draw its membership from a variety of different sectors with a variety of different interests. But he said any representative who stands to gain from certain recommendations to the president should recuse himself. "It definitely doesn't pass the smell test," Mitchell said. Many sectors are represented on the council, and Hay is not the only one whose company could be affected by government action on the economy -- making potential conflicts in some cases difficult to avoid, considering the council's broad mandate to help spur job creation. The council includes Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, whose sector is facing proposed increases in passenger security fees as part of Obama's deficit-reduction plan, and Jim McNerney, CEO of The Boeing Company, which does extensive business with the federal government. The company is also locked in a union dispute before the National Labor Relations Board over a proposed plant in South Carolina. Asked for comment, the Republican lawmaker leading the congressional probe into the Solyndra deal would not address the case of NextEra specifically, saying only that his investigation would cover all companies under the loan program. "Until the start of this year, no oversight had ever been conducted on the DOE loan guarantee program and this investigation is looking into all of the companies that received these guarantees," Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, said in a written statement. Sessions said he's concerned the administration is losing sight of its responsibility to manage the taxpayers' money carefully. The specific NextEra projects that received partial guarantees were the Genesis Solar and Desert Sunlight solar plants in Riverside County, Calif. The first received a partial guarantee of $852 million, with the government's share about $682 million. The project is projected to create 800 construction jobs and 47 permanent jobs, while producing enough electricity for more than 48,000 homes, according to the Department of Energy. It is sponsored by NextEra Energy Resources. The Desert Sunlight project received a $1.46 billion partial guarantee, with the government's share about $1.17 billion. The project is backed in part by the government, though the loans themselves are coming from private investors. That operation is tied to the projected creation of 550 construction jobs and 15 permanent jobs. According to the Department of Energy, it will be one of the biggest solar photovoltaic plants in the world, and will help power more than 110,000 homes. The loan guarantee for Desert Sunlight was finalized one day before solar company First Solar announced the sale of the project to affiliates of NextEra Energy Resources and GE Energy Financial Services. A NextEra affiliate will manage the project. NextEra Energy Resources is a major subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. Hay is chairman of both. Read more: foxnews.com

To: Wayners who wrote (239)	11/2/2011 10:59:29 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Inspector General launches criminal probe into more than 100 Energy Dept. loans .............................................................................. by C.J. Ciaramella 11/02/2011 dc-cdn.virtacore.com Solyndra is being investigated by the FBI, but that may just be the tip of the shovel-ready iceberg. The Department of Energy is investigating more than 100 potential instances of criminal abuse of stimulus loan monies, according to the department’s Office of Inspector General. In prepared testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday, Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman said his office has launched more than 100 probes into possible criminal activities related to the 2009 stimulus funds behind the loans. Friedman said the investigations used “various schemes, including the submission of false information, claims for unallowable or unauthorized expenses, and other improper uses of Recovery Act funds.” The investigations have already led to five criminal prosecutions and more than $2.3 million in recovered stimulus funds, Friedman said, including “a series of cases involving fictitious claims for travel per diem resulting in the recovery of $1 million alone in Recovery Act funds.” Friedman’s office and the FBI are also investigating possible criminal activity related to Solyndra, the now- bankrupt solar company that received a $535 million loan from the Energy Department. While Friedman declined to comment on the Solyndra investigation, he attacked the DOE loan program in general. “The Loan Guarantee Program had not [been] properly documented and as such could not always readily demonstrate how it resolved or mitigated relevant risks prior to granting loan guarantees,” Friedman said. The testimony was red meat for congressional Republicans who have assailed the Obama administration for the loan program, saying loans were rushed through without proper vetting to fit the president’s political agenda. “We end up in a situation where we continue to throw good money after bad because we can’t stand to tell people it was bad policy, it was a bad program,” said Pennsylvania GOP Rep. Mike Kelly. Friedman went on to criticize stimulus spending, specifically the Obama administration’s claim that it was sending money to “shovel-ready jobs.” “Our reviews have identified a fairly consistent pattern of delays in the pace at which Recovery Act funds had been spent by grant and other financial assistance recipients,” Friedman said. Friedman said the delays and abuse of stimulus funds are partially due to few “shovel ready” projects actually existing when the Recovery Act was launched in 2009. “The concept of ‘shovel ready’ projects became a Recovery Act symbol of expeditiously stimulating the economy and creating jobs,” Friedman said. “In reality, few actual ‘shovel ready’ projects existed.” “The concept of ‘shovel-ready’ projects was not realized, nor, as we now have confirmed, was it a realistic expectation,” he continued. Read more: dailycaller.com

To: Wayners who wrote (239)	11/2/2011 11:06:03 PM
From: joseffy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1400

Financial turmoil grips two more green companies receiving federal loan guarantees ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, By Jim Davis 10/31/2011 dailycaller.com Two “clean energy companies” which Barack Obama and Harry Reid have touted as creators of “green energy jobs” have joined Solyndra on the growing list of federal loan recipients facing financial turmoil and default. And a new poll indicates that voters don’t support the idea of agenda-driven federal loans to chosen corporations. Beacon Power Corp., a Massachusetts based energy storage company, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, just one year after the company received a $43 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy. And The New York Times reports that Nevada Geothermal Power, another recipient of millions in DOE loan guarantees, is struggling financially: Its auditor reported last week that he has “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.” Nevada Geothermal received a DOE loan guarantee of $79 million, plus at least $66 million in grants. The controversial DOE loan program has already produced an even bigger default: Just two months ago, solar panel manufacturer Solyndra filed for Chapter 11 protection after receiving a $535 million loan guarantee, effectively leaving taxpayers on the hook for the whole amount. Executives, board members and investors involved with all three companies are closely linked to Obama, Reid and other prominent Democrats. Kai Anderson, a lobbyist for Nevada Geothermal’s partner corporation, Ormat Technology, is a former Senate aide to Harry Reid. Ormat’s CEO Paul Thomsen is another former Reid aide. Beacon Power’s bankruptcy and the financial turmoil at Nevada Geothermal, hard on the heels of Solyndra’s bankruptcy filing, creates additional political humiliation for the Obama administration. Obama got considerable political mileage early in his presidential term by announcing the loans for creation of “green energy” jobs. A new survey commissioned by Heritage Action for America reveals that public attitudes about energy are not supportive of these grand plans. Nearly three quarters of voters (72 percent) oppose the federal government choosing which companies within a particular industry will receive financial subsidies, with a majority (53 percent) strongly opposed. Nearly two thirds (65 percent) of respondents agreed that Solyndra’s bankruptcy demonstrates why the federal government should not pick winners and losers in the marketplace, regardless of the industry or company involved. And six out of ten respondents told pollsters that when private investors don’t want to risk losing their money investing in a company, the government shouldn’t invest in it either. Obama supporters’ defense in the early days of the Solyndra scandal was that more than 90 percent of Energy Department loans were not in default. But most of those loans are only in the beginning stages of 20- or 30-year terms. The Beacon Power and Nevada Geothermal cases may point to still more defaults coming in the future. Much like George Kaiser and other Solyndra investors and executives, Beacon Power’s CEO and other executives donated generously to Obama and other Democratic Party candidates. But unlike with Solyndra, they gave zero dollars to Republicans. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Beacon Power president and CEO F. William “Bill” Capp donated $500 to Obama’s presidential campaign. He also donated to Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Niki Tsongas, and to the failed Massachusetts Senate campaign of Democrat Martha Coakley, whom Republican Scott Brown defeated in a special election for the late Sen. Ted Kennedy’s open Senate seat. Beacon government relations director Matthew E. Polimeno donated $750 to Rep. Tsongas and $250 to Coakley. Beacon Power CFO James M. Spiezio also donated $250 to Coakley. Through their companies, these donors were rewarded with $17,200 of Energy Department funds for every dollar they donated to Democrats. Since Nevada Geothermal’s parent corporation is based in Canada, it would be unusual to see political contributions from the company’s executives to American candidates. But the Center for Responsive Politics also reports that Nevada Geothermal vice president of development and operations Max Walensiak donated $500 to Harry Reid’s successful Senate re-election campaign.

To: Wayners who wrote (239)	11/15/2011 2:18:24 PM
From: joseffy	Respond to of 1400

Obama Admin. Pushed Solyndra Layoff Announcement Until After Election Nov 15, 2011 • By DANIEL HALPER weeklystandard.com The Washington Post reports on newly released emails that reveal "the Obama administration urged officers of the struggling solar company Solyndra to postpone announcing planned layoffs until after the November 2010 midterm elections" Solyndra’s chief executive warned the Energy Department on Oct. 25, 2010, that he intended to announce worker layoffs Oct. 28. He said he was spurred by numerous calls from reporters and potential investors about rumors the firm was in financial trouble and was planning to lay off workers and close one of its two plants. But in an Oct. 30, 2010, e-mail, advisers to Solyndra’s primary investor, Argonaut Equity, explain that the Energy Department had strongly urged the company to put off the layoff announcement until Nov. 3. The midterm elections were held Nov. 2, and led to Republicans taking control of the U.S. House of Representatives. “DOE continues to be cooperative and have indicated that they will fund the November draw on our loan (app. $40 million) but have not committed to December yet,” a Solyndra investor adviser wrote Oct. 30. “They did push very hard for us to hold our announcement of the consolidation to employees and vendors to Nov. 3rd – *oddly they didn’t give a reason for that date*.” Even Solyndra's advisers found it odd the Department of Energy would make such a request. Nevertheless, the failed solar energy company announced on November 3 a number of layoffs, a factory closure, and other bad news.