#solyndra

Who: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming)

Twitter: @SenJohnBarrasso

When: May 2021

What: Biden Administration Infrastructure Plan

Watch on C-SPAN

When it comes to Benjy I could probably do an 'Obama in 2018′ list. The man is obsessed.

But don’t take my word for it. Here’s the mini-manifesto Zyklon included with this cartoon:

One big paragraph.

Tesla thought Hillary Clinton was going to bail them (the first sustainable energy conglomerate) out of bankruptcy.

In recent weeks Tesla has lost most of its key innovators and will soon experience the rath of the bond markets.

This article tells us about the availability of funds that can be used to lend to the private sector, already approved by Congress, within the control of the Department of Energy. That can be used to finance, through lending, energy infrastructure projects. The amount available is $41 billion. The funds can be used for innovative energy and auto manufacturing projects. Considering trump’s campaign promise to undertake a $1 trillion infrastructure program, why not this money?

Because this was the source of funds for the loan to Solyndra, the solar panel manufacturer that went bankrupt. Remember? The republicans pounded President Obama during his 2012 reelection campaign for that bankruptcy, raising issues from feasibility of renewable energy to negligence by the Obama administration in approving the loan. So, the loan fund is tainted, and has been politicized by the republican party.

Yet, the moneys are available.

Excerpt from the article:

But Trump and his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, who as a Freedom Caucus congressman opposed the loan program, have called for its cancellation in the president's proposed budget.

Trump's stance on the DOE loan program has been "concerning and oddly disconnected from the Trump administration's rhetoric about wanting to generate American jobs and build out American infrastructure," said Mike Carr, a former principal deputy assistant secretary at EERE under President Obama and a partner at the energy advisory firm Boundary Stone Partners. "It's a very strange disconnect."

The $25 Mil Program To Fight Climate Change In Guatemala

A $25 million project to help Guatemala combat the ills of climate change is rife with problems that include data errors and discrepancies, no sustainability plan as required by the government and security and funding violations. Though it constitutes an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars, this is par for the course with virtually all of the Obama administration’s “green” ventures, which have…

Report: Solyndra misrepresented facts to get loan guarantee

And in typical government fashion, no one is held accountable. We spent $500 MILLION for a “cautionary tale”.

AP: A four-year investigation has concluded that officials of the solar company Solyndra misrepresented facts and omitted key information in their efforts to get a $535 million loan guarantee from the federal government taxpayers.

Solyndra was the first company to get federal loan…

This is the day President Barack Obama got to meet my brother, Curtis.

These photographs were taken in May 2010 when President Obama visited Solyndra facility (which was under construction at the time.)  The plant was a big deal at the time because some of the funds ($535 million) used to build the facility came from the Department of Energy and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.  Obama’s visit was politically motivated to justify the government use of the funds. The company manufactured its solar products in the $733 million state-of-the-art robotic facility in Fremont, California, which opened in September 2010 and shut down in August 2011 and ultimately filed for bankruptcy.  The entire affair resulted in a huge political scandal for the Obama administration.

But that’s not the part I’ll remember.

I’ll remember Curtis’ brush with history.  Not everyone gets to shake the hand of a sitting President of the United States (leader of the Free World) nor the opportunity to show him around the job site.  Looking back on the whole affair I would guess that even President Obama would agree that the best part of the day was getting the opportunity to meet Curtis Faulkner.

These two pictures are just awesome.  I love the first because we get to see the moment they meet (with Curtis’ face and the president’s back.)  But the second is my favorite.  Notice the President’s hand on Curtis’ shoulder.   I can just imagine the conversation. Curtis: “Now hold on a minute Mr. President!  Nobody gets past this point without a hard hat!”  Safety first!

Curtis recently retired and I’d be willing to bet this was not is favorite day on the job, but I bet it was one of the most memorable.  We teased him about it for a long time.  (Our brother Jon said he would have called in sick and I believe him.)  The beautiful buildings are not back in operation, housing a new solar company after sitting vacant for a long time.  Every time we pass by it, I stop and think about the hours of work Curt spent there and the brief moment in the national spotlight.

(To view more posts about my favorite photographs, click on the 1,000 Words category on this blog.)

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