Two Year Anniversary Of Obama's Solyndra Visit

[bitterlyclingin]

[Two years ago, it was "The Future Is Here", at least that's what 'Choomwagon', aka 'The Pakololo Kid', aka Barack Hussein Obama said as 535 million taxpayer dollars were in the process of wending their way toward Money Heaven. You have to wonder whether he was sucking in those last draughts of marijuana smoke from the top of the inside of the presidential limo then.]

"Two years ago today, May 26, 2010, President Obama traveled to Fremont, California to showcase a “brighter and more prosperous future” promised by the green-energy company Solyndra.

The solar panel maker went bankrupt last year, taking with it $535 million in taxpayer-funded loan guarantees. More than 1,000 people lost their jobs. The Obama administration had cut corners to rush money to Solyndra, with some of the beneficiaries being top Obama fundraisers. Even as Solyndra failed, the administration considered giving it another $469 million.

But on this day in 2010, with Solyndra already facing serious obstacles, President Obama was filled with optimism. “The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra,” the president said. “Less than a year ago, we were standing on what was an empty lot. But through the Recovery Act, this company received a loan to expand its operations. This new factory is the result of those loans.”"

Weasel Zippers » Blog Archive » Two Years Ago Today: Obama Celebrates Solyndra: “The Future Is Here”…

 

[waltky]

The next Solyndra...

Obama Administration to Spend $20 Million on Green Energy Plan – For Africa
July 5, 2012 – The U.S. government is spending $20 million to “help clean energy projects in Africa get started.” Those projects include wind farms and solar panels, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced at the recent Rio +20 Conference in Brazil.

But the government watchdog Judicial Watch criticized the spending as wasteful, given the administration’s track record in trying to pick green energy winners. “The U.S.-Africa Clean Energy Finance Initiative will help clean energy projects in Africa get started,” said Clinton in her June 22 speech. “This is an innovative partnership between three United States government entities – the State Department, OPIC (the Overseas Private Investment Corporation), and the U.S. Trade and Development Agency. We want to drive private sector investment into the energy sector.”

Clinton said the initial $20 million grant will "leverage much larger investment flows from OPIC,” which is the U.S. government's development finance institution. “That will open the door then for hundreds of millions of dollars of OPIC financing, plus hundreds of millions of more dollars from the private sector for projects that otherwise would never get off the drawing board.” As it states on its Web site, “OPIC achieves its mission by providing investors with financing, guarantees, political risk insurance, and support for private equity investment funds.”

According to Clinton, “Africa is blessed with vast geothermal resources in the East, the world’s largest hydropower resources in the heart of the continent, and bright sunlight everywhere. Yet only one in four households in Africa has access to electricity today. That is 600 million men, women, and children living without power that can’t turn on the lights, can’t use a machine in a factory. “Now why does this gap exist?” she asked. “It is because investors in this space often see obstacles and risks that stop them from investing in clean energy in Africa. … So if we can remove some of the risk and cover some of the costs of preparing a project, we believe we can spur significant new private investments in clean energy. And that is the idea behind the partnership we are announcing today.”

In describing the “obstacles and risks”, Clinton gave the example of a solar developer in South Sudan, "who has a plan that could bring electricity to rural communities for the first time, but he can’t get the attention of large investors without an expensive environmental impact assessment, which he cannot afford. One of our new grants could provide enough support to pay for that assessment.” She also mentioned an investor “who wants to build a wind farm in Egypt but won’t commit until he sees assessments and land surveys. A grant could cover the cost and mean the difference between going forward or giving up.” Tom Fitton, president of the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, told CNSNews.com that “governments are particularly incapable of ascertaining how to allocate private capital. Exhibit A: Solyndra.”

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