On June, 6, 2012, Steve Hargreaves writes on CNN Money that no matter how hard President Obama may try, the Solyndra debacle –– and its $529 million taxpayer-backed price tag –– just won’t go away.
“Solyndra represents the ideological divide between the two parties on issues beyond energy.
“To Democrats it represents government support for a private enterprise that was supposed to create something that made us all better off — clean energy and jobs.
“To Republicans it represents government overstepping its role.
“With the issue not showing signs of fading away in the election, here are seven things you should know about Solyndra and the Department of Energy loan program that supported it.”
1. It was started by Bush
2. Congress thought there would be more failures
3. Solyndra wanted more
4. Taxpayers aren’t the only losers
5. The renewables program is closed
6. No smoking gun with Solyndra wrongdoing
7. Solyndra isn’t a typical solar company
The point that needs to be made is that Solyndra did not make regular, flat solar panels, but instead more advanced, cylinder-shaped devices designed to capture the sun’s rays on its entire surface.
It was the rapidly declining price of traditional, flat solar panels and silicon — mostly from China — that did the company in.
It is annoying that those opposed to developing alternative energy sources use this one failure repeatedly as a means of preserving the economic interests represented by carbon-based fuels. Clean energy should be the future of America. The potential is there to not only benefit the American economy from broadened private, individual ownership investments in clean energy and environmental health, but the result will be to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/06/06/technology/solyndra/index.htm?iid=HP_LN
