The DOE doesn’t seem particularly concerned if these are really good investments, but, that they get the loans done quickly
The Obama administration, defying congressional Republicans after the failure of solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC, is working to award as much as $9.2 billion in government financing to renewable energy companies before a Sept. 30 deadline.
Loan guarantees for 14 companies will close by month’s end if the projects meet government lending rules, Damien LaVera, a Department of Energy spokesman, said in an interview. “We want to get as many of these done in a way that responsibly protects the taxpayers’ interest,” he said. “If they meet conditions set out in the agreement, then they’ll close.”
Hey, I’m all for alternative energy sources, but, government should not be the ones picking and choosing winners and losers (and shouldn’t do it with other types of businesses, either), especially with taxpayer money that we’ll never see paid back from companies that will probably never show a profit. And probably will never have an actual product people will buy.
Furthermore, rather than rushing these because of the deadline, they should take their sweet time and verify that these are good investments.
The career auditors, accountants and economists in OMB, Commerce Dept. and at Energy etc. would do well to get their objections to and warnings about being to hasty, on record.
I wonder. ….
How many bottles of water, blankets, and food packs could be bought with that money for those innocent puppies affected by that MASSIVE DEVASTATING STORM OF THE MILLENIA called Irene. And, don’t forget the MASSIVE DEVASTATING STORM OF THE CENTURY called Lee.
How many emergency loans could have been provided to Texans and Oklahomans and Arizonans who lost their homes from fire from this?