Steven Chu

Energy Dept. Makes More Bad Bets with Taxpayer Money

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 01/13/2012 - 07:43

Chu photo As the U.S. government Venture Capitalist-in-Chief (and President) Barack Obama and his Department of Energy investment guru (and Energy Secretary) Steven Chu pour other peoples’ money into their favorite “clean” technology schemes, private backers appear to be following them off the cliff, “as publicly traded battery makers watched their stocks tank and their businesses stumble,” according to a Dow Jones report late last month.

Russian Oligarch Tries to Cash In on Obama's Crony Capitalism

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 01/10/2012 - 09:32

Alexi Mordash The Department of Energy announced on Friday it would not complete a low-interest, $730 million loan to Severstal North America, after it had given the company a conditional commitment in July under its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program.

DOE gave no reason for its disapproval of the loan, but it had come under scrutiny about its judgment after the collapse of solar company Solyndra, which was lent $535 million in taxpayer dollars.

Taxpayers Take Hit as Solar Industry Implodes

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Wed, 01/04/2012 - 09:48

In a year where Solyndra became the face of the solar industry’s chronic failures, even the holiday season could not prevent one last flurry of layoffs in 2011.

The Mountain Enterprise (based in Frazier Park, Calif.) reported over the weekend that First Solar, Inc. – which the media sometimes identifies as the largest solar company in the world – laid off half its employees on Friday at its Antelope Valley Solar Ranch One project. The facility has been the subject of controversy in the local community over the effects it will have on land use, wildlife, and water usage.

Taxpayer-Funded Green Job Losses Easy as A123

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 12/02/2011 - 09:40

It’s another day, and another round of layoffs by a recipient of millions of dollars under the Obama Administration’s renewable energy initiatives, administered by the mismanaged Department of Energy.

This time the Recovery Act largesse – taken out of the hide of taxpayers – went to A123 Systems, Inc. The Massachusetts-based energy storage company was given $249.1 million to help launch two battery-manufacturing plants in Michigan. A123 also received grants and tax credits from the state that could total more than $135 million. In a separate federal grant as a subcontractor for another grantee, A123 received nearly $30 million for a wind energy storage project.

DOE's Chu Can't Manage Apology, Much Less Department

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 11/18/2011 - 09:49

Chu photo Two weeks ago Texas Gov. Rick Perry made what many formerly mainstream media pundits thought was his crowning debate gaffe in Michigan, when he could not remember the third of three cabinet departments (after Education and Commerce) he would eliminate if he were elected president.

The one he momentarily forgot, the Department of Energy, should have been the first one on his lips.

Duke Energy CEO Rogers Wants Taxpayer Bailout for Edwardsport Boondoggle

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Tue, 11/15/2011 - 09:27

Rogers and windmill A scandal that won’t go away for Duke Energy CEO James Rogers revealed over the weekend, once again, that he will turn over every government rock he can to try to find money to pay for his irrational Green agenda, with reckless disregard for taxpayers and his customers.

Is EV Recharging Company Ecotality Another Bad Obama 'Bet'?

Submitted by Paul Chesser on Fri, 10/14/2011 - 09:11

eTec logo In the aftermath of the Solyndra scandal, in which $535 million guaranteed by taxpayers for the solar company’s loan has been lost, President Obama told ABC News his people “felt that it was a good bet.”