Rep. Brian Bilbray is winning praise from the solar industry for casting the sole Republican vote this week against efforts to dismantle the federal loan guarantee program for clean energy linked to the Solyndra debacle.
In the run-up to fall elections, many Republicans in Congress have embraced the "No More Solyndras Act," which would go beyond implementing safeguards to improve loan guarantees and dismantle the program altogether.
California-based solar panel manufacturer Solyndra received a half-billion dollar federal loan guarantee before filing for bankruptcy protection last year.
Bilbray participated in vote on a rough draft of the new legislation by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The measure moved ahead 14-6 toward a possible House vote.
The Solar Energy Industry Association expressed its appreciation on Friday in a news release.
"It takes true vision and courage to ignore politics and take a principled, fact-based stand in support of renewable energy," said Rhone Resch, president of the umbrella trade group for solar manufacturing, distribution, research and financing.
Reached by phone, the congressman blamed "mid-management" at the Department of Energy for mishandling clean energy loan guarantees and asserted that his colleagues in the House were "blaming the vehicle" instead of the driver.
"The program is being thrown under the bus because people don't want to admit that it was administered horrendously," Rep. Bilbray said. "The program should be able to do great things if it's administered properly."
Bilbray said he objected to issuing loan-guarantee terms that placed the reimbursement of taxpayers behind private investors, without elaborating on alternatives. He also cited issues of fairness in the selection process.
Bilbray in recent years requested consideration for federal backing of two San Diego companies that were developing energy-efficient vehicles -- Aptera Motors and the precursor to Next Autoworks. Late last year, Aptera announced its liquidation and Next Autoworks closed its San Diego headquarters.
The Obama administration has stood by the loan guarantee program as an integral part of its "all-of-the-above" energy policy that has sought to expand and diversifying U.S. fuel and power sources.
Bilbray said he still backed Energy Sec. Steven Chu, but was unsatisfied with his testimony to Congress regarding Solydra.
The "1703" loan guarantee program was created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reduce the risks to investors in cutting edge clean energy projects that are typically unable to obtain financing from conventional banks.
The solar association said eliminating the guarantees would significantly hinder the development of utility-scale renewable energy projects in the U.S.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney held a news conference in March outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility in Fremont, Calif., slamming President Obama for using taxpayer dollars to pick "winner and losers" among green energy firms rather than allowing them to rise and fall in the free market.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney backed a state program that targeted investments to individual green startup companies in hopes of boosting jobs and the state's revenues.
Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/29/bilbray-bucks-gop-effort-eliminate-solar-loan-guar/
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Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney outside Solyndra facilities in Fremont, Calif. |
In the run-up to fall elections, many Republicans in Congress have embraced the "No More Solyndras Act," which would go beyond implementing safeguards to improve loan guarantees and dismantle the program altogether.
California-based solar panel manufacturer Solyndra received a half-billion dollar federal loan guarantee before filing for bankruptcy protection last year.
Bilbray participated in vote on a rough draft of the new legislation by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Power. The measure moved ahead 14-6 toward a possible House vote.
The Solar Energy Industry Association expressed its appreciation on Friday in a news release.
"It takes true vision and courage to ignore politics and take a principled, fact-based stand in support of renewable energy," said Rhone Resch, president of the umbrella trade group for solar manufacturing, distribution, research and financing.
Reached by phone, the congressman blamed "mid-management" at the Department of Energy for mishandling clean energy loan guarantees and asserted that his colleagues in the House were "blaming the vehicle" instead of the driver.
"The program is being thrown under the bus because people don't want to admit that it was administered horrendously," Rep. Bilbray said. "The program should be able to do great things if it's administered properly."
Bilbray said he objected to issuing loan-guarantee terms that placed the reimbursement of taxpayers behind private investors, without elaborating on alternatives. He also cited issues of fairness in the selection process.
Bilbray in recent years requested consideration for federal backing of two San Diego companies that were developing energy-efficient vehicles -- Aptera Motors and the precursor to Next Autoworks. Late last year, Aptera announced its liquidation and Next Autoworks closed its San Diego headquarters.
The Obama administration has stood by the loan guarantee program as an integral part of its "all-of-the-above" energy policy that has sought to expand and diversifying U.S. fuel and power sources.
Bilbray said he still backed Energy Sec. Steven Chu, but was unsatisfied with his testimony to Congress regarding Solydra.
The "1703" loan guarantee program was created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to reduce the risks to investors in cutting edge clean energy projects that are typically unable to obtain financing from conventional banks.
The solar association said eliminating the guarantees would significantly hinder the development of utility-scale renewable energy projects in the U.S.
Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney held a news conference in March outside the Solyndra manufacturing facility in Fremont, Calif., slamming President Obama for using taxpayer dollars to pick "winner and losers" among green energy firms rather than allowing them to rise and fall in the free market.
As governor of Massachusetts, Romney backed a state program that targeted investments to individual green startup companies in hopes of boosting jobs and the state's revenues.
Source: http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/29/bilbray-bucks-gop-effort-eliminate-solar-loan-guar/
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