In the Pipeline: 9/23/11

Blinded by the light — Obama Administration rushed the Solyndra loan to boost solar energy production for political points and it worked, but it turns out those are our political points… New York Times (9/23/11) reports: President Obama’s visit to the Solyndra solar panel factory in California last year was choreographed down to the last detail — the 20-by-30-foot American flags, the corporate banners hung just so, the special lighting, even coffee and doughnuts for the Secret Service detail… “It’s here that companies like Solyndra are leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future,” the president declared in May 2010 to the assembled workers and executives. The start-up business had received a $535 million federal loan guarantee, offered in part to reassert American dominance in solar technology while generating thousands of jobs.

So Long Solyndra — IER released a new video that tells the story of how Solyndra recevied $535 million. Spoiler Alert: it doesn’t have a happy ending 

To watch the video, click the image or here.

Does this author really think that oil, natural gas and coal energy production was started by federal government subsidies? If so, we are in worse trouble than I thought New York Times (9/23/11) reports:  The analysis is by Nancy Pfund, a managing partner of DBL Investors of San Francisco, which backs renewable energy ventures, and Ben Healey, an environmentalist who is earning a joint master’s degree in business administration and engineering management at Yale. It traces oil and gas subsidies beginning in 1918, biofuel subsidies since 1980 and renewable electricity subsidies since 1994. All of those are tracked through the end of 2009, meaning that the study does not capture all of the aid to renewable energy in the stimulus bill. It tracks nuclear energy from 1947 to 1999.

You know, we are not going to take sides in this thing.  But this looks bad for Romney.  Really bad.  Although in all fairness, I’m not sure it looks worse than having Jim Connaughton and Boyden Gray hanging around, shooting pool at Romney headquarters National Journal (9/22/11) reports: President Obama can thank Republican Mitt Romney for more than the Massachusetts health care law that helped shape Obama’s national health care plan…One of Romney’s former top state environmental officials during his tenure as Massachusetts governor now oversees air quality at Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency, playing a key role in the march of environmental regulations to fight climate change and slash pollution from coal-fired power plants that is regularly blasted by Republicans seeking Obama’s job. Sometimes, even Romney himself…House GOP leaders, powerful industry groups like the Chamber of Commerce, tea party groups like Americans for Prosperity, and Romney’s chief rival, GOP front-runner Rick Perry, have essentially declared war on EPA air rules, slamming them as “job-killing regulations” that will tank the economy.

See, when you depend on the federal government, bad things tend to happen Reuters (9/23/11) reports: First Solar Inc (FSLR.O) said it would not meet a deadline to receive a federal loan guarantee for a huge solar power plant it is building in California, sending its shares to their lowest level in more than four years…The announcement cast a spotlight again on the Obama administration’s support of renewable energy, which have come under fire by Republicans since the collapse of solar company Solyndra after it won more than $500 million in backing from the Department of Energy.

We hate to be slaves to the narrative, but again, energy development means more economic growth, more jobs, more tax revenues (pay attention you big government weenies!), and a better life Investors (9/22/11) reports: In announcing yet another overhaul of New York’s economic development bureaucracy, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently observed that, “we must do all we can to keep businesses and jobs in our state, and today’s launch demonstrates that New York is once again open for business.”…If only it were that simple. In fact, New York’s famously unfriendly tax and regulatory climate has been pushing businesses and jobs out of the state for decades…In a new survey of business leaders published by Chief Executive magazine, the Empire State ranked 49th among all states against a wide range of business climate indicators.

Again, the narrative remains sturdy:  energy development equals . . . well, you know the rest Vindy (9/22/11) reports: Ohio’s oil and natural-gas industries and the emergence of horizontal hydraulic fracturing could create more than 200,000 jobs and pump billions into the state economy over the next five years, according to a new study released at the Statehouse…“[These] resources will be responsibly developed, and doing so will benefit all Ohioans who are looking for economic opportunity and energy security,” said Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil and Gas Association…The economic-impact study, released Tuesday, was prepared by a Cleveland-based consulting firm on behalf of the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program.

Someone buy Rep. Issa a beer — last hearing was entitled, “How Obama’s Green Energy Agenda Is Killing Jobs” San Francisco Chronicle California Rep. Darrell Issa opened a new front Thursday in the GOP attack on renewable-energy subsidies following the bankruptcy of solar manufacturer Solyndra, accusing the Obama administration of waging a “war on carbon-based energy” and exaggerating claims of new “green jobs.”…Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, mocked Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’ description of a San Jose, Calif., transit district bus driver’s job as green…Issa titled the hearing, “How Obama’s Green Energy Agenda Is Killing Jobs.”…At a committee hearing Thursday, Solis cited the case of Peter Reyes, who had been laid off from his job in banking and retrained with government help to drive a hybrid bus manufactured in Hayward and operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority.