Two weeks before the Obama administration granted its first green-energy loan guarantee in 2009 to Solyndra Inc., an analyst in the U.S. Department of Energy warned that the solar-panel manufacturer would run out of money by September 2011.

 

So what happened?

 

Solyndra went belly up this month, just as the Energy staffer warned, and in the process left taxpayers responsible for meeting the $535 million in loan guarantees given to the company by Washington. It also left 1,100 Solyndra employees unemployed.

 

The Solyndra fiasco is now the subject of three government investigations, with Congress, the FBI and the Department of the Treasury’s inspector general all looking into how the administration decided the California-based business was deserving of federal support.

 

Critics contend the decision was politically motivated, and point to the fact that one of Solyndra’s major investors was George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire who raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for President Barack Obama during the 2008 election.

 

Obama supporters point out that another investor in Solyndra was Madrone Capital Partners, an investment arm of the Republican-leaning Walton family that owns Wal-Mart, and that the administration of President George W. Bush, just before it left office, tried to push approval of a loan guarantee for Solyndra.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Obama Administration Agreed to Solyndra Loan Days after Insiders Foresaw Firm's Failure (by Ronnie Greene and Matthew Mosk, iWatch)

Skipping Safeguards, Officials Rushed Benefit to a Politically-Connected Energy Company (by Ronnie Greene and Matthew Mosk, iWatch)

Obama Administration E-mails: Giving More Taxpayer Money to Solyndra was Risky (by Carol D. Leonnig and Joe Stephens, Washington Post)

Exclusive Timeline: Bush Administration Advanced Solyndra Loan Guarantee for Two Years, Media Blow the Story (by Stephen Lacey, Think Progress)

Solar Company with $535 Million in Federal Loan Guarantees Declares Bankruptcy (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)