preview

The Energy Policy Act Of 2005

Better Essays

The Unites States of America is the single largest power consuming nation on earth.
Since the gasoline and fuel oil shortages of the 1970’s, the topic of renewable energy has been high on the agenda of politicians and environmentalists alike. The search for clean, renewable energy was deemed to be in the public interest, so the US Government stepped into the fight with research grants and financial aid for private companies in order to jump start clean energy industries here in the United States. Companies specializing in clean energy solutions using wind, solar, geothermal, and even ocean wave energy harvesting technology have sprung up, looking for their share of Government money offered by the Department of Energy under the …show more content…

Sounds simple, right? What could go wrong? The answer: plenty!
After the company was founded in 2005, Solyndra raised $450 million from private investors by 2008. It then applied for a loan from the US Government in 2008 under the Energy
Policy Act of 2005. The Bush Administration turned them down in January, 2009 just days before leaving office, citing the fact that there had not been an independent market study on the feasibility of what they were proposing. In March of 2009 after Obama took office, his
Administration hastily reopened discussions with Solyndra and the chase was on. Obama
Administration officials pushed the Solyndra deal through despite the grave concerns from
Government watchdog agencies and financial advisers. They arranged a political photo op for
President Obama to visit Solyndra in May 2010 to announce Solyndra’s partnership with the US
Government in providing clean energy, as promised while he was on the campaign trail.
Unknown to US Taxpayers, the partnership was fatally flawed from the start and was doomed to fail. All of the usual Government oversight process was circumvented by the Obama
Administration in order to drive the deal through without all of the normal checks and balances.
The President was keen to have his Green Energy policy kicked off, ready or not, for purely political reasons. There were those in the Administration who knew that Solyndra would not
succeed,

Get Access