14-Nov-2011 | By U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner (R-CO)
Earlier this year, we learned that the solar energy company Solyndra was struggling to stay afloat even after receiving a $535 million taxpayer backed loan from the Department of Energy (DOE). The revelation was enough to launch a congressional investigation into what went wrong, and why DOE was unable to see it coming. In late August, Solyndra declared bankruptcy, and the FBI subsequently raided its headquarters. Among the most pressing questions for our investigation, is whether the administration is just guilty of making a poor investment or whether it deliberately dolled out this money to fit an ideological agenda?
There were plenty of warning signs about Solyndra. The President's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) questioned whether the solar panels Solyndra manufactured could compete in the world market. Congress even uncovered emails showing that some OMB staffers expressed doubts about whether the loan was a good investment.
Yet, none of this deterred DOE from giving Solyndra money or from restructuring the loan in February of this year. It was during the restructuring of the loan that the DOE subordinated the taxpayer's interest in the deal to some of Solyndra's private investors – something many people believe to be a clear violation of the law.
Despite White House denials that any lobbying on behalf of Solyndra occurred, recently released documents now point to direct lobbying in the White House by top Obama fundraisers seeking additional government loans for the failing company.
The House Subcommittee investigating this loan guarantee program, of which I am a member, has been pressing the DOE and the White House for further details as to why the loan was restructured, and why the taxpayers interest was subordinated. The White House response has been cavalier at best. Earlier this year, President Obama told ABC News that the Solyndra loan guarantee was a "good bet". Yet the government's own analysts questioned this belief more than a year ago. It is also my opinion that we can't afford to be gambling with taxpayer dollars.
Documents provided to the committee show that political pressure likely played a role in the approval of the Solyndra loan guarantee. If this program is to continue, the public deserves answers about how these decisions were made, who was in charge and what outside factors might be influencing the White House.
Frustratingly, the White House has slow walked our committee's investigation at every step. They have resisted repeated requests for cooperation, refused to put a timeline on when they could possibly release pertinent documents, and have been unwilling to disclose even the nature or the number of relevant documents in their possession. In order to protect the taxpayers and ensure congressional access to documents related to the Solyndra loan guarantee, the Committee conducting the investigation has served subpoenas to White House Chief of Staff William Daley and Vice President Joe Biden's Chief of Staff Bruce Reed.
Now is not the time for evasive ploys and political games. Transparency and accountability need to be brought back into this process. That means the White House needs to cooperate and does not get to determine what the House Committee needs to conduct its investigation.
Critics of the investigation have called it a witch-hunt and accused the Committee of trying to attack the solar industry. To them I say this: it is precisely because solar has promise that we cannot let Solyndra or mistakes made in administering the DOE loan guarantee program to soil the entire solar industry's reputation. Plenty of companies have taken federal loans and not gone bankrupt or broken the law. Solyndra was a deal gone wrong. It is important that we learn why, so the same mistakes are not made in the future.
