Green job turkey eats $535 million in Porkluus

Russ Steele

I have written about this in previous posts here and here, but now it is official, Solyndra, which was supposed to have showcased the effectiveness of the Obama administration’s stimulus and green jobs initiatives, turned into money eating green turkey.  This green turkey has attracted the attention of a congressional committee rooting out fraud, waste and abuse in the stimulus bill.

The Daily Caller has the story here:

According to a Feb. 17 letter signed by Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, Michigan Republican, and Oversight Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, Florida Republican, to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the Fremont, Calif.-based solar panel manufacturer squandered $535 million of stimulus money.

The company became the first recipient of an Energy Department loan guarantee under the stimulus in March 2009, which was intended to “finance construction of the first phase of the company’s new manufacturing facility” for photovoltaic solar panels.

The Energy Department estimated in a March 20, 2009 press release that the loan guarantee would create 3,000 construction jobs and a further 1,000 jobs after the plant opened.

Exit questions: If the federal government can not create green jobs with a half a biilion dollars, how can it fill their other green job promises?