Date Posted:22:19:56 08/06/12 Mon Author: BFIH... Subject: See FactCheck.org In reply to:
coyotyl
's message, "Solyndra was actually a Bush project first" on 22:35:21 07/19/12 Thu
Obama, Oct. 6: Solyndra — "...this is a loan guarantee program that predates me that historically has had support from Democrats and Republicans as well. And the idea is pretty straightforward: If we are going to be able to compete in the 21st century, then we’ve got to dominate cutting-edge technologies, we’ve got to dominate cutting-edge manufacturing...."
The loan guarantee program that provided financing for Solyndra, however, DOES NOT PREDATE OBAMA.
There are two loan guarantee programs for renewable energy companies. The first was created under section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. It was designed to help support U.S. companies developing “a new or significantly improved technology that is NOT a commercial technology,” according to the Energy Department’s description of the program. It was a self-pay credit subsidy program, meaning the companies receiving the loan would have to pay the government a fee “equal to the present value of estimated payments the government would make in the event of a default.”
The second program was created with the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly known as the stimulus law. The recovery act amended the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to create section 1705 for “commercially available technologies,” as the Energy Department explains on page 12 of a 2009 report on stimulus funding. The stimulus provided more funding for the loan guarantee programs. The loans under the new program also came with no credit subsidy fees, making them more attractive and less expensive than those under the program signed into law by President Bush. IT WAS UNDER THIS PROGRAM THAT SOLYNDRA WAS ABLE TO GET FINANCING, although the company initially applied under the section 1703 program.
In a March 2009 press release announcing a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, the Energy Department said: “This loan guarantee will be supported through the President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provides tens of billions of dollars in loan guarantee authority to build a new green energy economy.” Damien LaVera, an Energy Department spokesman, confirmed that Solyndra’s funding came solely from section 1705.
Solyndra WAS THE FIRST COMPANY TO RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER EITHER PROGRAM.
