House Ends Funding for Future Solyndra's

Press Release

Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted to phase out a controversial Department of Energy (DOE) program that President Obama tapped to subsidize many risky green energy projects that ultimately failed costing taxpayer dollars. This includes the White House's $535 million taxpayer loan to Solyndra, the California-based solar panel manufacturer that filed for bankruptcy late last year.

An investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee into the Solyndra loan has revealed that officials in the Obama administration warned the White House about the commercial viability of Solyndra from the outset. Experts believe the U.S. Department of Energy violated federal law in restructuring the terms of the original loan guarantee by subordinating the taxpayer's interest to that of other private investors. Questions have now been raised that the White House sought to prop up the company -- backed by a prominent Obama fundraiser -- for political reasons.

"We can't stand by and allow the White House to keep placing losing bets on risky green energy companies using taxpayer dollars for political gain," said U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), a strong critic of the Obama administration's handling of this program. "Washington bureaucrats aren't venture capitalists and they shouldn't be picking winners and losers in the energy sector. We know a little bit about the energy business in Texas and realize that those decisions should be made in the private market, not the White House."

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