It is no secret that President Obama’s and green-energy supporters’
(from both parties) foray into venture capitalism has not gone well. But
the extent of its failure has been largely ignored by the press. Sure,
single instances garner attention as they happen, but they ignore past
failures in order to make it seem like a rare case.
The truth is that the problem is widespread. The government’s picking
winners and losers in the energy market has cost taxpayers billions of
dollars, and the rate of failure, cronyism, and corruption at the
companies receiving the subsidies is substantial. The fact that some
companies are not under financial duress does not make the policy a
success. It simply means that our taxpayer dollars subsidized companies
that would’ve found the financial support in the private market.
So far, 36 companies that were offered federal support from taxpayers
are faltering — either having gone bankrupt or laying off workers or
heading for bankruptcy. This list includes only those companies that
received federal money from the Obama Administration’s Department of
Energy and other agencies. The amount of money indicated does not
reflect how much was actually received or spent but how much was
offered. The amount also does not include other state, local, and
federal tax credits and subsidies, which push the amount of money these
companies have received from taxpayers even higher.
READ MORE: http://blog.heritage.org/2012/10/18/president-obamas-taxpayer-backed-green-energy-failures/
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