Energy Environment

Solyndra Loan Program Turning a Profit for Taxpayers

The same program that funded Solyndra, the great non-scandal of yore, is now turning a profit for the federal government and taxpayers.

via Bloomberg

The U.S. government expects to earn $5 billion to $6 billion from the renewable-energy loan program that funded flops including Solyndra LLC, supporting President Barack Obama’s decision to back low-carbon technologies. [...]

A $5 billion return to taxpayers exceeds the returns from many venture capital and private equity investments in clean energy, said Michael Morosi, an analyst at Jetstream Capital LLC, which invests in renewable energy.

The federal government will see a bigger return than much of the revered private sector thanks to the president's persistence.

Congressional Republicans have tried to kill the loan program several times over the past four years. And as Media Matters reminds us, Mitt Romney even held a sham press conference outside Solyndra.

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