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Rep. Upton pushed for loan to now-bankrupt solar company
Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich), a leading GOP critic of the Obama administration’s loans to Solyndra, pressed the Energy Department in 2009 to back a Michigan solar firm that filed for bankruptcy this week.
In a Dec. 2009 letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Upton and the rest of the Michigan delegation pressed the department to issue loan guarantees for a slew of energy projects. Included on the list was United Solar Ovonic, which was seeking a taxpayer-backed loan guarantee to produce rooftop solar panels.
“We believe these applications are worthy of serious consideration by the Energy Department,” the Michigan lawmakers wrote in the letter.
Upton’s letter underscores the fact that Republicans, many of whom have pummeled the administration over the Solyndra controversy, pressed the Energy Department to back clean-energy projects in their home states.
Upton, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has led a months-long investigation of the Obama administration’s 2009 loan guarantee to Solyndra, the California solar panel maker that filed for bankruptcy in September.
He has alleged that the Energy Department did not exercise enough oversight of its loan guarantees and raised questions about the Obama administration’s clean-energy investments.
A House Energy and Commerce Committee GOP spokesman defended Upton’s push for the loan, arguing it was up to the Energy Department to vet the project.
“While many in Congress questioned whether the stimulus would actually be able to produce the promised jobs, members on both sides of the aisle wanted to see jobs created and folks put back to work, especially in Michigan, which is why states and communities identified projects for DOE consideration,” the spokesman said.
“It is the job of DOE and [the Office of Management and Budget] to scrutinize the applications and identify the best participants, and that's what the Michigan delegation asked them to do.”
The spokesman said Upton will continue probing the Solyndra loan guarantee.
“We continue working to identify what went wrong with Solyndra to ensure taxpayers are never again left holding the bag on the Obama administration's risky bets.”
