Apparently, making the green economy hum with tax dollars is not as easy as 1-2-3…
Reuters reports that:
”Once a high-flying green technology company, battery maker A123 Systems Inc on Friday told investors it has about five months of cash left to fund operations, adding to woes for a sector short on results and long on government loans.”
Furthermore, electric vehicle manufacturer “Fisker suspended work at its U.S. plant earlier this year as it works to renegotiate a $529 million federal loan. Fisker is a major A123 customer.”
H/t to Mickey Kaus of The Daily Caller, who wrote…
“Good news for Obama: Government-subsidized batterymaker A123 may make it past election before going bankrupt.”
The Detroit News reported last month…
“Two U.S. senators want the Energy Department to answer new questions about the decision to loan $529 million to luxury auto start-up Fisker Automotive Inc. and award $249 million in grants to battery start-up A123.”
But back in 2011, here’s what Pres. Obama said in his State of the Union address…
“We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.
“At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.”
With senior management of A123 leading the contribution of $20,000 to Democratic campaigns over the last three cycles, it’s true that Obama isn’t “just handing out money.” He’s just handing out money to his friends.
