WGBH News: U.S. News

Political Divide At Congressional Hearing On Solyndra

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:39:00 GMT

A congressional hearing on Tuesday over a company called Solyndra became a politically charged referendum on the administration's effort to promote green energy.

Until recently, Solyndra made solar panels. It received more than half a billion dollars in government loan guarantees back in 2009. Now, the company is in bankruptcy and is being investigated by the FBI.

At the hearing, Republicans raised questions over whether the administration rushed the loan process for political or private reasons, while officials from the Department of Energy defended the decision to invest in the technology.

Questions For The Administration

President Obama spoke at the company's Fremont, Calif., headquarters 15 months ago, saying that "companies like Solyndra are leading the way to a brighter and more prosperous future."

The president held it up as a shining example of a company that created jobs while saving the environment and freeing the country of its dependence on foreign oil.

Two weeks ago, Solyndra laid off more than 1,000 workers when it failed.

At the congressional hearing on Tuesday, Republicans said the administration had cozy ties to the company and its investors, and that it was overeager to promote its environmental policies at the expense of taxpayers.

"Only after the Obama administration took control and the stimulus passed was the Solyndra deal pushed through," said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican.

Republicans accused the administration of pressuring the Department of Energy to approve the loan. They called its motives venal, noting that even as the company was failing, the department renegotiated the loans in a way that advantaged private investors in Solyndra — including a big Obama fundraiser.

And there was more: Michigan Republican Fred Upton called it an example of government trying to pick winners and losers.

"Was Solyndra just one bad bet by an administration rushing to claim credit for the first loan guarantee? Or was it the tip of the iceberg?" he asked.

Department Of Energy Responds

Jonathan Silver, executive director of the Energy Department's loan program, said the U.S. is rapidly losing out to China in solar technology, and that addressing this decline was the administration's motivation.

"This isn't picking winners and losers. It's helping ensure that we have winners here at all," he said. "We invented this technology and we should produce it here. The question is whether we are willing to take on this challenge or whether we will simply cede leadership in this vital sector to other nations, and watch as tens of thousands of jobs are created overseas. The administration believes this is a battle we must fight and win."

Silver said one big reason for Solyndra's failure was that China offered its companies far more subsidies, undercutting the whole market.

Democratic lawmakers said they felt misled by Solyndra's executives about the company's rapidly disintegrating financial condition. But they fought the accusation that the White House acted in the interest of George Kaiser, an Obama fundraiser.

California Democrat Henry Waxman questioned Silver, asking if he or his staff had any interaction with Kaiser relating to the Solyndra loan guarantee.

Silver responded: "I was not here at that time, but no, I've had – never h[ad] — never met or spoken to the man and as I understand from my staff, neither have they."

Waxman also noted that attacking green energy programs conveniently plays into the interests of big oil — a large Republican campaign donor.

Republicans came back at the witnesses, saying they missed signs the company was in trouble.

"I have heard not a single person stand up and take any accountability for a single dollar of taxpayer money that's gone," said Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo. "We ask who made decisions, we ask who was responsible, and the two of you stand here and point to other people and take no accountability to the taxpayers in America and in Kansas for having lost half a billion of their dollars."

Solyndra executives are expected to testify before the committee again, as early as next week. [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]

On The Road, Obama Faces Mixed Reaction Over Jobs

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 21:01:00 GMT

For the second time in less than a week, President Obama visited a college campus today, touting his new jobs plan. He told supporters at North Carolina State University that if Congress goes along with his proposal for tax cuts and new government spending, it will help to restore middle-class jobs.

A new CNN poll shows more Americans support the President's jobs plan than oppose it.

But that survey and others also find widespread disappointment with the U.S. economy — and Obama's handling of it.

At an outdoor rally in Ohio this week, cheering supporters quickly took up Obama's call for Congress to "pass this bill."

Just a couple of blocks away, out of earshot of the rally, it was easy to see the toll that the long economic downturn has taken here in Ohio — an important political battleground that Obama won three years ago.

At a job fair sponsored by the regional logistics council, seasoned managers were putting in resumes for entry-level stock jobs. Matt Dawson lost his job as a lab technician two years ago. He's been looking for work ever since.

"We definitely need help," Dawson said. "I was making 16 dollars an hour and I'm considering jobs at 11, 9, 10, 8. And they're tough to come by."

Denise Coffield has been working part-time for minimum wage, since losing her job in a corporate downsizing.

"Something's got to change. I mean the economy's not going to grow if people aren't working and they can't spend money," Coffield said. "I just really hope that something changes soon."

That deep-seated frustration is echoed in national polls, showing that most Americans feel no better off now than they did three years ago. And they doubt that Obama's economic policies are helping.

It's not clear how much the president's new jobs plan will change those numbers. Alex Fischer heads the non-profit Columbus Partnership, which is made up of some of the area's biggest businesses.

"First we have a bit of skepticism," Fischer said. "I mean this is Stimulus Two. You can call it whatever you want to. Is that additional government spend the right strategy?"

Obama's first stimulus effort is widely seen as unsuccessful, even though many economists argue the recession would have been worse without it. Unemployment in Ohio did come down — from a high of 10.6 percent to 8.6 this spring. But with money from the first stimulus mostly gone now, unemployment has begun creeping up again.

Belt-tightening local governments continue to shed workers, here and across the country. That's why the president of the Columbus teachers union, Rhonda Johnson, was cheering Obama's plan to use new federal dollars to help keep teachers on the payroll.

"I know in Cleveland they had a layoff of more than 300 teachers," Johnson said. "As a union president, the hardest thing you have to go through is when your members lose their jobs."

Unions played a big role in electing Obama. But labor support could be tempered next year, with so many union members out of work. When asked how enthusiastic his members are about working for the president's reelection, Mario Ciardelli of the Central Ohio Building Trades Council's members replied, "That's a good question."

"A lot of us were a little disappointed in the recent past that he wasn't able to get things done," Ciardelli said. "And we need to bring jobs back to America. It's eroded our tax base. It's eroded the American Way. The American Dream. People are just losing heart over not having employment."

Ciardelli says the president's newfound push for the jobs act is a major step in boosting support.

Passage of the bill in a divided Congress is anything but certain. Alex Fischer of the Columbus Partnership said he wonders why Washington can't function more like his city, where Democrats and Republicans at least sometimes work together.

"We're able to push out all this partisanship and all the crap that goes on from that standpoint," Fischer said. "And that's a big frustration in Washington. Not pointing fingers at anybody but maybe pointing fingers at everybody."

Polls suggest as doubtful as Americans are about the President's economic policies, they like the Republican alternatives even less. [Copyright 2011 National Public Radio]

Post-Irene Cleanup May Damage Environment

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:26:00 GMT

Scientists are beginning to get a picture of the environmental impact of Tropical Storm Irene, which ripped through some of the East Coast's most pristine rivers, triggering hundreds of oil, chemical and sewage spills.

Now, some environmental groups worry that the cleanup could cause even more harm.

When Irene blasted through the Adirondack Mountains late last month, brooks and streams that are usually docile this time of year jumped their banks.

"The whole forest is falling down. Wow!" a man yelled in a video posted on YouTube.

The video shows Johns Brook in New York carving a new channel through the forest, as trees and rocks go tumbling.

The storm triggered vast landslides that reshaped some of the wildest mountain landscapes in the East, washing away ponds and shifting rivers into new channels.

Joe Martens, head of New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation, said no one's sure yet what all that chaos did to wildlife — including rare strains of brook trout.

"The streams and rivers around the flood-impacted areas have taken a terrific beating," Martens said. "The impacts of the storm were devastating in places."

Swollen rivers also flushed loose a huge amount of human gunk. In Keene, N.Y., Fiona Burns stood right here on the porch of her shop on main street, watching as the Ausable River scooped up septic tanks and other debris.

"This was all a river," Burns said. "Refrigerators floating down, bikes, propane tanks exploded — it was kind of surreal."

Weeks after the storm, riverbanks here are still cluttered with trash, and Martens said cleanup crews are trying to contain loose materials.

"We've responded to a record number of oil spills, well over 1,100. There were places where automobiles went downstream," he said. "Buses, equipment, machinery. We're still out there in places like Binghamton, where tanks that were lodged loose and had to be recovered from streams."

Martens said his scientists are still in crisis mode and haven't begun to sort out what the cumulative impacts of all those spills will be.

In the weeks following the storm, it's also common to see bulldozers and backhoes digging in the middle of these once-pristine rivers.

They're allowed here because Gov. Andrew Cuomo temporarily suspended many of New York's environmental rules, shelving state laws protecting wetlands and scenic rivers.

That move drew praise from local leaders and residents, who said cleanup work has to be done fast, before winter weather sets in.

But some environmental activists and scientists say construction crews like one working on the bank of Styles Brook — just outside of Keene — are working too fast, not taking necessary precautions.

Carol Treadwell is researcher who studies the geology of rivers in the Adirondacks and is head of the Ausable River Association.

"I can understand needing to do triage and put the roads back quickly so we can bring commerce back in. But I think we've gone a little further than that, and it's turned into the Wild, Wild West."

She said contractors are dredging too many streams, transforming wild pools and rapids that are crucial trout habitat into what she describes as "drainage ditches."

"It's very shallow, it has steep sides with a flat bottom and very little habitat for trout," she said.

State officials said they are monitoring projects like the one on Styles Brook, and they don't think cleanup work is doing permanent harm.

"We've come up with some very creative governmental initiatives," Cuomo said. "We want to waive certain [environmental] regulations and permits, which normally eat up some time."

Environmental rules in areas affected by Irene and by Tropical Storm Lee don't go back into effect until the end of this month. [Copyright 2011 North Country Public Radio]

Perry Asked To Halt Texas Man's Execution

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

Treasurer Allegedly Embezzled From Calif. Democrats

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

The Highlights From The Toronto Film Festival

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

How Do U.S. Solar Companies Compare To China's?

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

Latin Jazz Musicians File Class Action Against NARAS

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

Susan G. Komen Founder Discusses Her Book

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT

Warren Announces Run For Brown's Senate Seat

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:00:00 GMT