Energy Department Gives $259 Million ‘Green’ Conditional Loan to Politically Connected Corporation

The Department of Energy’s disastrous loan program lost taxpayers at least $780 million as companies like Solyndra, Fisker Automotive, and Abound Solar crashed and burned. But as I write today, after a four-year hiatus, the Energy Department has announced a new fuel-efficient-vehicle loan — a $259 million conditional award to Alcoa.  It’s a pretty sweet deal: The Energy Department touts on its website how this loan program “offers attractive financing for U.S. auto industry,” including no application fees, a closing fee of just 0.1 percent, and interest rates estimated at no more than 4 percent.

Read more at National Review Read More......

Your green energy failure of the day: VPG of Michigan

Another one of the Energy Department’s taxpayer-financed “investments” just went belly-up.  This one died very quietly, without making a formal announcement, but USA Today noticed:

A Michigan maker of vans for the disabled that received a $50-million Energy Department loan has quietly ceased operation and laid off its staff.
Vehicle Production Group, or VPG, stopped operations after finances dipped below the minimum threshold required by the government as a condition of the loan, says its former CEO, John Walsh. Though about 100 staff were laid off and its offices shuttered, it has not filed for bankruptcy reorganization.

Read more at Human Events

(Hat tip: KimR) Read More......