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Chu: Loan not based on politics
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu testifi es on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday before the House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee hearing on the Solyndra solar-company loans.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
An unapologetic Energy Secretary Steven Chu defended a half-billion-dollar federal loan to a solar-panel manufacturer that went belly up, even as he told a House committee Thursday he was unaware of dozens of key details that led to the debacle over Solyndra Inc.
Under hours of hostile questioning from Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Chu declined several opportunities to say he was sorry but acknowledged that in hindsight the deal was “extremely unfortunate” and “regrettable.”
“Certainly knowing what I know now, we’d say ‘no,’” Chu said during a daylong hearing before the energy panel’s subcommittee on investigations. “But you don’t make decisions fast-forwarding two years in the future and then go back. I wish I could do that.”
Chu insisted that politics played no role in his department’s decision to loan Solyndra Inc. $528 million before it went bankrupt and laid off 1,100 workers.
Testifying under oath on a widening controversy, Chu took responsibility for the disastrous 2009 loan but said he was unaware of many details about the loan or financial problems that Solyndra faced — including predictions by Energy Department staff two years ago that the company likely was to face severe cash-flow problems.
Chu repeatedly said he didn’t know until recently of problems with Solyndra or suggestions of political interference on the company’s behalf by the White House or Energy Department officials.
“I am aware of it now,” he said at least five times.
Chu refused to apologize for the loan debacle, calling it “extremely unfortunate” but based on factors beyond his control. He blamed the company’s demise on “totally unexpected” market changes — including an influx of cheap imports from China and the collapse of the European market for solar panels — that led to a steep decline in the price of Solyndra’s product.
Solyndra, of Fremont, Calif., was the first renewable-energy company to receive a loan guarantee under the 2009 stimulus law, and the Obama administration frequently touted it as a model for its clean-energy program. Chu attended a 2009 groundbreaking when the loan was announced, and President Barack Obama visited the company’s headquarters last year.