Trump Can’t Kill Solyndra Loan Program That Outperforms Banks
by
Brian Eckhouse and Eric Roston
November 28, 2016 — 6:27 PM EST Updated on November 29, 2016 — 12:01 AM EST
The federal energy program that’s best-known for a failed loan to solar manufacturer Solyndra LLC is generating billions for the government, and probably won’t be going anywhere under Donald Trump.
The incoming president can’t unilaterally kill the U.S. Energy Department’s loan programs office. Only Congress can do that, and it would require new legislation. And that’s doubtful, according to the program’s executive director and his two most recent predecessors, all appointees of President Barack Obama.
Not only has the program’s loan portfolio generated about $1.65 billion in interest payments to date, its mission to support major energy projects fits into Trump’s goal of stimulating investment in the U.S., said Jonathan Silver, a former head of the loan programs office.
“The President-elect was talking directly about significant investments in infrastructure,” Silver said in an interview Monday at Bloomberg headquarters in New York. The program is intended to support not just clean-energy projects, but also industries Trump championed during the campaign, including coal and advanced fossil fuels. “This is infrastructure. It doesn’t get any more infrastructure-ish than this.”
more:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-can-t-kill-solyndra-loan-program-that-outperforms-banks
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