The past couple of weeks have been filled with bad news concerning President Obama's green-energy policies.
On October 16, A123 Systems -- a manufacturer of lithium batteries for electric cars -- became "the fourth major clean energy company backed by the Obama administration to fail" when it filed for bankruptcy. As the Washington Guardian reports, A123 Systems received "almost $6 million during the end of the Bush administration and then a $250 million grant from the American Recovery and Reconstruction Act after Obama took office." By the time it declared bankruptcy, the company had spent $132 million of the federal grant. If you add that to the $6 million the company received from the Bush administration, that is more than $138 million of taxpayers' money wasted on producing another green product for which there is little demand.
The story of how A123 received federal funding is a familiar one: from 2007-2009, A123 systems spent more than $1 million lobbying members of both political parties in Congress in a successful effort to secure federal funding. Two of the company's top executives "made personal donations to several high-profile Democrats in Congress." Four lawyers from Skadden, Arps, the firm that A123 Systems hired to lobby Congress for funding, "served as fundraising bundlers for Obama's 2008 election."
How many American jobs were "created or saved" by this $132-million grant to A123 Systems? Bloomberg reports that "A123 and its debtor and non-debtor affiliates, collectively, have about 1,763 active employees, located in 10 facilities across the U.S., China and Germany." Johnson Controls, a company based in Milwaukee, "plans to acquire A123's automotive business assets, including its facilities in Livonia and Romulus, Michigan," as well as "A123's cathode powder plant in China and its equity interest in Shanghai Advanced Traction Battery Systems Co., A123's joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp." The company laid off 125 employees from its Michigan plant in November 2011, and presumably more layoffs are on the way.
On October 16, A123 Systems -- a manufacturer of lithium batteries for electric cars -- became "the fourth major clean energy company backed by the Obama administration to fail" when it filed for bankruptcy. As the Washington Guardian reports, A123 Systems received "almost $6 million during the end of the Bush administration and then a $250 million grant from the American Recovery and Reconstruction Act after Obama took office." By the time it declared bankruptcy, the company had spent $132 million of the federal grant. If you add that to the $6 million the company received from the Bush administration, that is more than $138 million of taxpayers' money wasted on producing another green product for which there is little demand.
The story of how A123 received federal funding is a familiar one: from 2007-2009, A123 systems spent more than $1 million lobbying members of both political parties in Congress in a successful effort to secure federal funding. Two of the company's top executives "made personal donations to several high-profile Democrats in Congress." Four lawyers from Skadden, Arps, the firm that A123 Systems hired to lobby Congress for funding, "served as fundraising bundlers for Obama's 2008 election."
How many American jobs were "created or saved" by this $132-million grant to A123 Systems? Bloomberg reports that "A123 and its debtor and non-debtor affiliates, collectively, have about 1,763 active employees, located in 10 facilities across the U.S., China and Germany." Johnson Controls, a company based in Milwaukee, "plans to acquire A123's automotive business assets, including its facilities in Livonia and Romulus, Michigan," as well as "A123's cathode powder plant in China and its equity interest in Shanghai Advanced Traction Battery Systems Co., A123's joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp." The company laid off 125 employees from its Michigan plant in November 2011, and presumably more layoffs are on the way.
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