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Tax dollars backing some "risky" energy projects
By Sharyl Attkisson of Fast and FuriousSolar panel maker Solyndra received a $528 million Energy Department loan in 2009 - and went bankrupt last year. The government's risky investment strategy didn't stop there, as a CBS News investigation has uncovered a pattern of cases of the government pouring your tax dollars into clean energy. Take Beacon Power -- a green energy storage company. We were surprised to learn exactly what the Energy Department knew before committing $43 million of your tax dollars. Documents obtained by CBS News show Standard and Poor's had confidentially given the project a dismal outlook of "CCC-plus." Asked whether he'd put his personal money into Beacon, economist Peter Morici replied, "Not on purpose." "It's, it is a junk bond," Morici said. "But it's not even a good junk bond. It's well below investment grade." Was the Energy Department investing tax dollars in something that's not even a good junk bond? Morici says yes. "This level of bond has about a 70 percent chance of failing in the long term," he said. Posted by: Beavis 2012-01-14 |
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