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  1. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    09-21-2011, 10:36 AM #11
    Solyndra bankruptcy an embarrassment to Obama

    The collapse of Solyndra, a California-based solar-panel company, has cost taxpayers $535 million in federally guaranteed loans and exposed the Obama administration to legitimate criticism of how it handled the project.

    In a nutshell, the White House seems to have been so enthralled by the prospect of clean-energy jobs, as well as by a desire for a politically useful success story, that it ignored warnings that Solyndra might be a bad investment. In addition, FBI and congressional investigators are looking into more serious allegations, including claims that Solyndra executives lied to federal officials about the company’s prospects and that political favoritism may have played a role.

    If you read the rest it is quite interesting: http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blo...ment-to-obama/

  2. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    09-21-2011, 10:48 AM #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Havakasha View Post
    Siriusly Angry. No one said its all Bush's fault. No one should say its all Obama's fault. No would should take the Solyndra situation out of context and exaggerate it to make cheap political points. Do you understand what that means?

    Glad to hear the account you deal with will survive. Didnt know that fact. Thanks very much.

    P.S. Is Obama the first President you have called for the Impeachment of? That was a pretty crazy
    comment.

    You used the word IDEOLOGY above. Did you forget your railing against that word, or are just
    forgetful. Jesus. I just cant keep up with all your contradictions and hypocrisy.
    The real hypocrite is the one who crys to "tax the rich" yet hires a tax account to avoid taxation. The real hypocrite is the one who crys to tax the rich, yet does not contribute additional money over and above the minimum amount to tax dollars you tax account figured out for you. And you are "rich".

    Comment on anything remotely contrary to any of these tenets, and you're labelled a "tea bagger", "ideologue", "idiot"

    Pro choice
    Pro public schools
    Pro union
    Pro government intervention into the economy (Keynesian)
    Anti religion
    Anti corporation
    Anti free market......

    These are your political positions. They define you. You label yourself a proud liberal democrat.

    Who is the ideologue? It works both ways pal.

    http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/war.../ideologue.htm

    Not that you would click on the link supplied, so here's what it says.

    "The most common variants of Ideologue are conservative and liberal. Smug and self satisfied in their certitudes, Ideologue's opinions are merely a loose collection of intellectual conceits, and e is genuinely astonished, bewildered and and indignant that his views are not universally embraced as the Truth. He regards the opposing point of view as a form of cognitive dissonance whose only cure is relentless propagandizing (LMFAO) and browbeating. The conservative iteration of Ideologue parades himself as a logical, clear thinker, while the liberal version trumpets his higher level of mental, spiritual and social awareness. Troglodyte is the natural ally of conservative Ideologue, and for liberal Ideologue it is Weenie. Ideologue is a fierce, but very predictable Warrior.."

    You are SUCH a warrior lmfao.
    Last edited by SiriuslyLong; 09-21-2011 at 10:53 AM.

  3. Havakasha is offline
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    09-21-2011, 11:36 AM #13
    I hear you are considering hiring an accountant now. So i quess that makes you a hypocrite.
    You assume one hires an accountant to "avoid taxation". I hire mine to do my math, and follow the rules. You are obviously of the mindset that "avoiding taxation" is your main goal. The hypocrites are the rich who pretend a little more taxes would seriously impact them. The people I admire who put their money where there mouths are, are those who say Iknow i can afford to pay more than i do and its my patriotic responsibility to help out my country in a time of need.

    "you are rich". You know zero about my money. But thank you for intuitively understanding how hard I work at my craft and how well rewarded I am for it. You should work as hard as i do and maybe one day you will be as "rich" as me. lol

    Why do you always seem to come off as angry, smug and so arrogant? Much like your economic mentor Peter schiff, who claims he has never made a mistaken prediction, you ignore reality and blindly avoid acknowledging facts. Its actually quite frightening. Never met someone like you outside of John. Are you guys brothers?

    Im not anti free market. Im very much for a TRUE free market. You seem not to see that we have a market presently that is very much tilted in favor of a relatively few connected people and companies. The system is out of wack. Dont you know that we had a catastrophic finanical meltdown largely for this reason.

    You are the true ideologue you rail against. Ironic isnt it.


    GREEN TECH | 9/20/2011 @ 11:03PM |963 views
    Beyond Solyndra: Five Reasons Solar Is Still a Good Bet

    Read and educate yourself S&L because you clearly seem to have caught some ideological fever.

    "Yes, Solyndra, the first recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program, not to mention billions in venture capital funds, has gone bankrupt. The company is being used by Republicans as a prime example of the failure of Obama’s stimulus package, and by Democrats as … well the Democrats haven’t quite figured out what to do with the story yet.

    But here’s the thing: Whether or not Solyndra was a good investment, whether you think the government should be making bets on any particular technology or company, whether Solyndra is, as one blogger recently opined, ”collateral damage in a trade war with China,”and whether or not there was some sort of political back-scratching involved, solar remains a good investment. That might sound ridiculous given the fact that Solyndra isn’t the first U.S. solar company to go under this year, by a longshot. But when you look at the reasons behind all those bankruptcies, what you see is not an industry in trouble but a market that is maturing.

    Despite the tendency to want to simplify it, the solar industry is complicated. It’s a global energy industry influenced by a host of market forces, including everything from the availability of supplies to technological innovation to policy in vastly different countries. Amongst all that, right now there are five very straightforward reasons the solar market is behaving the way it is; they happen to also be reasons solar is still a good investment, bankruptcies and downgraded earnings notwithstanding.

    1. The Price of Polysilicon Has Dropped 89 Percent Since 2008 A few years ago polysilicon was scarce and the price of the stuff was sky-high. That prompted a lot of the excitement around thin-film technologies like Solyndra’s, which had lower materials costs. Then polysilicon started to fall faster than anyone predicted and all of a sudden photovoltaics have the price advantage. The price of polysilicon is continuing to fall, so much so that some solar players are saying PV is already at grid parity. “What’s happening is solar is basically at grid parity, but it’s sort of a staggering thing. We all thought it would happen further off in the future,” says Dan Shugar, CEO of Solaria and founder of PowerLight.

    2. European Feed-In Tariffs Are Changing Feed-in tariffs–artificially high rates paid by the government for renewable energy in an effort to speed installations and bring costs down more quickly–made Spain, Germany, Italy, France and the United Kingdom attractive markets for U.S. solar companies over the past decade. Those tariffs are set to expire as installations increase, but that doesn’t always happen in a predictable way. Spain unintentionally flooded its market, causing a boom and bust cycle. France, Italy and the United Kingdom have slashed feed-in tariffs, catching some solar companies off-guard. Germany has reduced its tariff more gradually, but there are still those who miscalculated it. While all of this has had some companies scrambling for new markets, those (like First Solar) that can claim to manufacture products in the European Union still qualify for high feed-in tariffs. Others saw the writing on the wall and began looking early for new markets, a move that is paying off now.

    3. India’s Solar Market Is Heating Up The Indian government has a preference for local manufacturers, but the country’s high temperatures necessitate the use of different materials. Companies able to provide those materials, partner well with local Indian companies or sort out the country’s complicated financing hurdles are finding a booming market there. Colorado-based Abound Solar produces Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) panels that can withstand incredibly hot temperatures; the company has shifted its focus from Europe to India, where that virtue is incredibly desirable. “The only problem in India is that they can’t get enough CdTe panels,” says Julian Hawking, a spokesman for the company.

    4. Enterprise and Utility-Scale Solar Suddenly Make Sense With the price of PV panels low and companies competing to keep it that way, utilities are seizing the opportunity to move forward with large-scale projects they’ve mostly just paid lip service to previously. “Just to give you an idea of scale, there’s about .3 gigawatts of PV operating in California right now. There’s 8.6 gigawatts contracted for from PPAs and over 10 gigawatts announced,” Shugar explains. “A lot of those contracts are at what’s called the market price reference – basically the price of new natural gas, determined by the California Energy Commission. Utilities would only sign on to these contracts at those levels. So a lot of folks signed up for these, but at the price that existed when they did so, it was kind of a joke. Well now those projects are actually possible at these new prices, and they can get financed.”

    Meanwhile, on the enterprise side, low PV prices are not only encouraging companies to buy their own systems (rather than purchase solar through a Power Purchase Agreement, wherein the system is owned by the provider), but also jump starting projects that had been sidelined. “The low prices mean that our solar initiatives are pencilling out much better now,” says Joseph Roth, Director of Public Affairs for IKEA.

    A recent report from ABI Research predicts that the United States will be the largest market for photovoltaics by 2013, thanks mostly to these large installations. Given that the majority of U.S. solar panels are currently shipped overseas, that prediction is a pretty big deal.

    In fact, all signs point to a boom in utility-scale solar. Completely separate from the market fluctuations of photovoltaic panels, Abengoa’s Concentrating Solar Plant (CSP) in California’s Mojave Desert quietly received a $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy this week. It will no doubt be watched closely thanks to the Solyndra debacle, but that probably lends itself more to the project’s success than anything else.

    5. Now that Modules Are Cheap, the Industry Is Targeting Other Improvements With PV modules cheap, the solar industry is looking to reduce balance-of-system costs (essentially the cost of everything but the module). A recent Greentech Media report predicted that these costs would outstrip module costs as early as 2012, but the industry appears to be attacking this issue from all sides with companies, National Renewable Energy Lab researchers and nonprofits like the Rocky Mountain Institute all working on the issue. Meanwhile, the dearth of capable installers and consultants that long plagued the industry shows signs of being over. Installer jobs are increasing and customers are starting to notice a greater level of knowledge and skill. “There are more solar providers and installers out there and they’ve been out there for longer, so that makes for a more competitive marketplace and it has also created a deeper expertise among those who are out there,” IKEA’s Roth says. “As solar purchasers, we feel like we have a really good pool to choose from when selecting a provider.”
    Last edited by Havakasha; 09-21-2011 at 08:28 PM.

  4. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    09-21-2011, 12:17 PM #14
    Supercommittee's Cuts Could Target Popular Federal Solar Programs

    A total of $1.2 trillion in spending cuts looms as the U.S. Congress' Joint Select Committee (JSC) begins work on trimming the U.S. budget. For the renewable energy sector, the most important message right now is that during the JSC negotiation process, no department, program or incentive is considered safe from the axe.

    "JSC has been given wide authority to craft a package of spending reductions," said Ben McMakin, a partner at law firm Van Ness Feldman, during a recent webinar sponsored by the firm. "We'll see proposals across the gamut as this process unfolds."

    Under the JSC's operational rules, all spending cuts (or tax increases) to be counted toward the required $1.2 trillion in budget savings must be approved by a bipartisan majority.

    The 12-member committee, led by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, is working under an extraordinarily tight deadline - by Washington standards. The Congressional Budget Office must review and score a completed proposal from the JSC by Nov. 23, and Congress will vote by Dec. 23. The finalized plan determines federal spending through fiscal 2021.

    But if the JSC fails to produce an agreed-upon plan in time, sequestration will force across-the-board spending cuts, McMakin explained, adding that the threat of sequestration is designed to intensify the pressure on JSC members during their discussion period.

    (During an informal poll of webinar participants, a full 68% of respondents expressed little faith in the committee and did not expect the JSC to meet its deadline.)

    Whether through a JSC decision or sequestration, several key renewable energy funding programs and incentives - as well as the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) renewable energy research initiatives - could fall victim to cuts.

    "At this point in the process, it's really not possible to identify what the outlook is for individual departments and programs," McMakin stressed.

    Nevertheless, based on Congress' previous budget wars and prevailing sentiment toward certain programs, some elements of the budget that support renewable energy have emerged as more vulnerable than others.

    "There are several energy-related tax provisions that could be targeted in order to raise additional revenue," warned Michael Platner, senior tax counsel at Van Ness Feldman. "If the committee begins to look at tax reform more broadly, they could look at all [provisions] that are considered tax expenditures."

    These provisions - many of which expire at the end of this year - include the U.S. Department of the Treasury's popular Section 1603 cash-grant program.

    According to Platner, this program has a "fairly slim" chance of being extended. Because it was enacted in 2009 as part of the controversial American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, many Republicans have historically railed against it.

    Moreover, he added, extending any tax provision of this type would result in lost revenue on the budget side - which directly opposes the very goal of the JSC.

    The investment tax credit and production tax credit may have a better chance of long-term survival, but their extension still faces an uphill battle.

    "As we're looking at all energy incentives in this mode of trying to reduce deficit and cut spending, it's going to be really difficult to extend any energy incentives," McMakin noted.

    Clues as to how funding for the DOE may fare as the JSC does its work can be found in past budget studies and plans from Congress and the Obama administration. McMakin pointed out that the president requested an increase in overall DOE funding (to approximately $31 billion) for fiscal 2012, for instance, but both the House and the Senate passed recommendations calling for decreases to approximately $25 billion.

    As a general rule, these historical discrepancies, coupled with the current political climate, suggest reduced - or, at best, flat - funding levels for the DOE in the future, McMakin said.

    Although some cuts may be inevitable, lobbying efforts from various industries have kicked into high gear, and for the renewable energy sector, now is the time to jump into the fray.

    "Education and engagement will be required to protect and promote your interests," said Lisa Epifani, a member at Van Ness Feldman. In particular, she recommended that renewable energy companies and their political-action partners be ready to demonstrate exactly how their sector's incentives lead to job growth - the top-of-mind concern for most policymakers right now.

    The preferred advocacy pathways for reaching the crucial JSC decision-makers remain unclear. Other committees may send markups to the JSC, and the JSC may bounce ideas off committees for reaction. "Some might not provide formal recommendations, because that might negotiate against their own interests," Epifani pointed out.

    In any case, she suggested that renewable energy firms and organizations stay engaged with their political allies and consider both traditional and creative means of lobbying. Unconventional alliances, for instance, may prove to be compelling to the JSC.

    http://www.solarindustrymag.com/e107...p?content.8739

    I work in this industry. You read about it lol.

  5. Havakasha is offline
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    09-21-2011, 03:14 PM #15
    Sounds like you are rooting for the industry to die. lol
    Have you ever posted a POSITIVE article on the industry? PRETTY ODD for some who
    "works in the industry". Actually pretty bizarre.

    I studied (took workshops and classes) and worked in the solar field (installed solar hot water systems) in my 20's (before you even knew what it was. lol)
    I have watched it for a long time. Its still a growing industry as I have factually pointed out.

    I noticed you werent able to COMMENT on the article i provided that discusses the "five reasons that solar is still a good bet". Typical S&L.

  6. SiriuslyLong is offline
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    09-21-2011, 03:22 PM #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Havakasha View Post
    Sounds like you are rooting for the industry to die. lol
    Have you ever posted a POSITIVE article on the industry? PRETTY ODD for some who
    "works in the industry". Actually pretty bizarre.

    I studied (took workshops and classes) and worked in the solar field (installed solar hot water systems) in my 20's (before you even knew what it was. lol)
    I have watched it for a long time. Its still a growing industry as I have factually pointed out.

    I noticed you werent able to COMMENT on the article i provided that discusses the "five reasons that solar is still a good bet". Typical S&L.
    I'm skeptical. Is that allowable in your liberal democrat dogma?

    Why do you always demand a comment? Are you seeking some sort of validation? I hope it does continue to be strong. I'm actually in the process of planning 2012 solar sales, and certainly hope it is stronger than what I plan for lol.

  7. Havakasha is offline
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    09-21-2011, 05:44 PM #17
    I repeat. "Have you ever posted a POSITIVE article on the industry".

    You cant answer because you know the answer is NO. You are completely transparent
    but have no idea. What a combination.

    Is it allowable to answer a question in your right wing Republican Dogma? (2 can play this silly game.)

    Skeptical is always allowed. But tearing the alternative energy industry down constantly with no counter arguments is not.
    And saying that the "solar industry has not collapsed YET" tends to indicate that you think it will.

    I dont need validation. Are you a narcissist?
    All I am trying to do is get you on the record. Something you seem afraid of here.
    Its been hard enough getting you to admit something completely proven and obvious, and that is that Peter Schiff has made multiple mistaken predictions.
    Last edited by Havakasha; 09-21-2011 at 08:35 PM.

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