Friday, November 5, 2010

Stimulus Green Jobs Fail


Back in September of 2009 the Obama administration announced it's first green jobs stimulus loan to the solar energy company Solyndra, Inc. It was supposed to create thousands of jobs across America.
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced its $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, Inc., providing a much needed jolt for the lagging solar power industry. The loan will support the solar energy firm’s production of an industrial-scale manufacturing factory for its ground-breaking circular solar photovoltaic panels. Solyndra, based in Fremont, CA, has designed revolutionary technology in solar photovoltaics with systems designed to provide the lowest installation costs and the highest solar electricity< output. It is expected that the company’s new budget will create thousands of new green jobs all over the United States and will give our economy the stabilization it needs with this clean alternative energy.

One year later, Solyndra, Inc. is closing a plant and cutting jobs.
Solyndra said it will also close an existing factory in the East Bay. That will leave the company with one Fremont factory, a new plant visible from Interstate 880.

The moves mean that instead of having 2,000 workers in Fremont, Solyndra will cap its work force at 1,000, which is about the current level. Solyndra also will, over the next several weeks, eliminate 155 to 175 jobs in Fremont. That includes 135 contract employees and 20 to 40 full-time workers, said David Miller, a Solyndra spokesman.

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