"Biden’s Lesson From Past Green Stimulus Failures: Go Even Bigger"

"As vice president, Joe Biden oversaw a “green jobs” stimulus package that produced notable failures. This time, with more money and more demand for clean technology, will be different, Democrats say."

"WASHINGTON — In September 2009, then-Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to a defunct General Motors plant near his hometown, Wilmington, Del., to announce a $528.7 million government loan for Fisker Automotive to make hybrid and electric vehicles.

The funding for Fisker, a small luxury automaker, came out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion economic stimulus plan secured by President Barack Obama to lift the nation out of the Great Recession, in part by creating “green jobs” with $90 billion for wind and solar energy, a “smart” power grid, weatherized homes and the electric vehicle industry.

Fisker went bankrupt in 2013 before the Wilmington factory produced a single car. Mr. Biden also personally announced a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, a California solar panel company that then went bankrupt, leaving taxpayers on the hook. An advanced battery maker called A123 Systems, which Mr. Obama extolled as part of a vanguard of a new American electric car industry, received a $249 million stimulus grant, then filed for bankruptcy in 2012, the vanguard that wasn’t."

Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times March 29, 2021.

SEE ALSO:

"Democrats Prepare To Push Biden For A $10 Trillion, Decade-Long Green Infrastructure Plan" (HuffPost)

"Coal Country Races to Shield Itself From Biden’s Climate Plan" (Bloomberg Green)

"Democrats Look to Smooth the Way for Biden’s Infrastructure Plan" (New York Times)

"Biden Wants Infrastructure Package Approved Over Summer" (AP)

"Biden To Lay Out First Piece Of Sweeping Infrastructure And Jobs Package Wednesday" (CNN)

"Biden To Propose Two-Pronged Infrastructure Package" (CBS News)

Source: NYTimes, 03/30/2021