White House targets lawmaker for criticizing solar energy loans

The White House blasted Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), a top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Tuesday for saying that the United States “can’t compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines.”

“Chairman Stearns and other members of his party in Congress believe that America cannot, or should not, try to compete for jobs in a cutting edge and rapidly growing industry,” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer wrote in a blog post.

“We simply disagree: the answer to this challenge is not to wave the white flag and give up on American workers. America has never declared defeat after a single setback – and we shouldn’t start now.”

{mosads}Pfeiffer dismissed Stearns’ remarks as “counterproductive defeatism.”

Tuesday’s blog post is part of an aggressive campaign by the White House to defend its clean energy policies in the aftermath of the September bankruptcy of Solyndra, a California solar company that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the Obama administration in 2009.

Republicans are pummeling the White House over the bankruptcy, raising questions about the viability of the administration’s “green jobs” agenda and alleging that the Energy Department missed red flags that hinted at Solyndra’s financial troubles.

In an interview with National Public Radio Tuesday, Stearns – the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative panel – said the United States “can’t compete with China to make solar panels and wind turbines,” and that the government should no longer subsidize green-energy programs.

“I think the administration is putting taxpayers’ money at risk in areas that are not creating jobs,” he said.

In the Capitol Tuesday afternoon, Stearns expanded on his remarks, arguing that NPR glossed over the nuance of his statement.

“I said, as it’s structured now, we can’t compete with China because they have low wages, access to materials and they have no environmental conditions,” Stearns said.

“The only way we can compete is to bring the technological advantage we’ve got in the computer industry and the aerospace industry and to manufacture our products with that [information technology] advantage, otherwise we can’t compete. So, they left that whole quote out.”

Stearns said he supports loan guarantees, but raised questions about investing in solar manufacturing. Solar generation, for example, offers better opportunities, he said.

“I think loan guarantees, when national security is involved and when we have a technological advantage, are completely appropriate,” he said.

Stearns said President Obama’s green jobs agenda is fundamentally flawed.

“The basic flaw is that [President Obama] thinks he’s going to create a thriving economy by manufacturing solar panels and I think he’s mistaken,” he said.