E2-Wire

OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Republicans set to hear from Treasury on Solyndra

by Andrew Restuccia and Ben Geman - 10/13/11 10:31 PM ET

GOP lawmakers argue that the restructuring agreement was illegal because it ensured that investors who provided additional funding to Solyndra would be repaid before the federal government if the company defaulted. They also say that the Energy Department may have violated requirements to consult with Treasury on the restructuring.

Solyndra declared bankruptcy in early September after laying off 1,100 workers and halting its solar panel manufacturing operations. Republicans have pounced on the bankruptcy, alleging that the Obama administration approved the Solyndra loan guarantee for political reasons and bashing the White House’s “green jobs” agenda.

{mosads}The administration, for its part, has strongly denied any wrongdoing, arguing that there was always some risk associated with the loan guarantee program. Clean-energy investments, administration officials say, are essential for competing with countries like China, which has put billions into low-carbon energy technology.

Treasury official who questioned restructuring will testify: The following Treasury Department officials will testify at Friday’s hearing: Gary Burner, the chief financial officer for Treasury’s Federal Financing Bank, which provided the loan that the Energy Department was backing up; and Gary Grippo, Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for fiscal operations and policy.

Burner raised questions about the Energy Department’s plan to restructure the loan. Internal emails show that Burner told officials with DOE’s loan programs office in February that they might need approval from the Justice Department before approving the restructuring of the Solyndra loan guarantee.

A separate Treasury official, Assistant Secretary for Financial Markets Mary J. Miller, wrote to a White House Office of Management and Budget official in August of this year stating that Treasury believed the “subordination” of the taxpayer interest in the restructuring agreement was illegal.

Miller also complains in the August email that DOE hadn’t been sharing information with Treasury on Solyndra’s finances and the loan restructuring. Republicans say that is a violation of the 2005 energy law that created the energy loan guarantee program.

The Energy Department rejects Republican allegations that the restructuring agreement was illegal, arguing that the lawmakers are misreading the statute that established the loan guarantee program.

Energy Department spokesman Damien LaVera told The Hill recently that DOE attorneys reviewed the restructuring agreement and determined it was legal.

Republicans rejected Dems’ request for DOE witness: You won’t hear from the Energy Department at Friday’s hearing, much to the chagrin of Democrats on the panel.

Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.), the top Democrat on the full committee, and Rep. Diana DeGette (Colo.), the top Democrat on the investigative panel, pressed Republicans Wednesday to invite Energy Department officials to the hearing to explain their perspective on the restructuring.

But Republicans rejected the request, noting that they plan to hear from the Energy Department at a separate hearing.

NEWS BITES

Perry seeks to energize floundering campaign…: White House hopeful Rick Perry will try and regain momentum for his troubled campaign Friday with an energy-themed speech at a Pennsylvania steel mill.

The GOP Texas governor previewed the speech at Tuesday night’s debate, calling energy a key part of his economic platform, and with an op-ed earlier Tuesday.

He’s calling for a major expansion of U.S. oil-and-gas drilling by opening areas including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Atlantic coast.

“Clearly opening up a lot of the areas of our domestic energy … that is a the real key. You have got an administration that by and large has either by intimidation or over-regulation put our energy industry and the rest of the economy in jeopardy,” Perry said at the debate in New Hampshire.

…but liberal critics attack drilling focus: Daniel J. Weiss of the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund took aim at Perry’s upcoming speech in a blog post Thursday evening. He writes:

The Perry Pro-Petroleum Plan would focus almost exclusively on producing more domestic oil and gas, including some from places that Americans deem worth protecting for future generations. But his plan ignores investments in our growing clean tech sector that not only create more jobs, but also help grow the economy with more innovation, manufacturing, and other activities.

Supercommittee flooded with ideas: If the deficit-reduction “supercommittee” decides to wade into energy policy, they’ll have plenty of ideas to choose from.

Yesterday evening we wrote about a few of the GOP and Democratic submissions to the bipartisan, bicameral group that’s seeking at least $1.2 trillion in deficit-reduction measures. House Democratic committee ranking members released all of their submissions to the congressional supercommittee Thursday. They can all be found here, and The Hill’s Mike Lillis has more on the Democrats’ ideas here.

They include a call by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ranking member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to nix billions of dollars in oil industry tax breaks.

“The Joint Select Committee should eliminate oil and gas industry tax preferences that are costly to American taxpayers and unnecessary given the industry’s record profits,” he writes in a submission to the panel.

House Appropriations Committee ranking member Norm Dicks (D-Wash.) warns the supercommittee not to deadlock, which would trigger across-the-board cuts. He warns in his submission that this “sequestration” would mean automatic cuts to offshore drilling safety oversight, noting this would have a “significant impact” on oil production, safety and environmental protection.

Whitehouse defends climate science, knocks ‘peculiar’ Washington resistance: Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) took to the Senate floor Thursday to lament congressional inaction on climate change, noting climate science is solid but that Washington is a place where the “dark hand of the polluters can tap so many shoulders.”

{mossecondads}“There is power and money behind that dark hand and therefore a lot of attention paid to that little tap on the shoulder,” he said. His speech can be viewed here.

Here’s a little more:

It has become no longer politically correct in certain circles in Washington to speak about climate change, or carbon pollution, or how carbon pollution is causing our climate to change. This is a peculiar condition of Washington. If you go out into our, say, military and intelligence communities, they understand and are planning for the effects of our carbon pollution on climate change. They see it as a national security risk. If you go out into our, at least, nonpolluting business and financial community they see this as a real and important problem and of course it goes without saying that our scientific community is all over this concern.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s quick roundup of Thursday’s E2 stories:

— GOP rejects Dems’ call for Energy Department witness at Solyndra hearing
— Embattled Solyndra CEO resigns
— Hastings alleges political timing behind Interior’s oil spill citations
— Interior rebuffs call to bar BP from lease sale
— Al Gore backs Occupy Wall Street protests
— BP won’t address oil spill report findings at committee hearing
— Justice Dept. sues Transocean to force cooperation in Gulf rig blast probe