Solyndra CEO Brian Harrison and CFO Bill Stover postpone testimony to House Energy and Commerce Committee.
In a denunciation of the "phony solyndra solar scandal," Campaign for America's Future Dave Johnson says move along because Republicans do it too and the sum [allegedly] misappropriated amounts to only 1.3 percent of the Department of Energy's portfolio.
At the WashPost, M. Brad Plumer lists five myths about Solyndra, at least two and a half of which appear to be not myths but theories supported by available evidence:
1) This scandal is no big deal. 2) Solyndra proves that energy loan guarantees are a flop 3) The government should leave energy R&D to the private sector. 4) Solar is a doomed industry. 5) It's all China's fault.
Yahoo! News contributor Mark Whittington claims (with attribution to "some") that the scandal is now called "Solargate." Commenter ¢ tracks the growth of "Solyndragate" and provides excellent improv on what the name Solyndra conjures in his/her mind.
Reuters gets a few sentences of chin-stroking on the green-subsidy issue from the CEO of a Palo Alto e-automobile company which has already received generous support from the government of Israel and as of April was promising to construct an e-filling station in the holy land this year:
Shai Agassi, chief executive of Silicon Valley-based Better Place, believes the bankruptcy raised the bar for politicians wanting to throw support behind any new clean-tech ventures. "They need to be not just a no-brainer, they need to be where not doing it is risky," Agassi told reporters in San Francisco after addressing energy and transport ministers at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
Watchmen fans, wasn't the electric filling station the source of supervillain Adrian Veidt's politically correct fortune? Just asking…
Though I'll fight like hell to avoid the suffix "–gate," there is one facet in which Solyndra is following a familiar pattern: Much of the scandal's protein is clustered in the post-facto efforts to hush it up. Last week ABC News reported that Obama Administration officials had been sitting in on Solyndra board meetings prior to the bankruptcy admission. That dog has not barked again, but it also hasn't been put to sleep.
Ron Bailey highlights news I buried overnight: The House has dug up emails from Obama Administration officials urging bureaucrats to jump the gun in order to help Solyndra win the race to the future.
The Atlantic's John Hudson rounds up pro-administration reactions, which run the gamut from blaming President Bush to blaming China.
C-SPAN 3 triples your pleasure with live coverage of the House hearings. If I have any followups I'll try and confine them to the comments thread.
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