The Wall Street Journal reviews the rise and fall of Evergeen Energy:
In 2008, Reuters published one of those stories predicting that green power would be cost-competitive with fossil fuels in five years. Headline: "As Energy Costs Soar, U.S. Looks to Solar." Among the prophets was Richard Feldt, then the CEO of Evergreen Solar, who said that "it's not far away" and called for more subsidies. On Monday, Evergreen filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
This is just the kind of "green energy" that the Obama administration is touting as the source of millions of new jobs. So far, this fiasco has created 800 laid off workers in Massachusetts and Michigan. It's moved to China where the Chinese government is still willing to throw money away on unreliable technology; the Chinese can't vote on how their money is being wasted and corruption is the flavor of the day.
Funny story on Chinese corruption. A friend and his wife on a visit to China came upon a weathered, crumbling building that appeared to be hundreds (if not a thousand) years old. They went closer to examine this ancient landmark only to find a plaque announcing that it had been built with UN funds two years previously. Entire cities have been built in China and nobody lives in them. His comment was that of all the countries he has visited, China was the most corrupt. He was very concerned about what he viewed as the collapse of the "Chinese bubble."
Comment:
Keep an eye out for ZBB Energies, a Wisconsin battery company that Obama visited last year to tout as a leader in the new green economy. Last year they lost $9 million on $1 million of sales, and their top 2 executives each made half a million in salary.
I have noticed that the executives of these companies make a VERY pretty penny even as they burn through taxpayer subsidies all the way to bankruptcy.
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