With the solar energy company Solyndra going belly up, some Republicans have started to question the Energy Department’s entire loan program. Not House Speaker John Boehner (R), who on Friday called for the Obama administration to send some of that federal cash back to a company in his Ohio district.
Boehner’s office wants the Energy Department to approve USEC, Inc.’s application for a loan to construct a uranium enrichment plant for the American Centrifuge Project. They say that USEC’s proposal is solid and would “bring thousands of good-paying, long-term jobs,” which they said stood “in stark contrast to the ‘stimulus’-centric Solyndra saga.”
“Hundreds of Southern Ohio workers stand to lose their jobs if the Obama Administration reneges on the president’s promise to support an energy project in the small town of Piketon, OH,” Boehner aide Michael Ricci wrote in a blog post.
“Since the president made his promise, USEC has endured review after review and taken the necessary steps to conserve cash and protect jobs, but the Department of Energy has yet to act,” Ricci said. “This is despite the fact that the company has gone the extra mile to secure additional private investment to reduce taxpayer exposure. Now the Piketon project is at risk of being shut down, putting hundreds of jobs in limbo.”
“This all comes in the midst of the Solyndra controversy that has raised serious questions about the Obama Administration’s oversight of taxpayer dollars,” Ricci wrote. “In that case, it was the government that seemingly went the extra mile, not the company.
“That’s unfortunate, because in stark contrast to the ‘stimulus’-centric Solyndra saga, the Piketon project offers the chance to bring thousands of good-paying, long-term jobs to an area suffering from the Buckeye State’s highest jobless rate,” Ricci continued.
“The Obama Administration still has time to do the right thing, but not much,” he writes. “Without action soon, USEC announced today, it has no choice but to plan on hundreds of layoffs, suspend contracts, and move to shut down the project. That doesn’t have to happen. All Southern Ohioans are asking is for the president to keep his word.”
Get the day’s best political analysis, news and reporting from the TPM team delivered to your inbox every day with DayBreaker. Sign up here, it takes just a few seconds.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
Facebook Conversations
Questions about commenting with non-Facebook accounts like Yahoo, or other concerns? Click here to read the TPM Commenting FAQ.