Solyndra's cylindrical saga

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Oct 14, 2022 View in browser   By Debra Kahn Presented by JBS USA THE WEEK THAT WAS Then-Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks in front of the shuttered the Solyndra factory in 2012. | Justin Sullivan/Getty Images A DUSTY PLAYBOOK — There are billions of dollars of federal funding about to go to renewable energy projects, so Republicans are getting ready to resurrect an old bogeyman. It's Solyndra, the California solar company that famously went bankrupt after receiving $535 million in loan guarantees from the 2009 stimulus bill. The GOP is already dusting off its Solyndra playbook in preparing for the implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act and last year's bipartisan infrastructure law, as Robin Bravender and Timothy Cama report for POLITICO's E&E News. Republicans on the Energy and Commerce Committee this week asked the Department of Energy for documents about its loan office. "It's Solyndra on steroids," Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), the panel's ranking member, said in September of the $250 billion in the new climate law for DOE's loan guarantee program. They're certain to amplify that strategy if they win control of the Senate, House or both chambers in next month's midterm elections, which would give them more power to demand documents and schedule hearings. Counterpoint: Solyndra was a failure, but it was an outlier. The fact that Republicans can only point to one significant failure from the 2009 package actually means DOE should have been making more bad bets, because the program's purpose was to support projects that were too risky for private investors. "I'm sure conservatives will bogeyman it, but the facts are not really on their side," said Ethan Elkind, who leads the Climate Change and Business Research Initiative at the University of California Berkeley and UCLA schools of law. If Republicans are looking for a punching bag, they might want to read Ralph Vartabedian's NYT takedown of another stimulus recipient: California's high-speed rail project, which he says has such an uneconomic, gerrymandered route that it might never be finished. "Now, as the nation embarks on a historic, $1 trillion infrastructure building spree, the tortured effort to build the country's first high-speed rail system is a case study in how ambitious public works projects can become perilously encumbered by political compromise, unrealistic cost estimates, flawed engineering and a determination to persist on projects that have become, like the crippled financial institutions of 2008, too big to fail," he wrote.   A message from JBS USA: What food producers bring to the table should sustain families—and our planet—for generations. That's why, at JBS, we are investing heavily in achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. By prioritizing sustainable food production today, we're able to help ensure a thriving food system for all. Learn More   BUILDING BLOCKS WHERE'S THE BEEF — The beef industry has a bone to pick with Google. The National Cattlemen's Beef Association is denouncing a planned Google feature that would automatically display the emission intensity of certain ingredients when its users search for recipes, Corbin Hiar reports for POLITICO's E&E News. The trade group argues such emission metrics don't fully capture the environmental benefits of beef. "Cattle production protects green space, upcycles grass and forages, and provides consumers with a lean protein source packed with essential nutrients," Don Schiefelbein, the association's president, said in a press release Tuesday. "Google should seriously reconsider this feature." Google didn't respond, but sustainable agriculture experts say the association's complaints are a bunch of bull. "They're a huge lobby group that is paid by their members to support beef, no matter what the truth is," said Danielle Nierenberg, the president of the sustainable agriculture advocacy group Food Tank.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     SUSTAINABLE FINANCE MALPASS CLEANS UP — World Bank President David Malpass made some inroads toward repairing his tattered image at the World Bank/IMF meetings this week in Washington. He announced the bank is planning to create a trust fund for emissions reduction activities, to be launched at next month's U.N. climate conference in Egypt. On Thursday, when a Fox Business reporter asked whether he thought the war in Ukraine necessitated more U.S. fossil fuel production, he didn't take the bait. "When faced with inflation and high energy prices, the world needs to think in terms of cleaner fuels and transition fuels," he said. "Less carbon-intensive fuels as the solution and the direction for the world." WORKPLACE This might be one of the last times Kevin de León's environmental record is mentioned in a photo caption. | Reed Saxon/AP Photo E ISN'T ENOUGH — An environmental champion toppled this week over social and governance issues. Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León (D), a former president of the California Senate, appears to be political toast after having been caught on tape by the Los Angeles Times making racist remarks in a meeting with two other councilmembers and a labor union leader. He was seen as a rising star and was one of the leaders of a generation of Latino lawmakers who brought environmental justice issues to the forefront of state and national politics. As president of the state Senate in 2018, he authored California's nation-leading law requiring utilities to get all of their electricity from zero-carbon resources by 2045. It's not clear whether de León's political career is over, although President Joe Biden called for all three members involved to resign (City Council President Nury Martinez, who said the most and worst on the recording, stepped down Wednesday). Former allies say he's done. "I don't see any kind of redemption arc for him," said R.L. Miller , a Democratic National Committee member and founder of the group Climate Hawks Vote who endorsed him when he challenged Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in 2018. "I don't see where he goes from here, politically, which is a darn shame because I think he had some real political talent."   A message from JBS USA:   WASHINGTON WATCH MINING REFORM — Some cryptocurrency mining is getting cleaner, but Democrats still have Bitcoin in their sights. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and six other Democrats asked Texas' grid operator this week for data on the power used by crypto mining operations, which have flocked to Texas for its low energy costs. They're concerned about carbon emissions and the effect on grid reliability and prices, Jason Plautz reports for Politico's E&E News. Movers and Shakers Shrikant Krishan is now CEO and executive director of GrowTrees Singapore. He is the former general manager of consumer banking operations at KBZ Bank in Myanmar and is a Citi alum. (h/t Daniel Lippman) Chinese fast fashion e-commerce giant Shein has hired its first federal lobbyists as the company moves to expand its U.S. footprint despite concerns over the brand's sustainability and labor practices, Caitlin Oprysko reports. It brought on former Rep. Benjamin Quayle and Rashid Hallaway of HHQ Ventures in August, according to disclosures filed last weekend, and retained Scott Parven, Joseph Fawkner, Geoff Verhoff, Jose Borjon and Ed Pagano of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld last month.   LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today.     YOU TELL US TGIF! Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott, deputy editor Debra Kahn, and reporter Jordan Wolman. Reach us at gmott@politico.com, dkahn@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com. Want more? You can have it. Sign up for the Long Game. Four days a week and still free. That's sustainability! WHAT WE'RE CLICKING — A California ballot initiative to tax high earners and spend the proceeds on EVs and firefighters is polarizing — but it would help the climate, the LA Times reports. — Germany's gas crisis has dimmed Berlin's 19th-century street lamps. — Has Walmart gone "woke"? The Financial Times explores.   A message from JBS USA: As a food company committed to feeding larger needs, at JBS we believe in sustainable food production. There's nothing more important than ensuring that our planet can continue to feed us all long into the future. Because of that, we're leading the industry in change, targeting 2040 to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and investing over $1B to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, our emissions. In doing so, we're setting a new standard for food production—one that allows sustainable practices, quality products, and affordable prices to go hand in hand. It's our way of bringing more to the table. Learn More     Follow us on Twitter Debra Kahn @debra_kahn Greg Mott @gwmott Jordan Wolman @jordanwolman   Follow us

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