In the wake of the Solyndra debacle, no less than the head of the Solar Energy Industries Association — one Rhone Resch — opined, “It’s going to be very similar to Enron’s legacy in the oil and gas industry” (though he quickly added, “Just in the sense of a history that flared out fairly quickly and fairly publicly”). Enron, we all recall, was the energy company that hit the wall after misleading investors with fraudulent financial reports.
Pace Resch, I think that the comparison between Solyndra and Enron is a false analogy. It overlooks their salient differences. First and foremost, when Enron went bust, it didn’t burn the American taxpayer, which Solyndra most assuredly did. It had nearly a half billion bucks in guaranteed loans, which the taxpayer must now cover.
Second, while Solyndra’s CEO was a major supporter of Obama, as Enron’s was of Bush, when Enron’s CEO called the White House for help, he got none; but when Solyndra’s head called his buddy in the White House, he got plenty.
Third, the mainstream media trumpeted the Enron fiasco for months, using it as a handy cudgel with which to bash Bush; but the media have been virtually silent about the Solyndra mess, even in the face of the Solyndra execs pleading the Fifth before a congressional committee trying to investigate the mess.
Fourth, it is doubtful that Hollywood will make a movie about Solyndra, as it did with Enron (The Smartest Guys in the Room), indicting both the industry and the president. The Green neo-socialists — aka Watermelons — are much too worshipful of both the solar industry and Obama.