Cause of Action filed a Freedom of Information Act request today with the Department of Energy in an effort to learn how the Department awards grants. In its request, Cause of Action attorneys noted that since 2009 the DOE has committed over $36 billion in financing for loans or loan guarantees, and information recently learned about the Solyndra affair has raised concern over how those grants were awarded:
In addition to Solyndra, several other companies have received billions of dollars in loan guarantees from DOE to build renewable energy infrastructure. As with Solyndra, many individuals in key positions within these corporations have made political contributions to the President or the Democratic Party, raising the concern that these loan guarantees may have been granted through preferential treatment or undue influence – and therefore not to stimulate shovel-ready jobs.
Cause of Action believes the public has a right to understand how and why its tax-dollars are being spent.
Image courtesy of Flickr user zackgrahamEE.
