**FILE** The empty parking lot of bankrupt solar energy company Solyndra is seen in Fremont, Calif., on Sept. 16, 2011. (Associated Press)In his first public comment on the solar-energy scandal, President Obama said Monday he doesn’t regret promoting the solar company Solyndra as a model before the company went bankrupt and lost $535 million in taxpayer dollars.
“Hindsight is always 20/20,” Mr. Obama told “Good Morning America” anchor George Stephanopoulos in an online interview. “It went through the regular review process and people felt that it was a good bet.”
Mr. Obama said there “are going to be some failures,” but he argued that the government needs to promote new energy companies so the U.S. industry can be competitive.
“If you look at the overall portfolio … overall it’s doing well,” the president said of the Energy Department’s program to accelerate loans to such companies.
The FBI raided Solyndra’s offices on Sept. 8, days after the company had filed for bankruptcy. The company won the loan guarantees from the Department of Energy in 2009.
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Dave Boyer is a White House correspondent for The Washington Times. A native of Allentown, Pa., Boyer worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer from 2002 to 2011 and also has covered Congress for the Times. He is a graduate of Penn State University. Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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