Not having learned its lesson with Solyndra and a half dozen other tax payer loan guarantees for iffy energy projects, the Energy Department is set to begin doling out taxpayer monies to more "destined to fail" projects. The Hill: The Energy Department said Thursday it expects to begin tentatively approving new taxpayer-backed loans for renewable energy projects in the coming months.The announcement comes about seven months after Solyndra, the California solar firm that received a $535 million loan guarantee from the administration in 2009, went bankrupt, setting off a firestorm in Washington. "The Department expects to begin issuing conditional commitments over the next several months after completing a rigorous internal and external review of each application," Energy Department loan program chief David Frantz wrote to the top lawmakers on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Frantz - in the letter to committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) and ranking...(Read Full Post)