As contenders scramble for the White House this fall, thoughts have naturally turned to President Obama’s legacy, and particularly his environmental legacy. As taxpayers consider the lessons of that legacy they would do well to consider past support and use of taxpayer dollars for favored industries and companies. One of those once favored companies is the now defunct renewable energy company Solyndra. During the late 2000s, the Obama administration deployed its political capital to cultivate an environmentally friendly image for the president. In a quest for renewable energy as part of the stimulus package and at the urging of the administration, the Department of Energy gave preferential tax and loan treatment to Solyndra, a California solar panel manufacturer. The perception of many, including the Obama administration, was that Solyndra was a “sure winner in the solar industry,” to quote Scientific American’s reporting on the assessment others had made...(Read Full Article)