Watch video of Congressional hearing here. — (Note: The U.S. government also purchased Chinese solar panels for federal buildings. See here.)
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA): ‘We are taking money out of the pockets of the mines in U.S. while we are giving money to help the Chinese mines figure out their problems…We lost another 620 minters laid off in my district in one small town alone. We are helping the Chinese figure out how to – it’s technical assessment of coal mine gas recovery and utilization in China. The Chinese don’t seem to have any trouble competing with us on all kinds of different levels and I don’t understand why we are giving them grants to help them in their industries.’
Rep. Griffith to EPA official: “Have you given any $180,000 grants to U.S. mines to help them with this same type of thing? Yes or no? Have you given any grants of the similar size 180k or more to U.S. mining concerns in regards to helping them mine coal?
EPA official: “I do not know.” (Watch video here for full statements)
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Related Links:
Watch Now: Climate Depot’s Morano on Fox News on Fed stimulus bill money improperly used to buy Chinese solar panels for federal building — Morano: ‘It’s a classic government boondoggle…Renewables are not going to power the U.S. or China. …There is $250 billion spent globally; This money is going to produce 3% of electricity worldwide’ (More on China solar panels here.)
Analysis: ‘The global solar power industry is in crisis. The industry blames widespread national subsidy cuts & over productivity; China, in particular, being widely vilified’ — ‘Commercial scale solar energy remains a non-viable proposition’ — ‘Govt incentive schemes have created a glut of suppliers that capitalist free market would never have sanctioned…Given enormous govt subsidies there was literally no incentive to slow production down. In game of who could sustain massive public subsidy longest, cash-rich China clearly won. But the sun looks to be setting on China’s solar industry, too’
Report: Stimulus bill money improperly used to buy Chinese solar panels for federal building — ‘According to a report by the inspector general of the General Services Administration, taxpayer dollars from the federal stimulus bill were used to purchase Chinese solar panels for a federal building in Illinois. This was, the IG notes, in violation of the stimulus bill’s own rules’
