Up until the controversy surrounding the default of the Solyndra Corporation on its federal clean energy loan, federal energy loan guarantees enjoyed broad-based, bipartisan support. What now? Nearly, a decade after such loan guarantees were launched under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the future of loan guarantees is unclear. This year, President Obama failed to include any monies in his proposed budget to Congress for such loans. Fiscal conservatives have argued that loan guarantees are a mistake. Some environmentalists, meanwhile, argue that such guarantees have outlived their usefulness. The loan guarantee supporters argue that large, risky clean energy programs such as clean coal and nuclear projects cannot be built without such funding. What is the future for these guarantees? What is the best case for and against continuing to make them?
