Gone with the Wind (Our Money)

The Washington Free Beacon ^ | August 16,2012 | BY: CJ Ciaramella

[Hojczyk]

Green energy firm sacks two-thirds of American workforce days after receiving $32 million government loan

ust days after the Export-Import Bank approved a multi-million dollar federal loan guarantee to benefit a mostly foreign-based wind-energy outfit, the company pink-slipped more than 200 American workers.

The Export-Import Bank, a federal agency that promotes and finances sales of U.S. exports to foreign buyers, approved a $32 million loan guarantee on Aug. 2 for a Brazilian firm to purchase wind turbines from LM Wind Power. According to its website, LM Wind Power is headquartered in Denmark.

“Ex-Im Bank’s financing, which guarantees a Bank of America loan, will support approximately 250 permanent American jobs at the company’s Little Rock, Ark., and Grand Forks, N.D., manufacturing facilities,” the bank said in a release.

The company maintains a manufacturing presence in Arkansas and North Dakota—but the company laid off 234 of the Arkansas plant’s roughly 300 workers just two days after its loan was approved.

“We have this week told our workforce that we are re-sizing our workforce and business to fit our plans for 2013,” Adam Ruple, human resources director for LM Wind Power, told the City Wire of Arkansas

.“The Export-Import Bank is a slush fund for corporate welfare that distorts trade flows and should be eliminated,” Barney Keller, spokesman for the conservative Club for Growth, said in a statement to the Free Beacon. “It’s a ticking time-bomb that has subsidized everything from Enron to Mexican drug cartels and it should be eliminated as soon as possible before it costs taxpayers.”

The Ex-Im Bank enjoys broad support from Democrats and some Republicans, who say it bolsters U.S. exports.

The Export-Import Bank did not respond to requests for comment.

[hadaclueonce]

GE loves wind generation. They make money even if they don’t make the wind turbines. They sell quick start generators that are required when the wind does not blow.

Did you know?

Wind Generators do now generate when:
It is too windy,
It is too hot,
It is too cold,
There is freezing rain....

Talk about the Three Little Bears of resources...

They want it just right.

[The Duke]

Did you know that whenever there is maintenance performed on these wind turbines that Federal regulations require the construction company to build a concrete road out to the turbine, as well as a concrete pad at the turbine (for the crane), and then to demolish the pad and road and return the ground to its pristine state once the maintenance is completed?

It's an insane racket.

[hadaclueonce]

I did not know about the road.

I do know that with their tax credits, they bid negative dollars in the Texas market.

No one is even covering their fuel costs at night when the wind is blowing.

Get this, all the “smartest folks” in Texas, they don’t get it.

[hadaclueonce]

not even Troy Frazer R-Horseshoe Bay.

I thought he was the smartest person in Texas.

[The Duke]

I did not know about the road.

One of my old college roommates works for a construction company that services many of these windmills. That's how I learned about the roads and concrete pads.