Energy Secretary Refuses to Apologize for Losing a Half-Billion Taxpayer Dollars

REP. UPTON: Last question, though my time is expired. Based on what you know and what’s happened, who is to apologize for the half a billion dollars that has been out the door?

SEC'Y CHU: Well, it’s extremely unfortunate what has happened with Solyndra. If you look back and look at the time, the decisions being made, was there incompetence, was there any influence of a political nature? And I would have to say no.

UPTON: So no apology?

CHU: Well it is extremely unfortunate what has happened to Solyndra, and I think you and I both feel the same, but when the bottom of a market falls out and the price of solar decreases by 70 percent in 2.5 years, that was totally unexpected. Not only by us but by, if you look at the range of predictions that were being made by financial analysis from the last quarter of 2008, 2009 the average, there are some outliers, but the average of those were not expecting these prices to plummet. And so, fundamentally, this company, and several others, got caught in a very bad tsunami if you will.