Business as usual in Washington
Knock me over with a feather - from
The Washington Free Beacon:
Revolving Door: LaHood Joins Board of Electric Car Battery Company He Championed as Transportation Secretary
Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood joined the Board of Directors of Proterra Inc., a battery-electric transit bus manufacturer that LaHood championed as a member of President Barack Obama�s cabinet.
Proterra made the announcement on Tuesday, adding that LaHood �can offer insight into so many of the key issues facing our industry.�
As transportation secretary, LaHood wrote a post titled �Winning the Future, Proterra Style� on the White House blog about a visit he made to South Carolina to tour Proterra, a company he said could �out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build their competition.�
LaHood explained that Proterra was a troubled company before Obama�s Department of Transportation came to its support with a grant program.
�In 2009, Proterra did not have the financial resources or customer orders to commercialize its fast charge battery bus and charging station,� wrote LaHood. �But with help from Department of Transportation grants to transit agencies across the country, Proterra has been able to make that leap.�
So the company had little or no future. They were unable to get funding through the traditional routes (Venture Capital) and they were unable to develop a committed customer base which would have made venture funding a lot easier to obtain. They lobbied to Washington and got a nice slice of pork (our tax dollars pissed away again). Time to pay the piper so LaHood is brought into the Board of Directors - cushy salary no doubt.
The name Solyndra comes to mind -- I predict bankruptcy within three years and when asked about the failure, the progressives will complain that there wasn't enough stimulus spending.
Rope. Tree. Some assembly required.
Posted by DaveH at February 18, 2014 7:42 PM