In September 2010, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm celebrated a brave new chapter in "America's clean energy future." A123 Systems had built a 291,000-square-foot electric car battery manufacturing facility in Livonia and the second-term Democrat was on hand for the grand opening. Granholm called it "a powerful demonstration of the job-creating potential of clean energy" and a "success story" of the $787 billion federal stimulus package.
"You can see the pride in the faces of A123's workers and hear it in their voices," Granholm enthused in the Huffington Post. "They know they're helping shape our nation's clean energy future, and leading Michigan's economic recovery. Half of the new hires at A123's Livonia facility were previously unemployed."
A report by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy paints a less rosy picture. "[T]he company has laid off 125 employees and had a net loss of $172 million through the first three quarters of 2011," states a report on the free-market think tank's website. "Yet, this month A123's Compensation Committee approved a $30,000 raise for [Chief Financial Officer David] Prystash just days after Fisker Automotive announced the U.S. Energy Department had cut off what was left of its $528.7 million loan it had previously received." CONTINUE READING.
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