Republicans seized on the $500 million loan guarantee to failed solar energy company Solyndra under the Obama administration, but now the Trump administration is preparing an energy industry bailout that will dwarf the size of that debacle. If this bailout goes forward, taxpayers will be on the hook for tens of billions of dollars for failing coal and nuclear power plants. The Solyndra failure was a textbook example of the pitfalls that exist when the federal government tries to pick winners and losers in the energy industry. The Trump administration seems to not have learned the lesson, as a number of financially troubled and outdated plants are struggling as energy generation becomes more efficient.
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