Energy Secy Chu Faces Showdown On Solyndra Today

Energy Secretary Chu faces a grilling on the Solyndra loan today from a hostile House committee.

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it may take similar skills to navigate Washington politics as it does to make advances in physics research, a field in which he won a Nobel Prize in 1997.

'You have to keep your wits about you, you have to dispassionately analyze what's the best path to go forward,' Chu said this month at a Washington Post energy conference. 'Breakthroughs will happen, setbacks will happen. You use those breakthroughs to work around those setbacks to go forward.'

Chu's ability to rise above political setbacks will be put to the test on Thursday, when he will face the toughest grilling to date in his Washington career.

Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee want to know why he and his department gave a $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, a California solar panel company that went bankrupt in September and is being investigated by the FBI."

Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe report for Reuters November 17, 2011.

SEE ALSO:

"Energy Secretary to Defend Solyndra Loan to Congress" (New York Times)