Obama’s energy policy attacked from all sides

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As the Obama administration tries to respond to rising gas prices by touting an all-of-the-above strategy for energy independence, its own alternative energy initiatives are getting slammed from both sides.

The administration for the past six months has been under fire for blowing through nearly $530 million on Solyndra, the solar panel firm that filed for bankruptcy last September. A new government report now finds the loan program that funded Solyndra continues to suffer from management problems.

The administration was also just hit with a lawsuit from the gas companies’ trade association over a biofuels mandate that dates back to the George W. Bush administration — one which the industry says is unworkable.

Meanwhile, companies that are trying to secure government funding for fuel-efficient vehicles in the wake of Solyndra say the fallout from that controversy has led to a bureaucratic freeze at the Department of Energy and prevented their firms from getting any money.

Several companies applying for loans for their vehicle projects have abandoned that process in recent weeks.

The frustration was encapsulated in a letter sent by Bright Automotive to the department in late February, just days before the firm withdrew its loan application and started to close down shop.

“Unfortunately, irrationality and petty politics have paralyzed your agency at a time America needs you most. One cannot score if one does not shoot,” the executives of the now-defunct company wrote to Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Mike Donoughe, chief operating officer with Bright, told FoxNews.com that Energy Department officials told them repeatedly they were under a directive to never put the department through another Solyndra.

“Those were their sort of marching orders,” Donoughe said of the department officials his firm dealt with. He said officials are so wound up they “do nothing. And they’re good at that.”