Update: Bucyrus Loan Debacle In Milwaukee

A few months ago, there was a company named Bucyrus who wanted to sell mining equipment to a company in India but the Import-Export Bank said no because it violated President Obama's pledge of a more green environment. Then President rode to Milwaukee on a white stallion to save the day for the democrats and reversed the decision, provided that the company that wanted to buy the equipment, made clean power it's priority.
http://lasvegasbadger.blogspot.com/2010/06/update-democrats-play-with-american.html
Well, here is the update from Bloomberg News: Bucyrus International Inc.’s sale of coal-mining equipment for a power plant in India won U.S. Export-Import Bank financial approval, advancing a project that was rejected in June amid environmental concerns.
The government-backed lender agreed to $900 million in loan guarantees for Reliance Power Ltd. to buy from U.S. companies in building a coal-fired power plant, the bank said yesterday in an e-mail statement. Congress now has 35 days to review the deal before a final vote by the bank.
Bucyrus had lobbied U.S. lawmakers to revive the deal that was initially turned down after groups such as the Sierra Club said funding would undercut the Obama administration’s pledge to limit export financing on projects that might harm the environment. Reliance won preliminary environmental approval in July after giving the bank a pledge to cap the plant’s carbon emissions.
“The bank’s board bowed to political pressure and in so doing wastes public financing to worsen their fossil-fuel binge,” Doug Norlen, policy director for the San Francisco- based environmental group Pacific Environment, said yesterday in a statement.
The Export-Import Bank provides financing to expand U.S. trade. Bucyrus, based in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, would lose an order for as much as $560 million of electric drag lines and rope shovels to mine coal without the bank’s guarantee, Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan said in an interview June 28.
Bucyrus Equipment
About $400 million of the financing will be used to buy Bucyrus mining equipment, which will help support 1,000 jobs, the bank said in the e-mail. The Ex-Im bank board’s decision was unanimous, according to the statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-25/bucyrus-india-coal-plant-deal-gets-export-import-bank-financing-approval.html
Somethings to think about: Did Bucyrus lose any money on the deal?
And was this all neccessary? Coal is still going to be mined, Reliance will still build their coal fired electric plant and the Sierra Club is still pissed. And what happens if Reliance breaks their pledge to limit carbon emissions, then what?
This was just a waste of time on everyone's part so that it would appear that Wisconsin Democrats can come to the rescue of Buycrus and look good. You know there will be a commercial coming very soon about this.
But in the end, I am glad that Buycrus will get their money and people will be employed there. I just wish it wasn't political.
Funny, the jsonline never has had a follow up on this.