A few years ago, Democratic Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts threw roughly $76 million in cash and incentives at Evergreeen Solar — one of those his is one of those green-energy investments that “save or create” jobs. Well, fast forward to today and Evergreen is in deep trouble. Michael Graham of the Boston Herald sums it up:

If you invested $76 million in a company only to watch as it lost millions and its stock plunged from $19 a share to $1.83, you’d call that a financial disaster, right?
You know what they call it in the Patrick administration? A public relations problem. Because it’s not their money. It’s yours.
The company is Evergreen Solar, a darling of the Al Gore/environut crowd. Not surprisingly, Deval Patrick is a big fan, too.
Did it matter that the company has never earned a penny? That, as The Boston Globe-Democrat reported, “Evergreen has lost $308 million since its founding in 1994, including $84.6 million in the first six months of this year?”
Not to the governor. Once in office, he threw millions in grants, loans, land and the like at Evergreen to create jobs while fighting global warming.
The good news: Global temperatures have gone down since Patrick was elected.
The bad news: So has job creation in Massachusetts.
The one thing that’s gone up is massive government spending on – to use the popular new phrase – “saving or creating” jobs. And it’s true: The number of jobs at Evergreen has doubled to about 700 full-time positions since Patrick got state funding for them.
But divide those 350 new jobs into the approximately $70 million (and climbing) the state’s put in and that’s $200,000 per job – $200K ponied up by taxpayers “enjoying” the highest Massachusetts jobless rate since the Ford administration.
Such a deal!

The Boston Globe, however, doesn’t see any problem with the loss. In an editorial today appropriately titled, “To foster green energy, state needs to make bets,” they conclude:

Evergreen’s destiny is hardly assured. The company faces tough competition from solar panel companies in China, and analysts have fretted about how quickly it is burning through cash. Its need for the $5 million MassDevelopment loan is a troubling sign.
Fortunately, that loan is secured by plant equipment. Public support obviously can’t be unlimited. And once Patrick and other state officials have invested their own reputations in a project, it’s that much harder to cut their losses. Still, the state must do what it can to be a leader in renewable energy. The chance to make Boston the Houston of renewables is a dream worth pursuing — even if it requires some cash up front.