House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.), who has criticized the administration for its failed loan guarantee to the firm Solyndra, urged the Energy Department to approve funding assistance for a Michigan solar company that said last week it is halting operations. Upton and 13 other Michigan lawmakers sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in December 2009 recommending Auburn Hills-based United Solar Ovonics for a loan under President Obama’s economic stimulus bill. The loan was never approved by the Energy Department, but Upton’s advocacy for United Solar stands in contrast to his recent skepticism about the government’s clean-energy loan guarantee program.

Republicans keep on getting caught with their pants down over their Solyndra scandalmongering:

Upton has pursued two lines of argument against the administration over Solyndra. First, he says the government shouldn't pick winners and losers. Second, he says Solyndra shouldn't have been given the loan because it was a company in trouble. This news exposes the hypocrisy of both arguments—not only did he urge the government to "pick a winner," he urged it to pick a winner that was on the cusp of failure.

My point here isn't to bash Upton for having backed the firm. My point is that instead of hypocritical partisan demagoguery, what America needs from Republicans is renewed commitment to developing clean and sustainable sources of energy. Remember, Bush signed the legislation that created the loan guarantees in the first place, and it was the Bush administration that originally supported the Solyndra loan application. This is one Bush policy they ought not abandon.