Much has been written about the need to expand and diversify our energy base. With the recent spike in gasoline prices and the Iranian threat to disrupt global oil supplies, some are calling for the equivalent of a Manhattan Project to develop alternative energy sources. Others say that renewables are still too expensive and that we shouldn’t encourage them at the expense of fossil fuels. The highly publicized failure of Solyndra has called into question whether the federal government should continue the U.S. Department of Energy loan program, initiated under the Bush Administration, to provide funding for alternative energy projects. Supporters of the program say that without government funding, we risk ceding leadership of the alternative energy market to China.