0WEbama-backed car battery maker goes bankrupt. How many "green" FAILURES does this make now?

WASHINGTON - The parent company of an electric car battery maker that
received a $118 million grant from the Obama administration filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday.

New York-based Ener1 said it has been affected by competition from China and other countries.

Ener1
subsidiary EnerDel received a $118 million stimulus grant from the
Energy Department in 2009, and Vice President Joe Biden visited the
company's new battery plant in Indiana last year.

CBS News Investigates first reported in October
2011 that Ener1 was facing financial troubles, after NASDAQ pulled the
company from its listings, leaving the stock valued at $0.00.

Ener1
is just the latest company to seek bankruptcy protection after
receiving assistance from the Energy Department under the economic
stimulus law. California solar panel
maker Solyndra Inc. and Beacon Power, a Massachusetts energy-storage
firm, declared bankruptcy last year. Solyndra received a $528 million
federal loan, while Beacon Power got a $43 million loan guarantee.

Solyndra,
of Fremont, Calif., was the first renewable-energy company to receive a
loan guarantee under the 2009 stimulus law, and the Obama
administration frequently touted it as a model for its clean energy
program.

Since then, the company's implosion and
revelations that the administration hurried a review of the loan in time
for a 2009 groundbreaking has become an embarrassment for President
Obama and a rallying cry for GOP critics of the administration's green
energy program.

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The
chairman of a House subcommittee that is investigating Solyndra said
the latest bankruptcy showed that the administration's clean energy
program has failed.

"Unfortunately, you can now add Ener1
to the growing list of failed companies that went belly up after
hundreds of millions of dollars in administration backing," said Rep.
Cliff Stearns, R-Fla.

"One bankruptcy may be a fluke, two
could be coincidence, but three is a trend," Stearns said. "Our
investigation continues, and we are working to ensure taxpayers are
never again stuck paying hundreds of millions of dollars because of the
administration's risky bets."

An Energy Department spokeswoman said EnerDel had received $55 million so far under a program in which EnerDel matches federal investment
dollar-for-dollar. Ener1 said in a statement that the restructuring
would not affect EnerDel's operations. The company makes lithium-ion
batteries for electric cars such as the Chevrolet Volt.

"While
it's unfortunate that Ener1, the parent company, has entered a
restructuring process," a recent infusion of $80 million in private
investment "demonstrates that the technology has merit," said Jen
Stutsman, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department.

"The restructuring is not expected to impact EnerDel's operations and they do not expect to reduce employment at the site" near Indianapolis, Stutsman said.