Echoing a recent House Energy and Commerce Committee report on the bankrupt solar firm Solyndra, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus demanded today that President Obama accept blame for the failed project.

In a teleconference with reporters, Priebus and Rep. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) reiterated the findings of the report, which blamed nearly every high-level political appointee who came into contact with the Solyndra deal, including current White House Chief of Staff Jacob Lew and former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who is now the mayor of Chicago.

SPECIAL REPORT

Solar manufacturer Solyndra was given a $535 million loan guarantee and touted by the White House as a model for the clean energy economy -- but it all ended in bankruptcy. E&E examines how the company got there and what it means. Click here to read the report.

"I think it's time for the president to come clean and give answers to the American people," Priebus said, later adding: "Contrary to Obama's denials ... nearly every member of Obama's inner circle may have known the Solyndra loan was headed for disaster."

White House officials have contended that decisions on Solyndra, which received more than half a billion dollars through a Department of Energy loan guarantee program funded by the administration's stimulus effort, were made only on the merits by career employees.

"All the president's men knew about this, yet he did nothing. It's time someone asks the questions and demand accountability on Solyndra from the president," said Gardner, a member of the Energy and Commerce panel. Obama is scheduled to visit Denver, Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colo., for a series of fundraisers this week.

A Rasmussen Reports survey released today suggests little public support for the failed Solyndra loan, when those polled are informed that private investors "refused to invest more money" in the firm before the government offered funds.

According to the poll, only 16 percent of the 1,000 likely voters polled agreed when asked: "In 2009, private investors refused to invest more money in Solyndra, but the government wanted to support an alternative energy company. The federal government then provided Solyndra with a $535 million loan guarantee. Was it a good idea for the government to provide loan guarantees for Solyndra?"

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed answered no, while 28 percent did not have an opinion. The survey had a 3-point margin of error.

While national Republicans intensified their attacks on Obama over Solyndra, the League of Conservation Voters continued to criticize presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney over his opposition to a key wind industry tax credit.

Romney is scheduled to visit Iowa this week, where the production tax credit for wind, which is set to expire at the end of the year, is supported by the state's bipartisan congressional delegation and by Gov. Terry Branstad (R).

"Mitt Romney is virtually the only person in the state that thinks ending tax incentives for wind energy is a good idea," LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns Navin Nayak said in a statement.