The Huffington Post laid it on thick when the electric-car company Tesla picked Nevada instead of Texas for a "Gigafactory." The headline was “Rick Perry Lost Big With Tesla Deal.”
Huff-Post reporter Alexander C. Kaufman began by underlining just what a “loss” this was to the outgoing governor and potential presidential contender.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry's charms were apparently lost on electric carmaker Tesla.
Despite Perry's shoddy record on clean energy, the former Republican presidential candidate desperately wanted Tesla to build its $5 billion battery factory in the Lone Star State. Perry personally led negotiations with Tesla over its so-called Gigafactory, which is expected to create 6,500 jobs. The governor even drove a Tesla Model S through California’s state capital in June, in a public stunt that the Los Angeles Times found surmountable to “stalking.”
...“It’s disappointing; he’s got to face it as a disappointment,” Peter Cowen, the managing director of technology investment banking firm Clear Capital Advisors, told The Huffington Post on Friday. “This one was a high-stakes battle and he lost.”
Even Kaufman admitted “Texas residents may have lucked out, as added incentives from the state could have ended up costing taxpayers. As it was, Texas was offering a tax package worth between $800 million and $900 million, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Nevada is coughing up $1.3 billion to seal its deal with the carmaker.”
So if Tesla was strongly motivated by an extra 500 million and Texas “lucked out,” how does that explain the Huff-Post saying Perry “Lost Big”?
