AC

A large green-car loan fund that was created in the Bush years and which began dispensing money under the Obama White House dodged a bullet late Monday. But the spotlight turned on the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing loan program in this dispute may keep the fund in the cross hairs for the next budget showdown. Conservative members of Congress this time agreed to drop efforts to trim the $25 billion pool of money by $1.5 billion to fund disaster relief as part of the resolution that would keep the government operating until mid-November. ATVM is a big target because it has lent only $9.1 billion of the $25 billion to just six companies, though it has 18 applications for about $10 billion total under review. And automakers are doing well financially, while American buyers already are showing more interest in fuel-efficient vehicles, lessening pressure to subsidize building such vehicles. Meanwhile, the bankruptcy of solar panel maker Solyndra...