Evan Feinberg, U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy's opponent in this spring's Republican primary, issued the following statement in response to Murphy's public comments criticizing a program he supports:

"Solyndra represents big government run amok, but Tim Murphy's feigned outrage is mired with hypocrisy," he said. "Murphy voted for and enthusiastically supported the program authorizing this flawed intrusion into the energy sector.

"Worse yet, Murphy introduced legislation to send $50 billion more in American tax dollars to bad ideas like Solyndra."

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program.  

On April 21, 2005, Murphy issued a statement extolling the virtues of backing alternative energy companies with federal tax dollars, according to Feinberg.

Since 2005, Murphy has continued to support loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra, even going as far as to introduce legislation—the 'Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act'—to expand the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program by another $50 billion, he said. 

“Murphy's blatant hypocrisy should come as no surprise given his long history of saying he is a conservative while pushing for more big government programs. Murphy's flip-flop on Solyndra is yet another example of why southwestern Pennsylvania needs a consistent conservative voice in Congress.  

"My advice to Tim Murphy is to stop grandstanding on Solyndra and admit your hypocrisy."

A staffer in Rep. Tim Murphy's office said Feinberg is "completely wrong." 

Don’t be fooled by those doing Obama’s bidding, blaming Republicans for creating the Solyndra swindle, he said.

"Solyndra was funded under a new program straight out of the president’s economic stimulus bill that not only plugged $6 billion into this new program, but also stripped key taxpayer protections out of energy department programs. Congressman Murphy voted against the stimulus bill, which was the bill that enabled the White House to directly earmark funds to politically-connected firms like Solyndra."

This article originally appeared on Peters Patch.