There was no shortage of wind or electricity at Thursday night 's debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan , the Republican contender for that office . But federal support for wind power and electric cars was one of the early flashpoints between the two . `` Was it a good idea to spend taxpayer dollars on electric cars in Finland or windmills in China ? '' Ryan asked Biden as he defended the Obama administration 's economic stimulus measures . `` Was it a good idea to borrow this money from China and spend it on these interest groups ? '' Ryan was criticizing the support for wind energy in the stimulus bill and to an Energy Department loan to electric automaker Fisker . It 's not a new line of attack for the GOP or for Ryan 's running mate , Mitt Romney . Both have been controversial and closely examined . Fact Check : Ryan cites unlikely outcome under Obamacare . The facts : . The Department of Energy agreed to lend Fisker nearly $ 530 million in 2009 to build two electric cars , the Karma and Nina , later dubbed the Atlantic . The plug-in hybrid Karma is being assembled in Finland , while the Atlantic -- which has yet to go into production -- was to be built at a former General Motors plant in Delaware . Fisker drew $ 193 million of the loan before May 2011 , when it was cut off for failing to meet the Karma 's production milestones . All of that money went to engineering and design costs , the Energy Department says . Fisker said `` not a single dollar '' was spent outside the United States . And while Ryan was attacking Biden over the Obama administration 's 2009 stimulus bill , the loan actually came from an advanced auto technology program passed in 2007 , before Obama took office . Meanwhile , administration efforts to promote the expansion of renewable energy , particularly solar and wind , have drawn fire from Republicans and some Democrats , such as New York Sen. Charles Schumer . Wind energy received about $ 9 billion in the stimulus bill , and Schumer complained to Energy Secretary Steven Chu in 2009 that a major project in Texas was being built with Chinese wind turbines . Industry analysts note that there were few U.S. firms in the business at the time . Of the top 10 turbine manufacturers in 2008 , only one -- General Electric -- was a U.S.-based company , according to a 2011 Congressional Research Service report . The rest were in Europe , India and China . Russ Choma , an investigative journalist who documented the role of overseas corporations in the federal energy programs in 2010 , said the plan was to start building equipment in the United States , and that has worked to some extent . `` The market needs the turbines from somewhere , so they had to go overseas with hopes that it would spur activity here , '' he told CNN in July . Fact Check : Iran and the bomb . The industry says generating capacity has doubled since 2008 , and the Lawrence-Berkeley National Laboratory in California says that 's created between 52,000 and 75,000 jobs . And while China 's wind industry has grown rapidly with the aid of government support , it has n't been a major player in the U.S. market . In 2010 , nearly 60 % of U.S. imports came from Denmark , the home of No . 1 turbine manufacturer Vestas ; China and other Asian countries `` accounted for very small shares of U.S. imports , the CRS found . Conclusion : Yes , the Fisker Karma is being built in Finland -- but the government 's support for Fisker was approved under a program signed by then-President George W. Bush , not through stimulus funds . And while international manufacturers did get a piece of American wind projects that were supported by the stimulus bill , that 's largely because American companies were n't among the big players . Complete coverage of CNN 's Fact Checks .
Ryan : Obama spent tax dollars on electric cars in Finland . Ryan criticizes support for wind energy in stimulus bill . Energy issues were flashpoint during debate .