As the former-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in 2010, when she and her left-wing minions were forcing the Affordable Care Act on the American people, “But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of controversy.”
Quite the pathetic statement, however, it is eerily true for us American citizens, because we are either kept in the dark, lied to, or manipulated as to what our government is up to. And once any large piece of legislation is passed, time is what enables us to grasp its impact –– good or bad, corrupt or mismanaged –– and calculate the cost to us hard-working American taxpayers. History has already proven that our government has grown too large, too intrusive, and too expensive.
To better understand this piece of the "green energy" scandal, let me remind my fellow Americans that President Obama promised to have, and claims to be, the most transparent administration in history. Yet here we are over fours yeas later with David Sanger, the New York Times reporter who has spent two decades reporting in Washington, slamming this theory by proclaiming that the Obama administration is the "most closed, control-freak administration" he's ever covered, reported POLITICO this month.
To better understand this piece of the "green energy" scandal, let me remind my fellow Americans that President Obama promised to have, and claims to be, the most transparent administration in history. Yet here we are over fours yeas later with David Sanger, the New York Times reporter who has spent two decades reporting in Washington, slamming this theory by proclaiming that the Obama administration is the "most closed, control-freak administration" he's ever covered, reported POLITICO this month.
As if many of us didn't have that sentiment already, especially in the midst of a series of serious scandals that hit the White House this year. More so, when we learned that political appointees within the Obama administration, across several agencies, including the Energy Department, and recently the IRS, have been using secret or personal email accounts to conduct official government business. But secrecy is not the only thug tactic operating inside this administration: they have been known to intimidate inspector generals, as told by Gerald Walpin. "But I learned, through being fired by the Obama administration, that performing one’s responsibilities as one should, and potentially adversely affecting the administration’s image, is not the way to keep one’s job," Walpin wrote this past June.
The RAT in the Recovery
What most don't know, not even the majority of Congress, is that there was a RAT hidden deep inside the 1,073-page stimulus bill, which was drafted by the Obama transition team and congressional aides.
Entitled the Obama-Biden Transition Project, it employed approximately 400 people and it was comprised of Obama bundlers and campaign contributors as well as lobbyist and those that operate inside Washington’s egregious revolving door. In the mix was a squadron of Center for American Progress (CAP) experts, the billionaire George Soros-funded liberal think tank. Within this transition group, we also find many that eventually operated inside this clean-energy scheme, of which I'll highlight later.
"From the first debates over the stimulus bill, the White House has promised unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability," noted U.S. News in 2009, even appointing Vice President Joe Biden as the nation’s stimulus spending cop, Stimulus Sheriff Joe, who ultimately went MIA.
Quite the contrary, and it all started when Team Obama starting planning their trillion-dollar spending spree, because “deep inside” the 2009 Recovery Act was a RAT, an attempt to suppress potential investigations, and only a few news outlets caught it in February of 2009: the Washington Post and the Washington Examiner.
As legislation was moving at rapid speed, and Congress continually failed to read the bills, the Obama administration had placed a “far-reaching and potentially dangerous provision." The creation of the RAT Board (Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board) was supposed to be “an oversight panel headed by a White House nominee.”
Quite the contrary, and it all started when Team Obama starting planning their trillion-dollar spending spree, because “deep inside” the 2009 Recovery Act was a RAT, an attempt to suppress potential investigations, and only a few news outlets caught it in February of 2009: the Washington Post and the Washington Examiner.
The controversial provision emerged in a January 2009 draft of the bill prepared by Obama's transition team officials and members of the House Appropriations Committee, of which at that time it was labeled by the White House as “critical to prevent waste and corruption.” This RAT board gave them the authority to ask, “That an inspector general conduct or refrain from conducting an audit or investigation.”
Did you get that? An Obama appointee could dictate what to investigate and what investigations they wanted to squash.
Subsequent concerns arose, with Senator Claire McCaskill (Democrat from Missouri), who was alarmed by the sentence that allowed "the panel to order an inspector general to stop an investigation." As reported by The Post in February 2009...
The irony here is that the RAT Board's stated goals are “to provide transparency of Recovery-related funds and “to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and mismanagement.” While I can't speak for the entire stimulus bill, I know that tucked inside was $100 billion that Team Obama carved out for their big clean-energy push (save the planet funds). Money that I have been following since 2010, which has not only led to plenty of fraud, waste, and mismanagement, but also abuse, cronyism, corruption, and failure.
Most critically is that this “RAT” maneuver only leaves speculation of premeditation and intention in regards to potential shenanigans (an understatement) with the stimulus funds, and the daunting question, what has the RAT Board done about the massive pile of clean-energy dirt?
Shortly after President Obama began his reign as our 44th president, in February 2009, he signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This was a massive economic stimulus bill –– among the biggest in history –– that was sold to the American people as a means save our economy from the brink of disaster and create American jobs.
By the beginning of 2012, revelations revealed the real intent behind Obama's trillion-dollar spending spree ("walking around money"): it was “a key tool for advancing the Obama administration’s clean-energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments.” In fact, the 2009-Stimulus package was jammed-packed full of clean-energy provisions, of which about 10 percent of the monies were earmarked for renewable energy.
It's important to point out that the $100 billion in stimulus funds is not the only money being used to fuel the Obama administration's efforts to save the planet using other people's money. I'd say it's closer to $150 billion to date, and counting, because they continue to dish out more. In short, other departments handing out "green" include the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, and we even find that there is a "Green War" being waged: "the Department of Defense has launched more green energy initiatives than any other federal agency and many are duplicative and wasteful," as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
Additionally, the president's new Climate Action Plan, announced in July of this year, calls for releasing "$8 billion in loan guarantees for advanced fossil fuel and efficiency projects, and strengthen the Better Building Challenge to increase building efficiency 20 percent by 2020." Meanwhile, the "Obama administration is ready to restart the controversial automotive loan program designed to kick-start the development of alternative vehicles." This is the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program that holds authority to award up to $25 billion in direct loans.
The ATVM is part of the Energy Department’s Loan Guarantee Program (DOE LGP) which has been a main focus throughout my work since April 2012. This is a program that consists of three separate entities: Section 1703, Section 1705, and Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM), and has thus far guaranteed $34.7 billion of taxpayer money. Both Section 1703 and the ATVM programs were established during the Bush administration, and Section 1705 was created by the 2009-Recovery Act.
This is the same Energy Department program which the Green Corruption Files has exposed over and over how at least 90 percent of the winners have meaningful politically connections (bundlers, top donors, fundraisers, etc) to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– in many cases, to both. It also brought you big alternative energy losers such as Solyndra, Beacon Power, Abound Solar, Vehicle Production Group, SoloPower, Nevada Geothermal, and Fisker Automotive, flushing billions of tax dollars down the toilet. Yet there are billions more still at risk, and we're keeping an eye on these DOE projects : AREVA and its $2 billion, Georgia Power Company and its $8.33 billion, NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource) and its $1.6 billion, First Solar and its $3 billion, and others.
Still, the Energy Department's loan program is not the only place where we find taxpayer-funded clean-energy losers. At the end of 2012, I calculated that "as many as 50 Obama-backed green energy companies were bankrupt or troubled." In May I revisited this area, with my new numbers reflecting that 25 are bankrupt, and there are four about to go under. Then, if we keep those that were having issues the same (at 29), the latest taxpayer-funded clean-energy failure list is about 60 –– with almost half bankrupt. Stay tuned for a new investigative report on this topic in the near future.
According to The Examiner...
Senator Grassley (Republican from Iowa), also warned, "This is a dangerous provision that will hamper oversight, restrict transparency, and damage the independence of inspectors general."When Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, a longtime champion of inspectors general, read the words “conduct or refrain from conducting,” alarm bells went off. The language means that the board — whose chairman will be appointed by the president — can reach deep inside a federal agency and tell an inspector general to lay off some particularly sensitive subject. Or, conversely, it can tell the inspector general to go after a tempting political target. …”
The group representing federal inspectors general recommended that the entire disputed provision be deleted from the legislation, according to David R. Gray, counsel to Phyllis K. Fong, chair of the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.
Senate negotiators changed the board composition. While the president would appoint the head of the panel, the rest of the members would be inspectors general.
House and Senate negotiators also added a line proposed by McCaskill saying that the final decision on whether to proceed is up to the inspector general. "The language sends a very clear message that the IG is in the driver's seat," she said.
As you can see, eventually lawmakers revised the original bill, and allowed “the watchdog agencies to reject the panel's decisions.” But only after they were BUSTED, leaving many wondering why another layer of bureaucracy? Worse, why would a panel be given that kind or power in the first place, power that was not entirely stripped away.
At that time, they named the former Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney, who helped uncover the Jack Abramoff scandal, as the head. Yep, we got a Stimulus Czar, and more taxpayer money going out the door: "The bill allotted about $350 million in oversight measures, including $84 million for the creation of an oversight board," as documented by U.S. News. Mr. Devaney has since retired, and in December 2011, President Obama appointed Kathleen S. TIghe Chair of the Board, with eleven Inspectors General from various federal agencies that serve with her.
Moreover, “Per the Recovery Act, the Board's Recovery activities were supposed to end on September 30, 2013. However, in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 to assist states and individuals impacted by Hurricane Sandy, Congress stipulated the Board provide oversight of the funding through 2015.”
At that time, they named the former Interior Department Inspector General Earl Devaney, who helped uncover the Jack Abramoff scandal, as the head. Yep, we got a Stimulus Czar, and more taxpayer money going out the door: "The bill allotted about $350 million in oversight measures, including $84 million for the creation of an oversight board," as documented by U.S. News. Mr. Devaney has since retired, and in December 2011, President Obama appointed Kathleen S. TIghe Chair of the Board, with eleven Inspectors General from various federal agencies that serve with her.
Moreover, “Per the Recovery Act, the Board's Recovery activities were supposed to end on September 30, 2013. However, in the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 to assist states and individuals impacted by Hurricane Sandy, Congress stipulated the Board provide oversight of the funding through 2015.”
The irony here is that the RAT Board's stated goals are “to provide transparency of Recovery-related funds and “to detect and prevent fraud, waste, and mismanagement.” While I can't speak for the entire stimulus bill, I know that tucked inside was $100 billion that Team Obama carved out for their big clean-energy push (save the planet funds). Money that I have been following since 2010, which has not only led to plenty of fraud, waste, and mismanagement, but also abuse, cronyism, corruption, and failure.
Most critically is that this “RAT” maneuver only leaves speculation of premeditation and intention in regards to potential shenanigans (an understatement) with the stimulus funds, and the daunting question, what has the RAT Board done about the massive pile of clean-energy dirt?
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
& Its $100 billion renewable energy earmark
Shortly after President Obama began his reign as our 44th president, in February 2009, he signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This was a massive economic stimulus bill –– among the biggest in history –– that was sold to the American people as a means save our economy from the brink of disaster and create American jobs.
By the beginning of 2012, revelations revealed the real intent behind Obama's trillion-dollar spending spree ("walking around money"): it was “a key tool for advancing the Obama administration’s clean-energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments.” In fact, the 2009-Stimulus package was jammed-packed full of clean-energy provisions, of which about 10 percent of the monies were earmarked for renewable energy.
It's important to point out that the $100 billion in stimulus funds is not the only money being used to fuel the Obama administration's efforts to save the planet using other people's money. I'd say it's closer to $150 billion to date, and counting, because they continue to dish out more. In short, other departments handing out "green" include the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, and we even find that there is a "Green War" being waged: "the Department of Defense has launched more green energy initiatives than any other federal agency and many are duplicative and wasteful," as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
Another means where huge corporations and Obama's "green" pals get taxpayer money is through the taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), who "has a Congressional mandate to support renewable energy and has been directed that 10% of its authorizations should be dedicated to renewable energy and environmentally beneficial transactions."
Additionally, the president's new Climate Action Plan, announced in July of this year, calls for releasing "$8 billion in loan guarantees for advanced fossil fuel and efficiency projects, and strengthen the Better Building Challenge to increase building efficiency 20 percent by 2020." Meanwhile, the "Obama administration is ready to restart the controversial automotive loan program designed to kick-start the development of alternative vehicles." This is the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program that holds authority to award up to $25 billion in direct loans.
Last fall, I chronicled how there were over 100 applicants for this section of the DOE's loan program, yet only the "FAVORED FIVE" were granted ATVM loans totaling $8.4 billion. Three of the five loans are directly tied to President Obama and the other two, both Ford Motor Co. and Nissan, were heavily engaged in negotiations with the administration over fuel economy standards for model years 2012- 2016 at the time DOE was considering their applications."
This is the same Energy Department program which the Green Corruption Files has exposed over and over how at least 90 percent of the winners have meaningful politically connections (bundlers, top donors, fundraisers, etc) to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– in many cases, to both. It also brought you big alternative energy losers such as Solyndra, Beacon Power, Abound Solar, Vehicle Production Group, SoloPower, Nevada Geothermal, and Fisker Automotive, flushing billions of tax dollars down the toilet. Yet there are billions more still at risk, and we're keeping an eye on these DOE projects : AREVA and its $2 billion, Georgia Power Company and its $8.33 billion, NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource) and its $1.6 billion, First Solar and its $3 billion, and others.
Still, the Energy Department's loan program is not the only place where we find taxpayer-funded clean-energy losers. At the end of 2012, I calculated that "as many as 50 Obama-backed green energy companies were bankrupt or troubled." In May I revisited this area, with my new numbers reflecting that 25 are bankrupt, and there are four about to go under. Then, if we keep those that were having issues the same (at 29), the latest taxpayer-funded clean-energy failure list is about 60 –– with almost half bankrupt. Stay tuned for a new investigative report on this topic in the near future.
Obama-Biden Transition Team Included Several Clean-energy Players
We know that Obama's transition team officials and members of the House
Appropriations Committee prepared the RAT provision, yet it is unclear which of the 400 members were responsible (or was it all of them). However we do know that it was a "far-reaching and potentially dangerous provision,"which was an effort to grant an Obama appointee (and a panel) unprecedented power to squash or authorize and investigation into stimulus wrongdoings.
What's more fascinating to point out is that according to the Center for Responsive Politics, "Members of Barack Obama's presidential transition team weren't necessarily selected solely on their résumés and expertise — some may have scored positions over similarly qualified individuals because they supported the president-elect by bundling money for his presidential campaign or opening their own wallets to him."
What's more fascinating to point out is that according to the Center for Responsive Politics, "Members of Barack Obama's presidential transition team weren't necessarily selected solely on their résumés and expertise — some may have scored positions over similarly qualified individuals because they supported the president-elect by bundling money for his presidential campaign or opening their own wallets to him."
More relevant to green corruption is that this lengthy list provides us with some familiar players operating inside this "green" scam, which of course, were also bundlers for Obama's 2008 campaign. While there is much more to expose on each of the following, with a few I've tackled in the past and some I've saved for the future (the "DOE Dirt Dozen" in the works), here is a thumbnail version on the ones I found.
Valerie B. Jarrett (Obama Bundler): Obama-Biden Transition Project Co-Chair
Aaron Klein, in his 2010 book, The Manchurian President, describes the relationship, "with a level of trust verging on telepathy, it is no surprise that Jarrett has been central to the White House process of recruiting cabinet officials. What is surprising, however, is the string of radicals Jarrett has brought to the administration." Klein gives some examples, yet one of the radicals relevant here is Van Jones, the former Green Jobs Czar, whom I've written about in the past, and will profile later in this post as one of the "gang of ten."
While some on the right warn that Jarrett is a dangerous influence and holds extreme power over the Obama White House, a "liberal portrait of the Obama White House, sketches Jarrett as controlling, vindictive, arrogant and incompetent," reported FrontPage.com in June.
Wherever your opinion stands on Ms. Jarrett, there is no doubt that she is force to be reckoned with. Prior to the Nov 2012 presidential election, it was reported that Valerie was out for blood....
After we win this election, it’s our turn. Payback time. Everyone not with us is against us and they better be ready because we don’t forget. The ones who helped us will be rewarded; the ones who opposed us will get what they deserve. There is going to be hell to pay...
But I digress, slightly...
Jarrett, in September 2009, hosted a "Clean-Energy Summit" where an array of attendees just so happened to "collectively strike gold" with over $5.3 billion in taxpayer funds from the Green Bank of Obama. But that is not the only "green" tie to Ms. Jarrett. Prior to joining the Obama administration as Senior Advisor and assistant to the president, she served as Vice Chairman of The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago-based organization, who is a major donor to radical environmentalist and conservation groups as well as progressive movements like Center for American Progress (more on CAP later).
Jarrett, in September 2009, hosted a "Clean-Energy Summit" where an array of attendees just so happened to "collectively strike gold" with over $5.3 billion in taxpayer funds from the Green Bank of Obama. But that is not the only "green" tie to Ms. Jarrett. Prior to joining the Obama administration as Senior Advisor and assistant to the president, she served as Vice Chairman of The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago-based organization, who is a major donor to radical environmentalist and conservation groups as well as progressive movements like Center for American Progress (more on CAP later).
During two of the eight years (1994 to 2002) that Obama sat on the board of The Joyce Foundation, then-Senator Obama helped to fund the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a cap-and-trade carbon-trading platform that is tied to Richard Sandor, Al Gore, Goldman Sachs and others. After Obama became president, his administration immediately began aggressively pushing Cap-and-Trade legislation (H.R. 2454), which at that time, moved through the House and was stalled in the Senate –– a legislation that many key players inside this "green" scam helped create, shape, facilitate, lobby, testify, and will continue to push for, because at the end of the day, they will ultimately benefit from it. This was part of the climate scam that I had followed and wrote about in 2010, and what I refer to as the "pot of gold at the end of the climate rainbow."
John Podesta (Obama Bundler): Obama-Biden Transition Project Co-Chair
John Podesta is the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In 2003 Podesta founded the left-wing think tank that is funded by billionaire George Soros, and has a major foothold inside the Obama administration, including the 2013 addition, Denis McDonough as the White House chief of staff. Not only did a squadron of CAP experts work with president Obama's transition team, they are “reportedly highly influential in helping to craft White House Policy.”
In 2011, Podesta stepped down from his CEO role, but he is currently Chair of CAP and the CAP Action Fund. CAP, on my green corruption radar since 2010, and periodically mentioned throughout my work, is a strong proponent of alternative energy and has been a big backer of the Energy Department’s huge multi-billion-loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects.
In 2011, Podesta stepped down from his CEO role, but he is currently Chair of CAP and the CAP Action Fund. CAP, on my green corruption radar since 2010, and periodically mentioned throughout my work, is a strong proponent of alternative energy and has been a big backer of the Energy Department’s huge multi-billion-loan guarantee program for renewable energy projects.
This past June I posted a revelation that came out of The Nation: "The Secret Donors Behind the Center for American Progress and Other Think Tanks." This is where we discover that "CAP takes money from corporate donors without disclosing it" and "sometimes acts as an undisclosed lobbyist for its donors." This murky practice included CAPS part in the "The First Solar Swindle," costing taxpayers over $3 billion.
Meanwhile, Soros is another member of the "gang of ten," and I exposed his complete Green Corruption file this past March. But I must reinforce that CAP is a driving force inside this scandal, of which I've addressed a few times, including John Podesta's brother, Tony Podesta, dubbed "The Lobbyist" by Newsweek. Together they started the Podesta Group, a lobbying firm tied to quite a few renewable energy stimulus deals.
Meanwhile, Soros is another member of the "gang of ten," and I exposed his complete Green Corruption file this past March. But I must reinforce that CAP is a driving force inside this scandal, of which I've addressed a few times, including John Podesta's brother, Tony Podesta, dubbed "The Lobbyist" by Newsweek. Together they started the Podesta Group, a lobbying firm tied to quite a few renewable energy stimulus deals.
Carol M. Browner (Obama Bundler): Advisory Board Member and Energy Policy Working Groups
Browner, who directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the Clinton administration, is an Al Gore acolyte, an environmental extremist with a few left-wing radical ties on her secret resume. Later she became part of Obama's 2009 Green Team as the Climate Czar, only to abruptly resign in early 2011. Prior to her tenure at the Obama White House, Browner was a founding board member (from 2003-2008) for CAP, and she is currently listed as a Senior Fellow. Browner may have left her "climate" post, but she serves on the Advisory Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, another means where our government gives out taxpayer money to favored "green" deals.
"The Ex-Im Bank uses taxpayer money to
backstop politically favored projects, which “just greases the wheels
of the powerful and often corrupt big Washington Establishment,” wrote Heritage Action this year. As mentioned earlier, this is another "green bank" where you'll find more corporate welfare and crony capitalism. Huge corporations and quite a number of Obama's green cronies –– Abengoa, First Solar (Exelon Corp.) and SolarWorld –– have snagged their fair share taxpayer money through the taxpayer-supported Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im).
Lisa Jackson (Obama Bundler): Energy and Natural Resources Team Leads
Lisa Jackson is the former head of the EP, which Obama chose in 2009 as part of his Green Team, along with her pal the former Green Jobs Czar Van Jones, of which both are far-left radical environmentalists. Jackson had promised “environmental justice” and referred to this government agency as “Obama’s EPA” –– an agency whereas the president gave the largest budget in EPA history at the tune of $10.5 billion taxpayer-dollars, as well as a tremendous amount of "ECO power," of which the EPA has abused.
Jackson is one of many Obama appointees that felt comfortable using shady email practices to conduct government business, whereas she used her alter ego, “Richard Windsor." In the midst of the heated environment over her controversial emails, Ms. Jackson resigned in December 2012, and now works for Apple. Gina McCarthy, widely known as Obama’s “green quarterback, ”who ran the EPA’s clean air division, replaced Jackson in May of this year, and this was despite her "text messaging drama." Jackson was recently "cleared of email abuse charges," however, the EPA's continued secrecy and lack of transparency is far from over.
Michael Froman (Obama Bundler): Advisory Board Member
Since 2009, Froman was a member of Obama's National Economic Council as well as the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economic Affairs. In June 2013, Froman became the U.S. Trade Representative –– now he's Ambassador Froman.
Considering the tangled web and the infiltration of so many Citigroup executives –– and Goldman Sachs for that matter –– inside the Obama administration, even shaping his economic policy, as well as the fact that they scored big with the Green Bank of Obama, I covered this "too-big-to-fail" bank and its massive "Green Money Machine" this past February –– transactions that tie them to approximately $16 billion of taxpayer money.
Since there is another connection here to the "gang of ten," Michael Eckhart and the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), I'll be rehashing Citigroup again.
Steve Spinner (Two-time Obama Bundler and part of the "DOE's Dirty Dozen"): Technology, Innovation & Government Reform Policy Working Groups
Steve Spinner, a two-time Obama bundler, not only worked for Obama's 2008 transition team, he also was part the president's 2012 reelection campaign, serving as a California finance chair and founded "Technology for Obama" (T4O). Spinner acted as a liaison between the Recovery Act Office and the Loan Programs Office. And in April 2009, was appointed as the DOE Loan Programs Advisor to then-Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
Spinner, tied to Tesla Motors that snagged a $465 million ATVM loan, is more well known for his involvement and influence (investigations and internal emails prove) to the ill-fated, politically connected Solyndra, which was once the poster child for the president's clean-energy initiative. The Solyndra Saga –– FBI raid and all –– in 2011 morphed into the template for Obama's green corruption scandal: political payback, costing taxpayers $535 million (as well as a $25.1 million California tax credit). Yet, most concluded a while ago that Solyndra is only the tip of the iceberg.
However, what most don't know is that Solyndra also "benefited from a $10.3 million loan guarantee that the Ex-Im Bank extended to a Belgian company," as reported in June 2012, by Veronique de Rugy, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center.
Spinner is also from CAP, and left his post at the left-wing think tank around the same time he resigned from the DOE in September 2010. Which brings me to an interesting observation; where have all the DOE advisors and officials gone? You know, the “DOE Insiders” and "Obama's Green Team," where plenty of “VC Guys” and “Gore Acolytes” held key positions –– a dozen on my radar that are connected to billions of green-government subsidies.
Ironically, many have fled since their 2009 appointment by the Obama White House. Besides Spinner (1), we have Secretary Chu, Browner, Jackson, Van Jones (2), Steve Isakowitz, Matt Rogers, Jonathon Silver, Cathy Zoi (3), Kristina Johnson (4) and others like James Markowsky (5), Steven Westly (6), Sanjay Wagle (7), David Danielson (8), David Sandalow (9), David Prend (10) –– a vital piece to this scandal, which will be tackled once I get through this "gang of ten."
TJ Glauthier (Obama Bundler): Executive Office of the President
TJ Glauthier (Obama Bundler): Executive Office of the President
Mr. Glauthier is also a member of the "gang of ten," which will be addressed in the next section.
More alarming, perhaps, than the "RAT in the Recovery," are the "gang ten." Those individuals and groups that were involved in crafting the green energy sector of the 2009-Recovery Act, and who ultimately financially benefited directly (and/or the firms they represent) from the $100 billion that was earmarked for renewable energy.
With the exception of those inside the Energy Department that have cashed in on the "green" funds ("The DOE Dirty Dozen" that I just alluded to), these stimulus authors demonstrate the depth and length of the clean-energy dirt behind this plot to rob American taxpayers in order to save the planet.
Not to mention that under the Obama administration, besides climate change policies that costs taxpayer (a gift to his climate cronies), additional "green" funds have been doled out from various budgets and departments, as outlined earlier.
The Gang of Ten comprises of three highly influential organizations, five key individuals, direct corporate influence, and of course a top DC lobbyist to boot. Keep in mind that a few in this list also fit into other categories, which means that I've covered most of them at some point or another. Here I'm giving the final installment in this series, placing all these green stimulus authors in one thorough file with an overview of each, while linking to the appropriate Green Corruption File, which has all the dirty details. This gives a horrid picture of what went on behind the scenes, and how those that helped craft the stimulus, ultimately all came out winners at the Green Bank of Obama.
With the exception of those inside the Energy Department that have cashed in on the "green" funds ("The DOE Dirty Dozen" that I just alluded to), these stimulus authors demonstrate the depth and length of the clean-energy dirt behind this plot to rob American taxpayers in order to save the planet.
Not to mention that under the Obama administration, besides climate change policies that costs taxpayer (a gift to his climate cronies), additional "green" funds have been doled out from various budgets and departments, as outlined earlier.
The Gang of Ten comprises of three highly influential organizations, five key individuals, direct corporate influence, and of course a top DC lobbyist to boot. Keep in mind that a few in this list also fit into other categories, which means that I've covered most of them at some point or another. Here I'm giving the final installment in this series, placing all these green stimulus authors in one thorough file with an overview of each, while linking to the appropriate Green Corruption File, which has all the dirty details. This gives a horrid picture of what went on behind the scenes, and how those that helped craft the stimulus, ultimately all came out winners at the Green Bank of Obama.
#1) The Apollo Alliance: tied to many of our renewable energy winners, as well the fact that past and present Apollo board members stand to, or already have, benefited from the Green Bank of Obama.
Let’s start with the Apollo Alliance which is another left-wing organization, basically an environmental activist group, funded by George Soros, which like CAP, exerts powerful influence on the views and policies of the Obama administration.
There is much to say about the Apollo Alliance, including that it's a project of the Tides Center, which is another huge story in and of itself. But what's key here is that the "the Apollo Alliance (AA) claims to have been “launched in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America,” as documented by DiscoverTheNetwor.org.
In order to understand the truth about this organization, its political power and extreme left-wing agenda, one must got back to its roots, of which The Manchurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists by Aaron Klein, covers in a complete chapter, "Anti-American Radicals Drafting Obama Legislation."
As reported by Fox News in late 2009, and collaborated in my research, whereas the Apollo Alliance had bragged about their part in the stimulus: "In late 2008 the Apollo Alliance--with Van Jones then serving on its board of directors--seized on the financial crisis as an opportunity to repackage the ideas it had long been promoting as a stimulus bill. Many of those ideas would be incorporated into the enacted legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), in February of 2009."
A lengthy analysis of the legislation was posted on Apollo’s website, however, it no longer exists. But thanks to PDF files: this one provided by Phil Kerpen of the Capital Research Center, and more details can be found in my June 2013 post.
Interesting enough, while I can’t say that this group got direct cash from the stimulus bill, they are tied to many of our renewable energy villains that have, as well the fact that past and present Apollo board members include union heavyweights like Leo W. Gerard and Gerald Hudson; influential environmental groups such as Carl Pope, the former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club; and powerful progressives like Joel Rogers (Apollo's co-founder) that stand to benefit from the clean-energy push and subsequent billions of tax dollars thrown that direction.
Besides being founded and run by Socialists, Communists and Marxists, the Apollo Alliance has quite a few other interesting indirect ties to stimulus writers and winners of "green cash," such as John Bryson, former-Chairman of BrightSource Energy prior to his appointment as Secretary of Commerce with the Obama White House until May 2011, whose firm won a huge $1.6 billion DOE stimulus loan.
Still, there are three key connections that I will cover in this post because they are part of this "gang of ten:" Van Jones, the man appointed as Green Jobs Czar to the White House in 2009, was a longtime member of the board of Apollo Alliance; the big money behind the Apollo group, Mr. Soros; and John Doerr, whose firm Kleiner Perkins placed one of their partners, Ellen Pao, at that time, on the Apollo board. The Kleiner Perkins Apollo connection I unraveled in 2010. And let's not forget that John Podesta, from CAP and covered under the Obama-Biden transition team, was also on the Apollo Board (now called Blue Green Alliance) at some point.
#2) Van Jones (Obama's 2009 Green Team, thus part of the "DOE's Dirty Dozen"): fame and possibly some fortune from the Green Bank of Obama
Let’s start with the Apollo Alliance which is another left-wing organization, basically an environmental activist group, funded by George Soros, which like CAP, exerts powerful influence on the views and policies of the Obama administration.
There is much to say about the Apollo Alliance, including that it's a project of the Tides Center, which is another huge story in and of itself. But what's key here is that the "the Apollo Alliance (AA) claims to have been “launched in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America,” as documented by DiscoverTheNetwor.org.
In order to understand the truth about this organization, its political power and extreme left-wing agenda, one must got back to its roots, of which The Manchurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists by Aaron Klein, covers in a complete chapter, "Anti-American Radicals Drafting Obama Legislation."
As reported by Fox News in late 2009, and collaborated in my research, whereas the Apollo Alliance had bragged about their part in the stimulus: "In late 2008 the Apollo Alliance--with Van Jones then serving on its board of directors--seized on the financial crisis as an opportunity to repackage the ideas it had long been promoting as a stimulus bill. Many of those ideas would be incorporated into the enacted legislation, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), in February of 2009."
A lengthy analysis of the legislation was posted on Apollo’s website, however, it no longer exists. But thanks to PDF files: this one provided by Phil Kerpen of the Capital Research Center, and more details can be found in my June 2013 post.
Interesting enough, while I can’t say that this group got direct cash from the stimulus bill, they are tied to many of our renewable energy villains that have, as well the fact that past and present Apollo board members include union heavyweights like Leo W. Gerard and Gerald Hudson; influential environmental groups such as Carl Pope, the former executive director and chairman of the Sierra Club; and powerful progressives like Joel Rogers (Apollo's co-founder) that stand to benefit from the clean-energy push and subsequent billions of tax dollars thrown that direction.
Besides being founded and run by Socialists, Communists and Marxists, the Apollo Alliance has quite a few other interesting indirect ties to stimulus writers and winners of "green cash," such as John Bryson, former-Chairman of BrightSource Energy prior to his appointment as Secretary of Commerce with the Obama White House until May 2011, whose firm won a huge $1.6 billion DOE stimulus loan.
Still, there are three key connections that I will cover in this post because they are part of this "gang of ten:" Van Jones, the man appointed as Green Jobs Czar to the White House in 2009, was a longtime member of the board of Apollo Alliance; the big money behind the Apollo group, Mr. Soros; and John Doerr, whose firm Kleiner Perkins placed one of their partners, Ellen Pao, at that time, on the Apollo board. The Kleiner Perkins Apollo connection I unraveled in 2010. And let's not forget that John Podesta, from CAP and covered under the Obama-Biden transition team, was also on the Apollo Board (now called Blue Green Alliance) at some point.
However, not enough has been reported on, or scrutinized over his part in the formation and implementation of 2009-Recovery Act. We know that Van was with the Apollo Alliance when they successfully got many of their policy ideas packaged into the trillion-dollar stimulus bill, including, but not limited to, its expensive and unsuccessful “green jobs” program.
Obviously Mr. Jones oversaw the White House's green jobs revolution and all its hype: he even bragged about it during the 2012 presidential election. Also, noted in his bio, "In 2009 [March to September], Van worked as the green jobs advisor to the Obama White House. There, he helped run the inter-agency process that oversaw $80 billion [some reports go as high as $100 billion] in green energy recovery spending."
But what Jones won't brag about is the stimulus' green jobs failure, of which Marita Noon and I have documented this part of the scam numerous times (Obama’s Green Energy Jobs Promise: 355 Jobs and Counting in October 2012, and through a May 9, 2013 post), which includes the gimmicks behind how the Obama administration tracks green jobs (created, saved, existing direct, indirect, touching lives, etc) –– shameful, embarrassing, and deceptive.
There was the failed "Cash for Clunkers" program (a Jones idea), and inside the stimulus package was a huge $500 million grant that went for research and job training projects to prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy, of which Jones has taken credit for, only to end up a total flop and worse –– it was rife with fraud and abuse.
Moreover, tucked inside the giant slush fund known as the stimulus, was a $5 billion Home Weatherization Program, of which was a "Van Jones approved program [special touring included] to help employment in minority communities." Three years into the program, all we got was excessive waste, fraud and abuse, plus more cronyism and corruption — no Americans back to work.
Nevertheless, today's Green Corruption File is more about how those that helped craft the clean-energy portion of the stimulus package, then ultimately financially benefited. Mr. Jones fits this most corrupt category, starting with a reminder that he too is part at CAP, covered all over this post. It may be just by association, but keep in mind that it has been reported that "CAP takes money from corporate donors without disclosing it" and "sometimes acts as an undisclosed lobbyist for its donors," which involves clean-energy stimulus funds.
Still, there are few other cases of which I found that Van personally and financially benefited from the "green" in the stimulus package that he helped craft and briefly oversaw.
#3) George Soros (bankrolled Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns): timely investments included twelve alternative energy and utility companies that cashed in at the Green Bank of Obama, totaling in excess of $11 billion of stimulus money.
Labeled by the Right as "the single most destructive leftist demagogue," there has been much said and written about the politically powerful George Soros. But last March in my post, "Left-wing Billionaire George Soros: Obama’s "'Agent of Green,'" I chronicled, amongst other areas, how Soros bankrolled both Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
No big deal, however, the bombshell came just after the release of Peter Schweizer’s 2011 blockbuster book. In an interview that aired on Stephen K. Bannon's Victory Sessions, starring Schweizer and Wynton Hall of Breitbart.com, one of the most damning revelations featured in Throw Them All Out was discussed:
As Soros continues to bankroll the Democrat Party, with an overall political funding statistics that are startling, as reported by the New Yorker in February 2012, as well as the Lefts' far reaching progressive plans, he's more interested in the bottom line, which is evident by his own words, “I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.”
Still, we find an extensive and explosive report that came in April 2012 entitled, "Obama Stimulus Dollars Funded Soros Empire" by Tina Trent of The Soros Files, which "includes an analysis of how Soros-funded organizations and networks operate, the strategies used to steer stimulus money to special interest lobbies, and an explanation of how taxpayers were forced to subsidize the progressive movement in the U.S."
Billionaire John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), along with his "billionaire climate buddy" Al Gore, is considered "a very big-ticket Obama donor" by New York Magazine, who in February 2011 hosted a star-studded billionaire Silicon Valley dinner for the president. Doerr not only sat on the President Obama’s Jobs Council (also from Obama's 2009 PERAB), but early on he ultimately shaped what went into the energy sector of the president's 2009-Stimulus package.
Even though there are additional "green" Doerr and Gore connections (Goldman Sachs, Google, Steve Westly, and others), what's relevant in this part of the scandal is Doerr's part in the 2009-Recovery Act. Doerr’s “green” persuasion persevered during "meetings with Obama's transition team [discussed earlier this post] and leaders in Congress," of which much of it came in the form of "five recommendations to Congress and President-elect Barack Obama to jump start a green-tech revolution and fight global warming." Of course it included a cap-and-trade system (the real pot of gold at the end of the climate rainbow), smart grid, solar, and more federal money to be allocated toward renewable energy –– all of which would benefit his portfolio dramatically, and so it has.
As luck would have it, ha ha...
#9) Large Corporate Influence: CH2MHill and Bechtel National (both 2008 and 2012 Obama donors), and the $6 billion Democrat earmark from the Green Bank of Obama
Newsflash: Bechtel is constructing BrightSoure Energy's Ivanpah project. This is the project "which counts NRG Solar, Google and BrightSource as equity investors" that we reported on in July of 2012: "Shining the Light on BrightSource Energy's $1.6 Billion Shady DOE Deal, which was also part of our Special Seven series that I just mentioned above.
I revisited that billion-dollar deal in my March 2013 file on George Soros, because one of his timely investments included purchasing 500,000 shares of NRG Energy. And sometime in October 2010, during the time of their DOE loan review process, “NRG became the lead investor ($300m) in Ivanpah solar project of the 392 MW Ivanpah project. In fact, NRG Energy –– a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company –– and its subsidiaries was the recipient of most of 1705 stimulus Loans: $5.2 billion of taxpayer money and counting.
Still, there is more on Bechtel as well as CH2MHill, of which I briefly mentioned under Van Jones, beginning with a question: What does the billion-dollar Colorado-based consulting, engineering and construction firm CH2M Hill; the Department of Energy; Senator Harry Reid and other key Democrats; high-powered liberal lobbyists and eco-radicals with direct ties to the Obama White House; and billions of taxpayer money have in common?
Crime Pays Well…
As far back as December 2008, "when it became clear that Obama would introduce a huge spending bill to create jobs, Energy Department staff members began meeting with the contractors, including representatives from Bechtel National, CH2M Hill and other large firms," reported the Washington Post in May 2009. Basically these politically connected firms had engineered their piece of the taxpayer-funded pie.
According to the Washington Free Beacon and the Post, "Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), who was also present at those [stimulus] meetings, lobbied for greater funding for the Hanford remediation project. She won $6.4 billion in funding for remediation in the final stimulus bill, nearly 13 times the funding level included in the House’s legislative package."
While CH2MHill had already been on the government payroll for over a decade, and despite their history of legal and workplace safety violations, in 2009 an additional $1.3 billion was awarded to a different CH2M subsidiary to go toward the Hanford cleanup where Bechtel is contractor in charge, which was steered out of the stimulus bill, basically proving that direct corporate influence has its perks.
The complete story on this can be found in my June 30, 2013 post, "Nuclear Crimes and Misdemeanors."
#8) American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE): In just a quick glance, besides the Citigroup connection, I found at least 29 members of ACORE that have cashed in big time at the taxpayer-funded Green Bank of Obama.
Further down the line is the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), an organization where we find that its members were big winners of taxpayer cash from the Green Bank of Obama.
But before we get to the members, Marita Noon and I, in our Citigroup columns, featured Michael Eckhart, who after spending the last decade as the founding President (2001) and a member of the Board of Directors at ACORE, joined Citigroup as Managing Director in February 2011.
This year, we both exposed Citigroup's part in this massive mess in two exposés: "Citigroup’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine" and "Wall Street Walks on the White House," chronicling Citigroup's carbon footprint inside the Obama administration as well as this Green Corruption scandal. However, here a few pertinent highlights...
I had already been aware of, and wrote about SolarReserve, SolarCity and Alta Wind, but later I found Citi’s "green stash" –– an alternative energy portfolio that lists about 37 transactions (plus SolarReserve = 38), foreign and here in the United States, whereas Citigroup's roles range from investor, advisor, arranger, to joint bookrunner, and so on, and in some case a multitude of these.
In fact Citigroup is proud of being the "largest market share (28 percent) of the DOE energy 1703/1705 Loan Guarantee program financing." After careful analysis of Citigroup’s year-old green investment documentation, in February of this year I divulged that 58 percent of their "clients" have received green-government subsidies, the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act, totaling approximately $16 billion of taxpayer money.
The author of the PJ Media piece (Christopher Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute), goes on, "At what point does this sort of admission warrant some investigation by Congress? I know it’s just a group representing 650 companies writing a federal program from which they would benefit. Lobbyists writing policies and all that. But, still."
It is not clear which grant program that ACORE "helped design," however we do know that there are numerous ways that the Energy Department gives out free "green money." One of the biggest stimulus scams is coming out of the 1603 Treasury Program ($19,349,675,402), and it turns out that in late 2011, ACORE ensured that the 1603 was extended through 2012 –– a program of which many of their members have financially benefited, including the one that Eckhart works for, Citigroup.
5. Abengoa Solar Inc*
This Spain-based energy company is tied to Obama supporter and climate crony Al Gore, who in 2007, Gore’s UK-based Generation Investment Management (GIM) –– which was started in 2004 by Gore and several Goldman big wigs –– bought a stake in Abengoa. There are other key Democrats in the mix, and we also find McKinsey & Company, another 2008 Obama top donor, in this story and periodically inside this scandal.
Our work on this foreign story can be found here in Marita Noon's August 2012 column, "How Democrats Say "Crony Corruption" in Spanish: Abengoa," as well as in my January 8, 2013 file on Doerr and Gore. But as a refresher, three taxpayer funded stimulus "junk loans" went to "the Spanish clean-energy conglomerate Abengoa worth $2.78 billion to create 195 permanent jobs (a rate of more than $14 million per job), noted the Washington Free Beacon a while back.
Also, in December of 2012, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) provided a loan worth over $150 million to Abengoa for projects in Latin America, including a 50-MW wind farm in Uruguay. And last month, Ex-Im steered more taxpayer money their way by recently authorizing a pair of loans totaling $33.6 million to Abengoa "that will fund the export of American-made products for use in solar projects in Spain and South Africa."
Besides Carol Browner, mentioned at the beginning of this post, who serves on the Advisory Committee of Ex-Im, there is another obvious conflict of interest that has been around for some time. "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D.) sits on the Abengoa International Advisory Board and is currently listed on the Ex-Im bank’s website as a member of the 2013 advisory committee that helps guide bank policy," as reported in The Green Corruption Files, Fontpage.com, and recently by the Washington Free Beacon.
6. Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Both banks were top Obama donors in 2008 and so far, besides Bank of America's part in SolarCity, which I'll get to in a bit, I've tracked their connection to Prologis (Project Amp) that snagged a huge $1.4 billion stimulus loan. Prior to the finalization of this $1.4 billion DOE loan, in June 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prologis and NRG Energy joined forces on Project Amp, "a four-year, $2.6 billion project to place solar panels on rooftops in 28 states, one of the most ambitious clean-energy projects in recent years," reported the Wall Street Journal. Even though parts of this story can be found in my March 2013 file on George Soros, stay tuned for more details on this project and further "green" deals that these "too-big-to-fail" banks are involved in.
7. Duke Energy
Jim Rogers, another Obama donor, the chairman of Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric power company, was a major player at the 2012 Democratic convention, as a contributor, creditor, host, and even a speaker.
In my January 2013, Big Wind Story, I had documented how Duke Energy was the recipient of a $22 million DOE grant from the 2009-Recovery Act “to design, build and install large-scale batteries to store wind energy at one of its wind farms in Texas.” Then June 8, 2010, Notrees Windpower LP received a 1603 grant worth over $90 million for “wind in Texas." And after a quick glance, I found more 1603 stimulus grants for Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, totaling over $60 million for "hydropower" and "solar electricity." Duke was also privy to the "smart" money as well –– in 2009, the DOE awarded Duke Energy a $200 million stimulus smart-grid grant to support projects in the Midwest.
8. EDF Renewable Energy
This past January, the Energy and Commerce Committee released an “in-depth report on its ongoing investigation into the implementation of President Obama’s green energy stimulus spending,” exposing a shocking detail at that time: “foreign corporations have received approximately one-quarter of $16 billion spent on 'Section 1603' renewable energy stimulus program.” (NOTE: it has now surpassed $19 billion).
The Energy and Commerce Committee presented some details into these stimulus grant winners, which are owned or operated by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, scoring $4 billion of the $16 billion in 1603 grants. Thus we find that EDF (also a client of Citigroup) was ranked number four: EDF Renewable Energy (formerly EnXco) –– the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, France, “the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world”: $204,986,935 in Section 1603 grants –– free American tax dollars.
9. First Solar*
Besides Goldman Sachs (listed next) and Al Gore's GIM (listed earlier), who were known investors in First Solar, there were additional wealthy Obama bundlers, donors, and top supporters who were also First Solar shareholders that we chronicled last summer.
First Solar was the recipient of over $3 billion of taxpayer money for three risky projects, of which I revisited March 2013 file on George Soros, due to First Solar's partnership with NRG Energy. The three solar projects, located in California and Arizona, that were funded with large DOE stimulus loans were sold, and here is the breakdown : Antelope Valley Solar Ranch ($646 million/ sold to Exelon Corp.), Desert Sunlight project ($1.46 billion, sold to NextEra Energy and GE), and the Agua Caliente plant ($967 million/ sold to NRG Solar). However, First Solar is still actively involved.
Also noted in Veronique de Rugy's June 2012 report, "ASSESSING THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LOAN GUARANTEE PROGRAM" –– her written testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:
SunRun can be found in my May research on Foundation Capital's "green," who is another friend of the Obama White House and big VC winner of taxpayer money at the Green Bank of Obama, adding to my long list of VC's that include Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, VantagePoint, Khosla Ventures, The Westly Group, Perseus, L.L.C, and more to be exposed.
In fact, Foundation Capital lists 12 firms as cleantech investments, of which I calculated that 60 percent were winners, totaling over $175 million of taxpayer money, and that does not take into account Silver Spring Network's $1.3 billion in contracts related to the smart-grid grants. SunRun is on that list, and where we also discover that TJ Glauthier (one of the "gang of ten" covered here) was named as a key advisor. Still, as of today, I found that SunRun has snagged 23 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 10 states, totaling over $141 million tax dollars, thus far.
Plus in 2010, SunRun announced a $100 million joint program with major utility Pacific Gas & Electric, which according to Venture Beat, “PG&E will be funding the rooftop systems in question via its subsidiary, Pacific Energy Capital II, a tax equity fund,” of which “In lieu of traditional returns, the investor — PG&E in this case — gets tax benefits in addition to some cash returns.”
Still, there are few other cases of which I found that Van personally and financially benefited from the "green" in the stimulus package that he helped craft and briefly oversaw.
- CH2M HILL winner of $1.3 billion in stimulus funds: Just a couple of weeks after being named as the president's Green Job's Czar (March 2009), the Aspen Institute held an award ceremony, co-sponsored by CH2M HILL, which saw Jones accept recognition in the category of Individual Thought Leadership. CH2M Hill, despite their history of legal and workplace safety violations, in 2009 an additional $1.3 billion was awarded (and counting) to a different CH2M subsidiary to go toward the Hanford cleanup, which was steered out the stimulus bill. Not exactly direct cash in the pocket of Mr. Jones, but I'm sure that having the right eco-radical in your corner, one that overseas the money that you are seeking, doesn't hurt. But then again, I'm sure CH2M didn't need any help, as they too are another member of this "gang of ten."
- Capital Access Program: A month prior to Van Jones' September 2009 resignation, blaming it on a "smear campaign of lies and distortions to distract and divide," in August 2009, his Green for All launched a program called Capital Access Program (CAP) to help green businesses secure stimulus funds –– monies that he was overseeing at that time, of which his bio confirms. The Capital Access Program stated mission "is to mobilize financial and social capital to help create, sustain, and scale green jobs in the U.S.," and they teach "Where to get the green, as in cash. However, I can't locate any recent data on this program, or if they charged for this service, and what businesses they helped that got "green" stimulus funds, or how much extra cash Green for All collected on behalf of this particular cause –– thus I can't give a dollar amount here, but obviously this is a clear conflict of interest.
- Solar Mosaic: Jones was also an advisor at Solar Mosaic, of which in June 2012, was awarded a $2 million grant from the Energy Department's SunShot Initiative. Solar Mosaic had also employed Rebuild the Dream to do its public relations work, documented The Daily Caller in 2012. Also, in 2012 and 2013, Solar Mosaic snagged two small 1603 federal stimulus grants: one in Arizona for $13,123 and in California for $185,700.
Certainly, Van's White House post, which comprised of overseeing billions in "green" stimulus funds, and the subsequent controversy surrounding his eco-radical mission (good and bad press) helped catapult Jones into fame and possibly some fortune. In my opinion, this would include the success of his "green jobs book," numerous green honors, and his CNN gig –– success that he may not have seen otherwise.
Needless to say, Van's stimulus benefits are not nearly at the level as his pal Soros, the left-wing billionaire that has been know to fund Van's causes as far back as the 90's, including Green for All.
Needless to say, Van's stimulus benefits are not nearly at the level as his pal Soros, the left-wing billionaire that has been know to fund Van's causes as far back as the 90's, including Green for All.
No big deal, however, the bombshell came just after the release of Peter Schweizer’s 2011 blockbuster book. In an interview that aired on Stephen K. Bannon's Victory Sessions, starring Schweizer and Wynton Hall of Breitbart.com, one of the most damning revelations featured in Throw Them All Out was discussed:
Billionaire George Soros gave advice and direction on how President Obama should allocate so-called “stimulus” money in a series of regular private meetings and consultations with White House senior advisers even as Soros was making investments in areas affected by the stimulus program.
Then Schweizer reveals, "In the first quarter of 2009, Mr. Soros went on a stock-buying spree in companies that ultimately benefited from the federal stimulus." After a month-long research ordeal ending in March of this year, I found that Soros' timely investments included twelve alternative energy and utility companies that cashed in at the Green Bank of Obama, totaling in excess of $11 billion of stimulus money –– and you, the taxpayer, footed the bill.
As Soros continues to bankroll the Democrat Party, with an overall political funding statistics that are startling, as reported by the New Yorker in February 2012, as well as the Lefts' far reaching progressive plans, he's more interested in the bottom line, which is evident by his own words, “I am basically there to make money. I cannot and do not look at the social consequences of what I do.”
Still, we find an extensive and explosive report that came in April 2012 entitled, "Obama Stimulus Dollars Funded Soros Empire" by Tina Trent of The Soros Files, which "includes an analysis of how Soros-funded organizations and networks operate, the strategies used to steer stimulus money to special interest lobbies, and an explanation of how taxpayers were forced to subsidize the progressive movement in the U.S."
While it would take weeks to decipher and present this report in a summarized format, it's obvious that Soros, along with his deep-rooted shadowy agenda, and his pal Van Jones, as well as many of their organizations and associations –– the radical environmentalism groups like the Tides Foundation and the Apollo Alliance –– are both huge forces inside this clean-energy scandal, yet with extremely dark motives.
#4) John Doerr, Partner at Kleiner Perkins (Obama donors): tied to at least $10 billion from the taxpayer-funded Green Bank of Obama.
In 2010, I began to unravel President Obama's "climate cronies" John Doerr and Al Gore's as well as their carbon footprint inside this green energy scam. By January of this year, I was able to expose quite the story, and here a few highlights... Billionaire John Doerr, partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), along with his "billionaire climate buddy" Al Gore, is considered "a very big-ticket Obama donor" by New York Magazine, who in February 2011 hosted a star-studded billionaire Silicon Valley dinner for the president. Doerr not only sat on the President Obama’s Jobs Council (also from Obama's 2009 PERAB), but early on he ultimately shaped what went into the energy sector of the president's 2009-Stimulus package.
Even though there are additional "green" Doerr and Gore connections (Goldman Sachs, Google, Steve Westly, and others), what's relevant in this part of the scandal is Doerr's part in the 2009-Recovery Act. Doerr’s “green” persuasion persevered during "meetings with Obama's transition team [discussed earlier this post] and leaders in Congress," of which much of it came in the form of "five recommendations to Congress and President-elect Barack Obama to jump start a green-tech revolution and fight global warming." Of course it included a cap-and-trade system (the real pot of gold at the end of the climate rainbow), smart grid, solar, and more federal money to be allocated toward renewable energy –– all of which would benefit his portfolio dramatically, and so it has.
As luck would have it, ha ha...
Doerr and Gore came out as one of the "The Mother of All Green Energy Stimulus Money Winners." Within Kleiner Perkins' greentech portfolio you’ll find that over fifty percent have benefited from loans, grants, and special tax breaks. My December 2012 tally confirms that Kleiner Perkins raked in at least $1 billion in clean-energy government subsidies, the majority coming from 2009-Recovery Act. Then if you factor in Kleiner Perkins' collaboration with Al Gore's London-based Generation Investment Management (GIM) that number increases significantly, putting the figure up to at least $10 billion from the taxpayer-funded Green Bank of Obama.
#5) Secretary of State John Kerry: Unknown amount of money that Kerry made off his confirmed investments into in Kleiner Perkins' cleantech portfolio that cashed in big time at the Green Bank of Obama
"For years, Kerry [a leader in the crusade against global warming] has invested millions in a number of green energy companies that have benefited from the president’s efforts to aggressively subsidize the industry with taxpayer dollars," wrote the Washington Free Beacon in 2012.
Meanwhile this past January, prior to Senator Kerry's promotion to Secretary of State, we unleashed my research: Climate Hawk Senator John Kerry and His Green Inside Deal, documenting Kerry's influence on the 2009-Recovery Act. More specifically he “played a key role in securing energy tax provision increases to include a long term extension of provisions that provide tax incentives for the production of renewable energy and tax credits for conservations.”
Kerry had purchased timely shares in a number of Kleiner Perkins investment funds, including their Green Growth Fund, which is home of the climate change evangelists, the mega rich John Doerr and Al Gore that I just covered above, noting how they raked in billions in "green."
Kerry seems to average about twelve percent of his published assets in "energy & natural resources," and with a quick glance, besides Kleiner Perkins, we find that Southern Company, who with its own political clout, managed to snag on of the largest Energy Department loans: $8.33 billion loan guarantee to support the construction of the nation’s next generation of advanced nuclear reactors," referred to as The Vogtle Project –– a Nuclear Disaster story I divulged on July 13.
Also, we find that there are numerous large corporations that are tied to massive amounts of renewable energy funds (the green) that was shoveled out of the 2009-Recovery Act such as BP, Bank of America, Citigroup, Exelon Corp, General Electric, and Google –– all TOP 2008 Obama donors, with a few again in 2012. However, we would have to analyze the timing on these stock transactions and dig further to make any future assumptions in regards to Kerry's green inside deals.
Kerry promised “to divest holdings [within 90 days] in dozens of companies in his family's vast financial portfolio to avoid conflicts of interest if he is confirmed.” Hmmm, it's time to check...
#6) TJ Glauthier (Obama 2008 bundler and donor): tied to at least four green energy firms that raked in hundreds of millions of green energy funds from the Green Bank of Obama, the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act that he helped craft.
Mr. Glauthier, whose past includes key positions inside Washington D.C. under the Clinton administration, including the Department of Energy, served on Obama's Transition Team, and while he was also a bundler for Obama's 20008 presidential campaign, Mr. Glauthier donated a small amount of funds to Team Obama as well as the Democrat party.
What's key here is that Glauthier is also widely credited for specifically working on the energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and it turns out that he is connected to quite a few of the green energy deals.
Since 2005, Mr. Glauthier has been the President of TJG Energy Associates, LLC, an energy- consulting firm, and considers himself "an executive, board member and strategic advisor in the energy sector." Glauthier is a Strategic Advisor for Solazyme, and he serves on the board of three companies, including EnerNOC, and in 2010, he was named as a key advisor to SunRun –– the latter two green firms are part of Foundation Capital cleantech portfolio, another big Venture
Capital firm that snagged big bucks from the Green Bank of Obama, of which I tackled in my May file, "Smart Gird, Dirty Devices."
Still, the evidence is found in the fact that these four green energy firms that Mr. TJ is connected to raked in hundreds of millions of green energy funds –– the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act that he helped craft, all explained in my July 2013 post, "Subsidizing Obama’s Algae: Its advisors and allies."
"For years, Kerry [a leader in the crusade against global warming] has invested millions in a number of green energy companies that have benefited from the president’s efforts to aggressively subsidize the industry with taxpayer dollars," wrote the Washington Free Beacon in 2012.
Meanwhile this past January, prior to Senator Kerry's promotion to Secretary of State, we unleashed my research: Climate Hawk Senator John Kerry and His Green Inside Deal, documenting Kerry's influence on the 2009-Recovery Act. More specifically he “played a key role in securing energy tax provision increases to include a long term extension of provisions that provide tax incentives for the production of renewable energy and tax credits for conservations.”
Kerry had purchased timely shares in a number of Kleiner Perkins investment funds, including their Green Growth Fund, which is home of the climate change evangelists, the mega rich John Doerr and Al Gore that I just covered above, noting how they raked in billions in "green."
Kerry seems to average about twelve percent of his published assets in "energy & natural resources," and with a quick glance, besides Kleiner Perkins, we find that Southern Company, who with its own political clout, managed to snag on of the largest Energy Department loans: $8.33 billion loan guarantee to support the construction of the nation’s next generation of advanced nuclear reactors," referred to as The Vogtle Project –– a Nuclear Disaster story I divulged on July 13.
Also, we find that there are numerous large corporations that are tied to massive amounts of renewable energy funds (the green) that was shoveled out of the 2009-Recovery Act such as BP, Bank of America, Citigroup, Exelon Corp, General Electric, and Google –– all TOP 2008 Obama donors, with a few again in 2012. However, we would have to analyze the timing on these stock transactions and dig further to make any future assumptions in regards to Kerry's green inside deals.
Kerry promised “to divest holdings [within 90 days] in dozens of companies in his family's vast financial portfolio to avoid conflicts of interest if he is confirmed.” Hmmm, it's time to check...
Mr. Glauthier, whose past includes key positions inside Washington D.C. under the Clinton administration, including the Department of Energy, served on Obama's Transition Team, and while he was also a bundler for Obama's 20008 presidential campaign, Mr. Glauthier donated a small amount of funds to Team Obama as well as the Democrat party.
What's key here is that Glauthier is also widely credited for specifically working on the energy provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, and it turns out that he is connected to quite a few of the green energy deals.
Since 2005, Mr. Glauthier has been the President of TJG Energy Associates, LLC, an energy- consulting firm, and considers himself "an executive, board member and strategic advisor in the energy sector." Glauthier is a Strategic Advisor for Solazyme, and he serves on the board of three companies, including EnerNOC, and in 2010, he was named as a key advisor to SunRun –– the latter two green firms are part of Foundation Capital cleantech portfolio, another big Venture
Capital firm that snagged big bucks from the Green Bank of Obama, of which I tackled in my May file, "Smart Gird, Dirty Devices."
Still, the evidence is found in the fact that these four green energy firms that Mr. TJ is connected to raked in hundreds of millions of green energy funds –– the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act that he helped craft, all explained in my July 2013 post, "Subsidizing Obama’s Algae: Its advisors and allies."
- Solazyme (Strategic Advisor): $21.7 million DOE stimulus grant; plus part of the $12 million biofuel contract with the U.S. Navy
- EnerNOC (Board Member): $10 million stimulus funds for a contract with the State of Massachusetts
- SunRun (key Advisor): 23 federal stimulus grants, totaling over $141 million tax dollars; plus partners with PG&E on a $100 million program that will get tax benefits in addition to some cash returns
- GridPoint (former Board Member): Benefited from scores of smart-grid stimulus funds and more
A while back I uncovered that the DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC) “recommendations” from their 2008 and 2009 reports made its way into “the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and are being implemented in DOE policies and programs under the Obama administration. At that time, I also discovered that representatives from quite a few Big Energy firms –– General Electric (GE), NextEra Energy, American Electric Power (AEP) –– were on that committee during that process, and all three made out like bandits.
- General Electric (top 2008 Obama donor): won at least $3.3 billion from Green Bank of Obama, which includes three large DOE stimulus loans. NOTE: GE is also part of Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members and is also an energy client of McBee Strategic Consulting.
- NextEra Energy's green tab is on its way to $3 billion of taxpayer money, and that's not factoring production tax credit (PTC). In the summer of 2012, when Marita Noon and I began our green-energy, crony-corruption collaboration, we started our Special Seven series: those not only snagged "junk" stimulus loans from the Energy Department (some also scored millions, if not billions, from the 1603 Grant Program), but also received fast-tracked approval by the Department of the Interior to lease federal lands in a no-bid process. NOTE: Cronyism and corruption details can be found in the following columns and files: August, 12, 2013 "Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans;" December 23, 2012 "Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members;" and my January 22, 2013 file on "Big Wind Energy Subsidies: A Hurricane of Carnage, Cronyism and Corruption"
- American Electric Power (AEP): at least four stimulus grants totaling $740 million, excluding $1B for a project they bailed out of. NOTE: All the AEP details can be found in my March 2013 Green Corruption File, "Left-wing Billionaire George Soros: Obama’s Agent of Green." AEP is also part of "the DOE's Dirty Dozen," which is in the works.
#9) Large Corporate Influence: CH2MHill and Bechtel National (both 2008 and 2012 Obama donors), and the $6 billion Democrat earmark from the Green Bank of Obama
I revisited that billion-dollar deal in my March 2013 file on George Soros, because one of his timely investments included purchasing 500,000 shares of NRG Energy. And sometime in October 2010, during the time of their DOE loan review process, “NRG became the lead investor ($300m) in Ivanpah solar project of the 392 MW Ivanpah project. In fact, NRG Energy –– a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company –– and its subsidiaries was the recipient of most of 1705 stimulus Loans: $5.2 billion of taxpayer money and counting.
Crime Pays Well…
As far back as December 2008, "when it became clear that Obama would introduce a huge spending bill to create jobs, Energy Department staff members began meeting with the contractors, including representatives from Bechtel National, CH2M Hill and other large firms," reported the Washington Post in May 2009. Basically these politically connected firms had engineered their piece of the taxpayer-funded pie.
According to the Washington Free Beacon and the Post, "Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.), who was also present at those [stimulus] meetings, lobbied for greater funding for the Hanford remediation project. She won $6.4 billion in funding for remediation in the final stimulus bill, nearly 13 times the funding level included in the House’s legislative package."
The complete story on this can be found in my June 30, 2013 post, "Nuclear Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Further down the line is the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), an organization where we find that its members were big winners of taxpayer cash from the Green Bank of Obama.
But before we get to the members, Marita Noon and I, in our Citigroup columns, featured Michael Eckhart, who after spending the last decade as the founding President (2001) and a member of the Board of Directors at ACORE, joined Citigroup as Managing Director in February 2011.
This year, we both exposed Citigroup's part in this massive mess in two exposés: "Citigroup’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine" and "Wall Street Walks on the White House," chronicling Citigroup's carbon footprint inside the Obama administration as well as this Green Corruption scandal. However, here a few pertinent highlights...
In fact Citigroup is proud of being the "largest market share (28 percent) of the DOE energy 1703/1705 Loan Guarantee program financing." After careful analysis of Citigroup’s year-old green investment documentation, in February of this year I divulged that 58 percent of their "clients" have received green-government subsidies, the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act, totaling approximately $16 billion of taxpayer money.
But who is ACORE?
ACORE is a renewable energy lobby powerhouse –– a band of Music Man businesses and deep-pocketed backers, of which PJ Media had alerted to 2011: “Michael Eckhart and the ACORE membership also helped design the Department of Energy grant programs that partly offset the loss of tax equity financing arrangements. The tax equity financing schemes had been Wall Street’s main vehicle for bankrolling large wind and solar power plants, but they became moot when major losses …"The author of the PJ Media piece (Christopher Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute), goes on, "At what point does this sort of admission warrant some investigation by Congress? I know it’s just a group representing 650 companies writing a federal program from which they would benefit. Lobbyists writing policies and all that. But, still."
Adding to the favoritism, and as report by the Washington Free Beacon a while back, and briefly brought up during my overview of NextEra Energy, “Seven solar (and geothermal) companies received fast-tracked approval by the Department of the Interior to lease federal lands in a no-bid process: and many of them happened to be here as ACORE members (marked with *): Abengoa Solar, BrightSource Energy, First Solar, Nevada Geothermal Power, NextEra Energy Resources (listed above), Ormat Nevada, and SolarReserve.”
With a quick review and based on my immediate memory, other "green" stimulus money winners that are currently listed in the ACORE Member Directory include the following (below), with some that also happened to be part of the "stimulus author" category, and many of which I've already exposed.
Detailed earlier in this post is...
Each of these seven companies, despite “junk bond” status, had also received billions of DOE funds under the 1705 loan program as well as renewable energy grants from the Treasury Department. Thus in the summer of 2012, Marita Noon and I collaborated on our Special Seven Series (June 2012 to August 2012), laying out, not only the billions of tax dollars used to fund these large projects and firms, but also the cronyism and corruption behind each.
With a quick review and based on my immediate memory, other "green" stimulus money winners that are currently listed in the ACORE Member Directory include the following (below), with some that also happened to be part of the "stimulus author" category, and many of which I've already exposed.
Detailed earlier in this post is...
- Bechtel Power Corporation- New Technologies and Renewables (2008 and 2012 Obama donor): Besides benefiting from the BrightSource $1.6 billion stimulus deal, they are also making out in their role as contractor in charge of the Hanford nuclear waste clean-up project, which includes (so far) over $1 billion from the $6 billion Democrat stimulus earmark, as exposed a bit earlier.
- BrightSource Energy, Inc* (BSE's investors include top 2008 Obama donors such as Google, Morgan Stanley, BP Alternative Energy, and Goldman Sachs): Even though I've mentioned BrightSource Energy and the $1.6 Billion Shady DOE Deal many times in this post, it turns out that McBee Strategic Consulting lobby firm (the final "gang of ten") counts them and other key players inside this huge solar project as energy clients: VantagePoint, Google Inc, and Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. The complete story on this can be found in my September 13, 2013 file, on the top D.C. Lobbyist McBee Strategic Consulting.
- Citigroup (top 2008 Obama donor): 58 percent of Citi's "clients" have received government subsidies, the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act, totaling approximately $16 billion of taxpayer money.
- GE Energy Financial Services (top 2008 Obama donor): As documented earlier in the DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee, GE won at least $3.3 billion from Green Bank of Obama, which includes three large DOE stimulus loans. GE is also an energy client of McBee Strategic Consulting.
5. Abengoa Solar Inc*
This Spain-based energy company is tied to Obama supporter and climate crony Al Gore, who in 2007, Gore’s UK-based Generation Investment Management (GIM) –– which was started in 2004 by Gore and several Goldman big wigs –– bought a stake in Abengoa. There are other key Democrats in the mix, and we also find McKinsey & Company, another 2008 Obama top donor, in this story and periodically inside this scandal.
Our work on this foreign story can be found here in Marita Noon's August 2012 column, "How Democrats Say "Crony Corruption" in Spanish: Abengoa," as well as in my January 8, 2013 file on Doerr and Gore. But as a refresher, three taxpayer funded stimulus "junk loans" went to "the Spanish clean-energy conglomerate Abengoa worth $2.78 billion to create 195 permanent jobs (a rate of more than $14 million per job), noted the Washington Free Beacon a while back.
Also, in December of 2012, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im) provided a loan worth over $150 million to Abengoa for projects in Latin America, including a 50-MW wind farm in Uruguay. And last month, Ex-Im steered more taxpayer money their way by recently authorizing a pair of loans totaling $33.6 million to Abengoa "that will fund the export of American-made products for use in solar projects in Spain and South Africa."
Besides Carol Browner, mentioned at the beginning of this post, who serves on the Advisory Committee of Ex-Im, there is another obvious conflict of interest that has been around for some time. "Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D.) sits on the Abengoa International Advisory Board and is currently listed on the Ex-Im bank’s website as a member of the 2013 advisory committee that helps guide bank policy," as reported in The Green Corruption Files, Fontpage.com, and recently by the Washington Free Beacon.
6. Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Both banks were top Obama donors in 2008 and so far, besides Bank of America's part in SolarCity, which I'll get to in a bit, I've tracked their connection to Prologis (Project Amp) that snagged a huge $1.4 billion stimulus loan. Prior to the finalization of this $1.4 billion DOE loan, in June 2011, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Prologis and NRG Energy joined forces on Project Amp, "a four-year, $2.6 billion project to place solar panels on rooftops in 28 states, one of the most ambitious clean-energy projects in recent years," reported the Wall Street Journal. Even though parts of this story can be found in my March 2013 file on George Soros, stay tuned for more details on this project and further "green" deals that these "too-big-to-fail" banks are involved in.
7. Duke Energy
Jim Rogers, another Obama donor, the chairman of Duke Energy, the nation’s largest electric power company, was a major player at the 2012 Democratic convention, as a contributor, creditor, host, and even a speaker.
In my January 2013, Big Wind Story, I had documented how Duke Energy was the recipient of a $22 million DOE grant from the 2009-Recovery Act “to design, build and install large-scale batteries to store wind energy at one of its wind farms in Texas.” Then June 8, 2010, Notrees Windpower LP received a 1603 grant worth over $90 million for “wind in Texas." And after a quick glance, I found more 1603 stimulus grants for Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, totaling over $60 million for "hydropower" and "solar electricity." Duke was also privy to the "smart" money as well –– in 2009, the DOE awarded Duke Energy a $200 million stimulus smart-grid grant to support projects in the Midwest.
8. EDF Renewable Energy
This past January, the Energy and Commerce Committee released an “in-depth report on its ongoing investigation into the implementation of President Obama’s green energy stimulus spending,” exposing a shocking detail at that time: “foreign corporations have received approximately one-quarter of $16 billion spent on 'Section 1603' renewable energy stimulus program.” (NOTE: it has now surpassed $19 billion).
The Energy and Commerce Committee presented some details into these stimulus grant winners, which are owned or operated by U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, scoring $4 billion of the $16 billion in 1603 grants. Thus we find that EDF (also a client of Citigroup) was ranked number four: EDF Renewable Energy (formerly EnXco) –– the U.S. subsidiary of EDF Energies Nouvelles, France, “the renewable energy arm of the EDF group, the leading electricity company in the world”: $204,986,935 in Section 1603 grants –– free American tax dollars.
9. First Solar*
Besides Goldman Sachs (listed next) and Al Gore's GIM (listed earlier), who were known investors in First Solar, there were additional wealthy Obama bundlers, donors, and top supporters who were also First Solar shareholders that we chronicled last summer.
First Solar was the recipient of over $3 billion of taxpayer money for three risky projects, of which I revisited March 2013 file on George Soros, due to First Solar's partnership with NRG Energy. The three solar projects, located in California and Arizona, that were funded with large DOE stimulus loans were sold, and here is the breakdown : Antelope Valley Solar Ranch ($646 million/ sold to Exelon Corp.), Desert Sunlight project ($1.46 billion, sold to NextEra Energy and GE), and the Agua Caliente plant ($967 million/ sold to NRG Solar). However, First Solar is still actively involved.
First Solar’s Antelope Valley project received a $646 million 1705 loan in 2011 through its partner Exelon, and per my calculation from the Ex-IM Bank FOIA deal data information for FY2011, the company also scored $547.7 million in loan guarantees to subsidize the sale of solar panels to solar farms abroad.
Ms. de Rugy continues...
10. Goldman Sachs
For those of us paying attention, we know that Wall Street helped Obama get elected in 2008, which included Goldman Sachs, who was a top Obama donor in 2008, with a few Goldman execs on Obama’s 2008 Finance Committee and Obama bundlers in 2008 and 2012. But back in 2010, I reported on Goldman Sachs and the fact that they were cashing in on the green stimulus, and as my research developed, found their DNA is all over this clean-energy scheme, including "The First Solar Three Billion Dollar Swindle" that I just covered above.
12. Google
In 2008 and 2012 Google was listed in the top six of Obama donors, with quite a few Google executives also contributing directly and lending their support to the Obama campaigns. Like many of these Big VC's, their "cleantech" investments, and (and dirt) overlap, and I briefly touched on Google in my January 2012 post about Doerr and Gore...again.
Later, when I discovered that Google is an energy client of McBee Strategic Consulting (also in this post), I did some more leg work, and I discovered and exposed the fact that Google Ventures –– via their "Energy Investments" and other "green deals" that I tracked down –– has ten verified stimulus and other green funds winners, which places their investment score at close to $5 billion of taxpayer cash. This figure does not include Silver Spring Networks and their connection to $1.3 billion in smart-grid stimulus grants that I divulged a few times, due to the fact that they are an investment of Kleiner Perkins and Foundation Capital.
15. POET Biorefining
As I reported in my biofuel post this past August (Billions of Obama biofuel bucks funded "not so shovel-ready" risky projects, fueled by more green corruption), the POET Project LIBERTY has been part of the Energy Department's BETO program for a while. In September 2009, additional DOE funds were awarded to this project, of which at that time, the two grant increases brought "the total financial commitment from DOE to $100 million." Plus, $20 million in financial assistance came from the State of Iowa (could be more?) for this project.
POET was also awarded $105 million loan guarantee through stimulus created 1705 program, but they voluntarily withdrew in January 2012 due to availability of private financing. Also we find that that POET's connections to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) are pretty thick. Not only as member, but the fact that Doug Berven, POET's Vice President of Corporate Affairs is on ACORE's Board of Directors.
17. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
I highlighted this utility company in my May post, "Smart Gird, Dirty Devices," and how they won a $127.5 million stimulus grant for a comprehensive regional smart-grid system. SMUD is a customer of Silver Spring Networks, a Kleiner Perkins and Foundation Capital investment, both with friends in high places.
In the summer of 2009, the Energy Department started dishing out $4.5 billion in smart-grid grants, whereas free taxpayer money was awarded to selected utility companies for particular smart-grid projects. In my January 2013 analysis of Silver Spring's, I discovered that 25 customers (plus Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative that received $18.8 million), of which half are foreign, while the other thirteen are American. It turns out that all but one (PG&E) were confirmed winners –– calculations that find Silver Spring Networks linked to at least $1.3 billion of stimulus smart-grid grants.
SolarCity:
I've covered SolarCity a few times: here in my Spreading the Wealth to Obama's Ultra-Rich Job Council Members; in February while tracking Citigroup's massive carbon footprint; in March when I attempted to cover the left-wing billionaire George Soros' part in this massive scheme; and recently in my post on top D.C. lobbyist, McBee Strategic Consulting.
In short, other than Soros, SolarCity story enjoys other billionaire players and Obama donors like Elon Musk, Nicholas J. Pritzker, Al Gore's firm Generation Investment Management LLP as well as Obama Wall Street buddies: Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Citigroup. In between, SolarCity has developed partnerships with a few other stimulus winners and Obama donors like PG& E, and Google. Plus, since 2009, SolarCity has been an energy client of McBee Strategic Consulting.
SolarCity was also in line to get a stimulus loan from the DOE for $275 million, however that DOE deal have fell apart due to the 2011 Solyndra "red flags." But that hasn't stopped them from taking advantage of government subsidies. As of December 2012, "SolarCity currently benefits from tax credits totaling as much as 30 percent of the cost of these systems," noted Bloomberg. Plus, SolarCity's $341 million in grants that was reported Fox News and others, however, I found federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program that went for "USB SolarCity Master Tenant" and ranges across 15 states, totaling over $88 million. This means that SolarCity may have snagged approximately $429 million of tax-free cash.
More troubling is the fact that some of the Ex-Im money went to a Canadian company named St. Clair Solar, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Solar. St. Clair Solar received a total of $192.9 million broken into two loans to buy solar panels from First Solar. In other words, the company received a loan to buy solar panels from itself. NOTE: other reports say $455.7 from Ex-Im.
First Solar also received other stimulus funds, as well as additional taxpayer money from the Obama administration, including these funds documented by the Washington Examiner in March 2012, "First Solar pocketed $17.3 million in government grants and $15 million in government loans," which came from the federal government and the state of Ohio, of which at that time was run by Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. (NOTE: at least half of the monies were to expand its factory in Ohio).
10. Goldman Sachs
For those of us paying attention, we know that Wall Street helped Obama get elected in 2008, which included Goldman Sachs, who was a top Obama donor in 2008, with a few Goldman execs on Obama’s 2008 Finance Committee and Obama bundlers in 2008 and 2012. But back in 2010, I reported on Goldman Sachs and the fact that they were cashing in on the green stimulus, and as my research developed, found their DNA is all over this clean-energy scheme, including "The First Solar Three Billion Dollar Swindle" that I just covered above.
Goldman was also an investor in U.S. Geothermal that snagged a $97 million DOE stimulus loan as well as Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC (Cogentrix Energy a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs), that in September 2011 snagged a $90.6 million DOE loan.
Even without extensive research, we can confirm that Goldman Sachs is tied to many other "green" projects that received loans, grants and special tax breaks, and it's not just limited to First Solar and the three stimulus loans listed above. They are also credited as the “exclusive financial adviser” for now bankrupt Solyndra, and in 2010, handled the IPO of both Tesla Motors and Amyris. There are more bankrupt ones as well: SpectraWatt, Nordic WindPower, and the "struggling" SunTech –– all taking billions of taxpayer money down with them.
Considering Goldman's associations with Gore and Doerr, this and more can be found in my January 8, 2013 file on the climate duo and Kleiner Perkins.
Even without extensive research, we can confirm that Goldman Sachs is tied to many other "green" projects that received loans, grants and special tax breaks, and it's not just limited to First Solar and the three stimulus loans listed above. They are also credited as the “exclusive financial adviser” for now bankrupt Solyndra, and in 2010, handled the IPO of both Tesla Motors and Amyris. There are more bankrupt ones as well: SpectraWatt, Nordic WindPower, and the "struggling" SunTech –– all taking billions of taxpayer money down with them.
Considering Goldman's associations with Gore and Doerr, this and more can be found in my January 8, 2013 file on the climate duo and Kleiner Perkins.
12. Google
In 2008 and 2012 Google was listed in the top six of Obama donors, with quite a few Google executives also contributing directly and lending their support to the Obama campaigns. Like many of these Big VC's, their "cleantech" investments, and (and dirt) overlap, and I briefly touched on Google in my January 2012 post about Doerr and Gore...again.
Later, when I discovered that Google is an energy client of McBee Strategic Consulting (also in this post), I did some more leg work, and I discovered and exposed the fact that Google Ventures –– via their "Energy Investments" and other "green deals" that I tracked down –– has ten verified stimulus and other green funds winners, which places their investment score at close to $5 billion of taxpayer cash. This figure does not include Silver Spring Networks and their connection to $1.3 billion in smart-grid stimulus grants that I divulged a few times, due to the fact that they are an investment of Kleiner Perkins and Foundation Capital.
14. NRG Energy
Besides NRG executives donating to Obama's 2008 campaign, we have George Soros, who bankrolled Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as a shareholder of NRG. We also find another key investor in NRG energy, Warren Buffet, Obama's pal.
NRG, a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company, and its subsidiaries were the recipient of most of 1705 stimulus Loans: $5.2 billion of taxpayer money and counting. My extensive work on NRG Energy can be found in March 2013: "Left-wing Billionaire George Soros: Obama’s Agent of Green"
Besides NRG executives donating to Obama's 2008 campaign, we have George Soros, who bankrolled Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns, as a shareholder of NRG. We also find another key investor in NRG energy, Warren Buffet, Obama's pal.
NRG, a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 Index company, and its subsidiaries were the recipient of most of 1705 stimulus Loans: $5.2 billion of taxpayer money and counting. My extensive work on NRG Energy can be found in March 2013: "Left-wing Billionaire George Soros: Obama’s Agent of Green"
15. POET Biorefining
As I reported in my biofuel post this past August (Billions of Obama biofuel bucks funded "not so shovel-ready" risky projects, fueled by more green corruption), the POET Project LIBERTY has been part of the Energy Department's BETO program for a while. In September 2009, additional DOE funds were awarded to this project, of which at that time, the two grant increases brought "the total financial commitment from DOE to $100 million." Plus, $20 million in financial assistance came from the State of Iowa (could be more?) for this project.
POET was also awarded $105 million loan guarantee through stimulus created 1705 program, but they voluntarily withdrew in January 2012 due to availability of private financing. Also we find that that POET's connections to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) are pretty thick. Not only as member, but the fact that Doug Berven, POET's Vice President of Corporate Affairs is on ACORE's Board of Directors.
16. Reliant Energy (a subsidiary of NRG Energy)
As I reported in my March 2013 file on George Soros, exposing NRG Energy, I found that in an analysis of the DOE Loan Program by Veronique de Rugy, as of June 2012, "Reliant Energy and Reliant Energy Tax Retail LLC, two NRG Energy companies, reported receiving at least 37 grants under the ARRA." While I can confirm that in late 2009, Reliant Energy was among 100 winners that came out of the $3.4 billion of smart grid stimulus grants for just under $20 million, I haven't had a chance to track down the other 36 grants for Reliant.
As I reported in my March 2013 file on George Soros, exposing NRG Energy, I found that in an analysis of the DOE Loan Program by Veronique de Rugy, as of June 2012, "Reliant Energy and Reliant Energy Tax Retail LLC, two NRG Energy companies, reported receiving at least 37 grants under the ARRA." While I can confirm that in late 2009, Reliant Energy was among 100 winners that came out of the $3.4 billion of smart grid stimulus grants for just under $20 million, I haven't had a chance to track down the other 36 grants for Reliant.
17. Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD)
I highlighted this utility company in my May post, "Smart Gird, Dirty Devices," and how they won a $127.5 million stimulus grant for a comprehensive regional smart-grid system. SMUD is a customer of Silver Spring Networks, a Kleiner Perkins and Foundation Capital investment, both with friends in high places.
In the summer of 2009, the Energy Department started dishing out $4.5 billion in smart-grid grants, whereas free taxpayer money was awarded to selected utility companies for particular smart-grid projects. In my January 2013 analysis of Silver Spring's, I discovered that 25 customers (plus Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative that received $18.8 million), of which half are foreign, while the other thirteen are American. It turns out that all but one (PG&E) were confirmed winners –– calculations that find Silver Spring Networks linked to at least $1.3 billion of stimulus smart-grid grants.
18 –– 20. SolarCity, SunRun Inc., and Sungevity
Ironically, SolarCity, SunRun, and Sungevity are competitors, and in December 2012, news hit, casting a shadow over all three. This trio of solar firms were "under investigation for potentially inflating costs in order to draw down more money from a stimulus-funded loan program." But the kicker is that "all three boast investors with significant ties to the Obama White House," wrote the Heritage Foundation. Translation: all three have friends in high places, and together the three companies (as of December 2012) reportedly have claimed more than $500 million in taxpayer support,”
In the meantime, these three solar firms may have been cleared of any wrongdoing, because since that time, they have snagged additional free stimulus money from the 1603 Grant Program, of which I am about to document.
Ironically, SolarCity, SunRun, and Sungevity are competitors, and in December 2012, news hit, casting a shadow over all three. This trio of solar firms were "under investigation for potentially inflating costs in order to draw down more money from a stimulus-funded loan program." But the kicker is that "all three boast investors with significant ties to the Obama White House," wrote the Heritage Foundation. Translation: all three have friends in high places, and together the three companies (as of December 2012) reportedly have claimed more than $500 million in taxpayer support,”
In the meantime, these three solar firms may have been cleared of any wrongdoing, because since that time, they have snagged additional free stimulus money from the 1603 Grant Program, of which I am about to document.
I've covered SolarCity a few times: here in my Spreading the Wealth to Obama's Ultra-Rich Job Council Members; in February while tracking Citigroup's massive carbon footprint; in March when I attempted to cover the left-wing billionaire George Soros' part in this massive scheme; and recently in my post on top D.C. lobbyist, McBee Strategic Consulting.
SunRun
SunRun can be found in my May research on Foundation Capital's "green," who is another friend of the Obama White House and big VC winner of taxpayer money at the Green Bank of Obama, adding to my long list of VC's that include Kleiner Perkins, Google Ventures, VantagePoint, Khosla Ventures, The Westly Group, Perseus, L.L.C, and more to be exposed.
In fact, Foundation Capital lists 12 firms as cleantech investments, of which I calculated that 60 percent were winners, totaling over $175 million of taxpayer money, and that does not take into account Silver Spring Network's $1.3 billion in contracts related to the smart-grid grants. SunRun is on that list, and where we also discover that TJ Glauthier (one of the "gang of ten" covered here) was named as a key advisor. Still, as of today, I found that SunRun has snagged 23 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 10 states, totaling over $141 million tax dollars, thus far.
Plus in 2010, SunRun announced a $100 million joint program with major utility Pacific Gas & Electric, which according to Venture Beat, “PG&E will be funding the rooftop systems in question via its subsidiary, Pacific Energy Capital II, a tax equity fund,” of which “In lieu of traditional returns, the investor — PG&E in this case — gets tax benefits in addition to some cash returns.”
Sungevity
As documented by the Heritage Foundation last year...
Furthermore, SolarReserve board members are big Democrat donors, including contributions toward Obama’s 2008 campaign as well as Senator Harry Reid's 2010 midterm. We've already proven over and over that the DOE's loan program is jam-packed with cronyism and corruption –– and virtually all of them (33 to date, at the tune of $34.7 billion) have meaningful ties to the president and other high-ranking Democrats, and in many cases, to both.
Political buddies which primarily comprise of Obama's campaign backers, bundlers, top donors as well as liberal allies. What most don't know is that Harry Reid, who actively pushed for the stimulus and green energy spending, is connected to at least five of the DOE stimulus loans worth $3 BILLION, which includes SolarReserve. In late to 2012, adding to the corruption, we were privy to internal emails that showed how the Obama administration used DOE loan money to help Harry Reid’s 2010 campaign.
23. SunEdison LLC:
This global provider of solar-energy services was an early Goldman Sachs clean-energy investment, and so far all I could gather is that SunEdison just started raking in money for stimulus. So far, SunEdison has snagged 5 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 5 states, totaling over $1.8 million tax dollars.
Furthermore, SunEdison is in cahoots with JPMorgan, GE Capital as well as Southern Company and and a few other familiar green energy players such as Bank of America and Duke Energy. Also, in 2012, the North American Development Bank (NADB) –– "a financial institution established and capitalized in equal parts by the United States and Mexico for the purpose of financing environmental infrastructure projects along their common border" –– provided SunEdison with a $65 million loan agreement for the construction of a 20-megawatt (MW(ac)) solar park in Picture Rocks, Arizona. And it turns out that First Solar and SunEdison has of late, unveiled big plans in Chile.
24. SunPower
The SunPower tale, which is tied to a $1.2 billion DOE loan, is quite fascinating, and one that I shared a year ago, however, it's worth repeating, that despite SunPower's well-known financial issues, and the fact that it was under a shareholder suit alleging securities fraud and misrepresentations, just days (September 2011) before the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program’s deadline, along with four other solar companies, its $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the DOE was approved. This $1.2 billion of taxpayer dollars went to build a 250-megawatt solar plant (the California Valley Solar Ranch) in San Luis Obispo County, “a project that will help create 15 permanent jobs, which adds up to the equivalent of $80 million in taxpayer money for each job.”
However, as you can see, with ACORE, a non-profit membership organization, who claims to be "dedicated to building a secure and prosperous America with clean, renewable energy," in reality is large and influential lobbying firm whose membership gets billions in taxpayer cash.
As documented by the Heritage Foundation last year...
Sungevity "has major ties to the Obama Administration. Tom Steyer, the “main financial backer” of Sungevity investor Greener Capital and a major Obama donor, is an aggressive activist for more federal environmental regulation and taxpayer backing for green energy companies. Steyer “said he had spent time consulting with the Obama administration after last November’s [2008] election,” according to the New York Times.In fact Mr. Steyer, the "Climate Change Radical" is a Big Oil investor and another bundler and billionaire buddy of President Obama. I covered him briefly during my April post on the newly bankrupt Chinese solar producer Suntech. Nevertheless, as of today, I found that Sungevity has snagged 14 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 8 states, totaling over $12 million tax dollars, thus far.
21. SolarReserve*
Last summer, Marita and I released our Intel on SolarReserve, and its $737 million DOE stimulus "junk" loan, as well as a litany of Democrat associations that we divulged. But one of the key connections is Citigroup, who has been a major investor since 2008, and as noted earlier, SolarReserve is part of Citigroup’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine.
Last summer, Marita and I released our Intel on SolarReserve, and its $737 million DOE stimulus "junk" loan, as well as a litany of Democrat associations that we divulged. But one of the key connections is Citigroup, who has been a major investor since 2008, and as noted earlier, SolarReserve is part of Citigroup’s Massive 'Green' Money Machine.
Besides Citigroup, we have Good Energies who was also an investor in SolarReserve,” as well as other green projects that got stimulus funds. What's key here is that we find another "DOE Insider" and Obama pal in the mix: David Sandalow, who is currently the acting Under Secretary of Energy. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Sandalow was a senior advisor to Good Energies, Inc., an energy-focused venture capital firm.
Political buddies which primarily comprise of Obama's campaign backers, bundlers, top donors as well as liberal allies. What most don't know is that Harry Reid, who actively pushed for the stimulus and green energy spending, is connected to at least five of the DOE stimulus loans worth $3 BILLION, which includes SolarReserve. In late to 2012, adding to the corruption, we were privy to internal emails that showed how the Obama administration used DOE loan money to help Harry Reid’s 2010 campaign.
22. Solarworld USA
This past May I covered the German-owned company SolarWorld troubles, and all of its green government subsidies, totaling close to $200 million. With two locations Camarillo, California (Sales & Marketing) and Hillsboro, Oregon (U.S. headquarters and largest solar module production facility in the Americas), here's the breakdown:
This past May I covered the German-owned company SolarWorld troubles, and all of its green government subsidies, totaling close to $200 million. With two locations Camarillo, California (Sales & Marketing) and Hillsboro, Oregon (U.S. headquarters and largest solar module production facility in the Americas), here's the breakdown:
- In 2009, the Export-Import Bank, a taxpayer-funded federal agency, approved $61.0 million in loan guarantees for SolarWorld to sell solar panels in South Korea.
- Later in 2010 the Obama administration announced SolarWorld was eligible for an $82.2 million Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit.
- In September 2011, SolarWorld was awarded $4.6 million for a project in Hillsboro Oregon. This was funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the SunShot Initiative, of which we know that the EERE was awarded $16.8 billion from the 2009-Stimulus for programs and initiatives. According to a Heartland Institute writer, "[Ohio] state officials invited the company [SolarWorld] to apply for up to $100 million in [taxpayer] subsidies and the company accepted at least $27 million in subsidies." But that's not all. Just this past February, Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner divulged much favoritism more for SolarWorld.
- Just weeks after they got all that taxpayer money, SolarWorld began layoffs, and the Obama administration gave the company another hand by having the DOE award SolarWorld $2.3 million stimulus grant to study new manufacturing techniques for solar panels.
- Also, in September 2011, Ex-Im approved an $18.9 million direct loan, at a low 2.63% rate, to an Indian power company buying SolarWorld panels.
- And more...
While I had noted that in June 2012 Solar World's stock price had dropped 75 percent, it turns out that in May 2013, SolarWorld's life is looking grim –– they have laid off Oregon workers and may be filing for bankruptcy.
23. SunEdison LLC:
This global provider of solar-energy services was an early Goldman Sachs clean-energy investment, and so far all I could gather is that SunEdison just started raking in money for stimulus. So far, SunEdison has snagged 5 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 5 states, totaling over $1.8 million tax dollars.
24. SunPower
The SunPower tale, which is tied to a $1.2 billion DOE loan, is quite fascinating, and one that I shared a year ago, however, it's worth repeating, that despite SunPower's well-known financial issues, and the fact that it was under a shareholder suit alleging securities fraud and misrepresentations, just days (September 2011) before the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program’s deadline, along with four other solar companies, its $1.2 billion loan guarantee from the DOE was approved. This $1.2 billion of taxpayer dollars went to build a 250-megawatt solar plant (the California Valley Solar Ranch) in San Luis Obispo County, “a project that will help create 15 permanent jobs, which adds up to the equivalent of $80 million in taxpayer money for each job.”
While the conditional loan was announced in April 2011, “shortly thereafter, French energy giant Total bought a majority ownership in SunPower and extended a $1 billion credit line to the company.” Now, SunPower never directly got the cash, because they sold the taxpayer-funded California Valley Solar Ranch to NRG (also in this post). Yet SunPower is still developing the project and stands to profit if it succeeds.
Now, you won't find SunPower on the DOE website, as they were caught "scrubbing" the evidence. But you will find them dipping into the stimulus cash, because of today, I found that SunPower has snagged 32 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 12 states, totaling about $72 million tax dollars, thus far.
SunPower, which is "Twice as Bad as Solyndra," has double the cronyism and corruption –– both SunPower and NRG Energy have meaningful political connections to President Obama and other high-ranking Democrats.
Now, you won't find SunPower on the DOE website, as they were caught "scrubbing" the evidence. But you will find them dipping into the stimulus cash, because of today, I found that SunPower has snagged 32 federal stimulus grants from the 1603 Program for "solar electricity" that ranges across 12 states, totaling about $72 million tax dollars, thus far.
SunPower, which is "Twice as Bad as Solyndra," has double the cronyism and corruption –– both SunPower and NRG Energy have meaningful political connections to President Obama and other high-ranking Democrats.
#10) McBee Strategic Consulting: 31 McBee energy clients, over 60 percent (19) received green-government subsidies under the Obama administration, totaling approximately $13.7 billion of taxpayer money
Last month, I finally uncovered how a top D.C. Lobbyist, McBee Strategic Consulting, “opened the spigot of green corporate welfare,” and then how billions of stimulus cash flooded the firm’s energy clients. First I reminded the American people that in 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama, on the campaign trail said, "I'm in this race to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over..."
Last month, I finally uncovered how a top D.C. Lobbyist, McBee Strategic Consulting, “opened the spigot of green corporate welfare,” and then how billions of stimulus cash flooded the firm’s energy clients. First I reminded the American people that in 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama, on the campaign trail said, "I'm in this race to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over..."
While there are others lobbyists like the Podesta Group cashing in at the Green Bank of Obama, my focus today is on those that crafted the stimulus. Tim Carney of the Washington Examiner, in March of 2011 had this to say, "K Street is the epicenter of this green-industrial complex, and ground zero might be the firm founded by Democratic revolving-door earmark lobbyist Steve McBee, who reportedly wrote key provisions in the stimulus bill to open the spigot of green corporate welfare."
And as I reported, if you go back in time when the 2005 energy bill created a new Department of Energy loan guarantee program for renewable energy facilities, it's important to note that in order to protect taxpayers, the 2005 law required from the beneficiary a sort of "down payment," to cover the risk of default. Yet as reported and confirmed by Carney, “The 2009 stimulus bill removed that requirement, allowing DOE to give out loan guarantees without the down payment. Energy lobbyists on Capitol Hill say that this provision, which opened the spigot on the DOE loans, was written by Steve McBee.”
My September 2013 research reflects that of 31 McBee energy clients, over 60 percent (19) received green-government subsidies under the Obama administration, totaling approximately $13.7 billion of taxpayer money. Additionally, with only two clients (Honeywell and Tesla) that were hired prior to 2009, when the Recovery Act was approved, I calculated that from these 31 energy clients, McBee Strategic Consulting "green kickbacks" thus far is close to $9 million, and that's just from energy.
Where did all the green stimulus money go?
Unfortunately, when following Obama's trillion-dollar "Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” promised to stimulate the U.S. economy and create American jobs, it's clear that the Obama administration lied about its intent, of which one we can confirm was "a key tool for advancing the Obama administration’s clean-energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments.”
The Obama administration and his minions, in an effort to "launch a silent green revolution,” hijacked our planet and thus far have stolen about $150 billion of taxpayer money ($100 billion from the stimulus and additional funds from various agencies and programs). This is a revolution all right...of cronyism, corruption and corporate welfare, only stimulating the pockets of President Obama's "green cronies" –– many of which, after they filled his campaign coffers, ensuring a two-time presidential victory, were rewarded with key positions inside Team Obama, giving them special access and influence, as well as billions of "green" cash.
Today we add these "ten green stimulus authors": those that bankrolled Obama's campaigns, powerful progressive groups, some of the usual "big" suspects, as well as corporate influence, left-wing eco-radicals and think tanks, high-ranking Democrat politicians, and top DC lobbyists, who were paid handsomely for their participation –– at the tune of tens of billions of tax dollars from the Green Bank of Obama.
Moreover, as the waste, fraud, abuse, failure, and debt continues to pile up, it becomes more clear that we have here folks is money political laundering, and you the taxpayer are footing the bill, placing this scandal as the largest, most expensive and deceptive cases of crony capitalism in American history.
Until next time...
Two women –– one citizen & one energy columnist –– join forces on one mission: to expose one chunk of the Green Corruption Scandal at a time.
My September 2013 research reflects that of 31 McBee energy clients, over 60 percent (19) received green-government subsidies under the Obama administration, totaling approximately $13.7 billion of taxpayer money. Additionally, with only two clients (Honeywell and Tesla) that were hired prior to 2009, when the Recovery Act was approved, I calculated that from these 31 energy clients, McBee Strategic Consulting "green kickbacks" thus far is close to $9 million, and that's just from energy.
- Client #1: VANTAGEPOINT MANAGEMENT, INC.* –– Total taxpayer money from the Green Bank of Obama as of 9/2013: VantagePoint's (where Steve McBee is also a Senior Advisor) portfolio has at least nine clean-energy firms that have snagged green-government subsidies, with includes three DOE loans. Also, the majority of the monies came from the 2009-stimulus package, and totals about $3 billion. / McBee Strategic Consulting VPM: since 2009, $720,000
- Client #2: GOOGLE, INC.* –– Total taxpayer money from the Green Bank of Obama as of 9/2013: Google has ten verified Recovery Act and other clean-energy fund winners, totaling close to $5 billion from American taxpayers, which includes three DOE loan. However, this total doesn't reflect Silver Spring Networks and its connection to $1.3 billion in smart-grid stimulus grants./ McBee Strategic Consulting Google: since 2009, $950,000
- Client #3: PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY* –– Total taxpayer money from the Green Bank of Obama as of 9/2013: Besides direct stimulus cash that PG&E got, they also have an invested interest in$7.6 billion of Energy Department stimulus loans, including BrightSource Energy. Plus more.../ McBee Strategic Consulting PG&E: since 2011, $320,000
- Client #4: BrightSource Energy* –– $1.6 billion DOE stimulus loan (finalized April 11, 2011) / McBee Strategic Consulting BS = 2009 to 2012, $480,000
- Client #5: Solyndra* –– $535 million DOE stimulus loan (September 2009) as well as a $25.1 million California tax credit / McBee Strategic Consulting Solyndra: from 2009 to 2011, $380,000
- Client #6: Tesla Motors* –– $465 ATVM million loan (closed January 2010) /plus federal and state subsidies for the purchase of each car / McBee Strategic Consulting Tesla: from 2008 to 2011, $370,000
- Client #7: SolarCity –– Since 2009, at least $429 million in stimulus grants / McBee Strategic Consulting SolarCity: from 2009 to 2010, $350,000
- Client #8: GENERAL ELECTRIC ENERGY* –– at least $3.3 billion, which includes three large DOE stimulus loans.../ McBee Strategic Consulting GE Energy: since 2012, $360,000
- Client #9: FIRST WIND* –– $117 million stimulus loan for their wind energy project in Kahuku, HI (closed July 2010), a project that also received over $35 million in 1603 stimulus grants. In fact, First Wind's projects have received over $452 million in grants through the stimulus' 1603 Grant Program. Total for First Wind: over $569 million tax dollars / McBee Strategic Consulting First Wind: unknown date of lobbying services and fees generated
- Client #10: Amyris –– $25 million stimulus grant for a biofuel project in California (12/28/2009) / McBee Strategic Consulting Amyris: from 2009 to 2011, $220,00
- Client #11: THE BABCOCK AND WILCOX COMPANY (B&W) –– $101 million for the mPower America Project in Tennessee for development and licensing of the company’s small modular reactor technology, which is scheduled for commercial demonstration by 2022. Plus, contracts totaling more than $510 million for the manufacture of nuclear components to support U.S. defense programs. / McBee Strategic Consulting B&W: in 2009, $1,230,000.
- Client #12: GreatPoint Energy (GPE): Stimulus winner, but date and amount unknown / McBee Strategic Consulting GPE: from 2009 to 2010, of which McBee was paid $210, 000.
- Client #13: HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL –– In just a brief look, I found that in 2009 they were awarded $25 million stimulus grant for a biofuel project Hawaii. And two stimulus-related contracts worth $90 million.../ McBee Strategic Consulting Honeywell International: sometime in 2006, and from what I gather has paid them over $1.3 million.
- Client #14: JPMORGAN CHASE & CO –– amount of "green" taxpayer money is unknown at this time / McBee Strategic Consulting JPMorgan Chase & Co: Since 2009, McBee has raked in over $1.3 million
- Client #15: Lanza Tech is tied the Range Fuels debacle, which costs taxpayers $92.5 million ($80 million USDA loan from Obama in 2009). And besides DOE and DOD deals, which includes purchasing the Range Fuels factory, Lanza also got at least $11 million tax dollars from the DOE and DOT / McBee Strategic Consulting LanzaTech: In 2009, $50,000 for lobbying in "misc energy"
- Client #16: OPower is indirectly benefited from the $4 billion smart grid grants that were doled out by the DOE as part of the 2009-stimulus package / McBee Strategic Consulting OPower: hired McBee in 2013, paying them $70,000 thus far
- Client #17: RENTECH, INC –– $23 million stimulus grant for a biofuel project in Colorado (01/29/2010) / McBee Strategic Consulting: hired McBee lobbying in 2011, of which so far they've paid them $430,000.
- Client #18: Serious Materials Inc –– stimulus tax credit, stimulus money and government contracts via their QuietRock products, of which all amounts are unknown at this time / McBee Strategic Consulting: 2009, $30,000
- Client #19: SOLAZYME, INC –– $21.8 million stimulus grant (December 2009) for a biofuel project in Pennsylvania / Plus part of the $12 million biofuel contract with the U.S. Navy / McBee Strategic Consulting Solazyme: Since 2012, $170,000
Where did all the green stimulus money go?
Unfortunately, when following Obama's trillion-dollar "Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” promised to stimulate the U.S. economy and create American jobs, it's clear that the Obama administration lied about its intent, of which one we can confirm was "a key tool for advancing the Obama administration’s clean-energy goals and fulfilling a number of campaign commitments.”
The Obama administration and his minions, in an effort to "launch a silent green revolution,” hijacked our planet and thus far have stolen about $150 billion of taxpayer money ($100 billion from the stimulus and additional funds from various agencies and programs). This is a revolution all right...of cronyism, corruption and corporate welfare, only stimulating the pockets of President Obama's "green cronies" –– many of which, after they filled his campaign coffers, ensuring a two-time presidential victory, were rewarded with key positions inside Team Obama, giving them special access and influence, as well as billions of "green" cash.
The so-called clean-energy investments range all the way from the Department of Energy's $34 billion "junk bond" portfolio, which was dished out to Obama and high-ranking Democrat "green" cronies. The Department of Interior's "Special Seven" are those projects that not only secured billions in stimulus loans and grants, but also fast-tracked approval from the Department of Interior.
Later we find that this administration has been "Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members," to the fact that despite skyrocketing debt, billions went to foreign-owned entities. In the mix we find "Nuclear Crimes and Misdemeanors" and how billions of biofuel bucks went to Obama buddies, funding "not so shovel-ready" risky projects, and so on. All the while Big government cronies, Big Wind, Big Banks, Big Energy, Big Oil, Big Venture Capitalists, Big Money, and Big Lobbyists have been taking their huge piece of the taxpayer-funded pie.
Later we find that this administration has been "Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs Council Members," to the fact that despite skyrocketing debt, billions went to foreign-owned entities. In the mix we find "Nuclear Crimes and Misdemeanors" and how billions of biofuel bucks went to Obama buddies, funding "not so shovel-ready" risky projects, and so on. All the while Big government cronies, Big Wind, Big Banks, Big Energy, Big Oil, Big Venture Capitalists, Big Money, and Big Lobbyists have been taking their huge piece of the taxpayer-funded pie.
Today we add these "ten green stimulus authors": those that bankrolled Obama's campaigns, powerful progressive groups, some of the usual "big" suspects, as well as corporate influence, left-wing eco-radicals and think tanks, high-ranking Democrat politicians, and top DC lobbyists, who were paid handsomely for their participation –– at the tune of tens of billions of tax dollars from the Green Bank of Obama.
Moreover, as the waste, fraud, abuse, failure, and debt continues to pile up, it becomes more clear that we have here folks is money political laundering, and you the taxpayer are footing the bill, placing this scandal as the largest, most expensive and deceptive cases of crony capitalism in American history.
Until next time...
Two women –– one citizen & one energy columnist –– join forces on one mission: to expose one chunk of the Green Corruption Scandal at a time.
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