SPECIAL REPORT: Inside the Obama Administration's Big Green Energy Deals With Abengoa: The cost, the connections and the collusion

If you've been following The Green Corruption Files or keeping tabs on the far-reaching and expensive cleantech push by the Obama administration, you'd know that the president's 2009 stimulus bill steered over $100 billion toward renewable energy (more through other programs), of which this "save the planet slush fund" ultimately became "a special-interest feeding frenzy."

Moreover, this massive economic stimulus package, which was signed into law just over five years ago, was marketed as a means to save our economy from the brink of disaster and create American jobs.

Part of the scheme was adding another layer to the Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program: the 1705 Section, whereas the Obama administration, starting in late 2009, doled out in excess of $16 billion to 26 projects, of which 22 of the loans were rated “Junk" grade due to their poor credit quality. "The remaining ended up on lowest end of the investment grade of categories, giving the DOE’s 1705 loan portfolio an overall average of BB-" –– thus the term "DOE’s junk bond portfolio." This and more can be found in the March 2012 House Oversight and Government Reform committee when they unleashed a damaging report revealing this fact and others.

The Green Corruption Files has exposed many times, how, in the process of doling out $34 billion of taxpayer money –– not only from the 1705, but also the 1703 and Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM)  –– at least 90 percent of the recipients have meaningful politically connections (bundlers, members of Obama’s 2008 National Finance Committee, large donors to the Democratic Party, and/or favored green crones) to the president and other high-ranking Democrats –– in many cases, to both.

Due to bombshell Intel that we received early this year regarding the Spanish Conglomerate Abengoa's dirty deeds, I've prepared this SPECIAL REPORT. 

During the summer of 2012, Marita Noon (energy columnist at Townhall.com) and I detailed the Spanish firm Abengoa and the obvious favoritism they received from the Obama administration. This started with the fact that they were one of seven that received “preferential treatment” from the Department of Interior (DOI) to lease federal land in a no-bid process (meaning that they were approved without adequate vetting).

Considering that they were part of the DOE's "junk bond portfolio," the questions lingered: why did the Energy Department take “excessive risk” in funding this Spanish firm with over $2.8 billion in loans, making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 Loan Guarantee Program?

Part One –– THE COST

Spanish firm snags at least three billion of U.S. dollars from an array of taxpayer-funded programs under the Obama administration

Abengoa is a Madrid-based conglomerate that operates throughout Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia. Through two of its subsidiaries (they have almost 600) that specialize in solar and bioenergy, Abengoa Solar and Abengoa Bioenergy, both have benefited from the renewable energy movements in Spain and in the US.

In fact, its U.S. division [Abengoa Solar] received approximately $2.8 billion in stimulus loans (five times more than Solyndra) for two large solar projects –– one in Arizona and the other in California.

Meanwhile, Abengoa Bioenergy snagged a $132 million DOE loan for a biofuel project in Kansas. Plus, it was reported that Abengoa also received $818 million in treasury grants –– this too is another stimulus-created program known as the 1603 Program, which as of December 2013 has dished out $19.8 billion of free taxpayer money...and counting.

In addition to the $2.8 billion in loans as well as the free taxpayer cash, Abengoa companies received $150 million from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for green jobs overseas and, more recently, $2 million from the SunShot initiative.

As chronicled by PJMedia a while back: Abengoa was "not starved for cash." So why did American taxpayers hand over $3.6 billion to this large foreign firm? PJMedia gives a partial answer, "The firm’s global profitability is due to non-renewable industrial activities; yet Abengoa’s U.S. solar and ethanol projects would not exist without the existence of Obama administration money."

This then leaves another daunting question: Did the Obama administration use billions of American tax dollars to bailout of Spain — and Europe’s — collapsed solar industry? Possibly. Or did the Obama administration help his friends? Maybe both?

I report, you decide.

Abengoa’s Three DOE Stimulus Deals

#1) Abengoa Solar, Inc (the Solana Solar Project in Arizona): Rating BB+ by Fitch; Dec 2010 for $1.45 billion –– jobs: 60/1,700 = $24.2 million per permanent job “created or saved"

On July 3, 2010, the Tucson Sentinel heralded President's Obama's announcement that the "world's largest solar plant" planned near Gila Bend in Arizona will receive a $1.45 billion federal loan guarantee. This announcement coincides with the collusion found inside the "October 2012 Internal DOE Email Dump" that went on behind the scenes in order to approve this loan –– a portion of this green corruption saga that I'll detail in Part Three.

Included in the hoopla, it was reported that Rep. Gabrielle Gifford "worked to secure the loan guarantee from the federal government, which is funded by stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act." Adding to the hype was Fred Morse (profiled later), a senior adviser for Abengoa Solar, S.A., whom, along with Gifford and Obama, tagged the project as a "jobs creator for Arizona."

Just before Christmas, 2010, this $1.45 billion DOE stimulus loan was finalized. Meanwhile,
the jobs –– created, saved, direct, indirect, and “touching lives” ––  according to the DOE, “The 250 MW Abengoa Solana Project is located 70 miles southwest of Phoenix, AZ, is expected to create 1,700 construction jobs and 60 permanent jobs.”

The Arizona $2 billion Abengoa Solar Solana Project became operational in October 2013, reportedly, "on time and on budget" –– with the Spanish firm bragging, "The construction of Solana created more than 2,000 new jobs and over 85 permanent jobs."

#2) Abengoa Solar, Inc (The Mojave Solar Project in CA): Rating BB by Fitch; Sept 2011 for $1.2 billion –– jobs 70/830 = $17.1 million per permanent job “created or saved"

In June 2011, the DOE announced a $1.2 billion loan guarantee, providing Mojave Solar LLC with approximately 77% of the construction funding it needed to build the 250 MW Mojave Solar Project. Despite the low credit rating, this $1.2 billion DOE deal was finalized in September 2011.

It was at that time (September 2011) that the media took notice (well, Fox News anyway), taking aim at President Obama's declaration, "we're accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy and doubling our use of renewable energy sources like wind and solar power –– steps that have the potential to create whole new industries and hundreds of thousands of new jobs in America." 

In their news article, "Federal Loans Fund Big-Ticket Energy Projects at Firms Outside of U.S," Fox points this out....

A case in point is Abengoa Solar, Inc., a Spanish-owned firm that has received more than $2.6 billion in federal loan guarantees from DoE for two power-generating complexes, with the most recent $1.2 billion guarantee closing just this month. Abengoa's press releases tout the thousands of construction and other jobs that will be result from the projects, one in the Mojave Desert in California, the other southwest of Phoenix.

Nonetheless, the DoE's own website reveals that the two projects will permanently employ no more than 130 people after completion.

Abengoa's entire staff worldwide, according to its 2010 annual report, was 526 employees.

Mojave Solar for its solar assembly collection project in San Bernardino County, CA, at the time of the DOE loan approval, "Abengoa signed a power-purchase agreement with PG&E to buy the energy produced by the project for a period of 25 years."

PG&E, the utility giant is a strong Obama and Democrat donor, which is found inside this green energy scheme as well. Not only did they have direct influence over the DOE loans, they are jam-packed with Washington "green cronies" –– a portion of this green corruption saga that I'll detail in Part Two.

This is another Energy Department taxpayer-funded green energy project that forecasts, "830 construction jobs over the project’s anticipated 28-month construction period, and 70 permanent jobs when the plant is fully operational.” –– a project that Abengoa states, "Construction has begun and the Mojave Solar Project will come online in 2014."


#3) Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas LLC: Rating CCC by Fitch; September 2011 for $132 million –– jobs 65/300 = $2 million per permanent job “created or saved"

In addition to the two solar projects listed above, Abengoa also has a biofuel project located in Kansas, and again, despite one of the worst credit ratings in the DOE’s junk bond portfolio, they were awarded $132 million DOE stimulus loan. This was announced on August 19, 2011, and finalized on September 29, 2011. According to the DOE, this project will create approximately 300 construction jobs and 65 permanent jobs, and as stated on Abengoa's website, "The construction of the Hugoton plant began in July 2011 and it is expected to begin operations in June 2013." But, no update?

While I've covered how the Obama administration spent billions of dollars (stimulus and non-stimulus) on 32 "not so shovel-ready" risky biofuel projects, it should be noted that U.S. Department of Energy has been a supporter of Abengoa Bioenergy's efforts to develop new ethanol production technologies since 2003 –– of which, in 2007, Abengoa Bioenergy snagged a DOE grant up to $76 million from the Bush administration.

The Department of Energy’s Disastrous Management of Loan Guarantee Programs 

Other than the fact that these three projects were high risk, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee March 2012 Report, took aim the fact that the DOE over invested in Abengoa...

As DOE failed to diversify the portfolio sufficiently across industries, DOE also failed to diversify across award recipients. A single Spanish firm, Abengoa, received an aggregate $2.45 billion in loans and loan guarantees plus $818 million in Treasury cash grants. This reveals excessive risk and subsidies provided to a single firm via multiple subsidiaries. Abengoa has a credit rating of BB, which is considered Junk, thus making this concentration of investment in one company speculative and highly questionable. Exemplifying the risk DOE took in the case of Abengoa, Abengoa managed to obtain a DOE loan commitment for the lowest rated project across the entire DOE Junk portfolio; Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas received an extraordinarily low CCC rating and yet the DOE approved a direct loan to the project.

Abengoa’s prospects look dim due to its investments in Europe, particularly Spain, and suffer the risk of declining subsidies as Spain contends with its own declining credit quality and the potential need for a bailout of its own government in the coming months or years. Now that Germany and Spain cut back solar subsidies, this will undoubtedly harm the European renewable investments of Abengoa. Even if Abengoa investments initially appeared attractive to DOE, overinvestment in this single firm will likely cause substantial harm to the taxpayer. DOE similarly over invested in First Solar, as we describe in Section III; the taxpayer will undoubtedly suffer losses from that investment as well. 

NOTE: We've chronicled the First Solar Swindle, starting in the summer of 2012 and many times since.

Additionally, this single Spanish firm, Abengoa, not only bagged Energy Department loan guarantees totaling $2.8 billion, according to the this March 2012 report (page 17), they were in line for $818 million in Treasury cash grants. While I can't locate whether these funds were already dished out to Abengoa, here are the sources used in the House Oversight report (see 54):

• CA: Fitch Ratings credit report for Mojave Solar, LLC, dated July 27, 2011, where DOE committed to an $862 million loan and Treasury committed to a $340 million grant;
• AZ: Fitch Ratings credit report for Abengoa Solar, Inc.’s Solana Generating Station, dated December 2, 2010, where DOE committed to a $1.445 billion loan guarantee and the Treasury committed to a $455 million grant
• KS: Fitch Ratings credit report for Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, dated August 26, 2011, where DOE committed to a $130 million loan and Treasury committed to a $23 million grant.

More U.S. Taxpayer Money goes to Spanish firm Abengoa

Nevertheless, the three projects above snagged over $3.6 billion, and that's not all, because over at RECOVERY.ORG, while they list the loans, we also know that in December 2013, the DOE awarded Abengoa $2 million for a new R&D project, "to improve manufacturing and assembly of its innovative large aperture parabolic trough collector over the next two years," noted Yahoo Finance. This was part of the SunShot Initiative Program, which is funded through the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) –– another program that the 2009 Recovery Act had awarded $16.8 billion for its programs and initiatives.

Moreover, we find that 1603 stimulus grants, as of the end of 2013, documents that Abengoa Solar Industrial Systems LLC won two small awards for projects located Minnesota: Solar Electricity for $463,493 (February 2011) and Solar Lighting for $6,625 (May 2010).

Last but not least, we have the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), that according to their records, "approved $35.8 billion in total authorizations in FY 2012 – an all-time Ex-Im record." This controversial taxpayer funded bank has its critics, of which the Washington Free Beacon characterizes several groups’ opposition:

The groups, along with several conservative members of Congress, oppose the bank on the grounds that it favors large, politically connected companies and distorts markets.

Appropriately, Heritage Action explains that this Bank is simply a “slush fund for foreign business and domestic cronies” that “uses taxpayer resources to prop up government-favored companies.” –– corporate welfare and crony capitalism run amok. However, this describes only part of the abuse. 

With key green energy players at the helm to be detailed in Part Two, and a its head, Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg, in line with President Obama's renewable energy agenda (along with a Congressional mandate to support renewable energy, directing 10% of its authorizations to renewable energy and environmentally beneficial transactions), it is also another "green bank" that not only supports renewable energy in other Nations (using American taxpayer money), but quite a number of the president's favored green energy firms: Abengoa, First Solar (Exelon Corp.) and SolarWorld. 

In the case of Abengoa: Ex-Im, on December 18, 2012, released the following press release: "The Bank approved a $78.6 million direct loan to Abengoa (MCE: ABG.B), a company in Seville, Spain, that applies technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors. The Bank also approved a $73.6 million direct loan to Palmatir S.A., a 50 MW wind farm in Cuchilla de Peralta, Uruguay, which is owned by Abengoa."

The two projects:

Uruguay - Palmatir S.A.
"Ex-Im’s loan will support the purchase of 25 wind turbines from Gamesa Technology Corporation (Gamesa) which has its North American headquarters in Trevose, Pa. The loan will also help to finance ancillary services and local costs in Uruguay associated with construction of the wind farm."

Mexico - Abengoa S.A.
"The Bank’s loan to Abengoa S.A. will support the purchase of three GE 7FA gas turbines and two generators for the use in the 642 MW Centro Power Project in Morelos, Mexico. The American exports will be used to help build a power plant for Mexico’s public electric utility. Approximately 350 jobs at GE are supported by the Bank’s financing."

The Bank justifies this $150 million use of taxpayer money by stating, "American-made energy equipment will head to Uruguay and Mexico." They also claim that "approximately 510 American jobs will be supported from these two transactions." Basically, Abengoa used American taxpayer money to purchase American-made energy equipment, but worse, is that it only helps the well-connected Spanish company, Abengoa (both directly and via Gamesa), as well as another big green corruption player, General Electric.

Moreover, it should be noted that both candidate Obama (in 2008), and President Obama (in 2011) toured –– more like campaign rallies –– Gamesa Technology wind turbine manufacturing plant in Fairless Hills Pennsylvania, touting alternative energy and green jobs. However, just over a year later (the summer of 2012), Gamesa laid off 165 workers at two of its Pennsylvania production facilities, one of which Obama had visited. Considering the timeline of the Ex Im loan –– approximately four months later –– one has to wonder if this $73.6 million loan was also a bailout.

Meanwhile, GE –– beneficiary of the $78.6 million Ex Im loan (via GE 7FA gas turbines) in this $150 million deal with Abengoa –– as I've exposed many times, is a heavy donor to both Republicans and Democrats, and its CEO Jeffrey Immelt "plays the role of typical corporate donor who hedges his bets on both sides of the fence."

 Needless to say, in 2008, GE gave the Obama campaign $529,855, marking them as a top Obama donor. And, in early 2009, Immelt was first appointed as a member of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board (PERAB), which later morphed into the president's jobs council, where Immelt served as the Jobs Czar, until it closed down in February 2013.

In 2009, the New York Times recognized GE’s green power, noting, "GE lobbied Congress to help expand the clean-energy subsidy programs, and it now profits from every aspect of the boom in renewable-power plant construction, including hundreds of millions in contracts to sell its turbines to wind plants built with public subsidies."

I've been keeping track of GE's "green tab" since 2012, which at that time exceeded $3 billion in direct (some indirect) taxpayer cash. This tally includes three large stimulus loans from Energy Department's "junk bond portfolio" that were doled out between late 2010 until September 2011 –– one of which we can confirm (via the October 31, 2012 House Oversight emails that included a memorandum as well as Appendix I and the 350+ page Appendix II) was not only given the "green light" by the White House, but also pressured due to "interest from VP" (that would be Vice President Joe Biden). Now we can add this Ex Im transaction to the billions of green funds that GE has enjoyed since President Obama's reign.

Part Two –– THE CONNECTIONS 

Behind the Abengoa green deals and those that are profiting

Bill Richardson

• Current Board member at Abengoa's International Advisory Board, since March 2011 
• Advisory Committee Member at the U.S. Export-Import Bank (date unknown, but either during the 2012 of 2013 selections) 
• Former (two-term) Democratic New Mexico Governor, from 2003 to 2011 
• Former Secretary of Energy under the Clinton administration, from 1998 to 2001 

Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico, is how Marita Noon starting chasing this whole green energy crony-corruption scandal in the first place, as found in her June 2012 column, revealing how crony capitalism works.

According to Ms. Noon, “Richardson has long been a supporter of solar energy, giving now-defunct Schott Solar $16 million in New Mexican state funds — so it is appropriate that he be involved here, too. Under President Clinton, Richardson served as the Secretary of Energy — leading the DOE — for three years.”

Moreover, President Obama, early on had tapped the political ambitious Mr. Richardson to be his Secretary of Commerce, but "tarnished by scandal," he withdrew his nomination. Ironically, this was a pay-to-play scheme that dragged on for some time until some sort of financial settlement occurred in July 2013 –– "with no criminal charges filed in the alleged scandal, and Richardson and Vanderbilt officials [the other culprit] have denied wrongdoing," reported the Washington Examiner. 

So, while we missed out on Richardson and all his glory, we've since gained two more green energy cronies as our Commerce Secretary that are tied to billions in green funds: John Bryson, BrightSource Energy's former chairman of the board as well as President Obama's billionaire ally, Penny Pritzker. This brings us to more incestuous connections: Pritzker happens to be an Ex-Im Board Member, ex officio, as does Obama's bundler buddy Michael Froman, who served two roles inside the White House, only to be promoted to Ambassador Froman –– and this was after he came from Citigroup, the Big Bank where we find that a slew of its former executives have, or currently hold key positions inside the Obama White House. 

But here's the kicker: the "Too-Big-to-Fail" Citigroup is BIG player inside this green energy scam, cashing in at the Green Bank of Obama. My February 2013 research found that Citi is tied to at least $16 billion in green energy transactions, the majority from the 2009-Recovery Act (with $100 billion earmarked for renewable energy) –– even in 2012, bragging out their being the "largest market share (28 percent) of the DOE energy 1703/1705 Loan Guarantee program financings."

In fact, Citi's "Alternative Energy" March 2012 report –– under "Notable Transactions" –– is Abengoa, where in 2011, they are listed as a "Strategic Equity Investment by First Reserve" as well as an "Advisor to Abengoa" –– the Spanish green energy conglomerate, which is the focus of this Green Corruption File. And as noted,  in December 2010 and September 2011, they won three of those loans that Citi gloated about, totaling $2.8 billion. It seems, too, that Citi and Abengoa remain tight: in October 2013, they were "appointed as depositary bank for Abengoa," as announced by Yahoo Finance.

But let's go back to Richardson...

Here is where it gets more convoluted (if that's possible), because Richardson, a buddy of Al Gore, whom I'll profile soon, "sits on both the Abengoa International Advisory Board [since March 2011] and was, [as late as January 2013], listed on the Ex-Im bank’s website as a member of the advisory committee that helps guide bank policy," exposed the Washington Free Beacon last year. Interestingly, Richardson was not listed in the Ex-Im Bank’s November announcement of its 2013 Advisory Board members, and nowhere brags about his role there –– not even on is bio.

At some juncture Richardson's appointment to the Advisory Board was made public, yet it is unclear if Richardson joined the Ex-Im Bank’s advisory board before or after the decision to extend Abengoa the $150 million (dated December 2012) –– the transaction that I detailed earlier. Needless to say, as reported by Heritage in January 2013, when this scenario heated up, "Richardson is connected to Diane Farrell, a former Ex-Im Bank director who 'voted to approve a final commitment on an $83 million loan to Abengoa.'”

However, we do know that Abengoa CEO Manuel Sanchez Ortega, felt that Abengoa was “extremely fortunate” to have Richardson’s “extensive knowledge of the renewable energy sector and his background in public policy” join Abengoa’s Advisory Board in March of 2011 — which is reportedly a paid position.

Does this reek "conflict of interest"?

Carol Browner 

• Founding member of Center for American Progress and currently a Senior Fellow
• 2013 Member of the Advisory Committee of the Export-Import Bank of the United States
• Headed the Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy (AKA "Climate Czar"), from January 2009 until February 2011 
• Obama-Biden 2008-Transition Team role: Advisory Board Member and Energy Policy Working Groups
• 2008 Obama Bundler

In early March of this year, I unmasked Carol Browner and Center for American Progress (CAP) as the dark, driving force behind the president’s massive green energy scheme. But what may hit closer to this case is that Browner, an Al Gore acolyte, worked for Gore as far back as 1988 until about 2009.

Browner was also a 2008 Obama bundler and part of the Obama-Biden Transition Team, yet she was later appointed to the president’s 2009 Green Team as the "climate czar." Browner, not only “pushed for billions of dollars for renewable energy in the economic stimulus bill,” she was part of the decision-making process inside the Energy Department’s Loan Guarantee Program, which at the time of her departure had doled out $34.7 billion of taxpayer money.

In early 2011, Browner abruptly resigned from her climate post, leaving as her legacy the failed cap-and-trade legislation, and then in 2013, she served on the Advisory Committee of the Ex-Im Bank. What's key here is that Browner –– as discovered in the "October 2012 Internal DOE Email Dump" –– was part of a June 1, 2010 meeting, of which Abengoa's Solana Project was one of two key projects discussed. Browner was also part of a June 9, 2010 meeting with an agenda that also included Abengoa's Solana Project and its issues. At that time, the Spanish firm was seeking $1.45 billion DOE stimulus loan, which about a month later, over the Fourth of July weekend, was announced by the president (finalized December 2010) –– an announcement that "Browner's office" approved. 

While the details surrounding these two Browner/Abengoa meetings as well as more emails regarding Abengoa will be divulged in Part Three, for now I'd like to point out that the Abengoa narrative, which came from President Obama July 3, 2010 weekly address, not only included heralding the now-bankrupt Abound Solar and its $400 million loan, but touted the following...

After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs right here in America.

NOTE: "October 2012 Internal DOE Email Dump" is in reference to the House Oversight huge document dump that was unleashed on October 31, 2012, which included a Memorandum, Appendix I and the 350+ page Appendix II. Since November 1, 2012, we've been unleashing these correspondences that basically prove that the president, the White House, Secretary Chu, and certain DOE officials lied about how they handled the green energy loans on various fronts –– which was followed by secrecy, cover-ups and even perjury.

Al Gore & Generation Investment Management

Enter in Bill Richardson’s pal and Carol Browner's former boss –– global warming guru, the former-Vice President Al Gore, whom along with his ultra-rich climate minions, are key operatives inside this green energy scam. As mentioned many times in my posts, both Gore and his pal John Doerr (a Obama supporter and big donor) are partners at a Big Venture Capital firm that I researched last year. In fact, as documented in my January 8, 2013 file, Kleiner Perkin's "greentech portfolio" (at least 50%) and Generation Investment Management (GIM) and their "sustainable investing" secured billions in loans, grants and special tax breaks from the Obama administration.

While this “climate duo," whose combined “carbon footprint” is larger than my entire city, the two firms combined are tied to at least $10 billion from the taxpayer-funded Green Bank of Obama. And while I have yet to do a complete analysis of GIM, the Kleiner Perkins figure is much higher due to the fact that their "customers" raked in $1.3 billion in smart-grid stimulus grants.

A key point here is that the majority of this money came from the 2009-Recovery Act, of which Doerr had helped author. And as mentioned previously, Carol Browner had pushed to include billions of green energy money into the stimulus bill, and was involved in the decision-making process (picking DOE loan winners and losers) from January 2009 until February 2011.

At any rate, more compelling to this Green Corruption File is Generation, which, in 2010, I began to unravel, marking quite a fascinating story. Long story, short: In 2004, Gore formed GIM with former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management David Blood –– even as Goldman Sachs a key "green corruption villain," while Mr. Blood is another Obama bundler. Apparently, Blood is the "wizard behind" GIM, which also includes several former Goldman executives and partners. 

Also, on November 12, 2007, GIM and Kleiner Perkins "created an International Alliance to accelerate global climate solutions." It was at that time that Gore joined Kleiner Perkins as a partner, while Doerr joined Generation's Advisory Board –– of which it's no surprise that Gore's role at Kleiner was marked as "focusing on investments to solve climate change."

About the same time as this partnership developed (yet Gore and Doerr’s friendship dates as far back as the 90′s), Gore’s UK-based GIM bought a stake in Abengoa. although it was reported to be “a small position in Abengoa, which specializes in biofuels.” Still, the Weekly Standard, just after the announcement of the $1.45 billion Energy Department deal with Abengoa, after pointing out two negatives, the author Andrew B. Wilson went on...

Third is Obama’s decision to look to nearly bankrupt Spain for the clean energy jobs of the future. Abengoa Solar, beneficiary of fully $1.45 billion of the “conditional commitment” announced by the president, is based in Seville. Though part of a larger Spanish conglomerate with $6 billion in revenues and 23,000 employees, Abengoa Solar itself had fewer than 400 employees at the end of 2009 and annual revenues of less than $150 million. In the annual report on its website, Abengoa Solar lists the total capacity of its solar plants in operation and under construction around the globe at 493 megawatts. To put that into perspective, 493 megawatts is just 0.03 percent of the electrical generating capacity of Cleveland Public Power, which supplies one medium-sized midwestern city. It’s more than enough to fry an egg, but not nearly enough to begin to create “transformational change.”

It is also worth noting that Nobel Laureate and former vice president Al Gore, who has accumulated a substantial fortune in the course of campaigning against global warming while investing in alternative energy and lecturing on the subject, has lent his name and support to Abengoa Solar and the parent company, Abengoa. The Spanish company’s stock jumped in November 2007 when an investment fund headed by Gore announced it was acquiring a stake in the company. (Abengoa also owns a biofuels business that is aligned in various ventures with BP, “the world’s first green petroleum company,” as it used to boast.)

Nevertheless, Gore has also extolled Abengoa for years –– even honoring them by sharing a day with Abengoa, as part of a private visit to  “the largest solar platform in Europe” (operated by Abengoa in Sanlúcar la Mayor, Seville) on October 30, 2008. Adding to this family is GIM Advisory Board Member Mario Molino, whom also serves on Abengoa’s Advisory Committee.

Diane Feinstein and PG&E

Abengoa has connections to California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein. Admittedly, direct connections are minor: On March 22, 2010, she wrote a letter to the DOI on behalf of Abengoa asking the DOI to speed up the permitting process for accessing private land for DOE loan guarantees. One of Abengoa's projects is in California, so advocating for it would seem reasonable.

This is the Mojave Solar Project that was part of the Department of Interior’s fast-tracked approval process, which included several major solar projects in California and Nevada and caused concern amongst those paying attention –– even with some environmentalists. The Washington Free Beacon reported on the suspect motives...

The speed with which the projects were approved, coupled with the fact that the companies had already received Energy Department loan guarantees with strict timelines attached, has raised questions as to whether Interior’s actions were predetermined.

And they are correct, because here's a bullet point of how some of the key steps went down for Abengoa's Mojave Solar Project in California. 

• June 14, 2011: Abengoa's Energy Department's $1.2 billion loan guarantee announced, which included praise from Senator Feinstein: "Today's announcement demonstrates the potential for the loan guarantee program to drive private investment for large-scale, clean-energy projects and create hundreds of jobs in California." Yet, this project is projected to create a whopping 70 permanent jobs.
• July, 2011: Abengoa Solar is approved by the Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar 
• September 2011: Abengoa's $1.2 billion DOE stimulus loan finalized
• November, 2011: The California Public Utilities Commission approved Abengoa Solar’s power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric for the electricity to be produced at Abengoa’s Mojave Solar Project

Feinstein, another career politician, is no stranger to conflict of interest when it comes to mixing money and politics. In the summer of 2012, Breitbart News reported, "for at least 15 years, Feinstein has appeared to support government contracts that push federal funds toward companies co-owned or governed by her powerful, billionaire husband, Richard C. Blum." This includes a serious controversy surrounding Amyris Biotechnologies, of which just weeks after her investment into this green company, they mysteriously received a $24 million grant from the Department of Energy.

While Senator Feinstein does not have a direct link to Abengoa, PG&E, the utility giant that is also a strong Obama and Democrat donor, may be the bigger player in this piece of the green corruption saga. As documented by Center for Responsive Politics, PG&E, has been filling Feinstein's campaign coffers since the 2004 election cycle (both PACS and individuals), making their mark as the top campaign contributors to the senator from California, totaling over $500,000.  Coincidental, Feinstein's 2012 election cycle, which coincides with Abengoa's special 2011 DOI and DOE deals, PG& E reached its highest level of giving at $138, 200.

Besides their heavy donor and lobbying presence, "former PG&E employees currently hold, or previously held, high-ranking government positions at the state and federal level, furthering the company’s influence," documented the Washington Free Beacon a while back. The most controversial former PG&E employee to hold an influential government position is Cathy Zoi –– another Al Gore acolyte, whom was a "DOE insider" from 2009 until 2011, which ties her to PG&E as well as other stimulus winners.

We also can confirm via the "October 2012 Internal DOE Email Dump" that during the course of the DOE loan review process, there was plenty of fraternizing going on between DOE advisors and those seeking Energy Department loans. In fact, John Bryson, whom in September 2010, was named Chairman of BrightSource Energy's board of directors (later nominated by President Obama to serve as Commerce Secretary in May 2011 and confirmed to the post in October 2011, until his June 21, 2012 resignation), sometime in March 2011, had dinner with Senator Feinstein.

In fact, Bryson (whose background has varied all the way from advisor during California Governor Brown’s first time in office, to an executive at Southern California Edison) was quite active inside the DOE loan deal making. But according the those internal emails, it was mostly on behalf of the $1.6 billion BrightSource Energy loan. In order to stay out of the weeds here (and there are plenty), due to BrightSource's connection to another senator, details can be found in my November 2013 Green Corruption File entitled, "Underneath Senator Harry Reid’s Clean-Energy Dirt: Career politician directly linked to over $3 billion in green energy stimulus loans."

Why am I hammering away at PG&E?

Well, it turns out that the Mojave Solar project that is located in San Bernardino County, CA, at the time of the $1.2 billion DOE loan approval (September 2011), it was announced that "Abengoa signed a power-purchase agreement with PG&E to buy the energy produced by the project for a period of 25 years" –– a deal that had been percolating years before.

In mid 2012, we also discovered that PG&E had influence over the DOE loans. In an email dated January 4, 2010 from John Woolard (then-president and CEO of BrightSource Energy that 15 months later snagged a $1.6 billion DOE loan, mentioned earlier) to Matt Rogers (Energy Secretary Steven Chu's then senior advisor), states that Peter Darbee, then CEO of PG& E, had himself spoken to President Obama. The email read...

…that Peter Darbee, head of Pacific Gas & Electric Co., “talked directly to Obama about the program’s challenges and the bad situation it puts him in. DOE credibility is thin and I am currently trying to put off [communication] with the Hill until we talk.” Rogers replied that he appreciated the heads-up and was “working it on this end.”

According to the Washington Examiner, “By ‘bad situation,’ Darbee meant that his company needed solar power to comply with California's law to produce 20 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2017 (later raised to 33 percent by 2020).” This mandate, by the way, in 2009, was moved forward by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger via an executive order. Then in April 2011, it was signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown –– another "climate change" player in cahoots with the president and many others, including, but not limited to, PG&E (via officials, politics and campaign donations) as well as the left-wing "green energy pusher" Center for American Progress. This is a piece of the green corruption scheme yet to be unleashed.

Needless to say, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon in 2012, "PG&E has become an aggressive buyer of power supplied by solar, wind, and other renewable sources, in large part due to statutory requirements under California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard…”

So, it’s no wonder that this huge energy corporation has an invested interest in seven projects that won Energy Department stimulus loans worth $7.6 billion, including a contract to buy California’s required renewable energy from Abengoa –– all detailed in my April 2013 post, with an overview in my recent Green Corruption File on the left-wing think tank, Center for American Progress.  

Lobbyist & DOE Power 

One last Feinstein/Abengoa link leads to Fred Morse, who is the Senior Advisor of US Operations for Abengoa. This is the same Fred Morse that had hyped up the Solana Solar Project in Arizona in July 2010, when their $1.45 billion federal loan guarantee was made public. 

Keep in mind that Senator Feinstein had been advocating on behalf of Abengoa's solar project in California, more specifically that March 2010 letter to the DOI. We also know that on June 14, 2011, Abengoa's  $1.2 billion DOE loan guarantee was announced, which included praise from Feinstein (finalized September 2011). Then a day later, on June 15, 2011, Mr. Morse gave $1000 to “Feinstein for Senate.” Not a lot of cash, but there's more... 

Fred Morse provides a perfect transition to the lobbyists and others tied to Abengoa, which could explain why this Spanish firm was so lucky. Morse has DOE roots, who, as pointed out by the Institute For Energy Research in 2011, is "Abengoa’s most credentialed conduit to policymakers and the scientific community. Morse served in senior-level positions in the DOE under Nixon, Carter, and Reagan working on solar energy. He currently sits on the board of various solar industries groups."

But it's the CEO Santiago Seage and Abengoa's lobbying power that deserve scrutiny here.

Institute For Energy Research goes on...

Beyond reliance on federal loan guarantees [and other US monies], Abengoa Solar also receives government assistance in the form of investment tax credits (ITC). In 2008 CEO Santiago Seage said that the company would start construction on the Solana solar plant in 2009 if Congress extended the ITC.

Say what you will about Seage, he didn’t just rely on the grapevine to get his request up the chain of command. Abengoa hired Cornerstone Government Affairs [tied to Democrat Mark Rokala, who carries his own corrupt baggage] to lobby Congress on the issue. Later that year Congress extended the ITC.

In 2011 CEO Santiago Seage and other leaders of renewables companies sent a letter to Congress asking them to extend DOE loan guarantee funding. Abengoa hired O’Neill, Athy & Casey P.C to lobby the House and Senate on the issue.

As you can see by the chart provided by Center for Responsive Politics, Abengoa's lobby presence began to increase in 2010, and dramatically so in 2011 –– just in time to take advantage of all the American government freebies: over $3.6 billion in federal stimulus loans and grants as well as special tax breaks, $150 million loan from the Ex-Im bank, and more.

Before joining Abengoa, Santiago was a partner with McKinsey & Company –– a global management consulting firm that is also listed as an Obama donor (through PACS and personnel); a firm whose executives not only give to the right Democrat causes (Priorities USA Action), but seem to enjoy easy access to the Obama White House, including the handful that sat on president's Jobs Council when it was in operation from 2009 until early 2013.

While there is a big story here that needs to be flushed out –– McKinsey & Company is all over the place –– including another Democrat moneyman, who was also an Obama donor and a guest at the president's first state dinner. This would be Rajat Gupta, McKinsey & Co.’s former chief executive (also an ex Goldman Sachs director), whom, in 2012, was convicted of Wall Street insider trading.

More relevant here is that Jonathan Silver, the former executive director of the Energy Department’s Loan Guarantee Program, started his career at McKinsey & Company. The other DOE insider in the mix is Matt Rogers, the former senior adviser to then-Energy Secretary Chu, whom had the "responsibility for managing the Department of Energy's $36 billion in Recovery Act appropriations." Prior to his short DOE stint (January 2009 to September 2010), Rogers a senior partner at McKinsey & Co. –– only to return to the firm at their San Francisco office. 

Making the connections more provocative, we find that Silver’s wife has served as financial director of the Democratic Leadership Council, and that the couple hosted a party to promote Al Gore’s environmental advocacy group, the Alliance for Climate Protection. This party (fundraiser) surrounded Silver's vetting process (September 2009), in which he invited two key DOE Officials: Steve Isakowitz, the agency’s chief financial officer, and Matt Rogers, a senior adviser on the Recovery Act, of which we know that Isakowitz declined.

But that's not all: as head of the Energy Department's loan program, Silver which will be detailed next in Part Three when I unleash the bombshell internal DOE emails that are relevant to the Obama administration's green energy deals with the Spanish conglomerate Abengoa.

Part Three –– THE COLLUSION

Bombshell internal DOE emails prove White House pressure, participation 
and push on Solana solar project

Deception lies & videotape

In case you missed this videotape (YouTube), where just before the 2012 presidential election, when confronted by Colorado news anchor Kyle Clark regarding the stimulus and the politically connected Colorado-based Abound Solar company that snagged $400 million from the Department of Energy’s loan program –– which eventually went bankrupt –– President Obama made these claims...

Well, Kyle, I think that if you look at our record that these loans that are given out by the Department of Energy for clean energy have created jobs all across the country and only about four percent of these loans were going to some very cutting-edge industries that are going to allow us to figure out how to produce energy in a clean, renewable way in the future and create jobs in Colorado and all around the country. And some of them have failed but the vast majority of them are pushing us forward into a clean energy direction. And that’s good for Colorado and good for the country. And these are decisions, by the way, that are made by the Department of Energy, they have nothing to do with politics.

First and foremost: the claim made by President Obama that the "decisions, by the way were made by the Department of Energy and that "they have nothing to do with politics," was an outright lie.

Still, most paying attention sensed that early on –– especially when Solyndra went down in 2011, taking $540 million taxpayer dollars with it, that the president's green energy push screamed corruption. But it was on October 31, 2012, when the bombshell evidence emerged that the entire $34 billion loan program (most likely the majority of the $100 to $150 billion of green energy funds that has been doled out by the Obama administration), was used as political payback.

These shocking emails prove that President Obama and the White House were actively involved in pressuring and approving these loans, totaling over $32.4 billion to date. Throughout these email interactions we find plenty of references to the president, POTUS, the vice president, the "7th floor," and "the Hill." There were even high-level meetings with Valerie Jarret, "rahm," and Carol Browner (in this report). 

This evidence and more came from the "October 2012 Internal DOE Email Dump" –– a treasure trove of Intel that was unleashed by the House Oversight that included a memorandum as well as Appendix I and the 350+ page Appendix II.

In fact, Solyndra and Abound were not the only two to go bust, nor the only politically-connected firms to bag millions if not billions of Obama cash –– as The Green Corruption Files has been exposing since April 2012, chronicling the DOE's "junk bond portfolio" and the cronies attached.

In fact this loan program has fostered big alternative energy losers such as Solyndra, Beacon Power, Abound Solar, Vehicle Production Group, and Fisker Automotive, flushing billions of tax dollars down the toilet –– with billions more still at risk. Yet, the loan program is not the only one place you'll find the president's "cleantech" losers. In January, I released my new study, documenting 32 Obama-backed green energy failures, while tracking the financially troubled, and even those, ironically, having environmental issues as well –– over 30 and counting.

Nothing to do with politics?

It turns out that most of the DOE loans were rushed and approved for political reasons –– visits, speeches, announcements, photo ops, and talking points for the president as well as to help those connected to the companies seeking the loans –– CEO's, investors, and Democrat politicians, which goes beyond subsidizing Nevada companies in order to help Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. win his 2010 reelection campaign.

Moreover, these bombshell emails also expose the cozy relationships DOE Officials had during the loan review process with loan applicants CEO's, lobbyists, and investors, etc. It's no surprise that they had meetings and calls with DOE Officials and Energy Secretary Chu, but there are documented meetings and calls with the president, VP, and WH as well as plenty of "green fraternizing" going on –– bike riding, coffee meetings, sleepovers, "beer summits," Al Gore parties, dinners, Democrat fundraisers, and so on.

On November 1, 2012, Marita Noon and I broke the story on the incriminating emails, which was followed up with our explosive report "Busting Open Obama Energy Department's Den of Deception." As time elapsed, we studied these documents, which have been a central part of exposing this massive green corruption scandal.

In January 2013, I unleashed some of the emails related to Abengoa, which contradicted the president’s claim that the green energy loan decisions were made by Energy Department. For example, there was one with the subject line: Abengoa, Abound, First Wind, and Beacon, which signaled White House intervention.

So, today we’ll stay focused on just the ones that pertain to Abengoa, of which there are many related the Solana project in Arizona (that started in May 2010). This was the  project that President Obama announced on July 3, 2010 –– a $1.45 billion DOE deal that was finalized on December 23, 2010. However, first up is a brief profile on some of the key DOE officials, advisors and others that either authored or were mentioned in these emails, or were part of Abengoa meetings –– in some cases they had multiple roles.

The Abengoa emails

Dr. Steven Chu, Energy Secretary 

Chu served as the Secretary of Energy from January 21, 2009, to April 22, 2013, of which according to Energy.gov, “Dr. Chu was charged with helping implement President Obama's ambitious agenda to invest in clean energy, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, address the global climate crisis, and create millions of new jobs.”

Carol Browner, Climate Czar (profiled earlier)

Peter Orszag, OMB Director

Mr. Orszag, who now works for Citigroup, was part of many DOE Loan Program meetings, including Abengoa. According to his bio, “Peter R. Orszag is an American economist serving as Vice Chairman of Global Banking at Citigroup since January of 2011. Prior to Peter Orszag’s current undertakings, he served as the 37th director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under President Barack Obama from November 2008 through August 2010. Orszag also served as the director of the Congressional Budget Office from January 2007 through November 2008.”

Jeffrey B. Liebman

According his Harvard Kennedy School bio (also from the Clinton administration), "During the first two years of the Obama administration [I'm assuming 2009 to 2011], Liebman worked at OMB, first as Executive Associate Director and Chief Economist and then as Acting Deputy Director." 

James Mcrea, DOE Loan Program Credit Advisor

Jonathan Silver, DOE Loan Program Executive Director

As noted by Barrons Magazine (in 2010), "Silver had been a managing partner at Core Capital Partners [and co-founder] in Washington. Coincidentally, one of his colleagues there was Tom Wheeler, a 2008 Obama bundler." Wheeler was also part of the Obama-Biden Transition Team.
But Silver has political roots as well: "Silver also worked in the Commerce, Interior, and Treasury departments during the Clinton administration."

While Silver is reported to be an Obama bundler, we can confirm (as mentioned earlier), Silver’s wife has served as financial director of the Democratic Leadership Council, and during Silver's DOE vetting, the couple hosted a party (fundraiser) for Al Gore.

Then in November 2009, Silver was appointed as the Executive Director of the Loan Programs Office. Silver's role was to oversee the program and its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program (ATVM), which included helping then-Energy Secretary to Chu accelerate loan reviews. The November press release announced: "Silver will be responsible for staffing the programs, and leading origination, analysis, and negotiation, as well as managing the full range of the Department's alternative energy investments."

In early October 2011, amidst the "Solyndra half-billion-dollar Saga" even testifying in September 2011 –– Silver resigned, and to became a “distinguished visiting fellow” at Third Way, a D.C. public policy think-tank.

Despite his resignation, Silver has appeared before the House Oversight Committee twice (July 2012 and September 2013), of which at that time there was a slew of emails proving cronyism and corruption that Silver had to answer to. This is where some of the most bombshell details emerged, starting with the fact that in the course of Silver's testimony during the July 18th Oversight hearing, it was revealed that he and other DOE officials and advisors were using their personal email accounts to conduct Energy Department business.

In fact, as documented by the Washington Examiner, prior to the September 2013 hearing that only produced more cover-ups, "The former DOE official didn't want congressional investigators to see the work-related messages that he sent on his private email account." 

“Don’t ever send an e-mail on doe e-mail with private e-mail addresses," Silver wrote to Morgan Wright, DOE's director of strategic initiatives, on Aug. 21, 2011. "That makes them supoenable [sic].” Silver sent the email from his personal account to Wright's personal account.

#1. May 22, 2010 EMAIL exchange between J. Silver, Jeffrey Liebman and James McCrea, where Liebman writes to Silver:

A Chu-Orszag-Browner meeting on Wed or Thurs sounds good. At the very least we should resolve Abengoa and manufacturing solicitation. I will see if my team thinks we are ready to resolve the more recent two...

#2. May 25, 2010 EMAIL exchange between Silver and McCrea with the Subject line: Follow-up questions re: Geothermal projects. This where OMB sends the DOE further questions on Blue Mountain and US Geothermal, and they complain that their questions are “excessive in establishing credit subsidy cost.”

Then Silver writes:

I wonder whether we should put together a package of these and the abengoa questions to share with orszag at the Thursday meeting.

McCrea responds:

...Perhaps we send the questions and responses on these three deals to the 7th floor and tell them that in light of this support from OMB/Treasury, our maximum monthly production will be capped at 3 deals. We simply do not control out destiny…

Silver responds back:

I noticed that they have shrunk the email list. Let’s be sure our abengoa responses and these go to the full list.

McCrea:

I had asked you about that last week and you had said to leave the White House off the Abengoa response. I would be glad to add them.

Silver:

If I did, I changed my mind. 

I have to believe they asked to cut the list because they must have an inkling that’s this is over the top. 

Don’t say I asked you to send it if you’ve already sent, just refine or add a question and send it over saying it's updated. Then send to everyone.

McCrea writes back on last time that day:

I don’t have anything to say. There is another response going out late this evening on Abengoa that will take it from 93% complete to 96 or so percent. I will simply send that to everyone.

#3. May 31, 2010 EMAIL 2:37PM with the Subject line: Principle Meeting 

McCrea writes to Silver:

I fear that you have completely lost control of these meeting. Based on the current slide deck, there are now an OMB meeting with S1. [Secretary Chu].

Also, given what they are focused upon, and how they focus, Abengoa and Blue Mountain are dead.” Abengoa for the 2 suggested solutions, either of which will kill the deal. As an aside, equity already has the first loss position in the case of a haircut and for us to have any shortfall, the inflation of the costs has to be more than 20%, which is inconceivable given out vetting.

This program is hopeless.

Jim

On that same date at 6:27 PM, there was an exchange about the Chu/Orszag meeting that they were preparing for, which was set for June 1, 2010. This meeting was regarding the Abengoa (Solano) and Blue Mountain projects that included an entire outline, of which it seems that both were having issues.

This JUNE 1, 2010 “Principals Meeting” with Abengoa and Blue Mountain on the docket, was with Secretary Chu, Peter Orszag, Carol Browner and I’m assuming DOE officials.

There was also a JUNE 9, 2010 meeting with Peter Orszag, Carol Browner, Rod O'Conner, Jeffrey Liebman, Jonathan Silver and additional staff, which was labeled as a series of “principal meetings” at DOE and OMB to work through issues that come up in the Loan Programs. On that docket were a few DOE projects including Abengoa's Solana Solar project in Arizona, which, from what I gather, at that time, had two remaining issues:

1. Leverage lease structure 
2. Dispute between American solar companies and the Spanish government

In dealing with issue number two, the briefing outline, which was prepared by Jonathan Silver, stated.

...Despite this uncertainty, Browner's office has informed us that they would be comfortable with an Abengoa announcement at this time. Should Abengoa be approved by CRB, we will be prepared with talking points to address any criticism or questions that may arise in connection with the announcement of the deal."

Less than a month later, the president announced this $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa. This was part of his weekly address (President Obama Touts Nearly $2 Billion in New Investments to Help Build a Clean Energy Economy) that occurred on July 03, 2010 –– a deal that was finalized December 2010.

But there's more...

#4. June 10, 2010 EMAIL exchange between McCrea, Steve Isakowitz, and a few others, whereas the subject line: Abengoa –– Final DOE Responses –– OMB and the Recovery Rating

This documentation shows that there were issues with Abengoa's “recovery ratings set by OMB."


#5. June 25, 2010 EMAIL at 1:09 AM (guess loans don't sleep), with the subject line: Abengoa, Abound, First Wind and Beacon Updates, James C McCrea writes to Jonathan Silver and cc's  David Frantz; Susan Richardson...

Jonathan ––
An update on the 4 projects as of this evening. DOE is moving with "the fierce urgency of now," while OMB/Treasury/FFB are moving with "the fierce urgency of…whenever." There has been no sign of life from OMB/FFB/Treasury and no sign that they are responding to WH intervention.

At the end of this email, after going through each of the four projects and their issues, McCrea concludes:

All in all, I do not see how we can deliver, even with significant WH support, on anything other than Abengoa. The sooner we can remove First Wind and Beacon from the accelerated process, the better.

Jim 

Silver responds at 9:35 AM:

Sounds like we can’t do the closing deals but can announce the conditional commitments. Let’s keep pushing on all four, but I will set the stage upstairs.

Silver writes back again at 7:12 PM:

If we can’t close, we can’t close. That said, we shouldn’t not close because we can’t resolve an issue with the applicant or because people have other plans, etc. We should only not close if there are substantive items that will weaken our investment/position in the deal.

#6. June 29, 2010 EMAIL exchange between McCrea and Silver with the subject line: Treasury consultation memo.docx; Treasury Consultation Talking Points.docx.

Again in this interaction, we find more complaining on how the other departments held up the approval of these loans. There was also and interesting note, "Where Treasury determines that there are potential policy concerns (and, to date, they have had concerns on nearly every project), Treasury staff, and often OMB and the NEC get involved.” They give two examples:

• Abengoa: Treasury debated the use of traditional leveraged lease transaction in spite of confirmation by DOE’s outside counsel that the transaction was standard… 
• First Wind includes concerns over “double dipping” –– the 48c grant (a tax credit provided after, but only after, a company is profitable)…

#7. On July 1, 2010, there was an EMAIL exchange that transpired between Jonathan Silver and few other DOE officials. The subject line was: "can you help answer?" yet this was those inside the DOE seeking information on the Abengoa’s Solana project for “job creation” to provide for the “president’s speech.” 

Early that morning Brandon Hulbut asks:

Can you help me answer the 2 questions below for the President’s speech?

This question was answered by giving the stats on the amount of clean, green electricity that the Abengoa Solana plant would produce. However, later that afternoon, Ove Westerhem writes:

Further to follow on question from this morning for the Schott receiver plant, the Solana project will employ approximately 200 people for about one year to manufacture the receiver tubes for the Abengoa project.

Jonathon Silver write bank to all at 4:07PM:

This raises more questions than it answers. What happens after that year? The question was about permanent jobs.

Jim McCrea responds at 4:19PM:

The jobs are permanent if the market for the product is there but Abengoa itself is not an on-going market. Blah blah blah… my emphasis 

As mentioned twice now, this coincides with the fact that President Obama, during his July 03, 2010 weekly address, advertised this  $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa as an American jobs creator –– a deal that was finalized December 2010.

#8. October 30, 2010, there was an EMAIL exchange at 12:33 PM from McCrea to Silver with the subject line: RE: Strategy Question

I am growing increasingly worried about a fast track process imposed on us at the POTUS level based on this chaotic process that we are undergoing. The work to date does not have near enough staff work to be supportable and is totally being done on the fly and is being used by other agencies to impose theological views. We really get little out of fast tracking when you get right down to it and the process that is being designed is pure crap. Further, by legitimizing some of their theological views in the fast tracking screens, we give those views credibility that will be certainly be used against us for non-fast tracked transactions. By designing the fast track process and having it approved at the POTUS level (which is an absolute waste of his time!) it legitimizes every element and it becomes embedded like the 55% recovery rate, which also was imposed by POTUS.

I think that the time has come, given how poorly this process is going, to step back from all of this and to take a deep breath. 

Jim

Silver’s response comes three minutes later at 12:40 PM:

While I might agree with you intellectually, that is not where we are. Let’s finish this process and get back to business. When they don’t fast track something, we’ll complain.

We’ve gotten deals done with the 55% recovery rate; we’ll get deals done this way…

Later that afternoon at 4:49 PM, McCrea writes:

Working away but it is hard to argue that 50% for total subsidy which they are headed for is not reasonable, especially with a decision maker who has no clue. Even if you add 5% for RPS to every transaction, it lets everything through except for BrightSource, US Geothermal, Abengoa and First Wind. On that criteria, even Shepherds Flat and Baldwin get through. 50% simply is not an issue for us if it was the only criteria. The problem is the overlapping criteria which effectively take so many of our transactions out.

Jim

As the story goes: two months later, December 22, 2010 (or there about), the Obama administration finalized Abengoa Solar's $1.45 billion loan guarantee for their $2 billion Solana Project project in Arizona –– which became operational in October 2013, yet what this Spanish conglomerate did after getting this American taxpayer money, will make your head explode!

That's next...

Signed,
The Green Corruption Files
-c