Connect the Dots :: Obama’s Clean – Energy Dirt – Stealing You Blind for a Good Cause?

Cronies tied to at least $10 billion of Obama’s taxpayer funded green-energy spending spree: Energy-sector 2009-Recovery Act advisor and Jobs Council member, billionaire John Doerr’s VC firm Kleiner Perkins –– Al Gore partner, and KPCB collaboration with the London based Generation Investment Management.

January 31, 2013 06:43

By Christine Lakatos

Updated to reflect First Solar addition for $3B

In my first segmentof “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Jobs

Council Members,” I covered Obama’s Jobs Czar, Jeffrey Immelt and the fact that General Electric, a top 2008 Obama donor, has been making bank off of Obama’s 2009-stimulus package –– GE’s “green tab” exceeds $3 billion in direct (some indirect) taxpayer cash, and counting.

Last July when I chronicled General Electric’s “big green stimulus bucks,” I also revealed the cozy ties and “green alliances” that Immelt has with other Jobs Council members and other high-profile fat cats, including John Doerr. One in particular was formed in 2010 –– the American Energy Innovation Council (AEIC), which called for “a tripling of U.S. federal energy research budget.” GE joined forces with others that have benefited from Obama’s alternative-energy taxpayer funds, like the Advanced Metering Partners, another Doerr “venture” via Silver Spring Networks, one of Kleiner Perkins shining green companies, which in 2009, cashed in big time when the DOE starting handing out $4 billion in smart grid grants. But that’s just the start…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 sits on the President Obama’s Jobs Council (also from Obama’s 2009 PERAB), but early on he ultimately shapedwhat went into the energy sector of the president’s 2009-Stimulus package.
KPCB Green Money: 2010 vs. 2012

In my three-part 2010 summer series, “Obama’s Political Payback: Green Corruption,” I warned that billions of stimulus money was going to Doerr and Gore; however, besides being RIGHT, since that time, they have tripled their portfolio and thus warranted another look.In 2010 I calculated that over 50 percent of the companies listed on Kleiner Perkins “Greentech Portfolio” secured all kinds of loans, grants and special tax breaks (federal and state), and at that time I reported that of the nineteen, nine were lucky winners. Then in 2011 new reports came out from Peter Schweizer’a bestseller, Throw Them All Out(referenced throughout as Peter’s Book), revealing that as many as sixteen (of 27) “received direct taxpayer support in the form of loans, grants, or stimulus work.”Now with 66 listed –– although  in reality it would take a team of investigators to track all the money –– as one-person researcher, I’ve found much more. My conclusion is that over 50 percent (again) are confirmed 2009-Recovery Act winners (36 of the 66). This means that ultra-rich  Doerr and Gore –– through their alternative energy investment firm –– have raked in at least $1 billion in green-government subsidies, the majority coming from President Obama’s 2009-stimulus spending spree.

While quite a few of Doerr and Gore clean energy investments have been listed in my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List (total at 52), The Wall Street Journal’s end of the year analysis sheds light on Kleiner Perkins –– a “political venture capital turns out to be a loser,” concluding,

“[Gore’s backing of] environmentally correct companies, the collaboration has yielded few successful exits for Mr. Gore and his partners, along with some spectacular disasters.”So much for Mr. Doerr’s claim, “Our green investing doesn’t depend on government policies. It’s about basic supply and demand.”

Kleiner Perkins is also tied to over $9 billion of Obama approved DOE loans and 2009-Recovery Act funds. Through Gore’s UK-based Generation Investment Management (GIM), there’s Abengoa (a Spanish firm) that received three loans from the 1705 Loan Guarantee Program totaling close to $2.8 billion, which also recently got more money from another “massive taxpayer-backed fund for corporate welfare” –– the U.S. Export-Import Bank. While this too carries its very own corruption slant, the $150 million is going for green jobs, not here in the United States, but overseas. Hmm, our jobs council must be proud.

Also through GIM, there’s “The First Solar Three Billion Dollar Swindle,” which includes three large solar projects, and casts plenty more shady characters (Obama bundlers and top donors) in the green-deal making process –– a story Marita and I exposedin July 2012. Despite the fact that all three of these projects considered risky investments by Fitch, the DOE approved these “White House supported” loans through the 1703 program in August and September 2011, and shortly after were purchased by other Obama cronies.First Solar, a Goldman Sachs early investment, was also part of Gore’s GIM’s stock portfolio. In an interesting October 2012 article by Bill Gunderson of TheStreet, “According to SEC filings, Gore’s company bought 440,000 shares in late 2010 at about $130. By the first quarter of 2012, the value of First Solar — and just about every other solar manufacturer in America — had plummeted.” While Gore’s stock purchase just so happened to be during the DOE’s so-called review process of four First Solar loans, as reflected in the March 20, 2012 House Oversight Report, The Street reflects more on this. “Generation Investment rode it all the way down, buying more and more shares as the price went lower and lower until finally it reached $25 in the first quarter of 2012. Generation Investment was holding 1.1 million shares worth about $28 million. Filings for the next period show First Solar had disappeared from its portfolio — with Generation Investment selling its shares for somewhere between $12 and $25.”

But Gore wasn’t the only one selling out –– during a brutal (May 16, 2012) House Oversight hearing the truth came out, First Solar’s CEO Michael Ahearn sold 700,000 of his own shares in August 2011, of which he personally raked in a whopping $68.5 million, with reports of more.  Ahearn also relunctantly admitted, “in sheer numbers, most of our full time [employees] are outside the US” –– I think to Spain.

Another one involves Kleiner Perkins “nuclear buddy” AREVA (Ausra Inc., also a GIM investment, acquired by the French company AREVA February 8, 2010) and its $2 billion “POTUS approved” loan. Plus Ausra, now Areva Solar Inc. was awarded close to a $14 million 1603 grant for “solar electricity” in California two weeks later. Topping off this “stimulus winner” connection list is their shining smart firm, Silver Spring Networks as well as OPower, of which both are tied to at least $1.3 billion of the Recovery Act Smart-Grid Grants.

So billions of stimulus money and green jobs are going to foreign companies –– where’s our jobs council on this?

While Doerr is a known Obama donor, we find that “Top Kleiner Perkins executives have given more than a million dollars to federal candidates and parties since 1991, most of it going to Democrats. Obama himself has received $19,000 from the company’s employees,” reports the National Review Online.

They go on further with details, “According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Brook Byers, also a major partner, has made $391,110 in political contributions since 1990, $148,500 of which went directly to the Democratic party (most of the rest went to individual Democratic candidates). Kleiner Perkins co-founder Frank Caufield’s $394,950 in political contributions since 1990 have gone almost entirely to Democrats. Another top partner, David Blood, helped organize a $2,300-a-head fundraiser for Candidate Obama in 2008.”

Green Energy: “The Mother of All Markets”

In 2010, I had written extensively on Doerr and Gore, and mentioned David Blood. Doerr and Gore –– the “climate duo,” whose combined “carbon footprint” is larger than my entire city –– friendship dates as far back as the 90′s. Since being converted to “global warming” by Gore in 2005 with “a convenient hype,” Doerr has become a “green evangelist,” with his climate crisis message, “I’m really scared, I don’t think we’re gonna make it.” At the same time Doerr continually markets green-energy as “the mother of all markets” –– $6 trillion a year worldwide.

In 2004 Gore started a company with former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management David Blood –– Generation Investment Management (GIM): “Sustainable Investing for the Long Term” –– whereas Blood is the “wizard behind” GIM, and other executives include two other Goldman bigwigs, Mark Ferguson and Peter Harris.

In 2007, GIM and Kleiner Perkins created the “International Alliance to accelerate global climate solutions,” and about that time, Gore became a partner of Kleiner Perkins and Doerr joined the GIM advisory board.

In 2008, Kleiner Perkins launched the Green Growth Fund stating that “[it] will invest $500 million in Growth-Stage Companies,” and “separately announced the formation of KPCB XIII, a $700 million fund that will invest in greentech, information technology and life sciences ventures.” It turns out that “the KPCB Green Growth Fund will also enable the firm to extend its existing collaboration with the London based Generation Investment Management.”

Obviously Al Gore, a two-term Obama advocate, is a heavy weight within political circles, but don’t underestimate John Doerr’s, which politics date back to the Bush administration when “Doerr and his team were responsible for gettingthe ‘end-oil-addiction’ wording inserted into President Bush’s 2006 state-of-the-union address.”Furthermore, in 2008, Doerr placed his “hope” on the anointed one, and in January 2009, his persuasion was reflected in the 2009-Recovery Act via his “meetings with Obama’s transition team and leaders in Congress” as well as the fact that he made “five recommendations to Congress and President-elect Barack Obama to jumpstart 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…

Teaser: Senator John Kerry and Green-Energy Crony-Corruption

Before we dissect more of Kleiner Perkins “green,” I’d like to note that last May The Washington Free Beacon exposed Senator John Kerry, whom President Obama recently nominated as Secretary of State to replace Hillary Clinton, and his part in this green-energy scheme. Kerry, the co-author of cap-and-trade legislation, more specifically the 2010 American Power Act, is another 2009-Recovery Act green-energy crafter, along with Doerr and five others that I found, which have cashed in big time from the stimulus funds (a forthcoming, explosive post).As revealed by The Free Beacon, “the Senator played a key role in crafting the portions of the legislation designed to offer federal support for green energy projects. Kerry also “purchased —through family trusts — between $30,000 and $100,000 worth of shares in a number of KPCB investment funds, including its “Green Growth Fund [that lists fourteen companies], and continued to purchase shares throughout 2010, according to the Senator’s financial disclosure forms.”Kerry is also tied to quite a few other high-profile banks and firms that received DOE loans and grants, however, Marita Noon (from Townhall.com) and I will be doing a full bombshell story on Senator Kerry’s role in this green-energy, crony-corruption scandal in the very near future.

10/31/12 Leaked House Oversight Emails Reveal more White House intervention and  involvement as wells as DOE Advisors that pressured, rushed –– and contrary to their testimony, met with “investors” during the course of the “green deal making process.”

Next, I’d like to expose what I found in the October 31, 2012 House Oversight emails (that included a memorandum as well as Appendix I and the 350+ page Appendix II) related to four large Department of Energy (DOE) transactions. The first one I had alluded to in the beginning, which is tied to Gore’s GIM company, while the other three to Kleiner Perkins –– one acquired, one a direct investment, and the other as a contractor.

Keep in mind that the DOE Loan Guarantee Program (LGP) consists of three separate programs, Section 1703, Section 1705, and Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM), of which the 1705 was created by the stimulus, and the other two were approved by the Obama administration.

Since 2009, DOE has guaranteed $34.7 billion of taxpayer money –– 1703 doled out $10.3 billion to two projects; AREVA and Georgia Power, which are both suspect. Meanwhile through the 1705 $16 billion was doled out to 26 projects, of which 22 were rated as “junk bond” status –– and we can confirm that over 90 percent are politically connected to the president and other high-ranking Democrats, some both. The ATVM loaned out $8.4 billion, of which three of the five are directly tied to President Obama, while the other two 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.”

#1) Abengoa received three loans from the DOE 1705 Loan Guarantee Program totaling close to $2.8 billion/ and recently snagged $150 million from the Export-Import Bank of the United States

Spanish company Abengoa that received close to $2.8 billion in loans, making them the second largest recipient of the $16 billion doled out through the DOE 1705 loan guarantee program.

Abengoa has two solar projects: Solana and Mojave Solar. Solana’s Fitch rating is BB+. Just before Christmas, 2010, the company received $1.45 billion from the DOE for a solar thermal plant, to use parabolic trough technology in Gila Bend, AZ. Mojave Solar’s rating was BB. Yet the company received $1.2 billion in September 2011 for its solar assembly collection project in San Bernardino County, CA. Abengoa has connections to .

In addition to the two solar projects listed above, Abengoa also has a biofuel project located in Kansas, which Fitch rated CCC that got a $132.4 million loan in August 2010.

So how did such a poorly rated, non-American company get billions in US taxpayer loan guarantees? Can you say “crony corruption?” A story Marita and I wrote last summer, but in short, Abengoa has a cadre of cronies in high places which not only involves Al Gore, but former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, California’s Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, and, of course, President Obama — plus, many others whose names you’ve probably never heard of.

Also, as I mentioned, in December 2012, the Export-Import Bank of the United States authorized $150 million in loans to Abengoa: $78.6 million direct loan to Spain-based Abengoa, and $73.6 million direct loan to a wind farm in Uruguay, which is owned by Abengoa –– as part of “an ambitious goal set by President Obama, of doubling U.S. exports in five years,” which to me in the case of Abengoa, we are exporting billions of US tax dollars to Spain.

What’s relevant at this point, is that in 2007, Gore’s UK-based Generation Investment Management (GIM) bought a stake in Abengoa. He has extolled Abengoa for years, visiting “the largest solar platform in Europe” (operated by Abengoa) in October 2008 and delivering a high-powered speech at the company’s Spanish headquarters in October 2010. GIM Advisory Board Member Mario Molino also serves on Abengoa’s Advisory Committee.

While there are many emails to report on in regards to the Abengoa loans (a forthcoming column), one EMAIL in particular dated June 25, 2010 is very interesting. James McCrea writes to Jonathan Silver (cc’s David Frantz and Susan Richardson), with the subject line: Abengoa, Abound, First Wind, and Beacon: ”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 “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.”

Silver responds to McCrea and Richardson (cc’s David Frantz), “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.”

#2) AREVA: $2 Billion DOE 1703 Loan Guarantee

Ausra Inc. –– a KPCB investment that “develops and deploys utility-scale solar technologies,” February 8, 2010, was acquired by AREVA Inc. Then May 21, 2010, “The U.S. Department of Energy offered a conditional commitment for a $2 billion loan guarantee to AREVA to facilitate financing of its Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned for development near Idaho Falls, Idaho.” Plus Ausra, now Areva Solar Inc. was awarded close to a $14 million 1603 grant for “solar electricity” in California two weeks later, February 26, 2010.

EMAIL, September 1, 2009, subject line; etc warranty: James McCrea in addressing “AREVA backstopping,” writes, “Re the rushed process, I agree [another system of a process that’s overly and artificially rushed].” He goes on, “What makes it far worse, is that we are doing our analysis, preparing the term sheet, etc. (not ECT!!) before the project has gelled. In the commercial finance world, this transaction would not be ready for real financing discussion/term sheet preparation for a least a year.”

EMAIL, September 24, 2009, subject line; AREVA update: James McCrea writes, “Given the size of this transaction ($2B of loan guarantee), the political overlay, and recent experience with both CC and OMB, we are making every effort to button this transaction and the credit paper down as tightly as we can…”

Six months later we find an EMAIL dated March 1, 2010, subject line; Eagle Rock Project: from David Schmitzer, DOE LPO Director of Loan Origination to James McCrea: “Jonathan just said at our staff meeting that, opposite the message received on Thursday, AREVA is now a “‘go’” (seems on Friday POTUS himself approved moving it ahead).”

And two months later, May 2010, the $2 billion loan guarantee was approved, and they estimate that it will create 1000 construction jobs and a whopping 310 permanent jobs. Interesting enough is that AREVA is also tied to the UniStar project, which I found more damning evidence in the House Oversight leaked emails, implicating Secretary Chu and other Democrat politicians like
Steny Hoyer when he was the House Majority Leader in 2010, however, we need to get back to Kleiner Perkins.

NOTE: AREVA’s Eagle Rock Enrichment facility made it on my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List, in the troubled category — with rumors of AREVA “suspending its Idaho uranium enrichment plant” circulated in late 2011, and more. But it’s unsure where they stand now…

#3) Fisker Automotive: $529 Million DOE ATVM Loan Guarantee / plus  $21.5 million from the State of Delaware

One of the most blatant examples of government favoritism, catching headlines in the Wall Street Journal back in September 2009 (Gore-Backed Car Firm Gets Large U.S. Loan) was the $529 million ATVM loan guarantee, a huge deal that was cinched in April 2010, went to Fisker Automotive. Yep, Doerr and Gore’s Fisker DOE loan ignited red flags, partly due to the fact that the funds were for its high-end, hybrid sports coupe, Fisker Karma that was to be manufactured in Finland and sold for $89,000.

Isn’t that dandy? Even our jobs council is shipping jobs overseas, and using taxpayer money to do so…

Still, haven’t a few gone up in flames lately, and what about those layoffs? In fact Fisker too, made it on my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List (total at 52), in the troubled category –– as they are possibly on life support. And what about the $21.5 million Fisker got from Delaware, which is composed of a $9 million grant and a $12.5 million loan, yet as of January 5th the company has yet to produce a car in Delaware.

Now in my analysis of these emails, I didn’t find much on the ATVM front, however, there were a few interactions that occurred between the following:

• Stephen Fisher, Director at Scully Capital Services, a Financial Advisor to U.S. Department
  of Energy on the Federal Loan Guarantee Program, including the ATVM
• James C. McCrea, (FORMER?) Senior Credit Advisor Loan Programs Department of Energy
• Jason H. Gerbsman, (FORMER?) Chief of Staff & Senior Investment Officer, Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, Office of Loan Programs, U.S. Department of Energy
• Lachlan Seward, amongst other high-profile government and financial works, he is the former Director of the ATVM Loan Program
• Jonathan Silver, former Executive Director of the Loans Programs Office Department of Energy (November 2009 to October 2011)

EMAILS dated May 16 to 18, 2011, where the aforementioned were discussing Next AutoWorks (they were seeking a $320 million ATVM loan) and the fact that Jonathan Silver was meeting with John Doerr on Tuesday, May 24, 2011.

Further, one EMAIL dated May 18, 2011 from Stephen Fisher to Jim McCrea, references a Next Framework Letter, where he writes, “Watch for a draft letter (Silver to Ligocki) coming this afternoon,” and then goes on… “It does make you wonder why we are putting all this in a letter to them. “It is a very strange process change for no good reason other than communicating with the Kleiner Perkins benefactors…”

NOTE: Kathleen Ligocki is an Operating Executive at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers (since September 2012) and serves as Chief Executive Officer of Next Autoworks Company (since 2010), a Kleiner Perkins company.

Next AutoWorks (formally V-Vehicle), is backed by Google Ventures, T. Boone Pickens, and Kleiner Perkins –– all Obama buddies. However, in November 2011, due to the to the defaults and federal probes into of other DOE-funded startups like Solyndra and Beacon Power that caused the government to re-evaluate its appetite for loans to early-stage companies, they withdrew their application in November 2011, “after DOE officials informed the automobile startup that its application would not be approved.”

The car cronyism is obvious within the ATVM program, and I had sounded that “corruption alarm” in 2010, and this past November updated the story, “Cruising Down the Green Cronyism Road,” whereas all five loans were tied to the president. Moreover this past November, Marita and I were given the exclusive interview XP Technologies, the company that filed a lawsuit against the federal government concerning the DOE’s denial of XP Technology’s loan guarantee application. The complaint alleges: “criminal activities did take place by DOE staff and affiliates.”Still, this [Next AutoWorks] email interaction is another case where we can prove that Mr. Silver lied under oath before the July 18, 2012, Oversight Hearing, where he had emphatically denied that he or anyone else in the DOE Loan Program knew who the investors were in the companies applying for loans. Silver said, “indeed no one in the Loan Program had any idea what individuals were involved in this [Abound] or any other transaction, nor did we care.” Even a second time, “…as I say, almost nobody that I am aware of in the Loan Program even knew who the individuals were who had invested, either directly or indirectly, into these companies.” I guess nobody does care, not even the House Oversight Committee that Silver lied to…

#4) U.S. Geothermal: $97 million loan via the DOE 1705 Loan Guarantee Program

U.S. Geothermal Inc. (USG) –– an Idaho-based geothermal energy developer with three main projects in the works: San Emidio in Nevada, Raft River in Idaho, and Neal Hot Springs in Oregon, with plans for more. Peter’s Book notes that Goldman Sachs “was the second-largest-shareholder” however, in December 2011, The Huffington Post reported, “Goldman has a minority stake in U.S. Geothermal,” and “U.S. Geothermal is working with Raft River I Holdings, yet another Goldman subsidiary, on a project in Idaho.”

Neal Hot Springs Project in Malheur County, Oregon:
In May 2009, USG started the DOE loan process, and in June 2010, USG announced that it “was offered a conditional commitment for a $102.2-million loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy,” slated to build a 22-megawatt power plant in the eastern Oregon desert.

In EMAIL exchanges February 16 and 17, 2011, discussing POTUS/LPO and President Obama’s visit to Oregon, Jonathan Silver writes, “See Below: POTUS will be in Portland on Friday (that is a close hold) and would like to announce both deals. So, you will not be surprised that OMB has cleared both. We need to get our work done on US Geothermal. I realize it is unfair. Life in the big city. Thanks! This will be a great week for the program!”

Later Matthew Winters (Senior Advisor, Loan Programs) responds about US Geothermal, “Now that we know POTUS is not going to make the SoloPower/USGeo announcement in Portland on Friday –– and we are going to announce SoloPower w/Chu at 4:30pm tomorrow –– the question is what do we do with USGeothermal? With appropriate pressure applied on OMB, this deal could still close by Friday…”

Brandon Hulbut, replies to Winters and cc’s Jonathan Silver, Owen Barwell, and Jim McCrea, “At wh let’s discuss first thing tomorrow –– heard some stuff from omb we need to sort out.”

And just a week later, February 24, 2011, USG secured the loan for $96.8-million via the 1705 loan guarantee program –– one of the first geothermal projects funded by the DOE, despite the fact that in December 2010, S&P gave it a “BB,” non-investment grade.

Now why is US Geothermal relevant to John Doerr?

Well, besides the fact that this Oregon-based project is “expected to create 150 construction jobs and 10 permanent jobs” for whopping $97 million — another tainted mark on Obama’s jobs panel  ––  Doerr and Gore are in cahoots with Goldman Sachs on many of theses green-energy deals, and as you continue reading you’ll discover this entire green-energy scheme.

It turns out that in June 2010, “USG selected “TAS Energy, Inc. to supply high efficiency, modular, clean energy power plant technology for its Neal Hot Springs geothermal power plant in Eastern Oregon.” In that announcement they mention the $102.2-million loan guarantee from the DOE.

Furthermore, the day the USG loan was finalized, TAS Energy “was awarded a contract by USG Oregon, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Geothermal Inc.” And interestingly, TAS Energy became part of Kleiner Perkins Green Growth Fund, a deal they closed in June 2011. So, while I can’t locate any direct stimulus funds for TAS, they did get a JOB, and are still getting paid with taxpayer money, and from the Recovery Act.

However, there is more USG government money to expose; the Neal Hot Springs Project was also counting “on a separate, $34 million federal tax rebate— money that’s part of the 2009 federal stimulus act.” Now, I’m unsure whether they got that, but I do know that USG Oregon project was not the only winner of Obama stimulus funds. Here’s a brief glance at the other two:San Emidio Project in Nevada:

In October 2009, USG was “awarded $3.77 million in Recovery Act funding for the exploration and development of its San Emidio geothermal power project.” In November 2011, USG (for San Emidio Geothermal Project) secured a $9 million cash grant via the Section 1603 ITC, also part of the Recovery Act.Raft River Project in Idaho:
In September 2009, the DOE finalized an award for the Raft River EGS program, which they state, “now totals up to $10.21 million, with the DOE providing up to $7.39 million as part of the cost-sharing arrangement.” It also states, The Raft River EGS project is one of 21 projects that are scheduled to conduct research, develop and demonstrate the viability of Enhanced Geothermal Systems. The DOE provided up to $78 million in funding for the 2008/2009 programs,” and it began in February 2010.

Kleiner Perkins Projects Tied to Goldman Sachs and Wealthy Venture Capitalists: Obama Bundlers, Top Donors, and Appointed Department of Energy Advisors

Besides General Electric and Gore’s Generation Investment Management, Kleiner Perkins is also in cahoots with other fat-cat Obama bundles and donors –– two became DOE Advisors –– that were huge winners of the Obama “green stimulus cash” (taxpayer money that is): Goldman Sachs, Khosla Ventures, and The Westly Group as well as Vantage Point Capital Partners and Google Ventures.

Goldman Sachs

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 green-energy scheme, including “The First Solar Three Billion Dollar Swindle,” explained earlier.

Besides First Solar and U.S. Geothermal, there is another Goldman investments that happens to be part of the 1705 “DOE junk bond portfolio.” Cogentrix of Alamosa, LLC (Cogentrix Energy a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs), which despite the fact that it had a “B rating” by Fitch in July 2011, in September 2011 they snagged a $90.6 million DOE loan ”to support one of the first utility scale, high concentration photovoltaic energy generation facilities in the U.S. and the largest of its kind in the world.”

What you should know about Cogentrix, besides the fact that $90 million of taxpayer money went to create a whopping 10 jobs, is that with this one transaction, Goldman Sachs cashed in every step of the way –– and their green cronies too. (A striking detail that I found when reviewing the June 19, 2012 House Oversight Hearing, where the CEO of Cogentrix Mr. Robert Mancini testified).

This is relevant not just because of the obvious cronyism and deep-seated corruption, but this green deal making is also tied to Amonix, a Gore and Doerr (also Steve Westly, DOE Advisor) investment, which received over $20 million in federal tax credits and grants, and went bankrupt July 18, 2012. More on Amonix later.

I’ve noted Obama’s Wall Street Buddies in previous posts, and have written extensively about the president’s connection to Goldman Sachs –– the number two top Obama donor in 2008. Also, two Goldman executives sat on Obama’s 2008 Finance Committee, Bruce Heyman and David Heller, while Jennifer Scully and Bruce Heyman were 2008 bundlers –– Heyman was also a 2012 Obama bundler.

Even without extensive research, Goldman Sachs is tied to many other clean-energy projects that received loans, grants and special tax breaks from the Obama administration, and what I’ve tracked so far are billions of stimulus money from the DOE; First Solar, Cogentrix, and U.S. Geothermal. 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 and Nordic WindPower, as well as “struggling” SunTech, taking billions of taxpayer money down with them.

NOTE: All but three of the above are on my 2012 Green-Energy Failure Alert List.

But wait…… as I glance at an old PDF (April 2011) copy of Goldman Sachs Environmental

Markets (link no longer valid), besides First Solar, U.S. Geothermal, Nordic WindPower, and SunTech, there are six more. One that sticks out in my memory is Horizon Wind Energy, of which “EDP-Energias de Portugal SA, the country’s biggest electricity utility, agreed to buy Horizon Wind Energy LLC of Texas from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for $2.15 billion,” and Citigroup Inc. advised EDP on the Horizon acquisition,” according to Bloomberg in 2007.

Now Horizon is very relevant to the “Wind Energy Blows in More Green Corruption” story that I will be telling soon. But in the meantime, you’ll be “blown away” by the billions of “wind energy grants” that flew out of the 2009-Recovery Act back in February 2010, the majority of which went to projects owned by foreign companies. And Horizon-EDPR (Portugal) was the winners of four totaling over $277 million.

In March 2012, Goldman Sachs announced its plan “to channel investments totaling $40 billion over the next decade into renewable energy projects, an area the investment bank called one of the biggest profit opportunities since its economists got excited about emerging markets in 2001,” writes Reuters –– meaning they’ll be pursuing for more government aid.

Khosla Ventures

Khosla Ventures is where you’ll find billionaire Vinod Kholsa, and “Kholsa had been the head of Obama’s India Policy Team during the 2008 election,” states Peter’s Book. As revealed by a recent Breitbart.com article, “In October 2012, Mr. Khosla donated one million dollars to Priorities USA Action, a top liberal super PAC that backed President Barack Obama’s reelection. According to Reuters, since 1996, Mr. Khosla has made at least $474,534 in campaign donations, 86% of which went to Democrats.”

Mr. Khosla happens to be another big VC winner in the green taxpayer funded giveaway, which includes Ausra (listed above), Coskata that snagged a $250 million DOE loan, as well as Nordic WindPower (also a Goldman Sachs investment, listed above) for $16 million, plus much, much more.

Vinod Khosla, an affiliated partner of Kleiner Perkins, whose firm Khosla Ventures has also invested in some of the same companies as Kleiner Perkins –– these include Ausra Inc., AltaRock, Amyris, Great PointEnergy, Mascoma, and QuantumScape (part of Khosla Ventures “sustainability portfolio“), and all received Obama stimulus funds.

The Westly Group

Meet Steve Westly, the Founder and Managing Partner of  The Westly Group, and a “DOE Insider,” as well as another Obama crony who made a DNC 2012 cameo. Westly is a two-time Obama bundler, sat on the campaign’s National Finance Committee, and was a co-chair of the 2012 Technology for Obama group. He was briefly considered for a cabinet level position in the Obama administration, and in August 2010, Westly secured a top advisory role inside the DOE, close to Energy Secretary Chu.

In 2011, Westly was tagged as the “Green bundler with the golden touch,” where IWatch points to “a trail of [green] loans, grants and tax breaks.” However, I found more –– as of  today they list 20 firms (exited and current), and at least 50 percent of The Westly Group portfolio were winners in the Obama green-energy spending spree.

The most infamous is the Tesla Motors $465 million ATVM loan, which made it on my 2012 Green Energy Failure Alert List, in the troubled category with its array of Democrat cronies.

Throw in Soladigm (now called “view“), CalStar Products, and Enerkem, which 2009 got $50 million of DOE Recovery-Act funding, and in 2011, 80 million loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). SCIenergy, Inc., which in January 2012 got $2.8 million, plus more from city of San Jose via the stimulus. Meanwhile ShotSpotter is getting wired from stimulus funds, and in 2010, Revolution Foods got a DC contract for two “healthy school meals” pilot programs.

Topping the Westly list with more winners of green Recovery Act funds, Amonix, Amyris Biotechnologies, EdenIQ, RecycleBank, and Solexel, which are all part of Kleiner Perkins greentech portfolio, and you’ve got a DOE Advisor that we can now label as the ”Green Golden Boy.”

Vantage Point Capital Partners

Add another “DOE Insider,” Sanjay Wagle, who was an Obama fundraiser for the 2008 campaign through his Clean Tech for Obama group. After the 2008 election, Wagle joined the Obama administration as a “renewable energy grants adviser” at the Department of Energy under Secretary Chu (reported to beat the ARPA-E program at the DOE).Prior to arriving in Washington, Wagle was a principal at Vantage Point Venture Partners, a cleantech venture capital firm, where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a Partner and Senior Advisor. However, according to some Greentech defenders, “Wagle gave up any interests in VantagePoint and the companies it invested in before joining DOE,” and left the DOE sometime in 2012.

That may be true (although I’d like to see the proof), but Wagle was part of the September 22, 2009, Valerie Jarrett “CLEAN ENERGY SUMMIT” held at the White House, whereas “attendees [had] struck gold, cashing in on $5.3 billion in taxpayer funds from the Obama administration.” This was as of June 5, 2012, but I found much more.

Part of that “gold rush” included Vanatage Point‘s portfolio, which has at least nine green firms that have snagged green-government subsidies, and three are listed on my 2012 Green Energy Failure Alert List; Telsa Motors, BrightSource Energy and its $1.6B Shady DOE Deal, as well as Serious Energy –– all listed in the troubled category. Meanwhile there are many tied to other “green allies” that were huge winners of “green” taxpayer money, but four are Kleiner Perkins investments: Amprius, FloDesign, Mascoma, and MiaSole’.

Google Ventures:

In my last post about GE, I shared a set of DOE emails that revealed pressure by the White House (specifically, Vice President Joe Biden, who was supposed to be the Stimulus Sheriff) in the Shepherds Flat wind project in Oregon (Caithness Shepherds Flat, LLC). However, last summer, I divulged that after the huge $1.3 billion DOE loan was finalized in December 2010, four months later, another close associate of, and big donor to the president invested in Caithness.

Enter in Google…

As uncovered in Peter’s Book, “Google’s CEO at the time, Eric Schmidt, served as an informal advisor to President Obama.” Still, Schmidt, Google Executive Chairman, was an Obama donor in 2008, and since April 2009, is a member of the president’s Science and Technology Advisory Council (PCAST). In fact, Google’s $814,540 contribution to Obama’s campaign made it the fifth largest donor in 2008, and in 2012 moved up to the number three spot with a whopping $805,119.

Another Google connection is Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives at Google, was one of the founders of Cleantech and Green Business Leaders for Obama. While there are other interesting folks behind the Google scenes, John Doerr has served as a member of Goolge’s board of directors since May 1999.

Furthermore, according to Michelle Malkin, ” Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Chief Legal Officer and Senior Vice President David Drummond, and Google Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf are all vocal Obama supporters and top donors.”

As of late, Google has aimed its “search engines” at green technology, many of which have received government help –– BrightSource, Solar City, Telsa Motors, and others. In fact, Google Ventures, Energy Investments list include (d): CoolPlanetBioFuels, Amprius, Clean Power Finance, Nest, Next Autoworks, Silver Spring Networks, and Transphorm, the latter six are also part of Kleiner Perkins greentech portfolio with four verified Recovery Act winners.

Bottom Dollar

You can bet your bottom dollar, if you have one left, that we’ll find tons more green-energy funds inside these fat cats’ treasure chests, especially since the DOE continues to hand out checks. Furthermore, in an interview for TIME’s Person of the Year award, President Obama said “the economy, immigration, climate change and energy would be at the top of his agenda for the next four years.” So, if our president gets his way with more stimulus and/or renewable energy funds (and he will, just watch for the sales pitch, “invest”), this Elite Green Group will be there with their hand out for more corporate welfare checks, and President Obama will oblige –– after all they got him elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012, political payback.

What really ticks me off, is that if these ultra rich dudes REALY want to save the planet, why don’t they use their own dang money?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Signing the Taxpayer Theft Act Disguised as Stimulus

Christine Lakatos is the mother of two awesome daughters, diet book author, ACE Certified fitness expert, and post at  Fitness Flash. her new venture –– ferocious researcher and “Green Corruption” blogger. She is also a retired athlete, fitness competitor and American Gladiator’s contestant, plus more. Full bio>

Read more: Source

Mexico: PEMEX Considering Construction of Eight to Twelve New Jack-up Rigs

Emilio Lozoya Austin, CEO of Mexico’s state-controlled oil company PEMEX, has visited Keppel Fels shipyard in Singapore, where the company’s two jack-up rigs are under construction, said PEMEX in a press release issued on Wednesday.

The rigs, of KFELS B Class jackup design, are scheduled for delivery in 2015. The two jack-ups, able to operate in water depths of up to 400 feet and drill to depths of 30,000 feet, will be deployed in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

During his visit, Lozoya Austin said that PEMEX is undergoing the most ambitious drilling program in decades. He said that the Mexican oil company is working to become an oil company with the world’s highest number of jack-up rigs in operation.

Lozoya Austin also added that, as a part of Pemex’s rig fleet expansion program, eight to twelve new offshore jack-up rigs will be constructed. Pemex currently operates 41 offshore drilling rigs, five of which are semi-submersibles and 36 of those are jack-ups.

The head of PEMEX, the world’s fourth-largest crude producer at 2.5 million barrels per day, also visited the Jurong shipyard SembCorp and SembCorp PPL.

PEMEX Considering Construction of Eight to Twelve New Jack-up Rigs| Offshore Energy Today.

Related articles

• Keppel Expands Foothold in Mexican Offshore Market with Two Jackup Orders Worth US$420 Million (maritime-executive.com)
• Seadrill’s West Pegasus Sets Deepwater Drilling Record Off Mexico (gcaptain.com)
• McDermott announces $230 million deal with Pemex (fuelfix.com)
• Mexico’s Leftist Party Plans Campaign to Protect State-Owned Pemex (hispanicallyspeakingnews.com)

Corpus Christi, TX: Extension Project on La Quinta Channel Underway

Construction is currently underway at the La Quinta Channel Extension Project in Nueces County, Texas.

Work includes deepening the channel extension and creating a beneficial use site with a scheduled completion of July 2013.

More:  Dredging Today – USA: Extension Project on La Quinta Channel Underway.

Kinder Morgan to Buy Copano Energy for USD 5 Billion (USA)

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners and Copano Energy announced a definitive agreement whereby KMP will acquire all of Copano’s outstanding units for a total purchase price of approximately $5 billion, including the assumption of debt.

The transaction, which has been approved by the boards of directors of both companies, will be a 100 percent unit for unit transaction with an exchange ratio of .4563 KMP units per Copano unit. The consideration to be received by Copano unitholders is valued at $40.91 per Copano common unit based on KMP’s closing price as of Jan. 29, 2013, representing a 23.5 percent premium to Copano’s close on Jan. 29, 2013.

The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013, is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval and a vote of the Copano unitholders. TPG, Copano’s largest unitholder (owning over 14 percent of its outstanding equity), has agreed to support the transaction.

Copano, a midstream natural gas company with operations primarily in Texas, Oklahoma and Wyoming, provides comprehensive services to natural gas producers, including natural gas gathering, processing, treating and natural gas liquids fractionation. Copano owns an interest in or operates about 6,900 miles of pipelines with 2.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas throughput capacity and 9 processing plants with more than 1 Bcf/d of processing capacity and 315 million cubic feet per day of treating capacity.

“We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Copano, a company that we know very well and have partnered with through the years, as this transaction will enable us to significantly expand our midstream services footprint,” said KMP Chairman and CEO Richard D. Kinder. “As a result of this acquisition, we will be able to pursue incremental development in the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas, gain entry into the Barnett Shale Combo in north Texas and the Mississippi Lime and Woodford Shales in Oklahoma. We continue to be bullish on the domestic shale plays and believe they will drive substantial future growth at KMP. Copano’s assets are very complementary to ours, as KMP is principally a pipeline transportation and storage company, while Copano is primarily a fee-based gathering, processing and fractionation player. Broadening our midstream assets will allow us to offer a wider array of services to our customers.”

“We are excited to have reached this agreement with KMP, which delivers a significant premium to our unitholders that is reflective of the strength and potential of our business and provides an ownership interest in a highly diversified industry leader with an impressive history of sustained distribution growth,” said Copano President and CEO R. Bruce Northcutt. “Through this transaction, Copano will become part of a larger, investment grade organization with stable cash flows and the financial resources to fund our increasing number of high-return growth projects. We are committed to continuing to support our customers with the highest quality service, and expect that KMP’s size and scale will allow us to provide even more value for customers. In addition, we expect this combination will provide opportunities for our many talented employees. We look forward to completing this transaction and to building significant long-term value for all of our stakeholders as part of KMP.”

“Copano is already executing on a substantial backlog of expansion projects for which it has secured customer commitments and is exploring a significant amount of projects incremental to these,” Kinder added. “Given the growth in cash flow that will come from the projects already in progress with existing customer commitments, we expect the multiple of EBITDA paid for Copano to decline to the very low double digits over the next few years and considering the growth opportunities beyond that, we expect continued attractive EBITDA growth from these assets thereafter.”

The acquisition of Copano is expected to be accretive to cash available for distribution to KMP unitholders upon closing. The general partner of KMP, Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI), has agreed to forego a portion of its incremental incentive distributions in 2013 in an amount dependent on the time of closing. Additionally, KMI intends to forgo $120 million in 2014, $120 million in 2015, $110 million in 2016 and annual amounts thereafter decreasing by $5 million per year from this level. The transaction is expected to be modestly accretive to KMP in 2013, given the partial year, and about $0.10 per unit accretive for at least the next five years beginning in 2014.

“Copano’s cash flow is largely and increasingly fee based, and our accretion projections are based on commodity prices consistent with the current forward curve for the portion that is sensitive to commodity prices,” Kinder explained.

The acquisition will be immediately accretive to KMI’s cash available to pay dividends, even after KMI foregoes a portion of the incremental incentive distributions this transaction is expected to produce. The increase in KMI’s cash available to pay dividends (net of the amounts voluntarily foregone) is expected to be approximately $25 million in 2014 growing to approximately $70 million in 2016.

“We anticipate retaining the vast majority of Copano’s approximately 415 employees,” Kinder said. “This transaction is about producing future cash flow and expanding our midstream services footprint.”

Upon closing, KMP will own 100 percent of Eagle Ford Gathering (currently a joint venture with Copano), which provides gathering, transportation and processing services to natural gas producers in the Eagle Ford Shale. Eagle Ford Gathering comprises approximately 400 miles of pipelines (including its capacity rights in certain KMP pipelines) with capacity to gather and process over 700,000 MMBtu/day.

Citi acted as financial advisor for KMP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Bracewell & Giuliani acted as legal counsel to KMP. Barclays Capital Inc. and Jefferies & Company, Inc. provided financial advisory services to Copano and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal counsel to Copano.

Source

Related articles

• Kinder Morgan Energy Partners to buy Copano Energy (fuelfix.com)
• Kinder Morgan Energy buying Copano for $3.2B (seattlepi.com)

IMR vessel Seven Viking from ULSTEIN

The cutting edge Seven Viking vessel, designed for operations in the harshest environments is being unveiled and named at a ceremony in Stavanger, Norway, by Subsea 7, Eidesvik Offshore and Ulstein today, 30 January 2013.

The next generation Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) vessel, the Seven Viking, is co-owned by Subsea 7 and Eidesvik and has been constructed in partnership with Ulstein.

The ICE-C class vessel with a crew capacity of 90 and a top speed of 17 knots, will work for Statoil on a five year contract. It has been custom-built according to the operator’s specifications to carry out tasks including inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea installations in addition to scale treatment and RFO work scopes (Ready For Operations).

The vessel Godmother is to be Christine Sagen Helgø, the Mayor of Stavanger.

Subsea 7 Vice President for Norway Stuart Fitzgerald said: “The collective effort, and strong cooperation, between Ulstein, Eidesvik and Subsea 7, has resulted in the Seven Viking. The Seven Viking represents another class leading asset in the Subsea 7 fleet and captures Subsea 7’s unparalleled experience with IMR operations in harsh environments. The design and build of this state of the art vessel would not have been possible without the expertise and dedication of many people within both Subsea 7 and our project partners, and we take pride in their achievement. We look forward to many years of safe and efficient operations with Seven Viking for our Customer, Statoil.”

Jan Fredrik Meling, CEO Eidesvik Offshore said, “We in Eidesvik are very satisfied with the close and constructive cooperation with Subsea 7. The relationship between our companies has developed over many years and has enabled us, together with Ulstein, to launch this outstanding vessel.”

Gunvor Ulstein, Ulstein Group CEO said, “Ulstein is proud to deliver a vessel of unmatched technical and operational capacity in its sector, and I am confident that the Seven Viking will meet Statoil’s expectations.”

The Seven Viking incorporates the X-BOW® hull line design to reduce motion in transit and gives increased stability in the potentially high waves that characterise the North Sea. Despite this enviable stability usually associated with size, this version of the Ulstein SX148 design has been crafted to be compact in stature – measuring only 106.5 metres long and 24.5 metres wide. The dimensions will allow the Seven Viking to manoeuvre with ease in confined spaces, such as between platforms, accessing difficult to reach areas.

Thanks to a clever configuration whereby hull space is maximised and equipment is integrated within a large hangar area, the Seven Viking and its crew have the ability to carry all necessary maintenance equipment on board, ensuring that operational downtime is kept to a minimum.

Safety, efficiency and environmental considerations have been the prime focus for the three partners when developing the Seven Viking, which carries the Clean Design notation.

A customised module handling system (MHS) has been integrated in the ship’s hangar for the safe launch and retrieval of subsea modules weighing up to 70 tons through the moon pool.

To facilitate cooperation and communication, all operational personnel are gathered in one area adjacent to the hangar, with panoramic windows in the control room giving a full overview of this key activity area. The Seven Viking has been developed to meet the highest working environment standards, and is classified as a comfort class COMF-V (3) vessel. Minimal noise levels in the hangar have been achieved by opting for electric winches for the ROVs, the MHS and other utility equipment.

Notable environmental initiatives include diesel electric propulsion, which reduces atmospheric emissions, and the electrical winches which nullify the risk of emissions of hydraulic oil.

Source

A $14 Trillion Extortion for a Global Warming Scam

“Nobody in this country realizes that cap-and-trade is a tax – and it’s a great big one.”
John Dingell

The latest megalomaniacal threat from the financial globalists wants to saddle the world economy with a cost of trillions of dollars that benefits favorite corporatists. The phony global warming cult has a core purpose. Their objective is to drive down the standard of living for non-elites and prevent the use of fossil fuel energy. The fallacious science used to create a disinformation scare for politically unsophisticated “True Believers” is a direct result of transnational money manipulators. The Davos crowd sponsors the educational and media institutions that trump up junk research and manufacture idealistic solutions.

Make no mistake about it, the Davos Elites Enjoys the Global Depression, and love corporate welfare. They greatly profit from government subsidized “Green” ventures, which drive up energy costs and line the pockets of compadre companies, under the control of the financial barons. As the rest of us struggle to survive, pronouncements declare an every greater burden to bear. Note the ominous future in Davos Report Calls For Additional $14 Trillion To Restrain Global Warming.

“The world must spend an additional $14 trillion on clean energy infrastructure, low-carbon transport and energy efficiency to meet the United Nations’ goal for capping the rise in average global temperatures, according to a World Economic Forum report released on Monday.”

Former Mexican President Felipe Calderon states the globalist viewpoint.

“Economic growth and sustainability are inter-dependent, you cannot have one without the other, and greening investment is the pre-requisite to realizing both goals.”

What can be expected from these “greening investment” projects? In order to anticipate future plans, a comprehensive understanding of the past and present shady business practices is crucial.

Examine the industrial wind and solar model in detail. The Washington Post reports in, Sting operations reveal Mafia involvement in renewable energy, is just the tip of the iceberg.

“The still-emerging links of the mafia to the once-booming wind and solar sector here are raising fresh questions about the use of government subsidies to fuel a shift toward cleaner energies, with critics claiming that huge state incentives created excessive profits for companies and a market bubble ripe for fraud. China-based Suntech, the world’s largest solar panel maker, last month said it would need to restate more than two years of financial results because of allegedly fake capital put up to finance new plants in Italy. The discoveries here also follow “eco-corruption” cases in Spain, where a number of companies stand accused of illegally tapping state aid.

Because it receives more sun and wind than any other part of Italy, Sicily became one of Europe’s most obvious hotbeds for renewable energies over the past decade. As the Italian government began offering billions of euros annually in subsidies for wind and solar development, the potential profitability of such projects also soared — a fact that did not go unnoticed by Sicily’s infamous crime families.

Roughly a third of the island’s 30 wind farms — along with several solar power plants — have been seized by authorities. Officials have frozen more than $2 billion in assets and arrested a dozen alleged crime bosses, corrupt local councilors and mafia-linked entrepreneurs. Italian prosecutors are now investigating suspected mafia involvement in renewable-energy projects from Sardinia to Apulia.”

The in-depth analysis, Big Wind Energy Subsidies: A Hurricane of Carnage, Cronyism and Corruption is a good primer on the way plungers game the system and pay off politicians at the taxpayers’ expense.

“Lewis “Lew” Hay, III is executive chairman of NextEra Energy, Inc., and it is estimated by Forbes, that CEO “Hay earns nearly $10 million in total compensation from NextEra.” Despite the fact that Hay was actually a “major political contributor to Sen. John McCain in 2008,” he quickly learned which side his power company could generate the title of the “Third Largest Recipient of DOE Risky Loans.” Hay too joined wealthy Democratic donors on Obama’s Jobs Council in 2011, along with the other two I have tackled in this series, “Spreading the Wealth to Obama’s Ultra-Rich Job Council” –– Jobs Czar, Jeffrey Immelt CEO of General Electric has raked in $3 billion and counting, meanwhile John Doerr, along with his “climate buddy” Al Gore’s, VC firm Kleiner Perkins is tied to at least $10 billion of stimulus funds. Both General Electric and Doerr were key contributors to what went into the 2009 Stimulus.

No matter how you slice it, whether we are sending money abroad or fueling corporate welfare here in the United States as well as the egregious practice of crony capitalism, the 2009-Recovery act is a lie, a travesty and a scam, favoring wealthy financial backers of President Obama and the Democratic Party as well as those with influential political connections to both. And with a president that’s dead set on pushing a fierce and radical climate change agenda and funding green energy with taxpayer money, no matter the long list of failures, there is no end in sight to this green corruption scandal.

Besides NextEra Energy taking full advantage of the federal production tax credit (PTC), we now can confirm that the Bank of Obama has rewarded this conglomerate of a power company, and his millionaire job council buddy Lewis Hay, with two large DOE loans ($2.3 billion); one large stimulus smart-grid grant ($200 million); and six 1603 stimulus grants totaling $398.5 million. Thus NextEra’s green tab is on its way to $3 billion of taxpayer money, and that’s not factoring in the PTC.”

With this background and sorry record of corruption to build upon, the World Economic Forum at Davos sets the agenda for the global economy.

Davos 2013: Green Governance To ’Save the World’ is all about enacting their Agenda 21 authoritarianism. Elizabeth Leafloor from RedIceCreations.com writes:

“The WEF suggests a crisis of leadership and debt are some of the biggest challenges facing the world, and that ’global governance’ is the key to stabilization. Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organisation, said: ‘We need proper global governance that has the necessary tools, power and energy to create a more level playing field at the international level.’

At the end of the day, a push for increased global governance and an environmental agenda is on the table for Davos 2013, under the banner of ’Resilent Dynamism’:

“Mr. Klaus Schwab (WEF Founder and executive chairman) said that the world is seeing “a new reality of sudden shocks and prolonged global economic malaise, particularly in major economies experiencing economic austerity”. He also mentioned, “Future growth in this new context requires dynamism – bold vision and even bolder action.

Either attribute – Resilience or Dynamism – alone is insufficient, as leadership in 2013 will require both”.

The “Greening” leadership translates into forcing upon the world a “Cap and Trade” dictatorship. The Calderon bandits that sip champagne from their Swiss chateau want to extend their aristocratic bondage upon a gullible public. The proper dictum is “Save the World” from the New World Order elites.

Read the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act – S. 2191, for the vision of the controlled carbon-trading scheme.

“The L-W CSA allows covered facilities to satisfy up to 15% of their compliance obligation with specific domestic offsets. An additional 15% can be covered using international emission allowances. Unlimited banking is allowed and owners and operators of covered facilities can borrow up to 15% of their annual compliance obligation from future years. The L-W CSA also creates a Carbon Market Efficiency Board to monitor the carbon trading market and implement specific cost relief measures, including increased borrowing and use of offsets.”

What a boondoggle for the consumer and a windfall for organized crime. If you worry about mob infiltration into this extortion racket, you had better focus on the true mafia; namely, the globalist plutocrats.

If the disclosed goal is to extract $14 Trillion from the distressed world economies, one can only reasonably conclude that the surreptitious objective is to widen the income gap between the ultra-rich and the peons. People pay the costs of taxation exploitation. The privileged elites view the masses as useless eaters, destined to be herded into pens of servitude.

The fake global warming panic is pure political propaganda, used to bolster a guilt complex to justify insider theft. A Cap and Trade ploy is designed to push up the costs of fossil fuel with full knowledge that “Greening Dreams” are no substitutes to real energy.

Research projects into technological alternative sources, based upon efficiency and reliability standards are valid. However, allowing governmental cronyism to impose limits on cheap energy, distorts the marketplace. The Davos crews of corporatist gangsters fly into their feast on private jets. The sycophant media reporting by the business toadies that attend the gala celebration of global autocracy should be indisputable evidence that the globalist own the public relations spin.

Even so, such distorted coverage does not blind those who understand the true nature of the planetary struggle. The monopolist plan for adding unwarranted tolls on your family budget, sold as a noble necessity, will only accelerate the systematic impoverishment of your economic existence.

Source

Related articles

• A $14 Trillion Extortion for a Global Warming Scam (veteranstoday.com)
• DRIESSEN: Obama’s wishful thinking on green energy (washingtontimes.com)

European cap-and-trade market takes a nose dive

The European Union’s cap-and-trade system took a huge hit on Thursday, with carbon prices plummeting a record 40 percent after a panel rejected a plan to delay emission permit sales to alleviate the overabundance of permits already in the system.

“The market is panicking, really,” Daniel Rossetto, managing director of Climate Mundial, told Bloomberg, adding that traders fear that Europe’s carbon emissions market won’t continue past 2020.

An excess of carbon emission permits in the 54 billion euro trading system drove the price down 91 percent from its record high in April 2006. Carbon permit prices sank to a record low of 2.81 euros ($3.75) per metric ton immediately after the panel rejected the EU plan. However, prices slightly rebounded to 4.33 euros per metric ton.

“This should be the final wake-up call,” said EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard in a statement. “Something has to be done urgently. I can therefore only appeal to the governments and the European Parliament to act responsibly.”

The Financial Times reports that the carbon market has seen two record-low prices within the last four days, causing some analysts to say carbon permits are “worthless.”

The European Commission wanted to temporarily delay the sale of 900 million permits to alleviate the current overabundance. Analysts say this move would have boosted prices, but not high enough to provide sufficient incentives for utilities to switch to cleaner energy sources, reports the Guardian.

However, the plan was met with resistance from various governments, industries, and lawmakers.

Joachim Pfeiffer, economy spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, said the plan was “absurd” and would impose higher costs on German industry.Reuters reports that the bank Societe Generale cut its EU carbon price forecast from 2013 to 2015 by 30 percent, due to prices plunging to record lows.

“Negative news and events relating to the EU [Emissions Trading System] continue to pile up and come from all sides. So it is not at all surprising that EUA prices have fallen and have continued to be quite volatile,” they said. “The EU ETS has become a one-way market, spiraling down.”

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Related articles

• EU Carbon Permits ‘Worthless’ Without Change of Rules, UBS Says (bloomberg.com)
• Carbon price under EU emissions Trading System hits all-time low (seeker401.wordpress.com)
• EU Carbon Market Is at Risk of Total Collapse, Lawmaker Says (bloomberg.com)
• EU’s carbon market suffers after parliamentary vote (reuters.com)
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Southwest Louisiana: Magnolia LNG Project to Boost Jobs

Gov. Bobby Jindal and Maurice Brand, Magnolia LNG Managing Director and Joint Chief Executive Director, announced the company’s plans to develop a $2.2 billion natural gas liquefaction production and export facility at The Port of Lake Charles.

The LNG project would create 45 new permanent jobs, with an average salary of $75,000 per year, plus benefits. LED also estimates the project would result in 175 new indirect jobs. In addition, the LNG project would require an estimated 1,000 construction jobs.

The company expects to make a final investment decision to move forward with the project in late 2014, after it secures permits and completes financing. The mid-scale LNG facility would be located on 90 acres at the port’s Industrial Canal, off the Calcasieu Ship Channel. Magnolia LNG would produce 4 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year, and construction would begin in 2015 pending the company’s attainment of permits and final financing.

Gov. Jindal said, “Magnolia LNG’s decision to move forward in developing a new LNG facility is great news for our state. Magnolia is the latest company that is choosing to invest in Louisiana because we have one of the best business climates in the country and we are continuing to foster an environment where companies want to create jobs.

“We’ve fostered a strong business climate because we have overhauled our ethics laws, revamped workforce development programs, eliminated burdensome business taxes, instituted reforms to give every child an opportunity to get a great education, and now we are taking on tax reform in order to make Louisiana the best place in the world for businesses to invest and create jobs for our people. In addition to our strong business climate, Louisiana’s abundance of natural gas, pipelines and accessible waterways, as well as our outstanding workforce, were key factors in Magnolia’s decision to choose our state. Facilities like these will help create and sustain thousands of jobs in the energy industry across our state and will ensure quality jobs for Louisiana families for years to come.”

Magnolia’s project would be positioned for direct access to several existing gas pipelines. Using its patented Optimized Single Mixed Refrigerant process, or OSMR™, Magnolia LNG would produce liquefied natural gas more efficiently with fewer emissions than other LNG processes. OSMR adds conventional combined heat and power technology with industrial ammonia refrigeration to enhance the performance of the liquefaction process. Magnolia LNG would distribute to domestic markets as well as countries that have free trade agreements with the U.S. The company also will explore a potential expansion to 8 million metric tons per year in the future.

“Southwest Louisiana’s attractive infrastructure and strong workforce made Lake Charles an ideal location for our planned facility,” Brand said. “We especially want to thank the Port of Lake Charles Commission for their partnership in identifying such an ideal location for this project. Whilst the company remains focused on securing the appropriate contracts, agreements and permits, we expect to commence construction of our first U.S. venture by 2015.”

Magnolia LNG will seek federal Department of Energy free trade agreement approval in 2013. The company will submit a pre-filing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in March, before it completes the selection of project partners by June 2013. The company plans to begin hiring in early 2015, with commercial operations to begin in 2018.

“The Port of Lake Charles has been able to provide a unique combination of location, infrastructure and transportation capabilities to help bring this project to the region,” said Port Executive Director Bill Rase. “Magnolia LNG will be a significant and welcome addition to Southwest Louisiana’s energy corridor. The Port’s staff and board of commissioners look forward to doing business with the company.”

LED began working with Magnolia LNG in late 2012. The company’s proposed 90-acre site would include a long-term lease with The Port of Lake Charles. When Magnolia decides to proceed with construction, the company is anticipated to make use of LED incentive programs, such as the Quality Jobs Program and Industrial Tax Exemption Program.

“This project is another demonstration of our capacity for strengthening Southwest Louisiana and the state to become a stronger energy producer,” said President and CEO George Swift of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance. “We are appreciative of Magnolia LNG to make this investment in our region and for the Port of Lake Charles to once again to serve as the catalyst for this project. We look forward to their final investment decision next year.”

Magnolia LNG Project to Boost Jobs, USA LNG World News.

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• Corpus Christi, Texas: APGA Files Motion in Opposition to Cheniere LNG Export Application
• USA: Pangea LNG Seeking Approvals for Corpus Christi Project
• First LNG-Fueled Hydraulic Fracturing Completed in Eagle Ford Play
• Anadarko Orders Spar Hull from Technip for Heidelberg Field (USA)
• The U.S. is Blocking Energy Wealth and Jobs

• $2.2 Billion LNG Liquefaction Facility Announced for Port of Lake Charles (gcaptain.com)
• Bechtel wins FEED contract for Mozambique’s first LNG project (transportationandstorage.energy-business-review.com)
• South Korea: STX Launches Ultramodern LNG Carrier VELIKIY NOVGOROD (worldmaritimenews.com)
• Critics of LNG Exports Undermining Domestic, Global Strategic Benefits (fuelfix.com)
• Demand for LNG to Outstrip Supply in 2013 (247wallst.com)