The Biden 'clean energy' scam
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As if to prove that anything Mr. Biden could botch 10 years ago he can botch bigger and better now, the loan office is back, baby. Americans gasped at the audacity of Barack Obama’s $814 billion stimulus bill in 2009—and of gambling some $80 billion on clean energy—but that’s peanuts. The Biden spending rampage has bestowed on Mr. Shah, director of the loan department, a stunning $400 billion to hand out to green companies too risky for traditional lenders, or too politically powerful to turn down. According to a July Journal story, the “pile of cash is at least 20 times as big as most private green-energy funds.”
With that kind of funny money, Mr. Shah and DOE aren’t restricting themselves to small-time bets. The agency agreed to a $1 billion loan for Monolith, a company that promises to make hydrogen out of natural gas. Sunnova, a solar company, landed a $3 billion loan guarantee. Then there are all the real paupers. General Motors and LG scooped up $2.5 billion to build electric-vehicle battery plants. Ford landed a record $9.2 billion battery commitment. The Ford loan would be $3.3 billion larger than what the company borrowed during the Detroit meltdown of 2008-09.
Do you want to know why Ford is willing to lose tens of thousands of dollars per electric vehicle sold? A big fat check from the government will make you do some ridiculous-looking things.
The man in question is Jigar Shah, who founded a sketchy trade association of green tech companies, and if you are a member of that exclusive club then get to the front of the line for that sweet sweet federal loot. The Washington Free Beacon dropped the dime on him last month:
The Cleantech Leaders Roundtable has seen a surge in its influence and revenue since its former president, Shah, was tapped to lead the powerful $400 billion Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO) in 2021.
The group, which didn’t have a website until three years ago, now regularly hosts sold-out receptions featuring Shah for its paying members across the country. Last week, the DOE Loans Program Office and Cleantech Leaders co-hosted an invitation-only conference in Washington, D.C., for companies looking for loans—and Cleantech Leaders was in charge of the invite list and ticket sales.
During this time, companies connected to the trade association have raked in cash from Shah’s office. Last week, the Loan Programs Office approved a $3 billion loan to a solar company led by Cleantech Leaders’s board director. The group’s corporate sponsors have also pulled in funding.
The cozy relationship between Shah and Cleantech Leaders is raising questions about whether the organization’s members are getting favorable treatment in the loan process.
“It appears as if the Department of Energy has allowed a dark money climate group to be the gatekeepers of taxpayer dollars,” said Caitlin Sutherland, director of the Americans for Public Trust, an ethics watchdog group. “Friends, coworkers, and corporate allies should not be given preferential financial treatment when seeking access to government programs.”
See? Well-oiled machine! The nonprofit gets to sell access to Shah, and Shah gets to distribute booty to the people who pay up!
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I question whether the US even needs so-called clean energy. Most of what is seen as clean energy is not dependable enough to keep the country moving and it only supplements traditional energy sources. Those who think we can do without fossil fuels are mistaken. We already know that EVs are inadequate substitutes for traditional autos and trucks. So-called green energy would not be dependable enough to charge the EVs even if people wanted them.
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