by May 4, 2015
On April 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton, who in 2008 ran as “winning campaign” with the intent to “make history and remake our future,” only to be defeated by the senator from Chicago, Barrack Obama, finally announced her 2016 presidential run.
Predicted to one of the most expensive elections, this time Hillary launched her presidential hopes as “Everyday American’s Champion.”
Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Clinton, who has not driven since 1996, loaded up her armored campaign van along with her entourage of dark SUV’s, and began field trips across America, pretending to be one of us by ordering a burrito bowl (dark sunglasses, cell phone, and Huma Abedin in tow), while attacking the wealthy as well as income inequality, proclaiming that we need to “get unaccountable money out of it [politics]” –– even as Hillary, the epitome of the 1 percent, has been backed by the rich, includingWall Street, and is supported by and seeking out her fair share of the “dark money.”
Despite the fact that her “Scooby Van” is far from a green auto (it’s not a Chevy Volt; “it’s an upgraded Chevrolet 1500” that doesn’t abide by traffic laws), we learned that climate change could play a key role in Mrs. Clinton’s campaign –– a topic we’ll revisit later.
“Clinton Cash” Bombshell Book Opens Pandora’s Box
Needless to say, prior to Team Clinton gaining speed, and as I was in the middle of preparing this blog post, a bombshell book emerged, slamming the breaks on Hillary’s campaign. Set for a May 5 release (that’s tomorrow), “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, by Peter Schweizer — a 186-page investigation of donations made to the Clinton Foundation by foreign entities — is proving the most anticipated and feared book of a presidential cycle still in its infancy, “wrote the New York Times.
Since then, the book and its author have dominated the news, from the revelations of a shady Uranium deal with the Russians, to “the lucrative development contracts awarded to foundation donors following the devastating Haitian earthquake in 2010.”
One Haiti case involves the Caracol Industrial Park, which was expanded upon by Fox News that received “more than $100 million” in US taxpayer money to rebuild Haiti. According to Schweizer, “the three biggest beneficiaries [from the cheap labor the park provides] are actually three retailing companies closely tied to the Clintons. Gap, Target, and Wal-Mart.”
As documented at Breitbart News, Fox News Senior National Correspondent John Roberts also “reported that building the park required kicking people in the area of their land and bulldozing their crops. One of the people interviewed by Roberts said the farmers were ordered to leave at gunpoint. He also spoke to a worker at the textile factory that is the park’s biggest tenant, who said he is paid about $5 a day.”
“The report concluded that there are only about 5,000 jobs at Caracol, not the 65,000 promised by the US State Department.”
While I’ll get into additional Haiti deals hatched by the Clinton Foundation and their donors (climate change cronies), the April 24, Fox News mini documentary entitled, “The Tangled Clinton Web,” reveals much more.
Adding to the “web” are the “inflated speaking fess” of former-President Bill Clinton, which are being asserted as a result of Hillary’s high-powered secretary of state post, to the fact that the Clinton Foundation even hid some of its donors –– oh, only 1,100 foreign donations it received.
Mrs. Clinton, in light of her confirmation hearing to become secretary of state, not only broke her ” 2009 promise of transparency ,” she violated her “disclosure agreement” in regards to her foundation and that of her husband. Yet, the Obama White House is silent on the issue –– or when questioned, has deflected, blaming conservative authors.
But there’s no “there there”…
As days passed, the Hill, confirmed that ” the Clinton Foundation, [which has also raked in millions of US taxpayer money], will redo a number of tax returns and audit others after Reuters found that it had inadequately disclosed donations from foreign governments.”
These revelations spurred additional digging into the flow of foreign money to their foundation for favors, especially during Hillary’s tenure as secretary of state that began in January 2009 until February 2013, but also Mrs. Clinton’s “Complex Corporate Ties.”
In turning the pages of a book that had yet to be released, it was the interview on Sunday’s This Week (April 26) when ABC’s George Stephanopoulos aggressively interviewed Schweizer, implying, of all things, that it was a partisan hit job, that made me laugh, because Stephanopoulos is listed as a Clinton Foundation donor, giving between $50,000 to $100,000 –– some of which he did so in 2014. Maybe he forgot.
Did he forget that, according to the Washington Post, Stephanopoulos “spent years working for the Clintons and helping to manage various scandals that arose during Bill Clinton’s campaign and first term in office?” And what about those allegations that Stephanopoulos “personally benefited from Clinton-influenced cronyism?”
Well, move over Scooby Doo, because “Clinton Cash,” which hadn’t even hit the shelves yet, basically opened up Pandora’s box. And the response from the Clinton Camp and their operatives have been brutal, starting with the chairman of Mrs. Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, John Podesta, who attempted to discredit the author, while claiming that the book, of which he hadn’t yet read, is “nothing new.”
Still, conservatives like Charles Krauthammer slammed the arrogance of the Clintons, because they “thought they’d get away with” it ALL (“trading political favors in return for donations to the Clinton Foundation”).
Even as the hits of corruption keep coming, we can expect that the Bill and Hillary Clinton political machine as well as their defenders will do what they’ve done in the past when backed in a corner: “deny, deflect, and demean.”
After all: Bill’s gotta pay his bills!
Clinton Global Initiative: “$100 billion worth of stuff”
It turns out that many of the same “green corruption players” are also donors to the Clinton Foundation. These are those individuals and companies that were big campaign bundlers and donors (some even catapulted to advisors) for Obama as well as other high-ranking Democrats that scored billions of “green” cash from the Obama administration.
At a quick glance, this includes Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (tied via Sapphire Energy),Duke Energy, NRG Energy, Goldman Sachs,Open Society (George Soros),Citigroup, General Electric,Google, Soros Foundation, Alcoa Inc, Bank of America Corporation, CH2MHill, Solazyme,Tom Steyer, Heather Podesta,NextEra Energy, Nissan North America, Inc, Enphase Energy, and General Motors Company. There’s also AREVA, L. John Doerr,First Solar, Honeywell Inc, Elon Musk, Pepco Holdings, Inc, Suntech Power Holdings Co., Ltd, U.S. Geothermal Inc, Good Energies, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Silver Spring Networks, Solar Millennium AG, Southern Company, the AES Corporation, and more. In the mix are radical left-wing individuals and groups that participated behind the scenes, such as Carol M. Browner, theJoyce Foundation, and the Tides Foundation, as well as many other Clinton Foundation donors that are in the green energy business worthy of investigation.
With so many moving parts inside the Clinton Foundation, it’s difficult to track the funds and its activities (at least for a regular citizen); however, as far as the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), it was established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton.
And just today, Bill Clintontold NBC News: “There has never been anything like the Clinton Global Initiative… “Where you’ve raised over $100 billion worth of stuff that helped 43 million people in 180 countries.”
These 3,200 commitments (“stuff”) include tons of climate change (green energy) projects on the docket, of which, in just looking at the beginning of the alphabet (see list below), are hardly charity. They are more like activism, with numerous that are either spearheaded by Clinton-Obama green cronies or they are part of the deals.
- $100 Million Investment in Latin America’s Renewable Energy
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‘COyou2 – Reduce and Gain’ Program - ‘Feed-Out’ Funding Program For Sustainable Energy
- ‘Fossil Free by 33’ campaign
- 1 Billion Lives Impacted by Sustainable Banking by 2020
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Cooks Up the Global Green Stove Movement & Launches it at 2010 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting: Spent
over $80 million & could top $325 million of taxpayer money
Meanwhile, the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meetings, which cater to the mainstream media as well as the rich, famous and powerful, also have
“featured” a handful of President Obama’s cabinet members such as Timothy F. Geithner, the former Secretary of the Treasury as well as John Podesta, who
served as Obama’s advisor from late 2013 until February of this year.
In 2010 Mr. Obama
joined
Bill Clinton at the 6th annual meeting of the CGI –– while he was also a ” featured attendee” in 2012.
At the 2010 Clinton conference, then-Secretary of Sate Hillary Clinton was there
to launch
an expensive state department “green global program.” During the foundation’s
“plenary session on Empowering Girls and Women
” she appeared to discus the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (the Alliance).
At that time, the foundation described this Global Green Stove Movement as “a new commitment made by the U.S. State Department, the U.N. Foundation, the
World Food Program, Royal Dutch Shell, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other public and private partners.
Together, they committed to help 100 million households adopt clean and efficient cookstoves and fuels by 2020.”
According to the foundation, “In total, 45 new commitments [were] announced [on September 21, 2010] to alleviate poverty, increase access to health care
and education, and create a cleaner environment” –– of which, by the way, one of these million-dollar donations will be relevant to a Haiti story that I’ll
expose later in this blog.
In fact, Hillary’s State Department, along with
Lisa Jackson’s
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), helped fire up the Alliance, of which Secretary of State John Kerry, along with EPA Director Gina McCarthy, have since expanded –– and is described below:
These actions will help improve health, reduce environmental degradation, mitigate climate change, and generate economic empowerment and opportunity
for women and girls.
Sounds great, but we the taxpayers are footing part of the bill: “Through 2014, the U.S. Government has obligated over $80 million to the clean cooking
sector and the Alliance – outpacing its original 5-year commitment of $50 million through 2015. U.S. government support [that also spans many federal agencies, including the State Department, the EPA, the
Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and USAID] to help The Alliance promote a more effective cookstoves sector could
reach as much as $325 million through 2020.”
Moreover, Mrs. Clinton, who is given the credit for the birth of the Global Alliance for
Clean Cookstoves by its Chief Executive Officer Radha Muthiah, iscurrently listed as part of their ” Leadership Council,” which began sometime in September 2013 –– as is the current head of
the EPA, Gina McCarthy.
With stars like Julia Roberts now labeled as champions of the movement, their ” Alliance Partners” are worldwide, but also
its “Strategic Partnerships and Alliances” (list below) includes Hillary’s foundation.
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Climate and Clean Air Coalition
-
Clinton Global Initiative
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Cooking for Life
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Energy for All
-
Every Woman Every Child
-
Global Bioenergy Partnership
-
Global LPG Partnership
-
Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials
-
Safe Access to Fuel and Energy
-
Sustainable Energy for All
-
World Access to Modern Energy – Milan Expo 2015
-
World LPG Association
Additionally, at the “Inaugural Cookstoves Future Summit,”
which took place on November 20-21, 2014, where “more than 400 world leaders and global influencers convened,” raising “a total of $413 million in grant
and investment funding,” Mrs. Clinton was one of the honored Co-Hosts, and is quoted here:
“
We have to redouble our efforts to get more clean and efficient products in the hands and homes of families everywhere….We can rededicate ourselves
to doing everything we can to help more people in more places to breathe more easily, work more safely and live healthier lives.”
This not only warrants an investigation, but makes you wonder what other taxpayer-funded green energy programs, initiatives, and the like that Hillary
cooked up while secretary of state that favored her foundation and her friends.
Stay tuned…
Charity, Money Laundering Machine… or both?
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The Clinton Foundation, a charity with its “globe-spanning efforts to combat AIDS, obesity and poverty,” as most know was founded by the former President
Bill Clinton in 2001, and is run by the Clintons, of which, since its founding has raised approximately $2 billion.
At any rate, as the story goes:Hillary Clinton came out of the
First Lady ashes in 2001 ” dead broke” and
reigned as the senator of New York from 2001 to 2009. After losing the Democrat nomination for the presidency in 2008, she then served as President Obama’s
secretary of state from January 2009 until February 2013.
While POLITICO wrote that
“The foundation has been [Mrs.] Clinton’s main public platform since she left State in February 2013,” it seems that sometime in the middle that year,Mrs. Clinton officiallycame aboard, adding new missions and a new name. In fact,
in August 2013, the New York Times
reported
the following:
In the coming weeks, the foundation, long Mr. Clinton’s domain since its formation in 2001, will become the nerve center of
Hillary Rodham Clinton
’s increasingly busy public life.
This fall, Mrs. Clinton and her staff will move into offices at the foundation’s new headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, occupying two floors of the
Time-Life Building. Amid speculation about her 2016 plans, Mrs. Clinton is adding major new initiatives on women, children and jobs to what has been
renamed the
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation
.
In the meantime, by 2011 Chelsea Clinton –– now Vice Chair of the Clinton
Foundation –– had been taking a dominant role
in the foundation that included bringing in
a new CEO
from McKinsey & Company –– another big donor of the foundation
that carries its own scandal that we’ll save for another day. Eric Braverman, who had been a partner in McKinsey’s Washington office, is a friend and
former colleague of Chelsea from her time at The Firm, and was brought on board in July 2013 –– only to abruptly “quit” the
foundation in January of this year. (NOTE: See the March, 1, 2015 piece at POLITICO: “Eric
Braverman Tried to Change the Clinton Foundation. Then He Quit. Inside the power struggle at Clinton, Inc.”)
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Now called the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, they claim that “88 percent of the money it raises goes to actual charity work.” However, as
of late, many influential organizations have come out disputing this, of which Fox News noted: “Experts
who have looked at the books put the number
at 10 percent
,” while some years only 6
percent.
The Federalist exposed that
“when anyone contributes to the Clinton Foundation, it actually goes toward fat salaries, administrative bloat, and lavish travel.”
Thus, this notorious charity has been placed on numerous watchdog lists,
while some are deeming it a “slush fund,” possibly “a foreign
laundering operation,” or much worse.
But that’s not all…
In addition, the Clinton Foundation has been pushing climate change for sometime as reflected in
their mission statement: “We convene businesses, governments, NGOs, and individuals to improveglobal health and wellness, increase opportunity forwomen and girls, reducechildhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address
the effects of climate change.”
On the other hand, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), which
is reported to be the “global warming vision” of Bill Clinton and his pal Ira Magaziner, the CEO and Vice Chairman of the Clinton Health
Access Initiative (CHAI), and the brains behind the Clinton Foundation, began in December 2005.
In August 2006, the CCI was announced, however, by October 2007, Magaziner, now Chairman of the CCI, confirmed that this new direction was far
from pure philanthropy, which is a very telling story that was recently broughtout of the archives byThe Federalist: “This is not charity,” Magaziner told The Atlantic in 2007. “The whole thing is bankable. It’s a
commercial proposition.”
Yep, in The Atlantic piece, “This Is Not Charity: How Bill Clinton, Ira
Magaziner, and a team of management consultants are creating new markets, reinventing philanthropy — and trying to save the world,” the author, Jonathan
Rauch, wrote the following:
…“That’s amazing,” Greg Dees, of Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, told me when I detailed Clinton’s
global-warming plans. “They’re trying to start entire markets in one fell swoop. It sounds like what they’re doing takes this concept to a whole new
level.”
Clinton hopes so. As audacious as the foundation’s plans for global warming are, its philanthropic aspirations are broader. “This is the kind of thing
that I believe will be a critical component of all philanthropic activity for the foreseeable future,” Clinton says. “I believe that in the years
ahead, the organization and expansion of public-goods markets will become one of the most important areas of philanthropy, and will be an area where
philanthropy
sometimes blurs
into strict private enterprise.”
Tackling Climate Change & Clean Energy: Top of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 agenda
Around a year after the CCI was formally announced (2007), Hillary calmly championed“protecting our planet;” however, by September 2014
she had morphed into a ” climate change hysteria” creature,
which has wreaked havoc across the globe.
During her presence (keynote
speaker) at Senator Harry Reid’s –– another key playerinside and big
benefactor of Obama’s clean-energy racket –– National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Hillary let loose some serious world-wide panic, claiming, “climate change is the
most consequential, urgent, sweeping collection of challenges we face as a nation and a world!”
This event (
7th annual
), a Center for American Progress and the Clean Energy Project, starredMr.
Podesta, an array of Obama-Clinton green cronies, as well as Dymphna Van Der Lans from the Clinton Climate Initiative.
More recently (April 12, 2015), Podesta, via twitter, confirmed that climate change is a big part of Hillary’s 2016 agenda.
Podesta Power
As a reminder: Early on, Hillary tapped Democrat
heavyweightJohn Podesta, the co-founder of the progressive think tank Center for
American Progress (known as CAP), which is also funded by liberal billionaire George Soros, who has a massive footprint inside green
corruption, to head her 2016 presidential bid. CAP not only has deep ties to the Clintons,
but has been, along with its wealthy donors and members that infiltrated and held key positions inside the Obama White House, his Green Team, and his
Energy Department, the dark, driving force behind
President Obama’s expensive and deceptive green energy scheme, which also involves John Podesta’s brother Tony Podesta –– dubbed “The Lobbyist” by Newsweek.
In 2008 and early 2009 Podesta, an Obama bundler, while still at CAP ran Obama’s
transition team (along with a squadron of CAP fellows) as the co-chair, along side Valerie
Jarrett and Peter Rouse. Meanwhile, by 2011 Podesta stepped down from his CEO role and became the Chair of CAP its “Action Fund,” but at the end of 2013, he
left this powerful group to join the White House in the new role as Obama’s ” executive power czar,” of which climate change has been a top priority
–– a position that carried at least one major “green” ethics violation.
Podesta stepped down in February of this
year to join the Clinton campaign apparatus.
Podesta, a close friend and longtime political ally of the Clintons, as most know, served as Bill
Clinton’s chief of staff as well as his scandal deflector and
more. Last but not least, Mr. Podesta,
according to
the Christian Science Monitor, “Has held a top role in the family’s charitable foundation” –– and was a “featured attendee” at the CGI annual meetings in 2011 and 2012.
Liberal Billionaire Tom Steyer: The Dems’ Cash for Climate Change
The day after Podesta rang the climate agenda alarm bells, another Clinton crony and donor to their foundation,
billionaire and big liberal donor, Tom Steyer ofNextGenClimate –– the Democrats’ Cash for Climate Change Machine ––
echoed that sentiment. (NOTE: Thomas F. Steyer * contributed to the Clinton Foundation in 2014, which documents his current total
between $100,000 to $250,000.)
For those following my work, know that during the 2014 midterms I profiled Steyer, who is also part of CAP, twice:HERE and HERE.
In short: Steyer, directly linked to President Obama since 2008 as a consultant, bundler and “energy policy driver,” won his fair share of green cash from
the Obama administration.
Steyer has also emerged as
political powerhouse
for the Democrat Party, declaring war against Republicans –– more specifically, he did so during the
critical 2014 midterm election
, which became a desperate fight over control of the senate.
And, the GOP won!
Needless to say, the irony at that time (and now) was not so much that this wealthy liberal, who made his fortune from oil and coal, was targeting
Republican candidates in seven key senate and gubernatorial races; it was Steyer’s climate machine’s choice of weaponry. This liberal BILLIONAIRE, who
poured more than $70 million of his fortune into the 2014 races, bombed the airways with ads attacking GOP candidates… wait for it… associated with BILLIONAIRES.
And,
Steyer is at it again
: He’s targeting the 2016 Republican presidential field on climate change issues in battleground states –– with the strategy of linking them to
BILLIONAIRES!
By the way, about a week ago, it was made known that Steyer would be hosting a fundraiser for Mrs. Clinton, of which apparently, is set to take place on
May 6th at the home of Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor. POLITICO, while addressing the
Keystone pipeline issue (Hillary has yet to take a stance), reported that the “Clinton’s fundraiser with Steyer will be followed on May 7 by an appearance
at the home of longtime friend — and vocal Keystone opponent [as is Steyer and his acolytes] — Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of the Esprit clothing
company.”
Still, Podesta, Soros, CAP and Steyer
are not the only climate change operatives used by the Obama administration that have surfaced as part of Clinton’s Team, her big donors, allies, and
friends, as well as those close to her foundation.
There’s more…
Dem Governor, Terry McAuliffe: Big Green Scandal, “Visas for Sale”
Another includes a
very close friend
of the Clintons: Democrat Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who chaired Hillary’s 2008 campaign, had also “signed on to the board of directors of the
William J. Clinton Foundation back in 2000” –– and was still listed in 2013.
According to Watchdog.org, “Terry McAuliffe was
trustee of [the] world-famous charity that in two straight years [2007 and 2008] burned through $317 million in donations and grants and ended up with a
$43 million deficit.”
McAuliffe is still embroiled
in a big green scandal that involves his small eco-car (GreenTech Automotive),
visas for sale, as well as
Senator Harry Reid
and Tony Rodham, a brother of Hillary.
And, McAuliffe, even before the “Clinton Cash” book eroded her campaign, has been on an apology tour. In February, he came out to defend Hillary “from criticism
that the Clinton Foundation took donations from foreign governments” because ALL that loot “went to a charity” and “it helped a lot of people.” In April,
McAuliffe
defended
Mrs. Clinton’s “claim that her family was bankrupt after leaving the White House.”
General Electric scored $1.9 Billion Algerian Power Deal via Hillary’s lobbing as Secretary of State: GE CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, won’t release emails
There’s also Jeffrey Immelt, a friend of President Clinton (seems Bill had him on speed dial while he was president and needed to
change his light bulbs), who is the CEO of General Electric (GE), which also had
direct ties
to President Obama via big campaign donations and more. Immelt served as
head of the president’s jobs council from early 2011 until it shut
down in early 2013, while GE ” made bank” off of the
president’s green energy stimulus funds.
The Daily Caller reported that
“Secretary of State Clinton lobbied the
Algerian president in 2012 to pick GE as a contractor for Algerian power plants.” As chronicled by the Wall Street Journal, this
was directly “after the Clinton Foundation approached GE about working together to expand a health-access initiative the company…”
The Journal continues:
A month after Mrs. Clinton’s trip, the Clinton Foundation announced the health-initiative partnership with GE, the company’s first involvement with the
foundation. GE eventually contributed between $500,000 and $1 million to the partnership.
The following September, GE
won the contracts with the Algerian government
[worth $1.9 billion], saying they marked “some of its largest power agreements in company history.”
Yet, when confronted about this wheeling and dealing,
Immelt outright refused to “release the emails that GE exchanged with Hillary’s State Department during the period in which GE was donating to the Clinton
Foundation”–– of which GE, in 2014, donated again, and is still listed at the
$500,000 and $1 million mark.
David Crane CEO of NRG Energy: The largest recipient of President Obama’s ‘green’ stimulus loans
Last but not least is another pal of the Clintons: the CEO of NRG Energy, David Crane, a major Democratic donor,who served as a bundler for Hillary Clinton in her 2008
presidential run. Not only that, but Crane personally placed his bet on Hillary, only to later, and along with
other NRG executives, side with then-Senator Obama –– and again in
2012.
In fact, as documented by the Center for Responsive Politics,
NRG Energy has donated to both political parties, primarily to Republicans in 2006; however, the shift has gone predominately blue since 2008.
Both NRG Energy and Crane have been aggressively pushing clean energy,
and according to Mark Gunther of GreenBiz.com in 2011, “[Crane]
is passionate about the climate crisis –– he was active in USCAP, the failed big biz-big green coalition that
lobbied for federal regulation of greenhouse gases.”
And last year, while pushing for a carbon tax, echoing
remarks made by our Climate Change Fear Monger in Chief, Secretary of State John Kerry (“climate change is as big a threat as terrorism, poverty, WMD’s”), Crane called global warming
“the single greatest issue that mankind faces.”
Gunther, also noted the following: “He’s [Crane] a friend of the
Clintons, which is one reason why, NRG made a
$1 million contribution
through the Clinton Global Initiative to deliver solar power to Haiti.”
Much more on Haiti later, but at this juncture it’s important to point out that the 2010 check was not the last contribution NRG made to the Clinton
Foundation. Their site (*)
notes “that a contribution was made by this donor in 2014,” placing NRG Energy’s total giving thus far at anywhere between 1 million to 5 million dollars.
Nevertheless, this NRG Energy-Clinton connection was tucked inside my March 2013 Green Corruption File on
the left-wing billionaire George Soros (another major Clinton Foundation donor), who not only bankrolled Obama’s elections, but also helped craft Obama’s
trillion-dollar stimulus package. Soros, via timely investments in renewable energy, including 500,000 shares of NRG Energy, then ultimately
financially benefited from the 2009-stimulus law that he helped steer.
NRG Energy Inc. is a mega energy firm that “supports clean energy resources and technologies
critical to our transition to a sustainable, low carbon society.” Along with its subsidiaries, it was also the recipient of the majority of the stimulus
loans dished out by the Obama administration as well as other green cash. At that time, NRG had secured $5.2 billion of taxpayer money for four solar
projects that were part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) “Junk bond” portfolio, yet the Prologis
$1.4 billion deal was pulled.
Crane, NRG’s highly paid president and CEO (since 2003), who is also a stock owner, in reference to his firm scoring so much
“green,”
had this to say
back in 2011: “I have never seen anything that I have had to do in my 20 years in the power industry that involved less risk than these projects.” “It is
just filling the desert with panels,” he added.
The following are those projects:
#1) April 2011: The California Ivanpah Solar Plant
NRG Energy, Inc. (BrightSource)
was awarded a $1.6 billion stimulus loan for the California Ivanpah Solar Plant, which also involves Google, Vantage Point and others. It turns out that
sometime in October 2010, during the time of their DOE loan review process, “ NRG became the lead investor ($300m) in Ivanpah solar project.
Current Status:
According to the DOE, “The construction phase necessitated 1,000 full-time employees. During operations, the three power tower plants will provide 86
permanent jobs.”
Ivanpah Solar Plant
officially opened
in February 20143; however, last November,
despite the fact that the $1.6 billion loan was a shady deal in the first place, it was reported that due to lack of sun in California, they (NRG Energy,
Google and BrightSource) needed (expected) $539 million of free taxpayer cash to pay back their DOE loan.
#2) August 2011:
The Arizona Agua Caliente project
NRG Solar, LLC received a $967 million stimulus loan for the Agua Caliente projectlocated in Arizona, whereas as the DOE loan guarantee was
announced (August 2011), the project was purchased from First Solar
by NRG Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of NRG Energy –– with First Solar still involved.
Current Status:
According to the DOE, “The Agua Caliente project in Arizona has been supplying increasing amounts of electricity to the grid since January 2012, and is
expected to reach full commercial operations in March 2014.” JOBS: “The project is expected to create 400 construction jobs and 10 permanent jobs.”
#3) September 2011:
The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR)
The $1.187 billion conditional loan to SunPower Corporation was announced on April
12, 2011, and shortly thereafter (April 30, 2011), the French oil conglomerate Total committed to buying a $1.37 billion controlling stake (60%) in
SunPower Corp –– a bailout that wasconfirmed in June 2011.
Now, SunPower never directly got the cash, because on the final closing of the DOE loan guarantee, they sold the
California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) to NRG Energy. However, SunPower continued on as the developer and Bechtel as the primary contractor building
the project.
In September 2011 the $1.2 billion stimulus loan was finalized for the CVSR located in San Luis Obispo County. While this
gigantic solar project
also received special state tax breaks,
it was reported in 2011
, that when the construction was complete, “NRG would be eligible to receive a $430 million check from the Treasury Department,” which is part of the 1603
stimulus grant program.
Current Status:
The DOE states that the project reached commercial operation in October 2013, and “produced 350 construction jobs and will maintain 15 permanent jobs
during operation.”
These highly-speculative DOE loans were put on a fast-track process from the president, which included NRG’s Agua Caliente solar project that is also part
of the $3 billion First Solar Swindle –– and all were
approved, between 2009 and 2011, which was during Hillary Clinton’s time as secretary of state (January 2009 to February 2013).
Meanwhile, over the course of time, via internal DOE emails, Oversight Hearings and subsequent reports as well as extensive research, we learned that David
Crane was a frequent Obama White House visitor. In fact, during the course of the
June 19, 2012
House Oversight testimonies, Crane confirmed some of his visits:
-
President Obama, a group on climate change
-
Vice-President Joe Biden regarding the clean energy standard
-
Climate Czar Carol Browner and Valerie Jarrett about the nuclear loan guarantee program
We also know that during the time of the loan review process, Crane also met with key DOE officials and was fraternizing with at least those inside the
Invanpah $1.6B deal: in March 2011 it was John Woolard, then CEO of BrightSource Energy as well as John Bryson, Chairman of the company’s board of
directors. Bryson, shortly thereafter (nominated about a month later), became
President Obama’s Commerce Secretary –– only to mysteriously
resign
in June 2012.
Internal Energy Department emails show that in March 2011 they –– Woolard, Bryson and Crane –– were interacting in regards to an April
2011 fundraising gathering (“more intimate 10-12 person dinner involving CEO or CEO-level executives from across the energy sector…”) that Crane was
having at this home in Princeton NJ for Democrat Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who is listed as top recipient of campaign cash from NRG Energy.
Crane, at that time, stressed
:
Senator Landrieu, as you know, is one of the most knowledgeable and passionate members of the senate when it comes to issues of energy and energy
independence. Moreover, from her position as a subcommittee chairman and senior member of both the Senate Energy Committee and the Senate
Appropriations Committee, she plays a critical role in shaping energy legislation in the formative stages.
Unfortunately, Bryson had to decline to attend, because he had a previous commitment in California: He was”joining Ted Craver for a small dinner with
[Democrat Senator] Diane Feinstein in the next two weeks, and we will certainly talk energy policy with her at that time.”
The Clinton Foundation “Solarizing” Haiti… and beyond
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Photo from 1sun4all: NRG Energy CEO David Crane at |
Despite the fact that these large solar loans and grants were issued while Hillary was secretary of state, I have yet to find evidence of any “influence
peddling” on her part (although she destroyed the e-mails); however, a recent report, “181 Clinton Foundation donors who lobbied
Hillary’s State Department,” places NRG on that list.
We also know that the Center for Responsive Politicsrecords that
since 2000, “NRG Energy has spent $16,364,020 in lobbying efforts” –– with their main industry labeled as “electric utilities.”
Still, in 2009 NRG Energy lobbied eleven government
agencies, of which obviously the Energy Department was in the top three; however, also on that list is Hillary’s State Department.
Moreover, the legislation’s that NRG Energy pursued in 2009 are quite interesting (see chart left
taken from the Center for Responsive Politics) as well as the fact that in 2014, NRG Energy
brought on board
, Steve McBee, founder, president and chief executive of the lobby and advisory firmMcBee Strategic, who is another key playerthat has not only been
operating inside this green energy scheme (especially in securing NRG Energy’s $1.6 billion BrightSource deal), but made millions doing so.
Needless to say, being a friend of the Clintons as well as a big
donor (between $1,000,000 to $5,000,000 so far) with Mr. Crane also a guest blogger for the Clinton Foundation has been very lucrative for NRG
Energy in of all places… Haiti.
“On Jan. 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 struck Haiti, killing more than 160,000 and displacing close to 1.5 million people,” wrote Times Magazine in 2015. Yet, according to their account, the
destruction and displacement still exist five years after –– with everyone saying, “they’re living in worse conditions than before.”
But the Clinton Foundation went into action, heralding, “Since
2010, the Clinton Foundation has raised a total of $36 million for Haiti, including relief funds as well as projects focused on supporting Haiti’s small
and medium businesses, improving livelihoods, enhancing education and exploring the nexus of agriculture, energy and environment.”
Moreover, via the CGI, the
foundation “has been investing in green energy in Haiti to boost Haiti’s recovery, recognizing that providing efficient renewable energy sources to reduce
energy costs and dependency on fossil fuels are key to improving Haiti’s energy structure.”
And, while “
Clinton Cash
” author Schweizer already released some of his findings on how US taxpayer money ( USAID committed over $3.6 billion toward relief, recovery, and reconstruction of Haiti ––
with $2.3 billion spent as of June 30, 2012), and contracts in Haiti profited Clinton Foundation donors and relatives, there’s another area worthy or
scrutiny: the Clinton Foundation-NRG Energy Haiti Solar Mission.
Many months after that terrifying earthquake, is when
NRG made
that $1 million contribution through the CGI to deliver solar power to Haiti. What’s interesting about this 2010 NRG Energy hefty donation, is that
it was announced
at the same time as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s “Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves” –– AKA the
Global Green Stove Movement, profiled earlier.
As I noted, at the 6th Annual Meeting of the
CGI, they had a total of 45 new commitments in order to “alleviate poverty, increase access to health care and education, and create a cleaner environment”
–– and NRG Energy’s $1 million dollar donation was on that list.
Also, as far as those Clinton conferences, NRG Energy has been a “meeting partner,” while Crane was a “featured attendee” in 2011 and 2012.
The Sun Lights the Way: Brightening Boucan Carré project
At any rate, the monies went to fund the project, The Sun Lights the Way: Brightening Boucan Carre, which mission was “to provide clean, safe and
inexpensive electric power for fish farming, irrigation pumps, street lights and schools –– creating a model that can be replicated in other areas.”
The partnership included Washington-based Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), who operates under the motto
“Energy is a Human Right,” is described as “an expert non-governmental
organization in rural solar electrification with practitioner experience in 20 countries in Africa, Asia and the Americas — including Haiti, where SELF is
building solar-powered health clinics with the Partners In Health (PIH) aid organization.”
What’s interesting here is that SELF –– a Clinton Foundation donor (between
$10,000 and $25,000 that we know of) –– carries its own donor list and has two board members that are very
familiar to The Green Corruption Files:
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Bill Richardson, Former Governor of New Mexico
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Jonathan Silver, Senior Advisor, Energy Investments at The Riverside Company
Richardson is ensnared in a huge green energy scandal that I unleashed in May 2013: “Whistleblowers Expose
Rampant Corruption Inside Spanish Conglomerate Abengoa Subsidized with Billions in U.S. Green Energy Stimulus Funds.” Meanwhile, Mr. Silver, who served as
the Executive Director of the DOE Loan Programs Office from November 2009 to early October 2011 (during Hillary’s time as secretary of state), is one of my
favorites.
Due to Silver’s powerful position inside the DOE during his close to two-year stint (the man in charge of the loan program that also executed the fast-tracked process imposed by the president), I’ve written extensively about him since July 2010 when I first began unleashing my green corruption research.
However, it was the July 2012 Oversight Committee hearing when Silver’s shady email practices (similar to Hillary’s) were revealed, which heated up my efforts in tracking the executive director, which includes reports that he was an Obama bundler as well as the fact that he has quite the impressive background — of which my latest on Silver is found here.
Now, he’s at SELF! When did that happen?
On January 7, 2011, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund gave SELF a $500,000 grant for the same project.
By early 2012 the installations at the Lashto Fish Farm and the first school was completed, which were toured by Bill Clinton, Bob Freling (SELF executive director), and NRG’s David Crane, who was also the co-host of the trip –– of which, in August 2013, caught the attention of the New York Times: ” Unease at Clinton Foundation Over Finances and Ambitions ” which demonstrated a pattern of favoritism to donors.
This special visit on March 9, 2012 was accompanied by a Press Release : “President Clinton Announces Four New Commitments to Provide Solar Energy to Haiti,” of which there are more familiar green energy names such as SunPower and General Electric worthy of scrutiny. However, we’ll stay focused on NRG.
The press release did note that Trina Solar, who had been working closely with NRG, had “already donatedsolar power to support the Lashto Fish Farm and the Zamni Beni Orphanage.”
On the other hand, in July 2013, RenewableEnergyWorld.com reported in their ” Doing Good by Doing Solar” article, that NRG Energy, in helping the fishermen as one of its many projects in Haiti, “partnered withENERSA, a Haitian solar company, which offered the fishermen loans for electrified freezers.”
Somebody’s making a profit along this charitable road in Haiti.
Mr. Clinton also announced plans for a solar hospital and more:
The site visits included the Boucan Carré Health Center, the first clinic to be solarized by SELF; the Lashto Fish Farm, a new extension of the fish hatchery that is now solar powered thanks to NRG Energy and SELF; the Bon Berger De Doman School, a Digicel-funded school with solar power [more on Digicel later]; and finally the new Partners in Health Mirebalais teaching hospital.
It seems that by the end of November 2012, the entire Sun Lights the Way: Brightening Boucan Carré (a 1 million-dollar project) was completed (where’d the other $500 k go?). This included installing solar systems for a Solar Market Garden™ (drip irrigation system), a fish farm, and 20 schools.
PV Tech noted how the financing went down:
Collaboration and funding for the project came from several sources. Non-profit organisation Solar Electric Light Fund assisted NRG in the deployment of the project, while a US$1 million commitment from the Clinton Global Initiative and a US$500,000 pledge from the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund provided the needed funding. Solar module manufacturer Trina Solar donated all the solar panels installed on the schools.
Meanwhile, SELF reported in May 2013, that the very first Solar Market Garden™ in Haiti is a success!
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March 2012, photo from Partner in Health website: |
The Bernard Mevs Hospital
“In 2013, NRG reached beyond our market boundaries to assist with the needs of our global community. Partnering with the Clinton Foundation, we passionately work together to brighten the nation and reveal the benefits of solar power in Haiti,” touts NRG Energy.
And one of those solar projects is the Bernard Mevs Hospital, which is part of Partners in Health (PIH), another Clinton Foundation cohort that promotes ” Health is a Human Right.”
Completed sometime in July 2013, Haiti had its first solar-powered hospital. The advanced solar panel power system that was installed at the hospital, according to 1Sun4All.com, “received support from leading solar technology manufacturers, including SMA, Unirac,Trina and Sunora Energy Solutions [an NRG subsidiary], which donated all of the solar panels, equipment and materials needed to install the Hospital Bernard Mevs array.”
Sunora notes:
Sunora Energy Solutions completed a PV solar Microgrid system at the Bernard Mevs Hospital… Sunora was responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction of a 100 kW solar rooftop array and energy storage system (ESS). The ESS provides battery storage capabilities for the new solar system ensuring that the facility has consistent power.
In fact, NRG Energy currently lists 34 projects in Haiti: 22 schools, two orphanages (the Zanmi Beni Home for Children and Kay St. Elen), the Bernard Bevs Hospital, a maternal clinic, the Lashto Fish Farm, an agricultural farm, another farm, two NGO facilities, three Social Enterprise facilitates.
NRG Energy, Crane and his entourage also have an inspiring page (Harnessing Haiti’s power) and subsequent videos showcasing their “doing good solar work.” One in particular was posted around January 2014, entitled, “NRG Brightens Haitian School with Solar,” where all the little children were wearing NRG t-shirts.
Very moving, kind, and heartwarming!
Yes, but questions surround this “solarization” of Haiti.
For starters: was all this solar work done for FREE? Who paid the workers? Who approved the work in Haiti? Who benefited, financially and otherwise?
Did NRG Energy, its subsidiaries and the other companies involved in these deals make a profit in Haiti? How much did the Clinton Foundation score out of the solar deals?
Maybe just a few more political favors?
And, what kind of favors will be coming down the political pipeline if Hillary becomes the president of the United States?
But then again, maybe it’s all pure charity (I for one, hope so) –– after all it’s quite an extraordinary storyhow David Crane began to love the children of Haiti, which began months after 2010 devastating earthquake. In an April 2013 interview by Marc Gunther from GreenBiz.com, he writes:
Now, Crane says, he is hoping that what began as a charitable initiative will demonstrate the power of solar energy to spur economic development in poor countries. It could also help create business opportunities in the Caribbean for NRG.
…Crane sees business opportunities. So far, all of the company’s work in Haiti has been charitable, but NRG is pursuing solar projects elsewhere in the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico…
“We see significant opportunity in the Caribbean,” Crane told me. “We’d like to be involved.”
Besides the large solar projects here in the U.S.A. that are funded with billions of taxpayer dollars (profiled above) as well as other bigprojects in solar andwind across the globe, there’s more solar in the works for Haiti: “Together with partners withBlue Marble Dreams and Haiti 155,” NRG plans on launching “Bèl Rèv (or ‘Sweet Dreams’ in English), a unique ice cream store that will inspire and drive change.”
Fortune Magazine, in their September 2013 piece, “Is the future of energy in Haiti?” one of the authors in mid-September 2013 spent two days with Crane, along with a group of wealthy friends, NGO leaders, corporate executives, “traveling around in a caravan of black and white SUVs visiting humanitarian projects [in Haiti] where NRG and Crane are involved.”
After the justified admiration, later in the article, the author made some interesting points:
And here’s where NRG’s Haiti mission moves beyond mere charity to strategic self-interest: Haiti is a testing ground for distributed solar.
Solar holds great promise not only for Haiti, whose skies are clear on average 71% of daylight hours, but for its region — and beyond. Building on lessons learned in Haiti, NRG just announced a partnership with Bermudian telecom Digicel to develop renewable energy projects throughout the Caribbean.
Yep, NRG Energy in cahoots with Digicel, touted as “one of the fastest growing mobile operators in the world,” whose leader (chairman and founder) is another pal of the Clintons, that is featured in Schweizer’s “Clinton Cash” book, has set their sights set on “‘greening” the entire Caribbean.
If you didn’t catch that part of the scandal, here is an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:
Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien, who heads a mobile-phone network provider called Digicel, won a $2.5 million award in 2011 from a program run by the State Department’s U.S. Agency for International Development to offer mobile money services in post-earthquake Haiti. The firm won subsequent awards. Funds for the awards were provided by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while USAID administered the program, with a top Clinton aide directly overseeing earthquake aid.
Mr. O’Brien has given between $5 million and $10 million to the Clinton Foundation since its launch. It is unclear whether Mr. O’Brien gave while Mrs. Clinton was at the State Department because of the way the foundation discloses its donations.
And here is Schweizer on following the “Clinton Cash trail,” explaining the Digicel part:
In 2010 and ’11, Digicel, a mobile phone company, gets more than $2 million in U.S. taxpayer money to set up a money transfer program in Haiti. The company’s owner, Irish billionaire Dennis O’Brien, arranges four speeches for Clinton for $825,000 and also contributes between $1 million and $5 million — because that’s the disclosure, there’s no more definite than that — between $1 million and $5 million for the Clinton Foundation.
Now, I haven’t read Peter’s anticipated book, it was September 2013, at the CGI conference that lasted four days (9/23 through 9/26), where NRG Energy –– listed as a “meeting partner” –– and Digicel announcedthat the “two companies will partner on renewable energy projects under development in the Caribbean region.
According to PowerEngineering.com:
The two companies plan on acquiring, constructing and owning the projects for their lifetime. NRG and Digicel are using a Request for Proposals process to solicit developers, governments, installers and others to provide information on renewable energy projects under development for possible investment. The RFP will be formally launched Sep. 30 and ends Nov. 15. The process is being managed by CohnReznick Think Energy LLC. [Found Here]
]. Digicel Group CEO Colm Delves
said in the Caribbean, distributed and utility-scale renewable energy projects can deliver a lower cost of energy than fossil fuels without the use of subsidies.
The NRG Energy September 26, 2013
Press Releas
e states the following:
NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) and Digicel today jointly announced at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York a partnership to acquire,
construct and operate renewable energy projects under development in the Caribbean region. NRG and Digicel stand ready to bring financial and
environmental benefits to the governments, utilities and peoples of the Caribbean in a venture that could see the two companies making a sizeable
investment in the region.
The October 2013 CohnReznick Think Energy, LLCannouncement on the “groundbreaking engagement” gave a little more insight into the mission:
The types of projects being sought are primarily solar, but as CRTE President Mark Crowdis stated, “Understanding the right mix of technologies, from
energy storage to wind systems to solar, is key in providing the greatest financial and environmental benefits to the region.
Now, I haven’t had much time to dig any further into NRG Energy and the Digicel Caribbean renewable energy projects, but as they develop (or are alreadyexist), I will find them. And when there’s a scoop to tell, I’ll find that too.
In closing…
As the Obama administration’s green revolution quickly catapulted into the largest, most expensive and deceptive case of crony capitalism in American history, and this is just a sneak peak into Hillary Clinton’s climate change (“green”) cronies, one can only imagine what a future President Hillary Clinton would create.
Well, IF that happens, at least I’ll still have a “green” job!
and counting.Besides the fact that the Energy Department continues to subsidize green energy, there are also many stimulus-created programs that have been extended and are still dishing out “the green.” One of the largest is the 1603 Grant Program, which to date has awarded over $20 billion of tax-free cash. The Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit program (48C Program), which was funded by $2.3 billion, just unleashed Phase II. The currently passed 1,000-page trillion-dollar farm bill will continue to fund renewable energy programs such as the Biorefinery Assistance Program, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA). The USDA, with $1.02 billion in loan power, along with $600 million stimulus funds from the Energy Department and a $132 million DOE stimulus loan, used taxpayer money to fund 31 “not so shovel-ready” risky projects (also politically connected) –– of which last time I checked (August 2013), about a third were having issues.