March 05, 2010
Rep. Sensenbrenner wants answers in wind energy scandal

Ed Lasky

I previously reported on secret meetings between employees of the Department of Energy and a wind power industry group that led to a rebuttal of a study critical of green jobs programs.

A Spanish study showed that such programs lead to a net loss of jobs by diverting money from effective private programs to inefficient government ones. This study was confirmed by other studies from Denmark and Germany. People who pull strings wanted to pull these stories down and out because they threatened the viability of many billions of dollars being spent by Democrats in ways that benefit their donors.

Al Gore and George Soros, who have vast clean energy investments, have fingerprints on this brewing scandal. Now comes news that Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) is on the case.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) wants to know the extent to which Energy Department officials talked to supporters of clean energy subsidies before DoE published an unusual rebuttal to a study critical of green job programs.

He fired off a letter to a DoE official on Wednesday asking a series of pointed questions about discussions between government officials and groups like the American Wind Energy Association and the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank run by White House confidant John Podesta.

DoE was already on Sensenbrenner's bad side for failing to provide what he believes was a timely or forthcoming response to a letter he sent back in September relating to the rebuttal, which was released by the department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. A recently released batch of emails showing possible collaboration between DoE and a group whose members stand to benefit from clean energy subsidies won't help.

In his letter, Sensenbrenner asks Catherine Zoi, the assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, how often NREL and EERE "coordinate policy strategy with special interest groups."

The Center for American Progress was founded and is funded by George Soros who has over a billion dollars invested in so-called green energy ventures. Zoi worked for Al Gore - the jolly green giant who is the poster boy for "clean energy" (and someone who himself has a giant carbon footprint to boot).

The Obama administration sometimes is transparent after all but it is up to Republicans and others who care about honesty to reveal the transparency. He is, as Jeremiah Wright said, "just a politician". I would amend that: he is just a "Chicago" politician.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/201 ... nswer.html

Posted at 09:07 AM