Vice President Joe Biden and the White House pressured the Department
of Energy to issue a loan guarantee in 2010 for a wind farm in Oregon,
undermining the president’s claim of political neutrality in the loan
process, according to emails released recently by a key congressional
committee.
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued numerous loans to support businesses as part of the 2009 stimulus. In an interview before the election, the president hailed the loans program for creating “jobs all across the country” and asserted that decisions about the loans are “made by the Department of Energy, they have nothing to do with politics.”
Internal emails released on Oct. 31 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee suggest a different story, however.
The Energy Department’s loan guarantee to Caithness Energy’s Shepherds Flat wind farm project in Oregon was approved after the application of significant pressure throughout the vetting process from high-level officials, including from the White House and the office of the vice president.
“[The] emails indicate that senior administration officials—including those at the White House—were involved in approving specific projects, applying inappropriate pressure on career employees,” said Ali Ahmad, communications adviser to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
If the Caithness Energy project were to go through, it would be one of the largest wind farms in the world—a fact that the Loan Program Office’s website prominently highlights now. The Obama administration trumpets its commitment to green energy projects but has few successes to tout thus far compared to the billions of taxpayer dollars spent.
One of the earliest mentions of the Shepherds Flat wind farm in the released emails is an exchange dated July 27, 2010, between several Energy Department officials, including the Loan Program Office Executive Director Jonathan Silver.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/joes-green-guarantee/
The Department of Energy (DOE) issued numerous loans to support businesses as part of the 2009 stimulus. In an interview before the election, the president hailed the loans program for creating “jobs all across the country” and asserted that decisions about the loans are “made by the Department of Energy, they have nothing to do with politics.”
Internal emails released on Oct. 31 by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee suggest a different story, however.
The Energy Department’s loan guarantee to Caithness Energy’s Shepherds Flat wind farm project in Oregon was approved after the application of significant pressure throughout the vetting process from high-level officials, including from the White House and the office of the vice president.
“[The] emails indicate that senior administration officials—including those at the White House—were involved in approving specific projects, applying inappropriate pressure on career employees,” said Ali Ahmad, communications adviser to the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
If the Caithness Energy project were to go through, it would be one of the largest wind farms in the world—a fact that the Loan Program Office’s website prominently highlights now. The Obama administration trumpets its commitment to green energy projects but has few successes to tout thus far compared to the billions of taxpayer dollars spent.
One of the earliest mentions of the Shepherds Flat wind farm in the released emails is an exchange dated July 27, 2010, between several Energy Department officials, including the Loan Program Office Executive Director Jonathan Silver.
Read more: http://freebeacon.com/joes-green-guarantee/
No comments:
Post a Comment