Everyone here is by now well aware of the Solyndra scandal, where the deadly combination of campaign cash influence and the Warmist ideology of Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, led the White House to give over half a billion dollars to a solar energy company, owned by a top Democrat money man, which they knew was going to fail. Several people (DB, John Anderson, and Cassandara King, to name a few off the top of my head) have posted comments about it over the last few months as the damning facts keep coming out, and I think it’s worthy of a full post.
The BBC has done exactly five reports on it (plus one brief mention during a Daily Politics segment on how government behavior might possibly drive up energy costs, and one even briefer mention in a story on Republican complaints about government spending). Can’t say they’re censoring the Solyndra story, but it’s pretty poor reporting considering what they’ve left out. As far as I’m aware, the story has never made it to any of the flagship news-oriented programmes, and even these news briefs never seem to stay on the front US & Canada page very long, or get noticed in the Features & Analysis section. In short, BBC News Online whips up a news brief every couple of weeks, and that’s about it. Mark Mardell, the BBC US President editor, has never blogged about it, nor have any of the other correspondents dared bring it up.
But this problem is much more than just the one company. The ideologically twisted Chu has thrown money at several failed or failing green energy companies, nearly all of which are connected to Democrats or Democrat campaign cash. None of the battalion of Beeboids working on US stories has reported on any of them. So now I’m going to tell you what the BBC doesn’t want you to know.
First, the money thrown down the Solyndra toilet was $535 million. Even the BBC was forced to admit that the White House gave them the money even though they knew the firm wasn’t viable. But notice that they censored the fact that the majority owner was the Kaiser Foundation, owned by one of the President’s top money men. Since the subpoenas and Congressional investigation started, emails have come out showing that Kaiser was pressing the Administration for the money, even though they all knew the company was doomed from the start. The best the BBC could do was admit that “a Democratic fundraiser warned that investors did not rate the chances of survival for the firm.” They don’t want you to know – or, as difficult as this is to believe, felt that it was unimportant – that this particular Democratic fundraiser owned the company, and was the one pushing for the cash.
The House investigation is ongoing, and the most recent BBC report on it framed it as a strictly partisan affair, reporting that voting to subpoena the White House records on the loans was “along party lines”. Pathetic. So the BBC has massively played down any possibility of cronyism or political reasons for the loans, and tried to paint the investigation into this fraud as partisan behavior by Republicans. The BBC’s coverage is mostly from the White House perspective. The BBC has also censored news that the White House told Solyndra to postpone layoffs until after the November mid-term elections.
But as I said, this is just the tip of the Green Iceberg.
SolarReserve got $737 million. That company part-owned by a firm run by Democrat Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law. Oh, and partners with another Kaiser Foundation company. Cronier and cronier. The company hasn’t gone bankrupt yet, but surely it’s only a matter of time.
SunPower, also in California, got $1.2 billion, thanks to lobbying from the son of a Democrat Congressman. The company is now $820 million in debt, and rapidly heading down the green toilet.
Abound Solar, mostly owned by Democrat donor billionaire Pat Stryker, got $400 million. So far, it seems the company hasn’t done much more than count the money.
Granite Reliable Wind Generation got $169 million. That company is owned by CCMP Capital (NB: pdf file, pg. 29). A former Managing Director of CCMP is none other than White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Nancy-Ann DeParle. She was also head of the ObamaCare communications department back when the President was pushing for it.
The National Renewable Energy Lab in Colorado got $200 million from Steven Chu. A top Democrat Congressman from Colorado works with them (whatever that actually means). It’s now failing.
Beacon Power in Massachusetts, who were supposed to be building storage devices to make the highly inefficient wind turbines more viable, has gone bust. They got $43 million of taxpayer cash, now down the green toilet. Beacon was first brought to the government’s attention by Democrats: Sen. John Kerry and the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. Beacon is a spinoff of Satcon Technologies, who are cozy enough with the Democrats that they provided a fuel cell power plant for the 2004 Democrat National Convention. That’s the one where John Kerry was the nominee. Say no more.
Evergreen Solar got $5.3 million and SpecraWatt got $500,000 of that Stimulus money the BBC was so enthusiastic about. That cash wasn’t directly from the Dept. of Energy, although it was from local authorities handing out Stimulus money allocated to them. Both firms are now bankrupt.
Last, but certainly not least, is BrightSource, which got a whopping $1.4 billion in bailout funds from the Dept. of Energy. The principal investor is co-owned by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., co-conspiritor of Newsnight-trusted investigative advocate, Greg Palast. BrightSource was in deep financial trouble at the time, and the Dept. of Energy bailed them out. The project for which it got the money is being led by NRG,
UPDATE: I forgot to add that, while the NRG Political Action Committee sends campaign cash to both political parties, the majority of their cash goes to the Democrats. Worse, the two top NRG bosses themselves seem to donate exclusively to Democrats.
To sum up:
Apparently something like 80% of the taxpayer cash doled out by The Obamessiah Adminstration to allegedly promote Green Energy and “green jobs” went to firms heavily involved with Democrats or Obamessiah campaign donors. This adds up to nearly $4.7 billion thrown down the Green toilet, all for ideological and partisan reasons. It’s a combination of irresponsible ideology and old-fashioned corruption. Some may call it Venture Socialism, but I call it Crony Corporatism. This is all hidden from you because it makes the President look bad.
As the Solyndra investigation goes on, we’ll start hearing a lot more about this stuff, and the BBC will continue to hide it from you. I think the end result will be calls for Chu to step down. As the 2012 election looms and we approach next November, the President just might throw him under the bus. It’s not like this has been ignored by the press, either. The BBC figures this isn’t as important as Natalie Wood’s death or sexual abuse scandals in college football, or celebrity gossip. But they won an award for their online coverage of the US, so what do I know? Your license fee hard at work, I guess. Still, one can only imagine what the BBC editorial decisions would be had this stuff happened while Bush was in charge.
To an extent who cares about the BBC on this. They don’t set the agenda in the USA, where people will be aware of the thefts.
That’s entirely beside the point. The point is how they inform – or misinform – the British public, the license fee slaves. As Louis shows below, the BBC goes to great lengths to promote and protect the Green Agenda. Their highky selective reporting on the problems in the US is part and parcel of that.
Their other agenda is to protect the President. All this is geared towards educating you in a certain direction. Has it occurred to you how curious it is that with all their rlentless cheerleading for the Occupiers’ dreams of ending corporate influence on government, that the BBC has failed to tell you that their beloved Obamessiah has handed $4.7 billion to His cronies?
The BBC’s newsgathering choices in the US are highly questionable. All this adds up to preparing the public attitude towards the result in 2012.
To an extent everyone should care a great deal as the BBC is a worldwide multi billion pound media giant, they set the agenda and the narrative for hundreds of millions of people worldwide who trust the BBC to present impartial news.
In fact the BBC does set the agenda because it is still seen as the authoratative impartial news media thought by many ‘not to have skin in the game’ as partisan US news outlets have. To be impartial and to be trusted to be impartial, that is the line pimped byu the BBC, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Nick, you completely miss the point. DP does sterling work providing coverage of things the BBC ignores UNLESS Republicans are involved….this has been shown time and time and time and time again.
Nick,
I have always wondered about the extent that the BBC puts its reputation on the line over US ‘reporting’, given how crossing it so far by any measure is so blatant given where the bills are uniquely funded.
However, as a genetically impartial entity, if it cannot ‘report’ politics or enviro issues even overseas without massive spin, then something is very wroong.
The ediorial by omission is now getting to epidemic levels.
I just watched Horizon Business on the BBC News Channel. A glowing report of wind power in Texas was given. Lots of quotes from Greg Wortham, the mayor of Sweetwater. No mention of Sweetwater’s dependence on Geneeral Electric (Obama’s principle ally). Here he is at a meeting:
I don’t care what the experts on the BBC said, (bright future, slean energy, way to go, technology – presumably supplied by GE – to the rescue) but where was the other point of view?
http://blog.heritage.org/2010/08/30/wind-energy-it%E2%80%99s-not-cheap-or-clean/
Also what was not underlined was that all this is possible only by government subsidies.
http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_wind-incentives.htm
One more thing: if indeed this is a mircale n the energy field, why was there no mention of the Governor of Texas. Oh, yes, sorry I forgot, he’s a Republican candidate for president, so nothing good can be said about him. Silly me.
Another “balanced” report from the beeb.
Great post!
I saw the BBC horizons charade, it was an object lesson in BBC bias. But it went further than that, the BBC has been caught selling positive airtime to vested interest groups, it doesnt take a lot of imagination to make the connection with the BBC horizons propaganda pimping big eco, no cricisms and no counter opinion and no actual facts and figures that might detract from the narrative.
In effect the BBC horizons programme could have been made by big eco as an hour long commercial advert, a direct invitation and assurance to investors in big eco that the money tree is still bearing fruit. I just love the boast that 20% of US energy needs will come from wind..as if! That would put the subsidies for wind up to unsustainable levels as the US is near bankruptcy.
In fact the BBC horizons advert for big eco came across as a last desperate appeal for cash, it came over as if it were one of the last ads by ENRON. The BBC has made money selling airtime to vested interests, to corporate carpet baggers. Did you just happen to notice that VESTAS got product placement? I wonder how much they paid the BBC for that.
But now I’m not so sure…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-philip/8901985/Wind-farms-are-useless-says-Duke.html
Great work David !
Furthermore, the Beeboids are always bitching about bank bailouts, but the round of TARP largesse started under Bush has either all been paid back – with interest – or the government was able to sell its stake (e.g. Citibank) for a tidy profit. We’re never going to see any of these billions back, and the taxpayer will be left to eat this corporate welfare.
Wake me up when you hear a Beeboid ask one of their darling Occupiers why they’re not protesting against The Obamessiah – not against Washington in general, but against Him – for this crap.
Utterly wonderful work David P 😀
The best breakdown of the scandal I have yet seen, letters from America on steroids with a turbo on top.
So here is the reality the BBC does not want us to see, all that hope and change bollocks expsosed. All that we see is when the curtain is pulled back is a grubby pathetic money grubbing low life world of sleaze and industrial strength corruption.
The fabricated cover of high moral purpose is just that, a fabrication to hide gutter criminality. Carry on carrying on David P (USA) you are fast becoming an essential part of B-BBC.
Yours
Cassie K.
Very informative David.
Whilst the pursuit of alternavtive energy is a good thing, the green agenda has turned out a mean for the well-connected to opportunistically enrich themselves. On the back of a faked armageddon. So saddening that the world is so corrupt.
$4.7b – somebody must have this money.
The BBC might have been caught out, but what will the Tory party do about it?
Zip, bugger all, nowt, jack shit.
The so called Tory skanks are up to their necks in the scam, Cameroids dad in law is siphoning off half a bar from the poor and he is a multi milionaire FFS.
Tory scum, or should I say fake Tory scum.
Also:
“The BBC’s hidden ‘warmist’ agenda is rapidly unravelling.
“Since 2006, the BBC has relentlessly promoted the global warming orthodoxy as a pressure group in its own right. ”
(by Christopher Booker)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherbooker/8901365/The-BBCs-hidden-warmist-agenda-is-rapidly-unravelling.html
Yep, good one. With all this, the MF Global (Corzine) and arms in Mexico the BBC have enough ammo to bury POTUS, oh, hang on, it’s not Bush………
I’m just wondering why none of the Republican candidates are talking about any of this. I know the current goal is to distinguish themselves from the others and run down competitors in order to secure the nomination, but these guys get plenty of time to talk about whatever they like outside the debates.
One has to think that whoever starts in on this early will gain support from Tea Party supports, libertarians, and independents fed up with that hopey-changey stuff.
David, going back a few years, I wondered why John McCain ran such a poor campaign. Then when I saw him interviewed on the Jay Leno show, only a couple of days after his defeat, he appeared to be a different person, full of energy and happy with his lot. I remember thinking at the time, “It’s almost as if the whole charade was orchestrated…..” Then I thought, “Don’t be silly, you’re paranoid.”
Will we get a re-run in 2012?
Great round-up DP. I was looking for something like this to link to yesterday, and now you’ve provided it!
Check out this tweet from Matt Danzico pimping on behalf of OWS. As I’ve said before, those BBC impartiality guidelines must be printed on toilet paper.
@mattdanzico Matt Danzico Brooklyn! @bobulate and @brainpicker want your books TODAY to rebuild the #OWS collection. Details j.mp/vAYvF6 #OWSBookmobile
1 hour ago via Silver Bird
“bobulate” is Liz Danzico – his sister at a guess (both are from Scranton and are the only Twitter followers of one Lou Danzico).
With a close relative involved in the movement I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll see Matt reporting any negative things about OWS.
Great catch, DB. That’s worth a post on its own, and everyone should email a link to every single newspaper, blogger, and media outlet you can think of. A BBC employee using twitter to openly solicit support for the Occupiers.
So sad, so bloody irritating, too.
What’s even MORE irritating is that Joe (heads in the sand, on X Factor, or up their arses) Public have no inkling, and no interest in any of this, apart from bleating about the cost of their energy.
They need grabbing by their collective throats and shaking, so that perhaps they’ll eventually wake up to what’s happening, and the reralisation of the dire eventual effect on them, and on us all.
Nigel Farage, save us…
I ask myself, which is the biggest story?
Is it the revelation that the leader of the Western World is a cynical, sleezy, corrupt con man, or is it phone hacking, by means of which the true activities of a handful of luvvies and expense fiddling politicians are made public?
The wall to wall, 24/7 coverage of phone hacking we get from the BBC suggests to me that they would like to deflect our attention away from what’s really important to something that’s a mere distraction.
Peter Schweizer’s new book accuses many in Congress of insider trading, Warren Buffett of lining his pockets through insode knowledge of the bank bailouts – and the Obama administration of lots of crony capitalism, especially towards the “green” sector. Here is an article summarising the latter :
http://bigjournalism.com/pschweizer/2011/11/19/is-media-matters-attacking-throw-them-all-out-to-protect-its-donors/
Not OUR license nmoney – we got shot of the TV years ago, sick of their relentless propagandising for New Labour. No0r do we miss it. Anything I want to watch is ou tthere on the internet, anyway.
For the moment, that will work for you. But the BBC is quietly working to get the license fee imposed on computer moniters as well as TVs. The iPlayer doesn’t grow on trees.
The BBC like to claim they are “uniquely funded” Oh yeah, thug enforced protection racket extortion combined with back door illegal selling of airtime to big eco carpet baggers and ecofascist whackos.
Kinda puts the BBC into perspective doesnt it?