Renewable Energy Lab - March 15, 2013
“There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God's word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them.” Testimonies, vol. 9, 13
If anyone wonders why the U.S expenditures are constantly increasing way beyond our budgeted income—well, it is not often easy to figure it out. But when I learned that a government employee makes $1,000,000 annually, I had to follow my nose.
The story begins in Golden, Colorado (great name coincidence) where the federal government’s dream of a renewable energy empire hinges on a scrubby outpost. Here, scientists and executives doggedly explore their Holy Grail. And here also we meet Rep. Ed Perlmutter D-Lakewood, whose district is home to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL for short. It’s the place where solar panels, windmills and corn are deemed the energy source of the future and companies who support such endeavors are courted. watchdog.org › Wasteful spending
It’s also the place where highly paid staff decide how to spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars. And the public pays those decision-makers well: NREL’s top executive, Dr. Dan Arvizu, makes close to a million dollars per year. His two top lieutenants rake in more than half a million each and nine others make more than $350,000 a year. They manage a $533 million a year government-funded management company.
You ask, what have they been producing that warrants this colossal budget? NREL has given us two of the most significant boondoggles, one of them being ethanol and the other being (bankrupt) Abound Solar. ww.forbes.com/.../report-abound-solar-recipient-of-400-million-loa...
Which reminds us of Solyndra, Fremont, California! The cost to taxpayers for the failure this solar panel company may be much higher than the $535 million dollar federal loan guarantee the company received. After the company went bankrupt last August, 2011, the Energy Department, which had given the original loan, okayed an unprecedented deal to attract more private investment to Solyndra. One result of this deal is that it has allowed more than $350 million in tax write-offs to pass to those private creditors, one of which is owned by a major donor to our president. The House Oversight Committee now warns the total loss on Solyndra now could be as high as $849 million. washingtonexaminer.com/...taxpayer...to...may...million/.../2511398
A little history: NREL’s taxpayer-funded management company has seen its budget more than double since 2006. That’s when one of its most ardent supporters, Rep. Perlmutter, was first elected to Congress the lab sits in the middle of his district!
But Perlmutter’s ties go beyond merely promoting green legislation and lobbying his colleagues for NREL funds. He has received $12,670 in campaign contributions from executives of NREL and its management company, MRIGlobal, a company that describes itself as “an independent, not-for-profit organization that performs contract research for government and industry.”
Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL started in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute, a response to the 1973 Mideast oil crisis. Its budget, then about $100 million, was slashed during the Reagan era.
When Perlmutter was elected, NREL’s budget was $209.6 million. It increased steadily before ballooning to $536.5, a beneficiary of President Obama’s stimulus plan and a $135 million contract spread out over five years to construct a new science center. Its current $352 million budget is down slightly from last year’s $388.6 million.
From its inception, NREL has been managed by MRIGlobal, back then called the Midwest Research Institute. To handle lab management, MRIGlobal partnered with Ohio-based Battelle Memorial Institute, which describes itself as “the world’s largest nonprofit research and development organization.” The pair formed Alliance for Sustainable Energy, a separate non-profit in 2008, for the sole purpose of managing NREL and installed NREL’s top executives as its directors. Wow!
By all accounts, Perlmutter’s relationship with NREL will continue. He is co-chairman of the New Democrat Coalition Energy Task Force, part of the Financial Services Committee. Perlmutter has leveraged that role to keep alive a 20-year-old energy tax credit to producers of wind technology.
“I have no problems with the contractors operating the lab. They would do a much more efficient job than the government,” said Nick Loris, an energy policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation. “It should lower the cost of these projects.”
But what Loris doesn’t like is the entire concept of placing the government in a role of making energy affordable. That should be a job for the private sector.
“It’s not the government’s role to make energy cheaper. There is no reason the taxpayer should subsidize this,” he said. “We’ve seen the failures when the government gets involved in these projects. If they are going to be successful in the marketplace, they wouldn’t need help from the government.” watchdog.org › Wasteful spending
Amy Oliver Cooke, director of the Energy Policy Center at the Independence Institute think tank, claims that the billions that have been siphoned into renewable energy have yet to produce a fraction of the promised return. Cooke predicts that solar and wind still remain prohibitively expensive and not viable for general use. Further, that numerous taxpayer-subsidized companies will go bankrupt in the coming years just as the overinflated housing market came crashing down. watchdog.org › Wasteful spending
Just a little peek at where your tax money is going and part of the reason why USA is stuck in an unsustainable economic future! That’s worth another Wow!
R&H, Aug. 5, 1902: "Those who place themselves under God's control, to be led and guided by Him, will CATCH THE STEADY TREND OF EVENTS ordained by Him to take place.”
Dr HERBIE Douglas
Author
Topic: Your Tax Dollars at WORK or HOW TO: make a million a year!!! (Read 2889 times)
