Kitzhaber and Hayes: “Greens” Vs

GREEN WATCH BANNER TO BE INSERTED HERE

Kitzhaber and Hayes: “Greens” vs. Transparency How do environmentalist politicians protect themselves from being held accountable?

By Steven J. Allen

Summary: In Parts 1 and 2, we reported on the tangled web of power-hungry and greedy special interests—environmentalists, business people, and government officials (including White House advisors and governors of other states)—that was exposed in the scandal that forced the governor of Oregon, John Kitzhaber (D), to resign. In this final installment on the Kitzhaber-Hayes affair, we examine the ways the scandal is tied to key goals of the environmental Left. One key goal: making it much, much harder for voters to hold “green” politicians accountable for the disastrous results of their policies. In 2013, British Columbia Environment Minister Mary Polak, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, Wash- ington Gov. Jay Inslee, and California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a pact on “climate change.” his month, in Part 3 of our look at the scandals that forced Oregon Some background: To the “green” Left, ruary 2014, Anne C. Mulkern of E&E TGov. Kitzhaber to resign, we ex- cost-benefit analysis is a problem. Even [Energy and Environment] reported: amine a trip to Shangri-La (well, Bhutan) some environmentalists admit that many High-profile billionaire and envi- ... the ways in which billionaires want to supposed anti-Warming measures would ronmental activist Tom Steyer held measure your happiness ... how British do real harm to the economy, especially center stage at an event here [in Columbia took a “climate” stand, along to poor and working-class people— Santa Barbara, California] . . . In with Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia ... greater harm than the Warming itself. To his final minutes, Steyer announced how Walmart cashed in on paper-drying ... get around that problem, activists have that he planned to launch an effort and how Oregon First Lady Cylvia Hayes, worked to build up the current and future to quantify what inaction on climate after being advised on how to avoid the threat of Warming. It’s been blamed for change could cost the country. appearance of impropriety, just couldn’t everything from the spread of AIDS to When a reporter afterward raced take a hint. the future extinction of coffee beans and for Steyer, he begged off questions, red-headed humans, from bumpy plane waving for his aide, Kate Gordon. Warming is coming. Run! rides to the loss of people’s sex drives to a rise in the pitch of the croak of the In last month’s issue of Green Watch, we January 2016 were introduced to Kate Gordon, who coqui frog of Puerto Rico. [See Green was listed as a board member of the Clean Watch August 2014.] Sen. Bernie Sand- Economy Development Center (the shad- ers (I-Vt.) said in a recent Democratic Kitzhaber and Hayes: owy group that provided a “fellowship” to presidential debate that “In fact, climate “Greens” vs. Transparency Oregon’s then-First Lady Cylvia Hayes). change is directly related to the growth Page 1 Gordon links billionaire environmentalist of terrorism.” Tom Steyer to the concept of the Genuine Summing up all the Warming harm is Green Notes Progress Indicator (GPI), which we’ll get hard work, and work to which billionaire Page 10 to in a moment. Steyer has turned his attention. In Feb- Sitting in the near-empty auditorium the 2014 election cycle, citing her tion” of the Paulson Institute, founded by after the event, Gordon explained the role in the Risky Business study on former Treasury Secretary and Goldman plan. . . . The study was her idea, one climate change costs. “She under- Sachs CEO Hank Paulson. she had long waited to put into ac- stands how the game is played, how tion. “I’ve wanted to do this for five power is exerted and how to pull the Demos, GPI, and that trip to Bhutan years, and I never felt like I was in right levers,” said Adam Browning, If you exaggerate the Global Warming the right place to do it until working co-founder of advocacy group Vote threat sufficiently, any measure to prevent with Tom,” Gordon said. Solar and an activist who has worked Warming can be made to appear reason- Steyer’s San Francisco-based non- with Gordon on green issues. . . . able and, as the President likes to say, profit policy shop, Next Generation, Gordon helped recruit the effort’s “common sense.” In the grand scheme of offered the perfect perch to launch new Risk Committee, which features things, how much should we care about the effort, she said, because “we’re several well-known names. There some lost economic growth, considering not in Washington. We’re not an en- are three people from former Presi- what’s at stake? Besides: If government vironmental group. We’re not identi- dent Clinton’s Cabinet: Secretary of policies can be judged as failures merely fied as having a particular dog in the Housing and Urban Development because they have negative effects on the fight.” That study on climate inac- Henry Cisneros, Treasury Secretary economy, then—as the Left sees it—it’s tion now is underway. Called Risky Robert Rubin, and Secretary of time to change how we measure the ef- Business, it’s headed by Steyer, for- Health and Human Services Donna fects of government policies. mer New York City Mayor Michael Shalala. Two Republicans are on board: former Sen. Olympia Snowe Thus, the Genuine Progress Indicator Bloomberg (I) and George W. Bush (GPI). As defined by various environ- administration Treasury Secretary of Maine and Reagan administration Secretary of State George Shultz. . . . mental groups, “GPI is designed to take Henry Paulson. Gordon, 40, is the fuller account of the health of a nation’s Risky Business executive director. In addition, she’s now part of a group of advocates conferring on ways economy by incorporating environmental . . . Before joining Steyer’s nonprofit, California, Oregon, Washington and and social factors which are not measured she spent a decade crafting reports British Columbia will move forward by GDP [Gross Domestic Product]. and analyses that several people said together on actions to combat climate . . . The GPI is used in green economics, influenced state and federal policies, change [i.e., the Pacific Coast Collab- sustainability and more inclusive types of including the green jobs movement orative; more on this project below]. economics by factoring in environmental and elements of President Obama’s and carbon footprints that businesses stimulus package, the American Gordon, who served as co-director of produce or eliminate.” Recovery and Reinvestment Act. the Apollo Alliance [about which, see Over the past 20 months, Gordon Green Watch November 2012 and our Thus, using GPI, the cost of Global has guided Steyer as he’s emerged as sister publication Foundation Watch, Warming policies can be waved away, a political force. . . . The magazine October 2009], is considered one of the offset by the amount of supposed dam- Campaigns & Elections in Novem- leaders of the “green jobs” movement and age from Warming that environmentalists ber included Gordon on its list of was highly influential in the creation of speculate has been or will be prevented. the 50 influencers to watch ahead of President Obama’s disastrous “stimulus” And a tax on the use of natural resources program. (Apollo Alliance, by the way, might not be considered a tax at all, but merely an effort to “internalize externali- Editor: Steven J. Allen later merged with the BlueGreen Alli- ties,” to make companies compensate the Publisher: Terrence Scanlon ance, a union/environmentalist partner- government for what environmentalists Address: 1513 16th Street, NW ship started by the United Steelworkers call “negative eco-impacts.” A similar Washington, DC 20036-1480 and the Sierra Club, which now includes proposed measure of well-being is called Phone: (202) 483-6900 the Service Employees International HPI, for “Happy Planet Index.” E-mail: [email protected] Union (SEIU), the Union of Concerned Website: CapitalResearch.org Scientists, the American Federation of Left-wing economist Zachary Karabell Teachers, and other organizations.) Gor- ridiculed GDP in a 2014 interview on don met Steyer in 2011 when she was the Green Watch is published by Capital PBS: “GDP is extremely good at measur- vice president in charge of the energy pro- Research Center, a non-partisan education ing how much stuff we make, and how gram at the Center for American Progress, and research organization classified by the much stuff we consume, full stop. It’s an headed by John Podesta, who is currently IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. Reprints extremely good number to measure out- campaign chairman for Hillary Clinton. are available for $2.50 prepaid to Capital put, and in that sense, it’s a good number Research Center. Last May, Gordon was named “Vice for 1950s economies, when you had more Chair, Climate and Sustainable Urbaniza- closed systems, high trade barriers, local

Page 2 Green Watch January 2016 manufacturing, particularly for the United show a woody, high-end establish- In a dozen emails spanning April States, where most of the stuff the U.S. ment high in the mountains. 2013 to April 2014 . . . [Hayes] or- consumed in 1950 was made in America.” chestrates work on the new policy, The German government paid for the an alternative economic measure “The GDP is a truly terrible measure trip as a leading supporter of the GPI called the Genuine Progress Indi- of things that really matter,” said Gus or “Beyond GDP” campaign. Backers cator. Hayes sets the agenda for Speth, a distinguished senior fellow at include the European Parliament, the meetings with top state officials. She the left-wing think tank Demos. (Speth, World Wildlife Fund (co-founded by Ju- outlines the job description for the as noted last issue, was founder of the lian Huxley, who, at the time of WWF’s new policy’s director. She spells out World Resources Institute.) “Finally, founding, was president of the British her own role, writing: “I expect to there’s a broad consensus on this point. Eugenics Society), the OECD (Organi- provide the following pieces to this For the first time there’s a chance that sation for Economic Co-operation and effort myself.” That wording was in this concern will move out of academic Development, a 34-nation group that was an Oct. 10, 2013 email to Michael and research circles and become a real founded to administer the Marshall Plan), Jordan, director of the Department policy question.” the [Communist] Chinese Academy of of Administrative Services, at a Social Sciences, and the Club of Rome GPI is a major project for Demos. In time when Hayes was also being [about which, see Green Watch, August 2013, Lew Daly, the organization’s paid by Demos. Hayes tells Jordan, 2015], along with “media partners” in- director of policy and research, invited one of the state’s highest officials, cluding the Reuters news agency and the Kitzhaber and Hayes to accompany him she expects to “build stakeholder Inter Press Service, which mostly covers to a meeting on GPI in Bhutan, a Bud- participation and support within and poor countries. dhist Himalayan kingdom once labeled beyond state government and assist in a PBS documentary as “The Last The month after the Governor and First with communications”—the same Shangri-La.” Lady got back from Bhutan, she received jobs she was doing for Demos. Hayes was encouraged to attend the meet- a $25,000, five-month contract from Her contract with the advocacy ing by John de Graaf, a board member of Demos to promote GPI. The original group ran from June 1 to Nov. 30, the Earth Island Institute and an advisor to agreement called for Hayes to work in 2013. In another email to Jordan and what de Graaf called “Bhutan’s U.N. hap- Oregon, but after Hayes consulted with other senior officials, Hayes calls a piness initiative.” He wrote of the trip: “In a Kitzhaber staff attorney, a later version meeting on the Genuine Progress April 2013, Hayes and Kitzhaber traveled “dropped ‘Oregon’ and changed to scope Indicator, or GPI, at Mahonia Hall, to Bhutan for an international meeting on to nationwide,” Laura Gunderson re- the state-owned governor’s mansion. alternative measures of progress, and to ported. Demos’ Daly “told the Oregonian Hayes set the meeting for May 13, learn about the policy tools adopted by late last year that he and Hayes tweaked 2013, three days after she signed the small Himalayan nation whose former the contract after recognizing that it could her initial contract with Demos. king famously declared, ‘Gross National appear to present a conflict of interest.” The contract was later tweaked and Happiness is more important than Gross Demos [profiled in the July 2014 issue the start date changed to June 1, but National Product.’” of our sister publication, Organization Hayes dated her first $8,333 invoice Oregon journalist Nigel Jaquiss wrote, Trends], is a far-left group that supports to Demos on May 10, 2013. “The novelty of a governor flying to restrictions on freedom of speech and That invoice, signed by Hayes, from her a small Himalayan nation during the opposes measures to prevent vote fraud. consulting firm 3E Strategies, was for middle of a legislative session to study President Obama is a former board $8,333 (one-third of the $25,000 she was economic theory made national news—it member. Its current board includes Van paid by Demos). It covered “Consulting was the kind of publicity a wonky non- Jones, the self-described “revolutionary services delivered through the Beyond profit such as Demos couldn’t buy.” communist” who served as the Obama GDP / GPI in the States project as described in the Surdna Foundation grant Harry Esteve of the Oregonian reported: administration’s Green Jobs Czar until he was caught supporting the “9/11 truth” agreement.” Kitzhaber’s and Hayes’ conference movement, which claims that George A spokesman for the Surdna Foundation, and travel costs are being paid by the W. Bush knew about the September 11 funder of the GPI project, said Hayes German Ministry for Economic Co- attack in advance or staged the attack. was listed in a proposal for a $200,000 operation and Development, which The Demos board is chaired by Amelia grant covering the period April 2013 to is helping organize the meetings. Warren Tyagi, daughter of Sen. Elizabeth April 2014. He wrote in an e-mail that The weeklong conference is at the Warren (D-Mass.). Demos “indicated to Surdna, in their Naktsel Resorts, Paro, Bhutan, a tiny grant proposal material, that they would Himalayan nation all but surrounded According to Laura Gunderson of the be funding a fellow who is the first lady by China, India and Nepal. Photos Oregonian: of Oregon.”

January 2016 Green Watch Page 3 Surdna promotes environmentalist and War, it was one of the most of the extreme person to do this [GPI] work is Sean other left-wing causes, as well as the work and influential think tanks in Washington, McGuire and we need to find a way of “community organizers” in the tradi- D.C., representing the Soviet point of to bring him on,” Kitzhaber wrote tion of radical Saul Alinsky, as noted in view in world affairs. Its funders include in a Dec. 30, 2013 email to Jordan. our sister publication Foundation Watch, the Ford Foundation, the (Ted) Turner McGuire soon joined the state payroll January 2014. Foundation, the John D. and Catherine at a $65,000 salary. T. MacArthur Foundation, and George An undated memo from Hayes to Kit- Soros’ Open Society Institute. Across state and national boundaries zhaber’s chief of staff, Curtis Robinhold, Another key concept underlying the detailed the nature of her arrangement According to Northwest News Network, Kitzhaber-Hayes scandal is the impor- with Demos. “In exchange for my ser- Hayes attended four events on GPI with tance to the Left of multi-jurisdictional vice, Demos will pay me $25,000 in three officials of neighboring Washington efforts. The Left understands that politics installments and reimburse for reasonable State. The meetings were held in the isn’t just fought at the national level, or at pre-approved travel expenses,” she wrote. office of Gov. Jay Inslee (D), one of Kitzhaber’s partners in the Pacific Coast any one level, but at all levels: neighbor- She described the state’s GPI project, Collaborative. hoods, wards, cities and counties, states “currently under development in a part- and provinces, countries, continents, and nership between Demos, Portland State On June 14, 2013, Hayes attended a the world. You can lose at one level or University, the Center for a Sustainable summit on GPI hosted by Gov. Martin two or three, and still win the game. O’Malley (D-Md.), who’s currently run- Economy, and Institute for Policy Stud- Which brings us to the effort to unite ies.” Hayes was to “play an active and ning for president. The summit, in Bal- timore, featured a discussion, moderated the West Coast under the green banner. strategic liaison role between Demos, oth- One Hayes contract was with a nonprofit er stakeholders, and Oregon government by Hayes, between O’Malley and Jeffrey Sachs, the left-wing economist and di- organization called Rural Development representatives . . . connecting Demos and Initiatives. In February 2011, Kitzhaber’s other partners with key public officials, rector of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. office announced that Hayes would go and representing Demos and partners in to work for RDI. Hayes said, “I have official meetings and in discussions with At that time, O’Malley’s office bragged stepped back from my consulting work non-governmental stakeholders.” that “Maryland is the national leader in and chosen to route my work through the development and use of the GPI.” The Center for a Sustainable Economy, this really credible not-for-profit organi- The state had adopted GPI as a measure one of the partners on the GPI project, zation to avoid any potential conflict of of well-being in 2010. Vermont and Ha- seeks, according to its website, a “swift interest—and as many of the perception waii followed. transition to a New Economy” that “mea- challenges as possible,” she told the Bul- sures progress by improvements in well- In October 2013, Hayes submitted a letin newspaper. being and not expansion of the scale and $125,000 proposal for an “Oregon GPI She got her job through Gary Wolf, who scope of market economic activity” and Team” that included Sean McGuire had worked in Kitzhaber’s earlier admin- “replaces brutal and wasteful competition (who had developed GPI for O’Malley istration and in the 2010 campaign and between nations, businesses, and indi- in Maryland), Demos, and Hayes, along who was on RDI’s board. According to viduals with one that binds us together with a group called Ecotrust, a Portland Nick Budnick of the Oregonian: in cooperative frameworks for solving environmentalist organization founded by The plan was for Hayes to help raise civilization’s most urgent problems.” a former president of the Nature Conser- $450,000 for a clean economy proj- Its “partners and clients” include the vancy International Program. ect—including $50,000 from Oregon Wilderness Society, the United Nations Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week re- that would require the support of her Industrial Development Organization, the ported: fiancé. The project was intended to Washington State Department of Ecol- After relocating to Oregon, McGuire align climate and energy policies in ogy, and the Climate Action Coalition worked with Hayes and Demos to Oregon, California and Washington. (for “Technical and advocacy support in pitch the GPI to Washington State. That effort was supported by a spin- opposition to fossil fuel export projects Now, McGuire needed a job and off of a left-leaning think tank called in Oregon”). Hayes wanted the state to have a GPI the Center On Wisconsin Strategies. The Institute for Policy Studies, another director on staff. Hayes arranged The center didn’t fund any of Hayes’ partner on GPI, was founded in 1963 for Jordan and McGuire to meet. RDI salary, but did provide technical with seed money from the Samuel Rubin When Jordan didn’t immediately hire support for her work and for the pitch Foundation, which received its endow- McGuire, Kitzhaber himself got in- for foundation funding. ment from the Fabergé cosmetics fortune. volved, sending Jordan an email with At the time, the center had its own Throughout the remainder of the Cold an unmistakable message. “The best agenda in Oregon, not disclosed pub-

Page 4 Green Watch January 2016 licly, that involved Kitzhaber. Work- British Columbia in enacting “carbon which, according to a press release from ing with national Service Employees pricing” (for a cap-and-trade scheme or the office of Gov. Jerry Brown, “aims International Union, the center sup- a carbon tax), and the four governments to unite state and regional governments ported 2011 legislation that would agreed to link their systems together “for in reducing their emissions by 80-95% create a new state bank to advance consistency and predictability and to ex- based on a 1990 baseline, or achieving public policy and local business pand opportunities to grow the region’s a per capita emissions target of less than goals. The legislation would have low-carbon economy.” They agreed to 2 metric tons by 2050.” (The “Under required Kitzhaber's endorsement. adopt Low-Carbon Fuel Standards, ex- 2” refers to radical environmentalists’ Hayes worked at her $5,000-a-month pand the use of electric cars, subsidize/ two degrees Celsius “threshold”—the job for five months before it became mandate “alternative” fuels, and by 2016 amount of global warming beyond which, apparent funding wasn't flowing as have zero-emissions vehicles make up they believe, the results would be cata- expected for the project. 10 percent of new car sales. They also strophic.) promised to support the EPA’s “War on When Hayes was working at RDI, she Last month, Brown’s office announced Coal” and back an international agree- indicated that the collaboration project that, “with the addition of the Federal ment on Global Warming. would require $800,000 over three years, Republic of Germany, along with the according to a description of the “West Gov. Jerry Brown (D-Calif.) declared, German regions of Bavaria, Schleswig- Coast Clean Economy Collaborative” “It’s only the beginning. You just watch. Holstein and Thuringia and the Italian that Hayes provided to Kitzhaber’s chief Next year and the year after and the year region of Emilia-Romagna to the Under of staff. after that, this will spread until finally 2 MOU climate agreement, the combined we get a real handle and grasp on what GDP of signatories and endorsers has After stories began to surface in the me- is the world’s existential challenge—the surpassed that of the United States, the dia about Hayes’ contracts, RDI issued a stability of our climate, on which we world’s largest economy. . . . Collec- statement that “Ms. Hayes was hired by all depend.” Added Gov. Jay Inslee tively, 57 jurisdictions from 19 countries RDI Executive Director, Craig Smith, to (D-Wash.): “Along the West Coast, we and five continents have now signed or explore clean economy options for rural have collectively recognized that a clean endorsed the Under 2 MOU, collectively communities. Her salary was paid from economy, energy efficiency, and green representing more than $17.5 trillion in RDI’s own unrestricted net assets. RDI’s building provides the only path that we GDP and 572 million people.” state revenue was not influenced by Ms. have to a sustainable future.” Hayes’ employment. Ms. Hayes left Resource Media paid Hayes $20,611, RDI after five months.” The concept of “Once again, the West Coast is leading the plus up to $5,300 in travel expenses, ap- “align[ing] climate and energy policies way,” said then-Rep. Henry Waxman (D- parently for ten weeks of work, although in Oregon, California and Washington” Calif.). Frances Beinecke, president of the Hayes said later that it was for nine was one on which Hayes and Kitzhaber Natural Resources Defense Council, said, months. The contract started in February would continue to focus. “This agreement will show the world that 2013. By one account, the pay was for As noted, the Energy Foundation paid the Pacific Coast states aren’t waiting for her help coordinating a media campaign Hayes $40,000 for eight months in 2013, Congress or governments worldwide to aimed at convincing Kitzhaber to block a having previously provided $75,000 of tackle climate change.” proposed coal export terminal at the Port the $118,000 that Hayes received from Kitzhaber said the recession had given of Morrow. One part of her contract with CEDC ($30,000 in 2011, $88,000 in state and federal governments an excuse Resource Media obliged her to “promote 2012). One of the foundation’s interests to avoid dealing with “climate change.” ocean and marine health as part of the was the promotion of a multi-jurisdiction- “The good news is that British Columbia, Pacific Coast Collaborative.” al effort, the Pacific Coast Collaborative California, Washington and Oregon have The website SWIFT Washington reported or PCC—the governments of California, defied that trend for the last few years, that, according to the office of Washing- Oregon, Washington, and Canada’s Brit- retaining progressive political leadership ton’s Governor Inslee, Hayes attended ish Columbia province, joined together to that is committed to clean energy and three PCC meetings in 2013 and 2014 fight Global Warming. maintains the belief that creating jobs at which Washington state officials were The PCC is a big deal. The four juris- and economic activity is not incompatible present. She advised attendees on “ocean dictions in the PCC have a combined with long-term environmental steward- health.” population of 54 million and a combined ship,” he said. Oregon’s participation in the Pacific GDP of $2.8 trillion, which, if counted The Pacific Coast Collaborative isn’t Coast Collaborative was intended not separately, would rank it fifth among the the only multi-jurisdictional pact that as an end in itself, but as part of a wider nations of the world. As part of the pact includes Oregon as well as California. effort. A ten-page e-mail from 2014, announced in October 2013, Oregon and Both states are party to the “Under 2 uncovered by Chris Horner of the Energy Washington agreed to join California and MOU” (Memorandum of Understanding) and Environment Legal institute, seeks January 2016 Green Watch Page 5 advice from allies in other governors’ raphy, generating media coverage. This the group’s goal is “helping communities offices on how to launch “a nationally needs to be managed strategically both reduce poverty for the long term,” and coordinated, multi-year ‘states strategy’ to best serve the goals of the Prosperity Oregon is within the eight-state region focused on driving outcomes contem- Initiative and to align with desired first the foundation covers. Still, $500,000, plated by the president’s climate action lady brand.” of which $35,000 went for the spokes- plan,” to “spread climate coordination In a September 13, 2013, e-mail, Hayes woman, might be considered a lot of and collaboration.” Kitzhaber’s state wrote the Council president, “The person money for such a project. budget for 2015-17 included $200,000 I am contracting for this work is Therese The money flow is less mysterious when in taxpayers’ money—technically, from Lang. She is cc’d here in case you need you see that the boards of the Northwest lottery funds—for the Collaborative. any additional information from her. Area Foundation and the Oregon Busi- Therese, as discussed, your contract ness Council have a member in com- Brazen will actually be with Oregon Business mon, William Thorndike Jr. of Medford Sometimes, self-righteousness blinds you Council.” Fabrication in Medford, Oregon. And a to your own corruption. The draft contract matched up with “William Thorndike Jr.” is listed among Nigel Jaquiss of Willamette Week reported Hayes’ job description, in some places the prominent citizens hosting the general that Hayes “benefitted from $35,000 word-for-word, Jaquiss reported. Kit- election campaign kickoff in Medford, spent by the Oregon Business Council— zhaber’s staff attorney was shocked and Oregon, May 26, 2010, of a former and an advocacy group close to Kitzhaber—to wrote Hayes: “I’m trying to get my head future governor, John Kitzhaber. provide her with a spokeswoman. The wrapped around this. Do I have this right: spokeswoman, hired in 2013, helped A non-state non-profit entity (Oregon Special interests win publicize Hayes’ work on the Oregon Business Council Charitable Institute) One final environmental concept impor- Prosperity Initiative, a state program has received a private grant (from NW tant to this story is that of the Low-Carbon Hayes [led] on Kitzhaber’s behalf.” Area Foundation), which is going to be Fuel Standard, or LCFS. Oregon has had The Oregon Business Council, which used to support the official duties of the an LCFS law since 2009, but it was set to represents some of the state’s biggest First Lady through the hiring of a com- expire in 2015 without reaching its long- employers, received a $500,000 grant munications staff person (Therese Lang)? term goals. Two attempts by Kitzhaber to from another nonprofit to promote the I’m just trying to get a handle on some of eliminate the expiration date had failed. initiative. “Having a private lobbying the issues we may need to work through, Then, in the aftermath of the Governor’s firm finance a public official’s agenda including the use of a non-state entity to resignation, lawmakers extended the could violate state and federal laws, do state work; public contracting issues program. It passed the state senate on the especially if the payments were a trade- since we are essentially bypassing the governor’s last full day in office. off for political favors,” Jaquiss wrote. public contracting process and getting To no avail, Republicans called for a However, the final version of the contract services donated; and whether the ‘value delay in considering the program, or for for the communications director, Therese of the services’ that the state is getting for submitting it to the voters. The state Sen- Lang, said that she worked directly for the free is a ‘gift.’” ate Majority Leader, Diane Rosenbaum program, not Hayes. Later that day, Reeves suggested a change (D), replied, “There is no link between The problem is that, according to re- in the contract wording so that, “instead Cylvia Hayes’ contracts and the Clean cently released e-mails, Hayes e-mailed of directing Therese to support you di- Fuels program.” members of Kitzhaber’s top staff seeking rectly, we can get to the same outcome but Extension was backed by Clean Fuels advice on what she should be looking for it doesn't look like OBC is basically pay- Work, a coalition that included environ- in the spokesperson. “Will you please ing someone to support a state position.” mentalists along with business people take a look at the write up below of what “That is not the case,” Hayes responded, who hope to cash in on the program. Hill- I am looking for in the comms position missing the point. “They are clear that ary Borrud, a state capital correspondent and let me know your thoughts? Biggest this position is working for me, support- for Oregon newspapers, reported that the question is do I want to hire one person to ing our Oregon Prosperity Initiative.” extension will effectuate regulations set perform all of these components or do I Ultimately, the change was made in the to take effect in the new year. want to contract several specialty Service contract. The Oregon Environmental Qual- Providers?” Yet the arrangement raises a big question ity Commission voted in January The job description: “Focused, Proac- that has gone unanswered: Why would [2015] to adopt regulations that will tive Support and Coverage of First Lady the Northwest Area Foundation, head- require fuel importers and producers Activities: This may include help with quartered in Minnesota, fund a spokes- to reduce the carbon content of trans- speech-writing, photography and videog- person for Oregon’s First Lady? True, portation fuels by 10 percent over the

Page 6 Green Watch January 2016 The “Green Jobs” Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Hewlett Foundation Rights Under the Law Radical Network Chairman: Walter Hewlett Sponsor of PoliceWatch, which President: Paul Brest Institute for America’s Future became the Ella Baker Center Fmr. Board Member: Steven Chu Robert Borosage, President Energy Secretary for Obama

Spin-O Organization & Y Founded & Funds Center on Wisconsin Strategy E N Joel Rogers, Director O M

H Ella Baker Center C National Commission on Apollo founded by Dan N U Energy Policy Founder: Van Jones Carol as a joint project of A L Self-described Communist, IAF & COWS Former Chairman: John Holdren now Obama Green Jobs Czar White House Science Advisor Executive Director: Jason Grumet Apollo Alliance Chief Energy Advisor for (A Project of the Tides Center) Obama Campaign Chairman: Phil Angelides Board Member: Leo Gerard United Steelworkers Union President Board Members: Tides Center Ellen Pao Founder/CEO: Drummond Pike Partner @ Kleiner-Perkins (Al Gore VC rm) Receives Daily Talking Points Board Member: Dan Carol Gerland Hudson SEIU VP Fmr. Chairman: Wade Rathke John Podesta Center for American Progress Center for American Progress President Leo Gerard President: John Podesta United Steelworkers Union President Former Fellow: Van Jones Projects Program Carl Pope Current Fellow: Bracken Hendricks Sierra Club President

Tides Foundation Former Board Member: Receives Daily Talking Points Van Jones Founder/CEO: Drummond Pike Green Jobs Czar Treasurer of Soros-backed Democracy Alliance Former Sta: SEIU Fmr. Board Member: Wade Rathke Bracken Hendricks President: Andy Stern ACORN First Executive Director and author with Rep. Jay Inslee of Apollo’s Fire Vice President: Gerland Hudson Wade Rathke, Founder and Chief Organizer, SEIU Local 100 Receives Daily Talking Points Designed and Promoted

ACORN Indicted on multiple Friends of the Earth election law violations Stimulus Bill Received $180,000 from Tides Founder: Wade Rathke $787 billion in spending on Foundation in 2008 to “integrate Formerly employed President far-left wish list, including a climate equity perspective in Obama as trainer and counsel $110B of “green spending” the presidential transition”

Partner Political/Personnel Financial KEY: Organizations Connection Connection

This 2009 chart from Americans for Prosperity showed the connections between “green”/leftwing groups with respect to the “stimulus.”

January 2016 Green Watch Page 7 next decade, starting in January 2016. and using the heat to dry the paper. The cracy and see it as a model for, as they company sold credits to Walmart for $2.3 put it, “world governance.”) Yet another Fuel importers and producers have million, which Walmart could then use to way to block accountability is to hide the at least two options to meet the stan- offset $3.3 million in state taxes over five effects of policies by making them very dard: blend more low-carbon ethanol years—which, it turned out, Walmart was complicated and convoluted—hence, the and biodiesel into transportation fu- able to use even though the plant itself use of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. els, or purchase carbon credits. The had shut down. Oregon Department of Environmen- To elitists, democracy is a problem. In tal Quality plans to set up a system A Texas trucking company received 752 a democracy, elitists must persuade a lot for entities such as electric vehicle credits worth $4.5 million, even though of voters to go along with them, which charging stations to generate carbon less than one percent of its runs were isn’t easy. Constitutional democracy, credits. The agency expects the fuel on Oregon roads. A tire recycling plant in which the government’s powers are standard will reduce greenhouse gas received $3.4 million even though, after strictly limited, is especially problematic. emissions in Oregon by a total of 7.3 more than two years, it had yet to recycle As we reported in the January 2015 Green million tons over the next decade. tires. A New York company divided its Watch, elitists express great admiration When spread over 10 years, that de- wind farm into thirds, to qualify for three for totalitarian governments like that of crease is relatively small. In 2010, separate $10 million credits, despite a Communist China, where, according to the latest year for which DEQ has state analysis that should have disquali- Obama advisor Jeffrey Immelt, “state- data, vehicles in Oregon emitted fied the scheme. And backers of a $23.6 run communism may not be your cup of 22.6 million tons of carbon dioxide. million project to install solar arrays tea—but their government works.” The average emissions decrease an- at two colleges allegedly used forged That’s why it’s important to see the Kit- ticipated from the low-carbon fuels documents to qualify for a $11.8 million zhaber scandal as a window into how the program would have translated to a credit—one document, an invoice from environmental/political elite thinks and 3 percent reduction in 2010. a nonexistent contractor, and the other document, a letter supposedly signed by how it works. State bureaucrats say that the program the president of a “renewables” company Some see the scandal as a story of a man will add four to 19 cents’ cost to a gallon that was dated five days after he had who had everything, until he was led by a of gasoline, but more realistic estimates resigned. put the cost much higher. woman into temptation and ruin. That’s a The long-term cost to the state: some $1.3 tale as old as Genesis. Writers of fiction Both options available to fuel importers billion, almost three-fourths of which ac- call such a temptress “the vamp,” and and producers are problematic. Even crued after the program was made more Cylvia Hayes seems to fit the role, as a many environmentalists recognize that “generous” in 2007 and before it was woman who once married a prospective biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel repealed in 2010. immigrant for cash; who once bought are harmful to the environment and drive land for an illegal marijuana farm; who, up the price of food, including food for A new aristocracy at the age of 35, went on a trip to Europe the world’s poorest people. [See Green Because these kinds of disasters regu- with an 81-year-old man who then helped Watch, July 2015.] The other option, larly result from “green” policies, their buy her house; and who used her romantic purchasing carbon credits, has its own advocates must find ways to avoid being relationship with a powerful politician to negative effects, such as subsidizing the held accountable for policy failure. One accrue power to herself, until the day she rich who can afford electric vehicles, and way is to change the way we measure brought him down. is highly susceptible to abuse. success—hence, the use of a vague, eas- Oregon officials are very much aware of ily manipulated “happiness index” such But if you see the scandal as a personal the potential for abuse in such programs. as the GPI, rather than, say, a harder- one, you’re missing the point, and your An earlier program, the Business Energy to-falsify measure of economic growth missing the point is exactly what the bad Tax Credit, was so bad, so disastrous it based on GDP. Another way is to create guys want. They want the Kitzhaber was actually repealed. It allowed busi- multiple layers of protection between the scandal to begin and end with Kitzhaber nesses to set up “green” projects and take environmental/political elite and the vot- and Hayes and maybe a scapegoat or two huge tax breaks—50 percent, up to $10 ers—hence, the Pacific Coast Collabora- among their staffers. They don’t want million, in the final, 2007 version of the tive, the “Under 2 MOU,” and other mul- the scandal to have any significant effect credit. Worse, in the manner of cap-and- tijurisdictional pacts. (If it’s impossible on government policies and on politics. trade systems, companies could sell their to figure out who’s behind a government So far, the bad guys are winning. credits, creating even more potential for policy, no one can be responsible for the corruption. For example, one paper mill consequences of that policy. That’s why Oregon’ s Low Carbon Fuel Standard—a earned energy credits by burning wood Leftists love the European Union bureau- scheme to drive up fuel prices and make

Page 8 Green Watch January 2016 certain politically connected businesses on submerged areas, and a hundred other wants to build a coal-fired power plant, rich at the expense of other businesses ways in which the environment may be they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt and of consumers—should have died, damaged by the use of alternatives to them.” Under his plan, he said, “electric- especially in the wake of Kitzhaber and carbon-based fuels. ity rates would necessarily skyrocket.” Hayes. Yet it went right on through. “Clean power” is especially dirty in terms In 2009, referring to his favored forms of Rather than serving as an impediment of corruption. Most “alternative” energy energy as “clean” and “renewable,” the to environmentalists and their political is inherently inefficient—try running President told Congress that “we need to allies, the Kitzhaber-Hayes scandal may your solar panels at night or your wind ultimately make clean, renewable energy actually have helped the Left. Gov. Kate turbines on a calm day—and requires, to the profitable kind of energy.” Later, he Brown (D) is seen as someone with a be economically viable, the pickpocket- said his energy bill “will finally make clean slate, without the baggage Kit- ing of countless billions of dollars from clean energy the profitable kind of en- zhaber had accumulated over more than ratepayers and consumers in the forms ergy.” He told the U.N., “We will move three terms. of grants, loans, special-interest tax forward with investments to transform breaks, and worst of all, mandates that our energy economy, while providing In addition to pursuing environmental hide the costs and shift the blame. As incentives to make clean energy the prof- policies along the lines pushed by Kit- electric utilities raise rates in order to do itable kind of energy.” zhaber and Hayes, Brown has backed what the government requires—replace other left-wing ideas such as a new law So-called “clean” energy will be “the” cheap electricity with expensive elec- under which people will be registered to profitable kind. Not “a” profitable kind, tricity—you can count on the politicians vote automatically when they obtain or “the.” In other words, it will be the only and bureaucrats and their media allies to renew drivers’ licenses or state ID cards. profitable kind. blame the evil utilities. Conversely, if the (Combined with the state’s system of climate fails to warm, that lack of warm- When the government picks winners and all mail-in voting, which effectively ing will be credited to the actions taken losers, declaring that only certain busi- eliminates the secret ballot, automatic bravely by leaders of the anti-Warming nesses will be allowed to make a profit, registration makes the state an easy target crusade. the potential for corruption is virtually for efforts to deny people their voting limitless. That’s the real moral of the rights by using fake votes, or votes cast People who think they’re saving the sordid story of John Kitzhaber and Cylvia under pressure, to cancel out votes cast planet easily become self-righteous. John Hayes. legitimately.) Fund wrote in National Review Online, “As the Kitzhaber scandal in Oregon has Dr. Steven J. Allen (JD, PhD) is editor of Meanwhile, the “reforms” that have been shown, green-energy interests can be the Green Watch. put forth in the scandal’s wake have dealt most brazen of all because they believe with such matters as whether a governor’s their perceived good intentions will block GW live-in partner comes within the scope of needed scrutiny.” In fact, the more money state ethics laws and whether an Oregon that goes into “Clean Power,” the dirtier governor can be impeached. This per- politics becomes, as increasing numbers sonal focus has distracted people from the of businesspeople realize the road to The Capital Research Center most important wrongdoing, namely, the riches is paved with political contribu- is a watchdog over politi- policies Hayes promoted and the means tions and influence peddling in support cians, bureaucrats, and spe- by which she, Kitzhaber, and their allies of “green” politicians. cial interests in Washington, sought to work under the table, outside D.C., and in all 50 states. of public view. “Giving society cheap abundant energy is . . . like giving an idiot child a machine Please consider contributing Clean power isn’t clean gun,” claimed the prominent scientist to CRC, in order to help us Seen properly, the Kitzhaber-Hayes scan- Paul “Population Bomb” Ehrlich, whose do our important work. dal reveals the intricate web of money frequent collaborator, John Holdren, is And please remember CRC and deceit that underlies the misleadingly currently the science advisor to President in your will and estate plan- named Clean Power movement. “Clean Obama. How do you get rid of “cheap power” is not clean. It’s not clean even in abundant energy”? You outlaw the ning. “green” terms, if one considers the effect cheap kind, and force people to buy the of wind turbines on birds, the water usage expensive kind, directly or through their Many thanks, tax dollars. of solar power plants, the destruction of Terrence Scanlon rainforest to accommodate the biofuels The President, as a candidate in 2008, de- President business, the effect of hydroelectric dams clared that, under his plan, “If somebody

January 2016 Green Watch Page 9 GreenNotes Another sign of what’s wrong with Washington: In December, Congressional leaders reached a bipartisan agreement on spending that failed to include a prohibition on U.S. funding of the so-called Green Climate Fund (GCF). “The GCF is a pot of public and private money designed to help poorer nations prepare for climate change,” reported the Washington newspaper The Hill. “Obama pledged last year to spend $3 billion on the fund by 2020, and he asked Congress to appropriate up to $500 million for it in 2016.” Now the President is expected to tap “discretionary funding streams”—taxpayers’ money that he controls—for the GCF, which is essentially a slush fund for “alternative energy” interests and Third World dictators and kleptocrats. Environmental economist Richard Tol, a lead author of a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change working group, said that his data show “climate policies” have made most people poorer while benefitting people who are in powerful industries or have political connections. (Tol was quoted by Michael Bastasch of the Daily Caller.) Climate policies, Tol said, have been more focused on “rewarding allies with rents and subsidies rather than emissions reduction.” In this context, “rent” is wealth obtained without creating any new wealth, such as when one “robs Peter to pay Paul.” Gina McCarthy, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, may be able to escape giving a deposition in a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s plan to “skyrocket” the price of electricity. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court ruling that would have forced her to testify. Backed by the governments of 26 states, Murray Energy Corp., the country’s top coal-mining company, is challenging the plan, and before the reversal, the company’s CEO, Robert Murray, told the Washington Times he looked forward to the deposition because it would force McCarthy to defend policies that have devastated the economy in coal- mining regions. “I want to be looking at her the whole time,” he said. In 2008, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, then running for president, noted, “We have more coal reserves in the United States than they have oil reserves in Saudi Arabia.” (The liberal “fact-checker” PolitiFact declared that “Giuliani’s comparison is accurate. According to the U.S. Energy Department, the United States has 267.3-billion short tons of coal reserves, or 26.8 percent of the world total. Saudi Arabia has about 20 percent of the world’s oil reserves.”) Yet government figures indicate that fewer than 70,000 people now work in the coal-mining industry, down 20 percent from just five years ago. A different calculation, byDuke University, puts the loss of coal jobs at almost 50,000 between 2008 and 2012. The share of the country’s electricity from coal is down from 70 percent to 40 percent in ten years. Coal, the EPA’s McCarthy exulted last month in Paris, “is no longer marketable.” The effects of the War on Coal are rippling through the economy. The Wall Street Journal noted in an editorial: “Several coal companies are slouching toward bankruptcy, which could cause retirees and laid-off workers to lose health coverage. In May Patriot Coal filed for Chapter 11 for the second time in three years. Thousands of workers fear they’ll be forced into Medicaid or the ObamaCare exchanges. The United Mine Workers multiemployer pension plan is edging toward insolvency. If the fund goes broke, the [federal taxpayer-funded] Pension Ben- efit Guaranty Corporation will pay retirees a maximum annual pension of $12,870. Congress last year passed legislation allowing trustees of multiemployer plans to modify benefits to keep the funds afloat and prevent more severe cuts.” Just three days before the Global Warming summit in Paris at which his ideas would bear fruit, Maurice Strong died at age 86. The Canadian-born energy tycoon served as Under-Secretary-General of the U.N., created the infamous Agenda 21 “sustainability” project, and is considered by some the father of the Global Warming movement. The first executive director of theU.N. Environment Programme, Strong described himself as “a socialist in ideology, a capitalist in methodology.” After he was implicated in the Oil-for-Food scandal involving influence peddling, profit-skimming U.N.Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Strong moved to Communist China, although he claimed his move “just happened to coincide with the publicity surrounding my so-called nefarious activities.”

Page 10 Green Watch January 2016