e·gre·gious -- outstandingly bad; shocking.
“A Wealth of Political Connections” Connects Troubled Foreign Company to U.S. Taxpayers
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What do U.S. taxpayers, former Vice President Al Gore and former Gov. Bill Richardson have in common?
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Not long ago, Ex-Im’s taxpayer-backed loans for Abengoa were featured as an Egregious Ex-Im Deal of the Day. Today, the company (and Ex-Im’s ties to it) are back in the news…and not in a good way.
We’ll let the Washington Free Beacon take it from here in its report: “Former Employees Allege Widespread Illegality at Taxpayer-Backed Solar Company”.
- “A solar company backed by billions in stimulus funds routinely violated U.S. immigration law, workplace safety codes, and environmental regulations, replaced American workers with foreigners, and may be on the verge of bankruptcy…
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- “In addition to its two DOE loan guarantees, Abengoa is the beneficiary of significant support from the U.S. Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im), which finances the purchases of U.S. exports by foreign governments and corporations.”
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- “Ex-Im approved two loans totaling more than $33 million for the company last year. The financing supported the use of American-made goods by Abengoa subsidiaries in Spain and South Africa. The year before, Ex-Im awarded the company an additional $152 million in taxpayer-backed loans.”
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- “Observers noted that Abengoa and Ex-Im shared a board member at the time: New Mexico’s former Gov. Bill Richardson (D.). It was one of a litany of political connections that Alhalabi says have paid dividends for the company.”
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- “Behind the scenes, what brought Abengoa to the United States, based on my research, [was] Al Gore,” Alhalabi said. “He promised to bring U.S. dollars to the company.”
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- “The former vice president, whose anti-fossil fuel activism frequently dovetails with his green energy investments, bought a stake in the company in 2007 through his firm, Generation Investment Management (GIM).”
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