It all sounds so sensible at first…
For years, conservatives have decried efforts at the state and federal level to support renewable energy producers as crony capitalism.
In Oregon, Gov. John Kitzhaber, they may now have their poster child.
The downfall of Kitzhaber — the Democrat who last week said he would resign because of conflict-of-interest allegations over his first lady’s consulting contracts — hands conservatives on and off Capitol Hill ammunition to use against billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, green nonprofit groups and national Democrats advocating clean energy.
“This is just another example of environmental activist groups attempting to influence policy under a veil of secrecy, and one more reason these groups merit additional scrutiny,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) said in a statement Tuesday. “Beneath the violation of public trust by the Oregon state officials, we have far-left foundations funneling significant funds to an environmental group to orchestrate this type of activism without any public disclosure.”