10 big lobbying firms line up for cash via Soros/Obama alleged 'climate change'

Tweet Politico: "A new analysis of Senate disclosure records by The Center for Public Integrity found that 10 lobbying firms — all with deep ties to Capitol Hill — have amassed such large client lists that they represent nearly 100 of the business stakeholders in the legislative brawl. Here they are:

Alpine Group — 13 clients

It’s no surprise that Alpine Group tops the list, given its environment and energy pedigree. The shop was co-founded in 1996 by Richard White, former legislative coordinator for the late Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.), who often bucked his party as an environmental champion, and by James Massie, a longtime energy lobbyist. Alpine Group’s stable of climate lobbyists includes former House Energy and Commerce Committee Democratic aide Courtney Johnson, former Senate Appropriations Republican staffer Les Spivey and

• former aides to three Democratic senators — Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Sen. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio — who could tip an eventual Senate vote. Alpine Group’s list of 13 climate clients includes Ford, BP America, BNSF Railway, 3M, Duke Energy and NRG Energy.

Ogilvy Government Relations — 13 clients

The firm formerly known as the Federalist Group was founded by Stewart Hall, a former legislative director for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who opposed similar legislation last year. Joining Hall in representing some of the biggest oil and chemical groups — the American Petroleum Institute and the American Chemistry Council, as well as power companies and agriculture groups — are

• Julie Dammann, onetime chief of staff to Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and Dean Aguillen, a former senior aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Reliant Energy, Chevron, Monsanto and the National Milk Producers Federation count themselves among Ogilvy clients.

Patton Boggs LLP — 11 clients

Patton Boggs represented 10 local governments in the first quarter, in addition to chemical manufacturer INEOS. Nearing a half-century old, Patton Boggs has been the king of K Street since it eclipsed Cassidy & Associates as the highest-paid lobbying firm in 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Patton is home to a pair of municipally minded climate lobbyists: Tanya DeRivi, a former adviser to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Marek Gootman,

• a former adviser on community development policy and intergovernmental affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Morgan Meguire, LLC — 11 clients

This specialized firm is led by Deborah Sliz, who started her career in the late 1970s as counsel to one of Capitol Hill’s most legendary environmental advocates, the late Rep. Morris Udall (D-Ariz.). Udall’s son Mark is now Colorado’s freshman Democratic senator. Sliz’s climate clients include some of the nation’s biggest public and consumer-owned water and power utility groups. Among them are Southern California’s Imperial Irrigation District, the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association and the Northwest Public Power Association.

• Another Morgan Meguire climate lobbyist, Karen Zanoff, came to the firm after serving as a staffer on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, as an adviser to former Rep. Karen McCarthy (D-Mo.).

McBee Strategic Consulting — 10 clients

The client list at McBee Strategic Consulting is diverse, and so are its lobbyists. McBee's roster includes a bipartisan pair of former counsels to the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee (Democrat Samuel Whitehorn and Republican Robert Chamberlin) and a bipartisan pair of former legislative aides to Washington state lawmakers.

• Steve McBee worked for Sen. Maria Cantwell when she served in the House. Ashley Slater was director of legislative affairs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality under President George W. Bush. Her colleague Glynda Becker also served in the Bush administration as associate political director.

McBee’s clients include JPMorgan Chase, Boeing and Eastman Chemical. The Port of Seattle, the American Trucking Associations and alternative energy firm Akermin are among other clients.

Ryan, MacKinnon, Vasapoli and Berzok LLP — 9 clients

The first two name partners, Thomas M. Ryan and Jeff MacKinnon, both have close ties to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Ryan was a Democratic aide and MacKinnon was legislative director to Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas), who is the ranking minority member of the committee. The firm represents the

• giant association of investor-owned electric power companies, Edison Electric Institute, as well as Southern Co., Entergy, Sunoco and the Association of American Railroads.

Bracewell & Giuliani LLP — 9 clients

Some of the nation’s largest coal-intensive power companies, including Southern Co., Duke Energy and Energy Future Holdings, as well as coal-hauling rail company CSX, are on the climate client roster of Bracewell & Giuliani.

• The firm’s renowned name partner is former New York mayor and Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who joined Bracewell in 2005.

But the energy and climate lobbying team is led by attorney Scott Segal. He was joined in recent years

• by two of George W. Bush’s senior appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency, Jeffrey Holmstead and Edward Krenik.

Alcalde & Fay — 8 clients

The so-called super-greenhouse gases are the focus of Alcalde & Fay’s lobbying work. Not carbon dioxide, but an array of gases used in refrigerators and air conditioners and called hydrofluorocarbons, which are thousands of times more potent in trapping heat in the atmosphere. A possible phase-down of these gases is one of the issues lawmakers are grappling with. Alcalde & Fay’s two lead climate lobbyists, Kevin Fay and David Stirpe, worked on regulatory controversies before, including a long-fought battle over asbestos. Now they represent the HFC manufacturer and user group the Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy.

• Other clients include Dow Agrosciences, American Pacific and the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute.

Colling Swift & Hynes — 7 clients

With former Rep. Allan Swift (D-Wash.) leading its climate lobbying effort, this firm has been a magnet for companies from an industry that once was key in Swift’s home state: the paper business. Clients include Rock-Tenn Co., the Newark Group, White Pigeon Paper and Smurfit-Stone Container. In addition to Swift, the team includes Louis Hengen, once an aide to former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Frances McPoland, who coordinated federal recycling and waste reduction programs in President Bill Clinton’s White House

Hunton & Williams LLP — 7 clients

While McBee nabbed two former Senate committee lawyers, Hunton & Williams landed two former Republican counsels to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Mark Menezes and Joseph C. Stanko are among the climate lobbyists

• working on behalf of electric power clients including First Energy, as well as the Gas Processors Association, manufacturer Koch Industries and railroad company CSX. Hunton & Williams represented utilities on the losing side in the Supreme court’s ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA,

in which the court determined that the agency could regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. However, that issue is now very much in play for the firm’s climate lobbying clients on Capitol Hill,

• as the proposed Waxman-Markey legislation would take away EPA’s power —
  
• putting into place the cap-and-trade system to control greenhouse gases instead."

via Lucianne.com

COLLUSION IN GREEN CREDITS: Mafia links to Sicily wind farms-FT.com

Tweet 5/4/09, "Anti-Mafia magistrates in Sicily have opened a sweeping investigation into the wind power sector where

• local officials, entrepreneurs and crime gangs are suspected of collusion in the construction of lucrative wind farms before their eventual sale to multinational companies.

Italian and EU subsidies for the building of wind farms and the world’s highest guaranteed rates, €180 ($240, £160) per kwh, for the electricity they produce have turned southern Italy into a highly attractive market exploited by organised crime.

Roberto Scarpinato, a veteran anti-Mafia prosecutor in the regional capital Palermo, told the Financial Times that his investigation, which began last week, was focused on the three large provinces of Palermo, Trapani and Agrigento.

An earlier investigation into a case near Trapani in western Sicily resulted in eight arrests in February, leading to accusations of a suspected nexus between a leading Mafia family that offered money and votes in

• exchange for permits to construct wind farms.

“Operation Wind” revealed Mafia promises to local officials in Mazara del Vallo of money and votes in exchange for help in approving wind farm projects.

The Mafia suspects were alleged to be linked to Matteo Messina “Diabolik” Denaro, a fugitive clan boss on ltaly’s most wanted list.

Prosecutors suspect the hand of the Mafia in fixing permits and building wind farms that are then sold on to Italian

• and eventually foreign companies.

In an effort to assert its control over the sector, the Mafia is suspected of destroying two wind towers that were in storage in the port of Trapani after their delivery by ship from northern Europe, local officials told the FT.

• “It is a refined system of connections to business and politicians.
  

• A handful of people control the wind sector. Many companies exist but it is the same people behind them,”
  

said Mr Scarpinato, whose investigations have focused on the evolution of the Mafia into a modern business organisation.

Sicily’s Cosa Nostra is evolving and finding new business opportunities, including the renewable energy sector, by exploiting its historic grip over territory, construction and ability to corrupt local officials.

Several wind farms built by companies suspected of being linked to the Mafia have not functioned for one or two years,

• in some cases because of shoddy construction.
  

• “This is the amazing thing, that developers got public money to build wind farms
  
• which did not produce electricity,” the prosecutor said.

The regional governments in Sicily, as well as Calabria and Basilicata on the mainland, have suspended the authorisation of new wind farms in part because of suspected criminal involvement and confusion over the real ownership of the ventures.

Most, if not all, of Sicily’s wind farms began as projects by local developers, some of whom

• speculated in a secondary market for permits. Once built, the majority were sold on through Italian intermediaries to multinationals.
  

International Power of the UK is the largest wind power operator in Italy. Others include Italy’s Enel and Germany’s Eon through its purchase of part of Endesa of Spain in 2007. France’s EDF also has assets. While the international companies knew the identity of their Sicilian developers, there is no evidence they were aware of Mafia involvement.

Although Italy is lagging badly in meeting its EU 2020 emissions targets,

• the renewable energy sector is growing strongly and attracting considerable foreign investment.
  

International Power became the single largest operator in 2007 with its purchase of the Maestrale portfolio of mostly Italian wind farms, including five in Sicily, for €1.8bn

Italy ranks fourth in Europe in terms of installed wind power capacity." by Guy Dinmore via the Drudge Report