Obama Administration, Lobbyist Group Cooperated to Attack Wind Power Study

The American Wind Energy Association, which lobbies for the wind power industry, contacted the Obama administration and convinced them to work together, at taxpayer expense, to attack a European study showing Spanish wind power subsidies destroyed 2.2 jobs for every job created, newly released emails reveal.

The emails raise troubling questions about the objectivity of federal scientists and economists, who responded favorably to the lobbyist group’s call to arms. Not only did federal employees at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Department of Energy – both under the guidance of Obama political appointees – work in cooperation with the American Wind Energy Association to produce a report critical of the European study, but the federal employees also brought in members of a left-wing think tank run by another renewable power lobbyist (the Center for American Progress, run by renewable power lobbyist John Podesta), to further shape the report.

The emails were brought to light by Chris Horner, senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, who requested copies of the emails under the Freedom of Information Act.

“Barack Obama promised many things on his way into office. Key among these was transparency and a vow to banish lobbyists from insider roles in the policy process,” Horner wrote in the morning’s Washington Times.

“What emerged was an ideological hodgepodge of curious and unsupported claims published under the name of two young non-economist wind advocates. These taxpayer-funded employees offered green dogma in oddly strident terms and, along the way, a senior Obama political appointee may well have misled Congress,” Horner explained.

“What transpired is difficult to discern with precision, as DOE continues to withhold numerous responsive documents. But it is clear that senior staff in [assistant secretary of energy for energy efficiency, Cathy] Zoi's office, and another under her authority, were told by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) of its concern over the foreign economic analysis because of the media and policymaker attention it was receiving,” wrote Horner.

“What is clear is that the Department of Energy then worked with Center for American Progress and the industry lobby AWEA to produce an attack that would serve all their interests,” Horner observed.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory spokesman Gary Schmitz attempted to justify the government’s taxpayer-funded work on behalf of the two wind power lobbying groups.

“We have to work with industry, and we appropriately work with industry to bring the best technologies to benefit the nation,” said Schmitz.

A Department of Energy press statement also defended the government’s work on behalf of lobbying groups.

"It's perfectly common and appropriate for [government employees] to consult with outside experts as part of the peer review process. While some of the organizations with the best expertise often have lobbyists as well, the Department is strongly committed to making decisions based on facts and science rather than politics. This reflects the strict ethics policies put in place by the administration to prevent lobbyists from having undue influence over the decision-making process," stated the DOE press statement.
 
The DOE press statement did not explain why it worked, at taxpayer expense, with “experts” who lobby on behalf of only one particular side of the issue.