Posts Archives - Page 11 of 18 - Checks and Balances Project

Why Did the Coast Guard’s Offshore Wind Energy Study Ignore Europe?

2016-07-18

According to information obtained from a source involved in the Coast Guard study on integrating a proposed offshore wind energy industry and shipping off the Eastern Seaboard, and research conducted by Checks and Balances Project, no one from the Coast Guard had any meaningful engagement during the course of the study with individuals, companies or organizations… Read more »

Who Wrote USDA Secretary Vilsack’s Letter Promoting Wood Pellets as a Power Source?

2016-07-8

Burning forests in the tropics is a major source of carbon pollution, a problem President Obama has pushed to end as recently as during a visit to Indonesia last Fall. Why, then, would U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack undercut that priority by promoting the burning of wood pellets from southern U.S. forests… Read more »

Commissioner Stump’s Curious Role as Fundraiser for School Choice Arizona

2016-07-6

Bob Stump has been development director for School Choice Arizona (SCA) for a decade. During eight of those years, he has also been a commissioner of the Arizona Corporation Commission. Commissioners are allowed to have outside jobs. It’s only when there are legal or ethical conflicts of interest that it becomes a problem. One obvious… Read more »

Why Does NAFO Push Tree-Burning to Make Electricity?

2016-06-16

Lobby’s Declaration that Tree-Burning is Carbon Neutral is Based on Pseudoscience Industrial tree-burning to generate electricity produces more carbon pollution per megawatt-hour than coal. But a powerful Washington, DC lobbying group – the National Alliance of Forest Owners (NAFO) – wants to recognize tree-burning as a zero-pollution alternative to wind and solar. The notion is… Read more »

San Bruno Disaster Emails Published in a New, Searchable Database

2016-06-13

Today, we publish 120,746 emails and attachments exchanged between Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

Will Harry Alford Answer IRS Questions?

2016-05-24

Checks and Balances Project referred the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for potential abuses of its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Key Data Missing from Investigator’s Search of Bob Stump’s Phone

2016-05-17

HASH Values Can Tell If Records Have Been Altered Arizona Corporation Commissioner (ACC) Bob Stump is one court decision away from potentially being in a lot of trouble. And he’s not alone. His magical thinking does not change that fact. Our request to obtain 3,547 potential public records exchanged by Mr. Stump on his taxpayer-funded… Read more »

Did National Black Chamber of Commerce Abuse Its IRS Status?

2016-05-11

As reported in yesterday’s POLITICO Influence, Checks and Balances Project recently referred the National Black Chamber of Commerce to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for potential abuses of its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. NBCC President Harry C. Alford has become one of the leading voices of the utility industry’s argument that minority communities will somehow be… Read more »

Coast Guard Study Blockades Offshore Wind Energy

2016-05-2

After five years of delay, the U.S. Coast Guard finally released a study that concludes commercial shipping off the Eastern Seaboard is incompatible with a proposed offshore wind energy industry – despite the fact that Europe has successfully integrated the two for more than a decade. The Obama Administration has promoted the development of offshore… Read more »

Monica Crowley Is Wrong About Green Energy in The Washington Times

2016-04-28

She ignores the disproportionate health effects fossil fuel pollutants have on low-income and minority communities Instead of repeating fossil fuel talking points and discredited research, I’d hoped Monica Crowley’s recent piece on clean energy would offer an explicit and clear call for policies to address the challenges of climate disruption. That she’d advocate for proven… Read more »