Many of Obama’s ‘green pork’ alternative energy projects are vaporizing

The centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s plan to jumpstart the economy— spending billions of stimulus dollars on alternative energy—has become a flashpoint in the presidential election amid growing evidence that taxpayer dollars have been squandered on numerous “green pork” projects. Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney and his vice presidential pick Rep. Paul Ryan both leveled the charge during their respective debates—an indictment backed up by dozens of hearings and official inquiries on Capitol Hill as well as investigations conducted within Obama’s own administration. “The past four years of this president’s administration have been defined by bailouts, handouts and copouts,” said Rep. Cory Gardner (R –Colo.), who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee that led the congressional inquiries. “The green initiative of the president is certainly the epitome of handouts.” The Energy Department says it distributed $90 billion of stimulus funds in “government investments” and tax incentives to put “Americans back to work making our homes and businesses more energy efficient, increasing the use of clean and renewable electricity, cutting our dependence on oil, and modernizing the electric grid.” However, Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman told Politico in April that he has initiated 100 investigations into projects that received the funding including accusations of taxpayer money diverted for personal use, false information in grant and loan requests, conflicts of interest and inferior work quality. So far the inspector general’s work has led to eight criminal prosecutions and he has recovered $2.3 million in misspent funding...more