American Energy Society Calls Out U.S. Department of Energy’s Horrific Lack of Integrity

Here’s an interesting note I came across in the newsletter “Energy Matters,” a publication of the American Energy Society, describing the process through which the Trump administration, through the Energy Department, has started withholding money for grants already approved by the agency.

They write:

EDITORIAL: The American Energy Society is non-partisan and energy-neutral – we play no favorites. However, it must be said that withholding a financial pledge is never appropriate. If the current administration wishes to shift energy policy in a different direction or implement stronger fiscal policy, it has the political capital, the means, and the time to do it; however, it is never appropriate to revise existing financial commitments. Many of the labs that were awarded money will be significantly and unfairly affected by this unprecedented reversal. This is not about fiscal responsibility – the amount that the government saves is minuscule. 

Actually, it hardly needs to be stated that this is not about saving the government money, since the Trump administration, through its proposed tax plan, has shown that increasing the national debt by many trillions of dollars is fine if it indulges one of the president’s pet ideology, i.e., tax cuts for the rich.

What this is about is spite.  The cleantech industry as a whole represents an enormous threat to the entrenched energy interests.  What do we do with threats?  We eliminate them, by whatever means, through whatever dishonesty and treachery may be required to get the job done.