It's prison for Celso Perdomo and his fiancée Mónica Quintana in the Canary Islands, as reported yesterday by Madrid's Cadena Ser.
Perdomo was regional director-general of industry from 2003 to 2005. Quintana was a Gran Canaria council member. Perdomo is accused of embezzlement of public funds, taking bribes, and influence peddling. Quintana is accused of embezzlement and taking bribes.
"El caso eólico" began with the arrest of industrialist Alberto Santan for insider trading. So far, seven people -- from both industry and government -- have been arrested for secretly arranging the development of wind turbine facilities before public notice. The amount of the bribes is reported as 12 million euros.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S., today's New York Times describes the "gold rush" of big-money interest in wind power.
Most of the article is about General Electric's Energy Financial Services but also mentioned are Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase, who have purchased wind energy companies.
Not mentioned in the article is why such a marginal source of energy is such an attractive investment, namely, that most of the investment is actually made by us taxpayers. Out of the pockets of the many and into the pockets of the few. It's wind profiteering, not "ecomagination." It's business as usual, which should cause pro-wind "environmentalists" to wonder how anything will change. Of course, they benefit from all the jobs clearing the way for the big-wind juggernaut consulting for the charade of "sensitive siting," so resignation is the norm.
And to help things along even more, the U.S. Department of the Interior has essentially pre-approved the construction of wind turbines on federal land, where we already subsidize private ranching and mining and drilling. The attempt to end the protection of endangered species, led by California wind advocate Richard Pombo, will also help.
Remember, George Bush was a pioneer as governor of Texas in looting the public treasury and raping public lands to make Texas a "showcase" of large-scale wind power -- all for the financial benefit of his friends at Enron.
It should be amusing that the most "successful" capitalists always turn out to be the most on the dole. But it's no laughing matter when they so carelessly destroy lives and land.
tags: wind power, wind energy, environment, environmentalism, anarchism, ecoanarchism
