BP still collecting on $308 million free US taxpayer money for global warming project in California

8/6, "BP collecting millions in government stimulus funds for California power plant," Grist, by W. Evans

• $308 million continues to flow to the company jointly owned by BP and Rio Tinto.

• US taxpayers have so far paid them $13.6 million though not one shovel has been lifted.

• The project won't be 'shovel ready,' until 2012, with operation perhaps in 2015.

• $175 million went to the BP project from Obama's economic 'stimulus' bill, the remainder of the $308 million is a US taxpayer transfer via the DOE beginning in 2009.

• California energy customers will pay $30 million more in the form of rate increases to be passed on to the BP/Rio Tinto owned company.

• The company says it has 'saved or created' 47 jobs.

BP is co-owner of the recipient company, Hydrogen Energy California LLC, along with Rio Tinto Corporation, 4 of whose employees were recently jailed in China for bribery and theft of corporate secrets.

• 'Hydrogen Energy California' said it wasn't really like giving to BP, but the company is registered to a BP address.

Even before the Gulf spill, BP had plead guilty to environmental crimes and paid hundreds of millions in fines. The project itself involves the disputed practice of 'carbon capture' about which profiteer Environmental Defense Fund implied selling the notion of AGW to other industries was a prime benefit. They said it was

• "a way to get industry on board to fight climate change."

*****Following is context from article of above statements. (Rio Tinto bribery news separate).

• "Stimulus money...so far has saved or created 47 jobs, according to the joint venture. Despite the emphasis on stimulus projects that are "shovel-ready," Hydrogen Energy California is going through a permitting process and doesn't plan to start construction until 2012, with full operation in 2015."...

"The stimulus award highlights the disconnect that occurs when the government gives grants and contracts to companies it has fined or prosecuted.

• BP, for example, had been fined hundreds of millions of dollars and pleaded guilty

• to criminal environmental violations

• before the Gulf spill and

• before receiving stimulus money."...

""Most people understand that Hydrogen Energy California LLC, and not BP, is the entity that received a DOE grant after a competitive solicitation that was conducted, evaluated, and awarded in 2009," Tiffany Rau wrote in an email. "DOE reimbursements provide cost sharing in HECA's (Hydrogen Energy California's) expenses -- no money is flowing to BP.""...

• "Hydrogen Energy California is a 50/50 partnership owned by BP and Rio Tinto and registered to a BP address. The project's manager, as well as Rau, came to the project from BP.

At a public hearing last fall, when a local landowner asked about potential disasters the plant could cause, Gregory Skannal, who worked at BP before becoming the project's health, safety, security, and environmental manager, addressed the question: "One of our parent companies is BP," he said. "And in that same vein, we do have resources internal to the company that provide security assessments. And those are the resources that we will be relying on in supporting us and doing those assessments to determine vulnerabilities, security measures, and consequences.""...

• "Customers of Southern California Edison will be footing even more of the project's bill after a ruling last year by the California Public Utilities Commission. The commission ruled that the electric utility could boost consumer rates to cover up to $30 million,

which will be passed on to the BP-Rio Tinto joint venture for feasibility studies. The joint venture spent $92,000 lobbying the commission."...

• "The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the grant last year to Hydrogen Energy California, a joint partnership of BP and the multinational mining firm Rio Tinto, and has paid out $13.6 million so far. The money continues to flow even as the Obama administration bills BP for the massive costs of the oil spill."...

via Tom Nelson

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