{"id":757825,"date":"2021-09-16T05:06:02","date_gmt":"2021-09-16T09:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=757825"},"modified":"2021-09-16T05:06:04","modified_gmt":"2021-09-16T09:06:04","slug":"illinois-dem-pushes-for-clean-energy-subsidies-that-would-pad-his-pocket","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/illinois-dem-pushes-for-clean-energy-subsidies-that-would-pad-his-pocket\/","title":{"rendered":"Illinois Dem Pushes for \u2018Clean Energy\u2019 Subsidies That Would Pad His Pocket"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fillinois-dem-pushes-for-clean-energy-subsidies-that-would-pad-his-pocket%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=757825&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div readability=\"29.90625\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"article-category\"><a class href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/democrats\/\">Democrats<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"article-excerpt\">Sean Casten calls for $273 billion in &#8216;tax credits for clean energy&#8217; without disclosing his investment in industry<\/p>\n<figure class=\"post-thumbnail-container relative lg:mr-24 w-full my-4 mb-8\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"736\" height=\"514\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Sean-Casten_736x514-1.jpeg\" class=\"w-full lazyload blur-up wp-post-image\" alt srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Sean-Casten_736x514-1.jpeg 736w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/09\/Sean-Casten_736x514-300x210.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/s1.freebeacon.com\/up\/2021\/09\/Sean-Casten_736x514-703x491.jpeg 703w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" \/>\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<p>\t\t\t<span class=\"text-gray text-xs md:text-lg\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/author\/collin-anderson\/\" title=\"Posts by Collin Anderson\" class=\"author url fn text-red-700\" rel=\"author\">Collin Anderson<\/a> \u2022 September 16, 2021 4:58 am<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div readability=\"115.67293042153\">\n<p><span>Illinois Democratic representative Sean Casten has urged Congress to spend billions of dollars on &#8220;tax credits for clean energy.&#8221; Excluded from his pitch is any mention of his ownership stake in an alternative energy company that would benefit from such spending.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Casten on Monday joined environmental advocates at a &#8220;Climate Action Now&#8221; rally, imploring his House colleagues to pass President Joe Biden&#8217;s $3.5 trillion spending plan with &#8220;no compromises&#8221; on subsidies and incentives for the alternative energy sector. Casten did not divulge his vested financial interest in those provisions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to Casten&#8217;s latest financial disclosure, the Democrat holds an ownership stake in Greenleaf Power, a self-described &#8220;leading provider of renewable energy in North America.&#8221; The company, its website states, sells carbon-neutral electricity to &#8220;municipal, public power, and investor owned utilities.&#8221; Biden&#8217;s multitrillion-dollar bill, meanwhile, <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utilitydive.com\/news\/house-committee-to-mark-up-150b-clean-electricity-performance-program-toda\/606422\/\">includes<\/a><\/span><span> a $150 billion program to compel electric and municipal power providers to purchase more renewable energy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The value of Casten&#8217;s stake in Greenleaf is unclear. While the Democrat <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/green-infrastructure-backers-stand-to-profit-from-govt-spending-boost\/\">reported<\/a><\/span><span> holding up to $500,000 in the company in 2019, his 2020 financial disclosure asserts that the asset holds no value, even though Casten earned up to $2,500 in interest income that year. Casten did not return multiple requests for comment on the discrepancy.&nbsp;The revelation could undermine Casten&#8217;s <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepCasten\/status\/1435702096486178823\">charge<\/a><\/span><span> to &#8220;prioritize climate action at the scale science demands&#8221; in Biden&#8217;s spending plan. The Democrat has <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RepCasten\/status\/1437896380543119362\">argued explicitly<\/a><\/span><span> for $273 billion in &#8220;tax credits for clean energy&#8221; without acknowledging his alternative energy investments. Casten has also aligned with liberals to attack partymates who oppose the spending, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.).&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to drive a car into the future,&#8221; Casten said during a Tuesday MSNBC <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ZerlinaShow\/status\/1437920644193206275\">interview<\/a><\/span><span>. &#8220;With all due respect to Mr. Manchin, until we&#8217;re lining up to take off the emergency brake this car ain&#8217;t driving very fast. It&#8217;s certainly not driving as fast as it needs to, and that&#8217;s the pressure we as Democrats have to keep focused on.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Casten&#8217;s spokeswoman, Emilia Rowland, <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailyherald.com\/news\/20210914\/book-deals-real-estate-and-stock-sales-how-legislators-make-money-on-the-side\">confirmed<\/a><\/span><span> on Tuesday that the Democrat still holds an ownership stake in Greenleaf but added that he &#8220;has no control, managerial or otherwise&#8221; over the company. The financial disclosures, however, alarmed government ethics watchdogs. <\/span><span>Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust executive director Kendra Arnold said disclosure of lawmakers&#8217; financial interests in the legislation they advocate is essential.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>&#8220;Whether or not [Casten] makes $5,000 or $25,000 off of a company in a year doesn&#8217;t matter. It&#8217;s his potential to change the law in order to make more money from something he owns,&#8221; Arnold told the <\/span><span><i>Washington Free Beacon<\/i><\/span><span>. &#8220;In this case, it&#8217;s always important to note for constituents if he&#8217;s sponsoring legislation, if he&#8217;s talking about specific legislation that would directly benefit something he does have an ownership stake in\u2014that&#8217;s where our conflict of interest rules come up.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In addition to Greenleaf, Casten owns an up to $15,000 stake in GOE Capital Partners, a Minnesota-based &#8220;waste recycling and green energy company,&#8221; his 2020 financial disclosure shows.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Casten&#8217;s pledge to secure funding and subsidies for alternative energy in Biden&#8217;s $3.5 trillion bill may lead him to oppose the president&#8217;s bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Casten <\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2021\/09\/15\/democrats-reconciliation-infrastructure-whip-count\/\">reportedly<\/a><\/span><span> indicated<\/span><span>&nbsp;he is leaning toward voting against the bipartisan bill if the House does not simultaneously take up the multitrillion-dollar spending proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A who&#8217;s who of liberal lawmakers have already committed to the strategy, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), Pramila Jayapal (D., Wash.), and Ayanna Pressley (D., Mass.).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats Sean Casten calls for $273 billion in &#8216;tax credits for clean energy&#8217; without disclosing his investment in industry  Collin Anderson \u2022 September 16, 2021 4:58 &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-757825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=757825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/757825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=757825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=757825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=757825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}