Bloomberg Kicks in $48M for Consultants to Help States Meet Obama Emissions Goals

Bloomberg talks to reporters after meeting with Obama and business and civic leaders for a

Liberal billionaire Michael Bloomberg has announced that through his Clean Energy Initiative he is pumping $48 million into helping the states meet President Obama’s new mandated climate change goals. The cash won’t actually go to state governments, but to consultants and organizations that will purportedly help states craft plans to meet the President’s strict new emissions goals.

“With the price of clean power falling, and the potential costs of inaction on climate change steadily rising, the work of modernizing America’s power grid is both more feasible and urgent than ever. Pollution from power plants takes a terrible toll on public health, and it’s the biggest contributor to our carbon footprint. But smart investments can reduce it while also strengthening local economies,” Bloomberg said in a statement. “These grants will help states meet new federal clean power requirements in ways that save money and lives.”

Bloomberg’s Clean Energy Initiative aims to help states implement the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Clean Power Plan, a set of draft rules for reducing carbon pollution from the power sector. The grant money is intended to help states craft strategies to meet the strict, new goals. The mandates demand that each state cut carbon emissions from its power sector by 30 percent — below 2005 levels.

Reporting on the expenditure, the International Business Times said that “states that need help falling in line with the Obama administration’s climate change agenda just got a boost” Bloomberg’s grant money, but this isn’t exactly the case.

In fact, state governments aren’t getting a penny of the money. As Bloomberg’s statement noted, the cash is actually going only to “a broad range of stakeholders that will accelerate the transition of the U.S. power fleet toward cleaner electricity generation.” Meaning the grant money will go to a variety of organizations that advocate for clean energy solutions, renewable energy companies, and consultants who create energy strategy plans.

Bloomberg’s move is in cooperation with Californians Mark Heising and Elizabeth Simons who have been pushing “environmental stability” for the better part the last five years. Both big Democrat donors, the pair head the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter: @warnerthuston. Email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.

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