The largest domestic maker of solar panels has been linked to immense campaign donations, extensive corporate lobbying, and an influential hedge fund that represents the Democrats’ corporate capture.
An article published by the Associated Press reveals that officials and investors in First Solar donated millions of dollars to Democrats to earn their influence. And $1.5 million was spent on President Joe Biden’s election bid, while the company spent another $2.8 million lobbying Congress and Biden’s administration.
His 2020 campaign featured lots of rhetoric regarding the environment. He once claimed he would spend billions of dollars to “save the world.”
Though that narrative was bought by many on the Left, underlying this assertion was a sly objective to enrich the donors backing his campaign. The ironically titled Inflation Reduction Act featured an estimated $1 trillion in environmental spending. First Solar is, coincidentally, estimated to be the largest beneficiary.
The renewable energy company was founded in 1999 by a private equity firm. After it went public in 2006, company officials formed a relationship with Democrats that culminated in the Obama administration subsidizing the industry through billions in government-backed loans.
The Build Back Better bill, a large environmental piece of legislation, once looked like it would never be approved. The bill was stalled in the Senate, that is, until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) began secretly negotiating to reinvigorate it.
Just one day following the start of these talks, Jim Simons, founder of the hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, curiously donated $2.5 million to Schumer’s super PAC. The Simons family had contributed $25 million to Democrats in 2022, and Simons had once commented that Schumer was “a pretty good friend of mine.” Well, of course, he is.
The hedge fund purchased 60,000 shares in July of that year before increasing its holdings to 1.5 million. They were sold in 2023 once the stock price vastly increased.
The profits reaped by those involved don’t just stop there, as Simons wasn’t the only major Democratic donor to enjoy large returns.
Farhad “Fred” Ebrahimi, who contributed with his family at least $1 million to Biden’s 2020 campaign, saw the value of his 5% stake in First Solar skyrocket. Lukas Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune, donated $360,000 to the campaign while holding a 4.9% stock in the company.
That’s not to mention that at least four meetings occurred in 2022 and 2023 between First Solar executives, John Podesta, and top lobbyist Claudia James.
The corruption here is palpable. This story could not be a more classic example of wealthy people donating to a political campaign with the expectation that doing so would yield tax credits and subsidies for their industry.
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Though the Left is never able to admit that the environmental sector is captured by corporate influence, examples such as these prove that Democratic politicians are willing to use the industry for personal gain. Biden is not unfamiliar with allegations of corruption, but the blatantly crooked nature of his Democratic administration and its associates is on full display here. The Left racks its brain trying to figure out why so many conservatives are distrusting of the government despite all the evidence being right in front of its face.
Not even a claim of “disinformation” could exonerate the Democrats on this one.