Subsidies Flow To Obama Donors

Soon after President Barack Obama touted Westport Innovation’s liquefied natural gas-powered engines April 1 at a Maryland UPS facility, the company’s top individual investor made large contributions to Democrats.

Kevin G. Douglas, Westport’s largest individual shareholder, April 8 gave more than $30,000 to Obama and the Democratic National Committee, according to federal campaign filings.

In a lucky confluence of events, a bill, supported by the president, New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act, designed to subsidize the migration of American vehicles from gasoline and diesel to LNG-powered engines was filed April 6 in the House of Representatives. The bill is also known by the shorthand: Natural Gas Act.

The Natural Gas Act will create federal tax credits for natural gas vehicles, storage facilities and fueling stations for a five-year period.

Speaking in front of UPS and other trucks equipped with Westport engines, the president told the large crowd of UPS employees and supporters that the Natural Gas Act was good for the economy and the environment.

“We’re actually here to announce an exciting new partnership between the federal government and some of America’s leading companies,” the president said.

“My hope is that members of both parties, Republicans and Democrats, will support these kinds of proposals. This shouldn’t be a partisan issue. This is an American issue,” he said.

Westport’s CEO David R. Demers, who also spoke at the event, said his company was ready to take advantage of the Natural Gas Act when it is passed.

Westport has three engine manufacturing partnerships in China, according to the company's federal filings.

Federal filings also show that Soros Fund Management, the investment vehicle controlled by billionaire and longtime Democratic donor George Soros, owns more than three million shares in the Vancouver, British Columbia-based distributor of LNG engines. It is a position worth more than $90 million, as of the Feb. 14 market close.

Always generous to Democrats, Soros, and individuals associated with him, have supported proponents of the Natural Gas Act.

Soros himself has donated $5,000 to bill co-sponsor Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.) and $75,000 in May to the Democrat’s House Majority PAC, a super political action committee, which was established April 8, according to federal filings.

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