Crony Environmentalism

Al Gore, a career “public servant,” reportedly became a billionaire just a few years after leaving his last government job as vice president of the United States. He achieved this miracle, according to news reports, through various “green” business deals. Such deals are always proprietary and few details about them ever become public. They usually involve the ancient mercantilist practice of bribing politicians for a special favor or subsidy. The bribe-giver becomes wealthy, and the politicians granting the favor/subsidy have the funds to finance the next campaign. Let’s call it crony environmentalism.

A rare glimpse of how crony environmentalism works was recently revealed in a November 12 article in the Baltimore Sun entitled “$1 could lease state’s $2.8 million farm.” The article was about an “agreement” to be presented to the State Board of Public Works between one Cleo Braver, an “environmental lawyer-turned-organic farmer” and the state government. Ms. Braver is also described as having donated “more than $40,000” to various Democratic Party campaigns in recent years, including $6,000 in the most recent governor’s race. The same politicians she gave all this money to sit on the State Board of Public Works that is being asked to grant her this massive subsidy.

The “agreement” that was reportedly reached between Braver and the administration of Maryland’s Democratic Governor, Martin O’Malley, was to lease to her a 255 acre farm in Kent County, Maryland that is worth almost $3 million for $1/year. In addition, she will be given $500,000 in state tax money and her proposed “food hub” for the distribution of agricultural produce will be nonprofit, which is to say, it will not pay taxes.

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