Terry McAuliffe’s GreenTech Under Federal Investigation
#VaGov We can now tag “federal investigation” to @TerryMcAuliffe’s Greentech. Big scoop from @benpershing http://t.co/3Gl7358Vre
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles)
Richmond Times-Dispatch Editorial: Tricky Terry?
Today, the Richmond Times-Dispatch issued a scathing editorial calling out Terry McAuliffe’s “pattern of making expansive claims that don’t hold up under scrutiny” about his own business record:
It is customary for political campaigns to remain on constant attack, using even the most anodyne statements by a candidate as an excuse to denounce his or her policies, character and honesty. If one candidate says he loves puppies, then the opposing team will accuse him of hating kittens. So it’s no surprise that GOP gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has been crying foul over Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s claims about his own business record. Yet Cuccinelli has gotten some big help from a surprising source: McAuliffe himself.
The Democrat has a pattern of making expansive claims that don’t hold up under scrutiny. Republicans recently have drawn attention to several of them – including McAuliffe’s claim that he used a construction company to build 6,000 homes and create more than 100,000 jobs, and that his Franklin Pellets enterprise is shipping “wood pellets over to Europe.” The first two claims appear to be highly overstated, and the second appears to be false.
Individually, none of these misrepresentations qualifies as a mortal sin. But taken together and placed in broader context, they become part of a pattern that could undermine his campaign.
Tidewater News: Where Is Franklin Pellets?
In 2012, McAuliffe declared to an audience in Washington, “I’m doing electric cars. I’m doing wood pellets.”
Today, Tidewater News reports, “there has not been any tangible evidence that Franklin Pellets is any closer to a groundbreaking”:
As far back as early 2010, a group of investors that includes Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe, announced an interest in buying International Paper Co.’s mill in Franklin. At that time, the plant was already in the midst of closing. The investors wanted to convert it into a wood-fired and biomass power plant. A company called Franklin Pellets was eventually formed.
A little more than three years later, there has not been any tangible evidence that Franklin Pellets is any closer to a groundbreaking. Within those three years, ST Paper, a subsidiary of TAK Investments, established a presence at the mill and became operational in 2012. International Paper, after shutting down the mill in spring of 2010, has since repurposed part of the mill, and began producing fluff pulp there last year. Enviva, which also makes wood pellets, identified a location in Southampton County in fall of 2011 and broke ground on its new facility in July 2012. The company anticipates beginning operations by mid-September.
