Green not necessarily clean

News that a top Energy Department official has a major financial interest in companies that would benefit from green energy government policies and spending is deeply disturbing because it raises broader questions about the motivations of money in government.

McClatchy Newspapers reports that Cathy Zoi, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and renewable energy, owns between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of stock in Landis Gyr, a Swiss company that manufactures “smart grid” electricity technology.

And her husband owns 120,000 shares of Serious Materials, a leading manufacture of energy-efficient windows.

President Barack Obama and administration officials go out of their way to bash the influence of “special interests,” but in their view the bad special interests are Wall Street and traditional profit-earning companies. Never are they concerned about the influence of “public interest” groups, particularly environmental groups that are indisputably motivated by maintaining and expanding their funding sources to advance green energy policies.

The climate alarmism industry, for example, is just that: an industry that thrives on lavish grant support from public and private sources.

And Zoi is a protege of that industry, once being a close ally to former Vice President Al Gore, who is himself heavily invested for financial gain from green-energy government policies.

Zoi purports to be impartial when it comes to her investments.

“To avoid any potential conflict of interest, Ms. Zoi has recused herself as required by law ... from acting on any particular matter that has a direct and predictable effect on Serious Materials,” said an Energy Department press secretary.

Well, that’s good to know. But it’s not quite reassuring enough. What about any “indirect” influence that Zoi may have on policies that benefit Serious Materials? Her position is focused on “energy efficiency and renewable energy,” so we have to wonder how she can distance herself from policies that might benefit companies that manufacture energy-efficient windows and smart-grid electricity technology.

Of course, our concern goes well beyond Zoi’s position and her investments. How many other government officials have similar investments? Do we have an army of bureaucrats that are financially motivated to push a green energy agenda?

For those who think we are unduly picking on the Obama administration, consider this: what if our federal bureaucracy was infested with investors in a company like Haliburton, and there was an obvious government agenda to benefit that company?

It probably wouldn’t sit so well. Who can forget all the moaning and groaning about former Vice President Dick Cheney’s sinister ties to Haliburton, even though he was completely financially divested from the company when he became vice president. His critics believed he was pulling strings behind the curtain in ways that helped Haliburton.

Well, the same suggestion can be applied to Zoi.

State legislators and city council members in Montana commonly recuse themselves from voting on any matter that might even lead to a perception that they are profiteering. Unelected government officials should be held to a similar standard.