Thomas Catenacci of the Washington Free Beacon highlights a dubious piece of federal government spending.
The Biden-Harris administration last week announced a $55.2 million grant for Blue Whale Materials, a little-known electric vehicle battery recycling company advised by a prominent climate activist whose organization is spending tens of millions of dollars to keep Vice President Kamala Harris in the White House.
Carol M. Browner, one of the few officials that Blue Whale Materials identifies on the “team” page of its website, also serves as the chairwoman of the League of Conservation Voters, a powerful environmental nonprofit that regularly advises federal lawmakers. The activist group launched a $55 million advertising campaign last month to support Harris’s campaign shortly after endorsing her.
Blue Whale Materials publicly lists Browner as an adviser but doesn’t explain what that role entails. Browner’s biography on the Blue Whale Materials website mentions a variety of positions she has held in the past—such as EPA administrator and director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy—but doesn’t include her role with the League of Conservation Voters.
The revelation sheds light on the deep financial entanglements between the green energy industry and climate activists. Browner was advising Blue Whale Materials as it sought federal funding while simultaneously leading the League of Conservation Voters as it pushed legislation that made such funding possible.
According to disclosures reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon, the League of Conservation Voters lobbied federal officials and lawmakers in 2021 to push the INVEST in America Act, which was the legislative precursor to President Joe Biden’s signature Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and included provisions to boost transit vehicle battery recycling and reuse.
The $55.2 million grant for Blue Whale Materials—announced on Sept. 20 by the Department of Energy, which noted the funding has yet to be disbursed—is earmarked under the $16 billion battery processing and manufacturing programs established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
