Citizens for Responsible Solar was set up by Karl Rove’s top lieutenant, Susan Ralston. While she was standing up the Citizens for Responsible Solar front group, fossil fuel investors opposed to solar energy were funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Ralston’s personal consulting firm. Ralston is infamous for influence peddling. Did Ralston learn from her mentor Jack Abramoff?
Can you imagine being so shady that you had to resign from Karl Rove’s office for bending the rules? That is the kind of person leading Citizens for Responsible Solar, Susan Ralston.
After getting her first job in DC with Jack Abramoff and following him around town to shadier and shadier gigs, Ralston eventually landed as a “special assistant” to George W. Bush and reported directly to Karl Rove.
When Ralston wasn’t too busy helping Rove out covert CIA agents, she was accepting gifts from Abramoff in exchange for giving him inside information from the White House. As the House Government Reform Committee began digging around, Ralston resigned in disgrace for her shady dealings.
What does an Abramoff/Rove disciple do after resigning in an ethics scandal? Start an organization about “Responsibility” of course!
Just before and after Ralston set up Citizens for Responsible Solar, $300,000 in checks arrived to her consulting office from a “non-profit” set up and run by the largest shareholder of Peabody Energy Corp – a Coal producer.
GET THE FACTS:
- https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/06/washington/06cnd-ralston.html
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/06/AR2006100600965.html
- https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/272009342/202032769349100503/IRS990PF
- https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/272009342/202142799349100514/IRS990PF
- https://www.cnn.com/markets/stocks/BTU
- https://cord-levin-center.org/bitstreams/f40e6037-8301-4653-9695-2d47dc98ab14/download
- https://time.com/archive/6681379/a-secretary-testifies/
- https://x.com/mirandacgreen/status/1627005766657015808?lang=en
- https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2008/September/08-crm-779.html
- https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna15162066