There were some obvious examples of using one's position in a federal government environmental agency, like the EPA or Department of Energy, to procure a schweet little gig after one left the big dogs and moved back into private life.
This was almost de riguer in the Biden administration. You, in your check-writing capacity at, say, the EPA, would grease the skids of some sketchy but well-connected non-governmental organization (NGO), perhaps even one led by a mediocre minor celebrity like Stacey Abrams. In turn, whatever satellite branch of the NGO won the 'award' the check was for would eventually have an opening with a six-figure salary just about the time you were ready to punch out permanently from your office.
...Efron openly admits how the EPA uses nonprofits as a political buffer against Republican administrations—and reveals how he could later reap personal rewards with a cushy job at one of the nonprofits he helped fund during his tenure.
It was the state-sanctified version of the old Mafia one-hand-washes-the-other bromide.
And the dollar numbers were so astonishing, being handed out like candy, that as a whole they're criminal, but at the time, against the backdrop of the overall federal budget, they were easy to conceal.
It's not quite so easy when the same scenario steps down to the state level, because the pain from misspent money, flat-out green-grifting, and chasing unicorn farts for friends impacts state utility rate payers and their energy services directly, instead of being buried in the mass of hundreds of millions of Americans.
Massachusetts is a prime case study for this sort of thing.
The state has some of the highest utility rates in the country, with more increases expected, even as the climate cult governor, Maura Healey, doubles down on the Green transition voodoo. More affordable, better for Gaia.
I do believe they have given up on 'reliable' as that was a lie from the get-go.
But it's election time, so her strident progressive tone, as most Democrats do, is mellowing somewhat in order to get herself reelected.
For one thing, she's doing a little tap dancing on pipelines, which is something she's always been very proud of stopping.
Governor Healey claimed today she “never stopped pipelines,” but as AG, she said something very different.
— Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance (@MassFiscal) October 14, 2025
So we put her two statements side by side.
Was she lying then or is she lying now? 👖🔥
Let us know in the comments. pic.twitter.com/p8jRkiUlLi
There seems to be a glitch in the story.
In point of fact, most of the entire Democrat establishment is backing slowly away from Green energy as the midterms pull closer. Perhaps they are sensing DANGER DANGER DANGER at the ballot box if they remind voters just how much voters hate what green energy and Democratic energy mandates have done to them and their wallets so far.
As reliability concerns grow, Democrats signal retreat from previous push to 100% renewable energy
Since 2019, nearly two dozen states — most of them blue states — have vowed to transition their grids to run without generators powered by fossil fuels within the next 24 years.
While Democrats have often been vocal supporters of these efforts, President Donald Trump’s energy policies have produced a direct challenge to net-zero plans. Outside the political sphere, independent assessments find the nation’s grid is becoming increasingly fragile, primarily a direct result of an overreliance on weather-dependent renewables.
This has led to a rapid shift in the conversation on energy in America. This shift was on display Tuesday during a House Energy and Commerce hearing about grid reliability during Winter Storm Fern.
During the Biden administration, the committee hearings had Democrats championing the elimination of fossil fuels, and criticizing the Republicans for not doing more to make the grid 100% renewable. At Tuesday’s hearing, most Democrats on the committee defended the use of renewables, but they also appeared to come to terms with the reality that the U.S. electric grid simply can’t run without fossil fuels.
In Marua Healey's climate cult-obsessed administration, her tenure has led to rates that are coming close to unpayable. And she has more windmill and solar farm fun planned.
I JUST RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING EMAIL FROM A SMALL BUSINESSES OWNER IN MASSACHUSETTS:
— John E Deaton (@JohnEDeaton1) March 10, 2026
“Hi John,
Hope you are doing well. I just wanted to send you a copy of this months electric bill, see attached. The ancillary charge went up 170% this month, the last two months is was $1,000… pic.twitter.com/UPU0xyIUTP
“Hi John,
Hope you are doing well. I just wanted to send you a copy of this months electric bill, see attached. The ancillary charge went up 170% this month, the last two months is was $1,000 and change, this month it is $2,700.00. Leave it to Maura Healy. Please direct me to the right people to raise hell with this......WTF
Sorry, but this is not sustainable in a small business.”
We need change in MA at both the state and federal levels.
For all of Healey's posturing to the contrary, the sole responsibility rests with her and her policies. The people of her state are not fooled by her latest gambit to add more power.
They're not buying the green BS from her surrogates, either.
It absolutely enrages me like nothing ever has before. The way these politicians lie is just the grossest thing I’ve ever seen. The Democrats’ green policies have absolutely destroyed the state of Massachusetts to the point where we pay $1,000 a month to heat and light our homes.… pic.twitter.com/8htrPTe3OZ
— Apple Lamps (@lamps_apple) March 19, 2026
...This has absolutely nothing to do with Trump, and they know it.
But it's not just the elected officials who have to answer to the general public. It's the utility commissioners and regulators who often work hand in glove with these officials in their net-zero frenzy, often to the detriment of the citizens of the state, which is expressly against their caretaker duties.
Sometimes, they are also believers who are working future side deals for themselves, much as the federal bureaucrats were.
Take Massachusetts again. Emails have recently come to light, exposing the double-dealing by the former head of the Department of Public Utilities (DPU), even as he was regulating the state's rates and watching them soar.
The former $173,295-a-year chair of the Department of Public Utilities reportedly networked for jobs in the climate industry while he was still regulating Massachusetts utilities and as energy bills skyrocketed, according to public records obtained by a watchdog group.
James M. Van Nostrand used his official state government email to seek out job opportunities with organizations tied to the climate policy industry, specifically, the Analysis Group and the Energy Foundation, in 2025, Fiscal Alliance Foundation found.
The emails were obtained by the foundation through a public records request filed by the Government Accountability and Oversight — a nonprofit organization focused on government transparency.
In one of those emails, dated Aug. 21, 2025, Van Nostrand reached out to Susan Tierney, an energy policy consultant, informing her of his upcoming departure from the DPU and of his interest in working for climate and economic consulting company Analysis Group, as well as The Energy Foundation — a philanthropic foundation established through a partnership among major donors with a mission to promote clean energy technology.
“Thanks for the great conversation a few weeks ago. My departure date from the DPU is now set for October 17, and the public announcement is scheduled to be made next Tuesday (August 26th), a little earlier than I had hoped, but it is in EEA’s and GOV’s hands at this point, given that 2 commissioner appointments are involved (Cecile Fraser has been holding over since April),” Van Nostrand said in an email to Tierney days before his departure was made public, the foundation reports.
“Please let me know if you would be interested in talking again, either about possible opportunities at the Analysis Group or with the Energy Foundation,” he added.
Well...huh.
It's sunshine week! ☀️🌞☀️
— Fiscal Alliance Foundation (@FiscalAlliance) March 17, 2026
In that spirit, we have more documents today showing the cozy relationship between former Public Utilities Chair James Van Nostrand and the advocacy organizations pushing policies that raise energy rates.
H/T to @GAOED2 for the FOIA on these.
🧵🧵 pic.twitter.com/XiUtZlSnXS
This is the same James Van Nostrand who, when quizzed by the Fiscal Alliance on how much net-zero policies would ultimately cost Massachusetts rate payers, couldn't give them an answer.
When asked how much Net Zero policies will cost Massachusetts ratepayers, the chair of the Department of Public Utilities couldn’t say.
Emails later revealed then-DPU Chair James Van Nostrand was seeking jobs in the very industry advocating for policies driving up energy costs.
Gosh. I'm sure there was nothing to see there. It sure is icky-looking, though and I'll bet you someone with a $1000 electric bill for their teeny little Cape Cod in the woods will be snorting fire when they read all about it.
Nostrand left last August, and the Boston Herald never received an answer when they contacted him for their story. Nor did they get a response from the governor.
...The DPU, overseen by Gov. Maura Healey, is responsible for approving energy policy, regulating electric utilities, and approving long-term renewable energy contracts. Over the past two years, Massachusetts ratepayers have seen their energy bills soar
“As electricity bills continue to rise, the public deserves to know whether the people making these decisions are acting independently or operating within a revolving door between the government and the climate industry,” added Craney. “The Department of Public Utilities exists to protect ratepayers, and that mission should never be blurred by career networking with the very industry that benefits from these policies.”
Healey’s office has not responded to a request for comment.
Van Nostrand did not return a message left for him at the Regulatory Assistance Project. He could not be reached at The Future of Heat.
Now, having the guy troll for a gig and having to wonder if he may have jacked your rates to help ease the transition is bad enough.
But when the regulator is just flat-out crooked and takes a massive payoff from the energy company, what are you supposed to do?
Where do you file for your refund?
That's what happened in Ohio.
Fmr FirstEnergy CEO Chuck Jones & VP Mike Dowling are accused of paying former utilities chair Sam Randazzo $4.3M in bribes...
— Morgan Trau (@MorganTrau) March 16, 2026
Not central to this case, but they are also accused of bribing public officials with $61M to create and pass House Bill 6.https://t.co/16oqniDjie
And it was some pretty big money they were playing with - tens of millions of dollars
State witnesses raised red flags about former FirstEnergy executives and their relationship with an allegedly corrupt utility regulator during the second week of the men's trial.
Former CEO Chuck Jones and VP Mike Dowling’s relationship with former Public Utilities Commission Chair Sam Randazzo has been under a microscope in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas.
"It was challenging," Ebony Yeboah-Amankwah, an attorney and former chief ethics officer for FirstEnergy, testified. "Randazzo seemed to have an issue with everything."
The former PUCO chair consistently went over her head to talk to the CEO if he didn't like what she was doing, Yeboah-Amankwah said.
The state accuses Jones and Dowling of paying Randazzo $4.3 million in bribes, along with $61 million spent to create and pass House Bill 6. H.B. 6 was legislation to provide a billion-dollar bailout.
What a mess. I couldn't begin to explain the whole thing. You have to read the story.
Someone needs to be watching the energy henhouses at the state level because there sure seems to be a pot of gold at the end of the line for some of these people.
Not so much for the people paying for it.
