AN OFFER NEW ENERGY SHOULD REFUSE

Mafia cash in on lucrative EU wind farm handouts - especially in Sicily; An ill wind is blowing over Italy's green revolution, as the Mafia seek to capitalise on generous grants for renewable energy.
Nick Squires, 5 September 2010 (UK Telegraph)

"…Attracted by the prospect of generous grants designed to boost the use of alternative energies, the so-called "eco Mafia" has begun fraudulently creaming off millions of euros from both the Italian government and the European Union…And nowhere has the industry's reputation become more tarnished than Sicily, where windmills now dot the horizon in Mafia strongholds like Corleone, the town better known as the setting for the Godfather films…

"It is not just Italian criminals, however, who have spotted the potential for corruption. Recent research by Kroll, the international corporate security firm, has discovered examples all over Europe of so-called "clean energy" schemes being used to to line criminals' pockets…Some involve windmills that stand derelict or are simply never built, while others are used to launder profits from other crime enterprises…"

From zbencz2 via YouTube

"The level of fraud has prompted calls for tighter restrictions on the use of public money in funding renewable energy, for which EU bureaucrats have grand ambitions…[The EU has a 20% New Energy by 2020 standard] and in recent years has given out an average of €5 billion (£4.1 billion) annually in loans and grants…[P]ower from wind farms [in Italy] is sold at a guaranteed rate of €180 per kwh – the highest rate in the world. In a country where the Mafia has years of expertise at buying corrupt politicians and intimidating rivals, the result is perhaps inevitable, creating a new breed of entrepreneur known as the "lords of the wind".

"Around 30 wind farms have been built in Sicily, with another 60 planned…While many of the wind farms in Sicily are in legitimate hands, some have already attracted the attention of the police. Last year, detectives launched a major investigation into suspicions that Mafia clans had colluded with corrupt businessmen and local politicians to secure control of a project to construct wind turbines in the Trapani area of western Sicily…Eight people were arrested in Operation "Eolo", named after Aeolus, the ancient Greek god of winds, on charges of bribing officials…"

These things happen when there is no more legitimate and effective authority. (click to enlarge)

"In another operation last November, codenamed "Gone With the Wind", 15 people were arrested on suspicion of trying to embezzle up to €30 million in EU funds. Among those arrested on fraud charges was the president of Italy's National Wind Energy Association, Oreste Vigorito. He has not been convictued of an offence and denies any wrongdoing…[S]candals have emerged in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria and Corsica, among others. In one alleged scam on the Canary Islands, a mayor, five officials and two developers are fighting criminal charges…One case in Spain, meanwhile, involved a solar energy plant which claimed, miraculously, to be generating electricity at night. Investigators found that that the power was in fact being produced by diesel generators - the "green" subsidies paid for the plant were so generous that the owners still made a handsome profit…[W]ind farms are also attractive to criminals seeking to invest money from illegal activities…

"Despite the scandals over Mafia infiltration, there have been very few protests against wind farms in Italy. Instead, farmers have leapt at the chance to rent out their land for wind farm construction at a time when the price of agricultural produce such as grapes and tomatoes has plummeted…But David Moss, a British building contractor based in the Sicilian hilltop town of Salemi, which is surrounded by whirring turbines, suggested that was not the only reason for the absence of wind-farm 'Nimbyism'… 'In Italy, everyone keeps quiet because they are afraid to stand up to the Mafia.'"