How Madoff’s Ponzi Scheme Beneficiaries Funded Climate Laws—What Does Watt Think About It?

Jason Isaacs

The Picowers are forcing inferior appliances into every American home to assuage their guilt.

As the single largest beneficiary of Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, the Pickowles family has a lot to be embarrassed about. One way they can absolve themselves of guilt is by funding climate change lawsuits and left-wing judicial influence programs that would take away conveniences Americans take for granted — like hot showers or efficient dishwashers.

As my organization, the American Energy Institute, explained in a recent report , left-wing city governments and blue states are suing energy providers over climate change, with the goal of forcing unpopular lifestyle products into every family. Plaintiffs can accomplish this through government spending funded by legal awards. Alternatively, settlement terms may require energy companies to change product offerings. This effort is being fueled by a left-wing lobbying campaign masquerading as judicial education. According to the Daily Telegraph, the Pickowles paid all the fees.

Jeffrey Picower, the head of the family, invested in Madoff very early and ultimately made more than $7 billion from Madoff's fraud. The court-appointed trustee tasked with recovering funds for Madoff's victims later insisted that Picower “knew or should have known” that Madoff was committing fraud. Madoff's returns for Picower were incredible—950% in one year. Even more damning, Picower never let his money ride with Madoff. Over the years, he has withdrawn his income on a quarterly basis.

The Picowers repaid their ill-gotten gains—not really an act of justice, since the stolen wealth would surely have led to new money-making opportunities. They have since donated their last $200 million to a new charity, the JPB Foundation, to save the family's reputation.

The JPB Foundation has given $4.45 million to an entity that pays attorneys in climate change cases. The foundation gave another $2 million to the Climate Justice Project, the self-proclaimed “judicial education” of the liberal influence movement.

None of this is surprising. Climate change lawsuits are premised on a belief in luxury par excellence — that average Americans should give up reasonable comforts in favor of products that cost more or offer poorer performance (or both). There is little demand among middle- and working-class families for progressive lifestyle products, as evidenced by the upward distribution of wealth resulting from federal environmental giveaways.

Take the $7,500 tax credit for buying an electric car, an Obama-era program better thought of as a benefit for the wealthy. According to a 2021 study, nearly 80% of electric vehicle tax credits are claimed by people making at least $100,000 a year. Embarrassed, Democrats changed the eligibility rules through the Inflation Reduction Act, eliminating the credit for the top 5% of earners.

It's easy to see why electric vehicles aren't popular with average Americans. No matter how much you save on maintenance or fueling, the upfront costs are high and even prohibitive. Understandably, many people are reluctant to drive a vehicle with a range of around 200 miles, especially since charging stations are not yet common. Climate plaintiffs don’t care much. Some companies plan to invest climate litigation proceeds in charging infrastructure or form procurement consortiums with like-minded jurisdictions to meet electric vehicle demand.

A defining feature of liberal sin is its insistence that confession is not a personal matter. Penance must be imposed on all of us without consent. After all, systemic problems have no single solution. This disregard for the preferences of others—psychosis, if you will—was at the heart of the Madoff fraud, and it fueled the development of climate law.

Jason Isaac is the founder and CEO of the American Energy Institute and a distinguished fellow at Life:Powered, a Texas public policy foundation. He previously served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives.

This article was originally published by RealClearEnergy and provided via RealClearWire.

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