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This isn't empty bragging. McCready, a Democrat, advanced North Carolina's reliance on solar power in two ways: first, by investing millions in solar farms, and second, by supporting the lobbying effort to force North Carolinians to buy their electricity from those solar farms.
This self-dealing crony capitalism that transfers money from the people of North Carolina into McCready's already large bank account was exposed by Washington Examiner reporter Alana Goodman. That this conflict of interest remained hidden in plain sight for so long is another demonstration that the Democrats who claim to oppose special interests, like the major news media who claim to oppose corruption, make exceptions when the corrupt special interests wear green.
McCready is running in a special election for the vacant 9th Congressional District. McCready narrowly lost the race there in 2018, but that result was discarded after voter fraud by the campaign of his GOP opponent was exposed. Throughout the campaigns, McCready has been described as a "businessman."
McCready's business is investing in green energy. He founded Double Time Capital and is currently a managing partner there. "Launched in 2013, Double Time Capital invests in utility-scale solar farms in North Carolina," Fortune magazine reports.
Fortune's profile on McCready's firm is revealing. "[S]olar farms typically take advantage of various state and federal tax credits to help with building costs," the magazine explained. "Investors are eventually rewarded because state utilities are required by law to purchase a percentage of their power from independent energy producers, including solar farms...."
Conveniently enough, as Goodman reported in the Washington Examiner this past week, McCready sat on the board of directors of a nonprofit organization called the North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association. While McCready sat on the board, the association lobbied to keep the renewable mandates high.
If solar power is so great, why does the state need to require utilities to purchase it? Because it's more expensive than power from fossil fuels such as natural gas. Such mandates, then, drive up the price of electricity for consumers.
McCready's nonprofit organization, in short, was lobbying for laws that would hike utility bills in order to profit McCready's investment firm. That's self-dealing crony capitalism. It's Robin Hood in reverse.
If a Trumpian Republican invested in U.S. steel mills while lobbying for Trump's steel tariffs, you can bet that would get plenty of scorn.
But it's okay to Democrats because the wealthy guys getting paid off are getting rich in the name of the planet. Put another way: When Democrats like McCready talk green, they're really seeing the color of money.
Comment: Government collusion with big business has been a central policy of American 'progressives' for over a century. At this point, it's the American way. And like Russophobia, it crosses party lines.