The Money Is Green (15 page)

Finally, after the twenty-minute presentation, the man on the left asked, “What do you think of our proposal, Congressman? Is it something we could count on your support for?”

Waters leaned forward, putting his elbows on the cluttered desk. He looked at one man and then the other. “First off, the reason we’re having this meeting is that my good friend Mei Chen vouched for your credentials. If she says you guys are players, I believe her. Now, here’s what I think. I’m all for any project that helps out the environment, and the one you’re proposing is a very ambitious one, which I like. Solar farms are a great thing, and fortunately, because of my strong pushing, we have a way to finance these things through the stimulus
bill.” He rubbed his hands together as his eyes went from one man to the next. “But I get asked to get behind fifteen projects a week, and as much as I’d like to help them all, some are better than others.” He paused and stared at the men.

The only sound in the room came from John’s pen scratching notes on his legal pad, but then he stopped and looked up. He looked at Waters, then at the two men, but no one moved.

Finally the first man spoke. “We, uh, are completely on board with your work in the renewable energy field and would like to help ensure you stay in office to complete this important work. Our company would like to contribute to your campaign fund so you can focus on your work and not worry so much about fundraising.”

A big smile came over Waters’s face. “Well, that is very generous of you, gentlemen. I could use all the help I can get.”

The man shifted in his chair. “What amount would be most helpful to your campaign, and uh,” he cleared his throat, “help our project get toward the front of the pack?”

Waters leaned back and gave them a thoughtful look. He turned to his aid. “John, how much did Inter-Power help us raise for the Antelope Valley project? Wasn’t it close to two million dollars?”

John nodded as he wrote some notes on a legal pad he had on his lap and added, “The amount raised for that project was two point two million to be exact. That was a one-point-three-six-billion-dollar project and there were many extenuating circumstances to it that made it unique and challenging to get done.”

“Do you mind us asking what those circumstances for the project were?” the second man asked.

John looked at Waters, who gestured with his hand at the men. “Go ahead. Mei Chen vouched for these gentlemen. Tell them what happened.”

John took a quick swig from his water bottle and set it down. “That project is a two-hundred-thirty-megawatt solar farm and was pinpointed to be on twenty-one hundred acres in the western Mojave
Desert on Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, land. It was a perfect spot for solar except there were some ranchers who had grazing rights across a large swath of the land, which made it unfeasible for the use we wanted. We needed a way to break the leases for the grazing rights of those ranchers. We did it by getting the Fish and Wildlife people to put the California Great Tortoise, whose habitat was near the BLM land we had picked, on the endangered species list.” He looked across at the congressman. “This was the beautiful part, and Congressman Waters thought that one up.”

Both of the men listened intently as John continued. “The Fish and Wildlife determined that this particular area was the tortoises’ habitat, and since they were endangered, it couldn’t be used for cattle grazing. The BLM either cancelled or didn’t renew the cattlemen’s leases.” A smile came over his face. “You talk about a crap storm, these ranchers created a huge fuss about it and threatened all sorts of legal action, but in the end, all but one of them went away. It took a number of years for that to happen, but it’s completely done.”

The first man asked, “What happened to the last rancher? Is he still around?”

John nodded. “He’s still around and is still fighting. He sued the federal government twice and lost. Of course it helped that the judge who heard the lawsuit was active in the environmental movement. That poor rancher didn’t stand a chance.”

He burst out laughing and was joined by Waters, who added, “Yeah, that judge was in the bag.”

“So, anyway,” John continued, “while the government was cancelling the leases for grazing, Mei Chen introduced us to Inter-Power, which was an impeccably run solar farm developer, with unimpeachable credentials. They started working on getting the permits, the lease for the land from BLM, and the Power Purchase Agreement from Nevada Power, the biggest utility company in Nevada.”

“What happened to the tortoises?” the second man answered. “How could the BLM lease land that is habitat for an endangered species?”

“That was easy,” Waters said, smiling, his perfect white teeth shining. “We moved the tortoises to another spot about fifty miles away.”

The first man looked in astonishment at the second man and then back at Waters. “You moved them? Just like that?”

“Yep, just like that,” Waters answered. “And they are happier than hogs in crap in their new home. From what I hear, they’re breeding so fast they might get taken off the endangered species list. But to be honest, the only reason they were listed in the first place was to get the ranchers to lose their grazing rights and now, ten years later, they did.”

John jumped in and said, “But back to your point about what amount of money might be necessary to move your project along. Your project doesn’t have as many problems nor is as large as Antelope Valley.”

“Uh, not many solar farms are as large as Antelope Valley,” the first man said.

“That’s a good point. But I would say a million and a quarter would be sufficient?” John looked at Waters. “What do you think, Congressman? It’s your call.”

Waters was leaning back in his chair, one foot resting on the edge of his desk. He twirled a pen back in forth between his fingers. “Yeah, one million two hundred fifty will get your project where you want it to be. Coordinate the money transfer with John and we’ll get the ball rolling on our end.” He stood up, straightened his starched shirt, and reached out with his right hand. “Gentlemen, it’s been a pleasure meeting you. I look forward to working with you on this exciting project. If we keep doing this, future generations of people will thank us for being good stewards of the planet.”

The two men exchanged handshakes and made their way out the door, closing it as they left.

Waters came around the desk and slapped John on the back. “Well done, young man. I think they’ll be a great resource for us going forward. Make sure you have them wire the money to my account in the Dominican Republic. I don’t want to have to disclose this.”

“Thank you, Congressman Waters,” John said. “I’m glad you approve and I’ll make sure the money goes to the right account.” He wrote some notes on his legal pad then glanced at his watch. “You had better hurry, sir. You’ve got a two o’clock meeting with Wo Sung at the Golden Palace in Chinatown. Traffic might start to back up soon.”

“Okay,” he said as he grabbed his suit coat from the chair behind his desk. “He’s going to like what I’m going to tell him.”

♦

The two men made it out of Congressman Waters’s office and stood at the curb. Within a minute, a white limousine stopped in front of them and they scrambled in. A middle-aged black man wearing a black driver’s hat sat behind the wheel, staring straight ahead the whole time. They sat in silence through the streets of San Francisco until the limo entered the onramp to Highway 101. The limo continued down the highway for twenty more minutes and exited at the first park-and-ride lot a couple miles from the San Francisco Airport. The driver pulled up behind a black Lincoln town car parked in the back of the lot and stopped.

As the men exited, the first one said, “Thanks for the lift, Charlie. We’ll see you back at the Bureau.” As they put on dark glasses to shield the bright sunlight, they watched the limo drive away, then one said to the other, “Did you get all that inside the congressman’s office?”

The second smiled and patted the breast pocket of his coat. “Oh yeah, I got it all. That was mighty nice of them to explain all the ins
and outs of the Antelope Valley project. There have been so many rumors swirling around, I never thought half were true. I guess I was wrong.”

“Well, this is another piece to a fascinating puzzle. The chief is going to like this.”

“Do you think Brian Thompson knew anything about all the backdoor shenanigans? That was pretty slick how they got those ranchers off the land.”

The first man shook his head. “Nothing’s come up about him in our investigation. He’ll probably be as surprised as anyone once he finds out how this all went down. But Brian was the person who got us the introduction to Mei Chen last month. Apparently what we presented impressed her enough to vouch for us to the congressman.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys. “Let’s head back there and give the chief a full report. Do you mind if we stop at In-N-Out on our way? I’m starving.”

The first man hit the fob on the keyring and the horn honked briefly. He opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat. “I don’t mind at all. All that talk about ranchers and cattle has got me hankering for a hamburger myself.”

T
WENTY

C
rystal was lying on her back in bed, holding John Steinbeck’s
Of Mice and Men
a few inches in front of her face in one hand while taking a bite of an apple in her other, when her cellphone rang. She recognized Steve’s number and excitedly answered it. “Did you pass the driver’s test?” she asked breathlessly.

A pause on the other line made her anxious. “What, no ‘hello’ or nothing?” Steve answered with an indignant tone in his voice. “Geeze. Of course I passed. Who do you think you’re dealing with? Some dumbass?”

Crystal squealed in delight, clapping her hands together. “That is so awesome. I’m so proud of you. When do you think your uncle will give you his car?”

“I talked to him a few days ago. He says he wants to get it tuned up for me, so I think it will be next week before I get it.”

“I can’t wait.” Crystal moved off the bed and paced her room. “I want to be the first person to ride with you. Promise me you’ll let me be the first.”

“No problem, I promise you’ll be first.”

Crystal heard a beep in her ear and pulled down to see she had another call. “Hey, Steve, let me call you later. My mom’s on the other line.” Hanging up with Steve, she switched lines. “Hey, Mom, how are you doing? I haven’t talked to you in over a week.”

Her mom answered in a dull tone, “Okay, I’m doing okay. It’s been a long week. A couple of David’s jobs fell through and it’s been a struggle tracking down new leads.”

“I thought David had a lot of work lined up,” Crystal said as she walked around the room. She stopped at the vanity mirror above a chest of drawers, reaching up and playing with her hair. She turned away and continued pacing. “Wasn’t that the reason you left here? Because he had so many opportunities in North Dakota.”

“It’s complicated, Crystal. I don’t have time to explain everything.”

Doubts cropped up in Crystal’s mind, but she pushed them away. “Hey, guess what. Dad got promoted to a new position at Soltech. They made him president of the company. We’re even going to move out of this apartment and get a new place.”

There was a long pause on the other line. “You don’t say. I bet they probably doubled his salary. That’s really good news for all of us, Crystal. I can’t wait to call him and congratulate him on his new position.”

Crystal flopped back on the bed. “Why would it be good for you, Mom? Dad got the raise, not you. I thought everything was settled after the divorce.”

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about grownup things, Crystal,” she said in a condescending tone. “This has nothing to do with you. Do you know where you’ll to be moving?”

“Dad said he’s tired of apartment living, so we’ll be looking at a house. He promised me he’d let me help. We’re going to stay in the same school district so I won’t have to change schools. Isn’t that great?”

“Yeah, that’s just grand,” her mother answered. “You guys are moving on up while I’m stuck busting my ass in the badlands of nowhere trying to stay afloat. By the way, how’s that skanky girlfriend of your dad’s? Is she moving in with you also? I hope you remember what she put me through.”

“No, Mom,” Crystal said as she lay across her bed. “There are no plans to have Janine move in with us. I wouldn’t put up with that and Dad knows it.” She paused and sat on the edge of the bed. “You don’t seem too excited that Dad’s doing better. Wasn’t that one of the issues you had with him before? That he lost his business and didn’t make enough to support us?”

“Look, Crystal, your dad’s inability to survive the recession was one of our problems, but you and I both know what was the real cause of our divorce was. I don’t think I need to be jumping up and down like a cheerleader just because your dad got a big raise. How about me? He’s not doing anything for me.”

Crystal was silent for a minute. “I just thought you might be happy that things are getting better,” she said in a sad voice. “That’s all I meant.”

“Let’s change the subject. I don’t want to discuss your father anymore.”

“I sure would like to come and stay with you, Mom. I’m going to have a few months off soon, and if you could get me there, I’d be a big help to you and Dave.”

“Crystal, we’ve already been over this,” she said in an irritated tone. “I don’t have the money to buy your ticket and there really isn’t a lot of room at the place we’re staying. I’ll be out there to see you in a few months and we can catch up then. Hey, I hear David coming up the walkway and I’ve got to run. I’ll talk to you later.”

Hanging up, Crystal held the phone to her chest. Yeah right, she thought, when you find a few minutes to squeeze me into your schedule, like in a month or so. Why did you run all the way to North
Dakota if it wasn’t to make a lot more money than you could have made here? Maybe Dad was telling the truth. Probably not.

T
WENTY
-O
NE

A
s he drove to the meeting with Brian Thompson, Jason went over the points of discussing what he wanted to focus on. Had the Power Purchase Agreement been signed? Was everything in place with the lease for the BLM land? What would be the logistics of staging the project and what were the access points? His cellphone went off and he quickly put on his Bluetooth. Glancing down at the phone, he saw it was a 717 area code. His breathing quickened as realized it was Debbie and he hit the answer button. “Hello?”