Strange as it may seem in late 2020, officials in Washington are still weighing plans to permit an enormous fossil fuel project, a Kalama petrochemical refining and export facility. The project is designed and backed by by a company called NW Innovation Works (NWIW) that is, through a complicated arrangement, actually an arm of the Chinese government. It is a case study in the way that a big company—including one controlled by a foreign government—can muscle its way into political advantages.
A review of NWIW’s actions in Washington reveals influence peddling, political spending to curry favor, and worrisome entanglements with current and former government officials. All of it is coming at a cost to the public—directly in the form of taxpayer subsidies and indirectly in the form of eroded trust in government. Both Democratic and Republican officials have engaged in concerning activities to support the project.
Leave a Reply