FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
NOVEMBER 28, 2012 Mary Beth Hutchins, 615-337-3710
Cause of Action Responds to U.S. Government’s Attempt to Dismiss Ralls Corp. v. Obama, et al.
WASHINGTON – Cause of Action (COA), a government accountability group, responded today to oral arguments in the case Ralls Corp. v Obama, et al challenging a shut-down of a Chinese-owned wind farm project in Oregon. CoA filed an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the American landowners and the American company Oregon Windfarms whose property and companies were a part of the Ralls Corp. wind farm project that was shut down by the federal government, specifically under the direction of both the President and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
Amber Abbasi, Cause of Action’s Chief Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, said:
When the federal government ignores the Constitution and the President acts beyond his authority, America’s job creators and therefore the American people are the ones who suffer. This court must therefore hold that Ralls’s claims are properly subject to its review.
Cause of Action filed its amicus brief on November 12, 2012. The brief can be found here.
Cause of Action represents the American-owned green energy company Oregon Windfarms, which originally designed the “Butter Creek Projects”—a group of four wind farms that started development and were sold to Ralls Corporation before the government intruded. CFIUS, an agency created during the Cold War era to review the implications of foreign investments in the United States on our national interest, sought to undo the wind farms’ sale to Ralls and prohibit third parties from purchasing the project companies. Its efforts were followed by a presidential order asserting even broader authority over the sale. The halted deal not only harms Ralls, but it also discourages investment in the United States and threatens the rights of American property and business owners.
Of additional concern to Cause of Action is how the federal government is spending taxpayer dollars through CFIUS. Instead of focusing on credible national security threats, the government has decided to target a company which the FAA and the Navy have already determined does not pose a threat. Add that to the detriment brought to consumers who would have benefitted from a lower cost energy supply from these wind farm projects and it is clear that this is yet another example of federal government power exceeding its proper limitations with damaging effects.
About Cause of Action:
Cause of Action is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that uses investigative, legal, and communications tools to educate the public on how government accountability and transparency protects taxpayer interests and economic opportunity. For more information, visit www.causeofaction.org.
To schedule an interview with Dan Epstein, Cause of Action’s Executive Director, or Amber Abbasi, Cause of Action’s Chief Counsel for Regulatory Affairs, contact Mary Beth Hutchins, mary.beth.hutchins@causeofaction.org or Briton Bennett, briton.bennett@causeofaction.org.
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