Kai H. Kayser, MBA, MPhil
Portugal. Dec 31, 2025
Corruption is one of the worst crimes in a societal order as it undermines meritocracy. In a meritocratic system, individuals and organizations advance based on talent, effort, and innovation, fostering efficiency, trust, and societal progress. When corruption infiltrates, it distorts this foundation, allowing personal gain, nepotism, and cronyism to prevail over competence and fairness. Resources are misallocated, public funds siphoned, and opportunities skewed toward the connected few rather than the capable many. This erosion not only stifles economic growth, but reaches new levels of evil when the fraud is sold as “noble cause” and indoctrinated as such in media, university and academia. This is where we are today. The European Union’s ambitious push toward renewable energy—aimed at achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 under the European Green Deal to wipe out European self reliance and economic advancement—corruption poses a particularly insidious threat that benefits a particularly small and vicious set of organizations. The influx of billions in subsidies, grants, and investments—all extracted/stolen from middle class and net-productive taxpayers—creates fertile ground for abuse, where politicians and officials can exploit regulatory loopholes, award contracts to allies, or manipulate policies for kickbacks. This not only delays the transition to sustainable energy but also erodes public confidence in environmental initiatives, potentially derailing Europe’s climate goals.
The entire edifice of climate alarmism underpinning the Green Deal is not only bogus but a manufactured crisis designed to advance collectivist agendas. Experts like Dr. Willie Soon, an astrophysicist, have long argued that solar variability, not CO2 emissions, is the primary driver of climate changes, invalidating the hypothesis that human activity is causing catastrophic warming (Soon et al., 2015; Soon and Legates, 2013; Soon, 2024). Dr. Ned Nikolov, a meteorologist, challenges the greenhouse gas theory altogether, proposing that atmospheric pressure and solar input explain planetary temperatures without invoking CO2 as a dominant factor, dismissing alarmism as cyclical and non-catastrophic (Nikolov and Zeller, 2017). Chris Martz, a meteorology expert, debunks exaggerated claims of climate disasters, highlighting how media amplifies myths while ignoring data showing no unprecedented extremes (Martz, 2025). Skeptics argue there is no climate crisis, as historical data shows warmer periods without human CO2, and current changes are within natural variability, not an existential threat (Rainforest Alliance, 2022; Penn State, 2025; Skeptical Science, 2025; Hoover Institution, 2025). CO2 is not a problem but a benefit, as NASA studies confirm increased atmospheric CO2 has led to significant global greening, with 25-50% of Earth’s vegetated lands showing enhanced plant growth since the 1980s, boosting agriculture and ecosystems (NASA, 2016; Climate at a Glance, 2025; Yale Environment 360, 2024; ScienceDirect, 2025a). This alarmism originates from organizations like the Fabian Society, which promotes “green social democracy” as a pathway to state-controlled environmentalism; the Club of Rome, whose “Limits to Growth” report in 1972 framed resource scarcity and environmental limits as justifications for global controls; and the World Economic Forum (WEF), whose “Great Reset” integrates climate hysteria into calls for stakeholder capitalism and centralized economic resets. These entities share a common goal: abolishing human and individual rights in favor of collectivist authoritarianism, perpetuating anti-human ideals that seek to control and reduce populations, abolish private property, and shift power to a select elite through an amalgam of lies and half-truths.
Unfortunately, this scheme goes beyond ideological lines; besides obvious socialist and left-wing tribes, a substantial part of “right-wing” and conservatives support these or similarly abysmal policies, leading to central planning against free market enterprise and self-reliance. In the EU, conservative groups like the European People’s Party (EPP) have voted with far-right elements to dilute green rules while broadly endorsing net-zero frameworks. In the UK, Conservatives historically backed net-zero legislation before recent pledges to scrap targets, illustrating bipartisan complicity. Germany’s Energiewende exemplifies the fallout: the destruction of nuclear plants (phased out by 2023) and coal reductions have spiked energy prices, weakened the grid, and contributed to economic downturn since 2015, with GDP stagnation, deindustrialization, and a 2024 recession amid lost competitiveness. This article reminds of particularly telling corruption scandals involving politicians and renewables in EU countries, by example of at least 9 documented cases to highlight patterns, impacts, and the urgent need for abolishing the EU, that is ruining Europe’s economies through redistribution, corruption, malicious taxation and regulation, in the name of an array of greater goods (uncontrolled migration, public debt, inflation, fiat currencies, etc.) that are designed to scam Europe into oblivion. Similar forces are obviously at work in the USA, Australia and many other parts of the world, but this article will focus on Europe. By examining these instances, we reveal how corruption has tainted the green agenda, that may have found well intended acolytes but was created as a vehicle for establishing socialist order in as many countries as possible.
From an anarcho-capitalist perspective, the very existence of the EU exemplifies the dangers of centralized power. Governments, by their nature, coerce individuals through taxation and regulation, violating property rights and voluntary exchange. Socialism, as promoted by groups like the Fabian Society, amplifies this by justifying abolishing individual freedoms through preaching collective “needs”, often under guises like environmentalism or “equality”. The Green Deal, with its top-down mandates, is no exception—it’s a collectivist scheme that funnels wealth from producers to parasites, all while claiming to save the planet, while only making electricity unreliable and expensive. No tax can change the climate, and neither wind turbines or solar panels come anywhere near the efficiency and minimized harm of nuclear power. Instead flora and fauna must suffer for “green” greed, killing hundreds of thousands of birds (with U.S. wind turbines alone causing 140,000 to 1.17 million bird deaths annually) and raising concerns over whale deaths linked to offshore wind construction noise and sonar (though scientific consensus finds no direct causation, skeptics point to temporal correlations along U.S. East Coast since 2016), ruining groundwater through lithium and rare earth mining’s toxic acid drainage and chemical leaks that contaminate water sources in regions like South America’s Lithium Triangle, and wasting resources with toxic materials that cannot be recycled (MIT Climate Portal, 2025; American Bird Conservancy, 2025; Ritchie, 2024; Statista, 2025; Yale Environment 360, 2025; NOAA Fisheries, 2024; NRDC, 2025; Science Friday, 2024; Earth.Org, 2023; ScienceDirect, 2024b; Texas SIG, 2025; Harvard International Review, 2021; Greenly, 2024). But as we’ll see, the true aim is not doing anything useful for the environment but solely to graft, proving that state intervention breeds corruption, not progress. Nothing is won by renewables, as there is no climate crisis to avert, CO2 is beneficial for greening, and nuclear power is cleaner with near-zero emissions (comparable to or better than renewables), requires far less land (solar needs 18-27 times more, wind up to 360 times more per unit of electricity produced), provides reliable baseload power unlike intermittent renewables, and modern Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) offer scalable, safe, and efficient deployment without the massive resource demands (Our World in Data, 2022; Nuclear Energy Institute, 2015; Lovera et al., 2022; van Zalk and Behrens, 2018; IAEA, 2025; U.S. Department of Energy, 2025).
The Rotten Core: How the Green Deal Invites Corruption
The European Green Deal, launched in 2019, promises a “just transition” to a low-carbon economy, backed by over €1 trillion in funding – ridiculous considering how CO2 is the “gas of life/plant food” and not a pollutant (see Dr. Ian Plimer’s discussions in Plimer, 2025a; Plimer, 2024; Plimer, 2021; and Dr. Willie Soon’s interview with Tucker Carlson, Soon and Carlson, 2024). Such policies harm competitiveness, burden industries, impoverish the poor and the middle class with regulations and high costs, and foster dependency on foreign energy, without any impact on climate or even the necessity of it! In an anarcho-capitalist world, energy markets would self-regulate through innovation and competition, without subsidies stolen from taxpayers. Instead, the Deal creates a slush fund for elites, where renewables like wind, solar, and hydrogen become tools for cronyism. Corruption risks are high: opaque tender processes, political favoritism, and weak oversight allow politicians to award contracts to allies, inflating costs and delivering shoddy projects.
This isn’t accidental. Socialist ideologies, echoed by Fabian thinkers who advocate for state-led green shifts, view such policies as steps toward centralized control. The result? A “noble cause” that masks power grabs, eroding meritocracy as competent entrepreneurs are outbid by connected fraudsters. At least 9 EU countries have had publicized corruption scandals related to renewable energy, based on investigations, arrests, and reports involving sectors like wind, solar, green hydrogen, and lithium mining for batteries. Here a list of just the known and widely discussed cases:
Case 1: Belgium – Bribery in the Solar Inverter Market
In Belgium, a bribery scandal involving Huawei exposed cash-for-influence schemes in the solar inverter market. The company was accused of bribing MEPs with gifts, trips, and cash to sway policies, leading to raids and corruption charges. This highlights how foreign entities exploit EU green subsidies, undermining local merit-based competition and enriching politicians at taxpayer expense.
Case 2: Bulgaria – Corruption in Photovoltaic Parks
Bulgaria’s scandals involve photovoltaic parks built on stolen agricultural land and illegally logged forests. Municipal officials in Pazardzhik face investigations for environmental crimes, political corruption, and misuse of public funds, with the prosecutor’s office implicated in cover-ups. This theft of land from productive farmers exemplifies state coercion, where green goals justify violations of property rights, delaying genuine innovation.
Case 3: Czech Republic – Fraud in Solar Subsidies
The Czech Republic has seen organized crime manipulate solar energy subsidies, with politically connected businessmen rigging electricity prices and support schemes for photovoltaic plants. Scandals involved € millions embezzled through fraud rings, sidelining efficient firms and perpetuating cronyism under the guise of EU green mandates.
Case 4: Italy – Bribes for Wind Farm Licenses
Italy’s wind sector is rife with corruption, where managers paid bribes to local politicians for licenses, linked to criminal associations and subsidies. Inquiries revealed Mafia infiltration, with high rents from incentives like Green Certificates driving graft in windy regions, accelerating corruption in weak institutions.
Case 5: Poland – Money Laundering in Wind Energy
In Poland, the Podkarpacie scandal led to arrests of former PGE Renewable Energy board members for corruption and money laundering in wind projects. This case shows how state-owned entities become vehicles for personal gain, distorting markets and violating individual rights.
Case 6: Portugal – Influence Peddling in Hydrogen and Lithium
Portugal’s Operation Influencer probe uncovered corruption in green hydrogen plants and lithium mining concessions, involving malfeasance and influence peddling, culminating in the prime minister’s resignation. Billions in deals were tainted, illustrating how green hype masks elite power plays.
Case 7: Romania – Political Corruption in Solar Projects
Romania features land theft for solar farms, with politicians declassifying fertile lands and influencing acquisitions as green investors. This displaces farmers, prioritizing subsidies over property rights and merit.
Case 8: Slovakia – Cross-Border Fraud in Renewables
Slovakia’s scandals mirror Czech ones, with organized crime misusing EU subsidies for solar schemes. Fraud crosses borders, exploiting weak oversight to siphon funds.
Case 9: Spain – Kickbacks in Renewable Infrastructure
Spain’s scandals include kickback schemes in public contracting for renewables, with aides to ministers implicated in procurement fraud tied to infrastructure. Historical subsidy cuts and arbitrations for wind/solar add layers, shaking governments and delaying transitions.
Germany’s Special Case: Energiewende’s Self-Inflicted Wound
Beyond these, Germany’s Energiewende has destroyed nuclear and coal infrastructure, leading to economic downturn since 2015. High costs, grid instability, and deindustrialization have shrunk GDP, with 2024 marking recession. Cronyism in subsidies benefits allies, exemplifying how green policies sabotage self-reliance.
Patterns and Impacts: A Collectivist Cancer
These scandals reveal rigged tenders, bribes, and mafia ties, enabled by EU funds. Impacts: wasted billions, delayed transitions, economic drag. The Fabian, Club of Rome, and WEF agendas perpetuate this, indoctrinating via media. Right-wing complicity ensures bipartisan enforcement of central planning.
The Solution: Abolish the EU and Embrace Freedom
Abolish the EU and shut down the influence of coercive institutions on European taxpayers. Free markets drive uncorrupt innovation, push innovation and efficient improvements without forming monopolies (which require governmental regulations and are best avoided through free market mechanisms, where they cannot keep up with innovations). Reject socialism, bureaucracy and collectivist scams; reclaim sovereignty.
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