To most, DC Solar sounded like a pretty good idea.

Mobile solar generators that could provide emergency power to cell phone towers and lighting at sporting events.

And it had a good story that tapped into the American mythos: Jeff Carpoff, a humble mechanic, put it together in his driveway.

In March 2011, paint company Sherwin-Williams bought 192 of them, for nearly $29 million.

Then, other mega corporations followed. U.S. bank. Progressive Insurance. Geico.

Collectively, they bought thousands of them.

Inc. magazine called Carpoff’s company, “a renewable energy powerhouse.”

The Obama administration made him a partner in the fight against climate change.

Then, things took a turn.

Under the guise of offering sustainable energy solutions, DC Solar attracted mega investors by promising substantial tax credits and returns on investments.

They presented their solar generators as a profitable venture, claiming that the units were leased to various clients, generating income that would be shared with the investors.

And yet…

It was later revealed that DC Solar operated as a classic Ponzi scheme.

In reality, very few solar generators were manufactured or leased, and the majority of DC Solar's revenue came from the influx of new investor funds.

This created an illusion of a thriving enterprise, luring more individuals into the scheme.

By the end of it, however, our humble mechanic was flush enough to fly by private jet, buy a baseball team, own several houses, and flex his huge collection of muscle cars, one of which was a 1978 Firebird previously owned by actor Burt Reynolds.

(Before he lost it all, of course.)

You can read the whole story in a new piece published by The Atlantic. 

Carpoff on Steroids

DC Solar may have left a mark with its deceptive scheme, but its impact pales in comparison to the intricate machinations that unfold within the corridors of power at supranational entities like the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and others.

Below, in today’s featured article, Jim lays out the grim truth: “The Green fraud,” as he calls it, is Carpoff on steroids. And it’s about a lot more than just money. 

Before we go there, you might be wondering: How can I sidestep the worst of it?

Well, the best possible way to start is to hack at the root:

That is, fix your gaze on the monetarists, the masters at making the implausible seem possible.

That’s precisely why our colleagues packed their bags and traveled to Jekyll Island last week -- the birthplace of the Federal Reserve.

In case you missed it…

Both Jim and Danielle get into the nitty gritty of what’s happening in the markets, gold, the dollar, the economy and how to build wealth despite the chaos to come.

And they left viewers with a few ways to protect their capital with a few key recommendations.

Hopefully, you were able to join us. But if you missed it, you can still catch everything here.

Either way, read on! 

The Green Fraud

Jim Rickards

Those yelling the loudest about climate change want to destroy the oil and natural gas industry, destroy nuclear power plant construction, shut down coal-fired plants, end coal mining, mandate electric vehicles (EVs) on very short deadlines and eliminate gas stoves in your kitchen, fireplaces and even outdoor barbecues.

They also want to build wind turbine arrays offshore and on deserts, plains and even mountains near you. They want to install solar module fields on every rooftop and open space near a population center.

The climate change radicals want to increase the mining of lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, rare earths and other dangerous chemicals to feed their obsession with EV batteries.

They’re spending hundreds of billions of tax dollars to subsidize the EVs, battery manufacturing and a coast-to-coast network of charging stations to keep the EVs moving (even if they do have to stop for a charge every 180 miles).

The greenies also want to mandate “15-minute cities” where you can walk everywhere in town within 15 minutes, which means you won’t need your car to visit a doctor, dry cleaner, grocery store, pharmacy or any of the other locations we routinely visit for errands and necessities.

That may sound attractive if you chose it voluntarily. That’s not what the greenies have in mind. They want 15-minute cities as a Trojan horse to eliminate automobiles entirely and force you to ride bicycles or use public transportation. In the end, you’ll need a permit to fly to another city.

The permits will be rationed and you’ll have to put yourself on a waiting list until your turn. You can pay for your ticket with the new central bank digital currency (CBDC), assuming your social credit score is high enough and you didn’t vote for the wrong candidate in the last election.

In short, the climate change agenda is not about climate change. It’s about total political and economic control of the population. So-called climate change is an elite scare tactic to get you to fall into line and obey government orders (as most people do).

Elites claim that if we don’t radically reduce CO2 (carbon dioxide) and CH4 (methane) emissions, global warming will melt the ice caps, raise sea levels, put island nations underwater and flood the New York City subway system in 10 years or less. They’ve been making similar claims for 40 years and they’ve been wrong every time. That doesn’t stop them. Fear works.

What is new is that the climate crowd now has the political power they need to push their agenda using fear and the regulatory state to attack your means of transportation, your personal conveniences and your consumer choices.

This is being enabled by Joe Biden and thousands of bureaucrats buried in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and scores of other agencies.

The U.S. Treasury, SEC and the Federal Reserve have even joined in by regulating loans to the oil and gas industry and requiring financial disclosures about climate change and other ESG (environment, social and governance) metrics.

Meanwhile, the World Bank (controlled by the U.S.) is being encouraged to deny loans to industries that involve carbon-based development and to steer financing toward projects approved by the climate mavens. This is called the “all of government” approach in which every agency gets involved in pushing the climate agenda, even if it’s not the primary job of that agency. The pressure never stops.

In short, the climate change debate could not be more relevant to investors. Those calling the shots in the Green New Deal (what I call the Green New Scam) will decide which industries win or lose, which projects get financed (or not), which initiatives are subsidized by the government or left to wither on the vine and which companies will feel the regulatory heat if they don’t get with Biden’s programs.

Climate change is not a sideshow. Nothing is more relevant to markets, investors and asset allocators today.

Climate change is real but it’s slow and powerful and has nothing to do with trace gasses such as carbon dioxide and methane. It’s caused by the interaction of complex systems such as sun cycles, ocean currents, wind patterns including the jet stream, volcanic activity, salinity levels (in turn caused by ocean current subduction) and other mega-systems over which humans have no control.

We’re living in a world where major forces beyond our control have been hijacked by elites to create a climate of fear to achieve their agenda of total government command over your life. It’s time for Americans and citizens around the world to learn the facts, push back on the elites and reestablish public policy based on real science. It’s time to push the flawed models, phony data and bogus warnings out of the way.

Unfortunately, the public relies on media elites and political leaders for their information. As decades roll by and scare stories are discredited time and again, public skepticism will rise and the alarmists will lose credibility.

The danger is that alarmists may pass legislation, limit choices and impose costs in the name of climate change before the public catches on to the scam. At that point, the economic damage becomes semi-permanent even if alarmism fades.

In the elites’ vision, citizens will be confined to small towns or cities for extended periods. Travel will be tightly restricted. Appliances will be downsized with no consumer choice allowed. Taxes will be imposed on targeted activities to discourage use. Education will be turned to indoctrination to raise a generation who believe in the climate lies needed to gain support for these measures (that kind of indoctrination has been underway for some years).

Welcome to the world of the green elite. It’s coercive, restrictive, arrogant and apparently not much fun. It’s a world where the elites control everything and you do as you’re told. It’s a world based on lies and fear. It’s coming sooner than you expect unless citizens can join hands, reassert the truth and push the elites back into a corner where they belong.