When Donald Trump chooses a champion to defend, it’s a sure bet that the champion has serious flaws. After all, Trump “fell in love” with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, trusts Russian President Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community, and thinks that the people in Charlottesville who proudly marched beside neo-Nazis under a common purpose were “very fine people.”
With incredible grit, skill, and pride, the 7,000 workers here at Sempra Energy are helping lead the American Energy Revolution. They are not only making our nation WEALTHIER but they are making America SAFER by building a future of American Energy INDEPENDENCE! pic.twitter.com/Hqn9wEIXo9
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 14, 2019
Trump’s latest champion is Sempra Energy, an electric company based in California which is indeed a wealthy corporation who have publicly expressed their concern about climate change (ironically, they still chose to meet with and pose for photos with a climate change denier) and their green initiatives to address those concerns.
However, that same company has a shade and contradictory record. Critics note that their wealth results from their monopoly status and enormous rates, as the company charges their customers 46 percent more than the national average,
The San Diego Free Press writes that:
‘Sempra promotes itself as an upstanding community participant with only the best intentions for its customers, but in conjunction with SDG&E, it charges exorbitant rates and fights tooth and nail behind the scenes to maintain its monopoly. It does so at the expense of electricity consumers.
‘By reviewing Sempra marketing material and comparing Sempra’s statements to its actions, a clear pattern of misdirection and exploitation emerges.’
Additionally, their green initiatives only sound good when they’re not compared to other electricity providers in the state. When profits are compared against funding allotted to these green initiatives, Sempra falls far behind.
‘Sempra’s flier claims that SDG&E is a leader in renewable energy by comparing it to the standard offerings from other California utilities. It conveniently ignores the fact that Community Choice programs offer 100 percent renewable energy for less than SDG&E’s standard rates. The claims made in Sempra’s flier would be like the San Diego Padres bragging that they are beating their least successful competitors while desperately trying to avoid comparisons with any successful Major League teams.’
Twitter was immediately suspicious of Trump’s praise for Sempra and did some research. Â Read some of their comments below:
Featured image via Flickr by Gage Skidmore under a Creative Commons license
