Pirate's Cove

Venice (the one in Italy) has been in the news lately because it has been flooding, and, of course, it is being blamed on man-caused climate change. It makes no difference to the climate cultists that it was built on a swamp, and has been flooding for centuries, and, there’s nothing new about a sea level increase during a Holocene warm period. Also, there are tectonic forces at play. But, what of corruption? This is rather surprising, coming from the left leaning Daily Beast

Venice Is Flooding Because of Corruption

In 1984, long before global warming and rising sea levels were common notions, Venice already was sinking. The future was so dire for the lagoon city that the local council voted to spend whatever it would take to study and then build a high-tech floodgate system to combat the rising Adriatic Sea.

It took nearly 20 years and a starting budget of $1.8 billion to come up with the so-called “Moses” plan. The project is an acronym for Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico or Experimental Electromechanical Module, and plays on the name of the biblical figure who parted the Red Sea.

Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s then prime minister, inaugurated the project in 2003 with the promise it would be completed by 2011, which was pushed back to 2014, which was pushed back to 2016, and, at last check, to 2021. Had the project been completed in time, Moses’ 78 massive mechanical gates might have limited this week’s devastating floods, which inundated 85 percent of the city with a tidal surge that topped six feet, causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage and putting ancient treasures at risk. Moses likely would not have completely kept out the surge, experts say, but it would have certainly done more than the alternative, which was to do nothing but tally the damage and wait for the next high tide.

So, it’s not done yet. What is the cost of it now?

In the 16 years since the Moses plan was put in place, the budget to finish the project has exploded to more than $7 billion and continues to bleed money at a dizzying rate. Some of the money has gone to bad management or corrupt contractors who have swindled the builders. In July, workers discovered that the 156 hinges—each weighing 36 tons—on the underwater barriers that were supposed to last a century are nearly rusted shut after just a decade under water. The job was awarded to a company called Gruppo Mantovani, which won the $275 million contract without there being a formal bid. La Stampa newspaper reports that the company used sub-par steel and is being investigated. Replacing the hinges will take a further 10 years and cost another $34 million, according to the Consorzio Venezia Nuova, which is in charge of the project.

And therein lies the problem with all the “solutions” that the Cult of Climastrology wants implement: they say it will cost X, but, the real costs will explode. Same with all the taxes and fees they demand be implemented. Well, one of the problems

More troubling still is that a lot of the money meant to finish the project has been siphoned away by rampant corruption. Several special funds fed by art lovers and patrons of the city that were meant to defray costs have disappeared into thin air. In 2014 after an investigation, Venice’s mayor Giorgio Orsoni resigned and 35 people tied to the project were arrested for bribery, kickbacks, extortion and money laundering. The investigation traced some $27 million that had disappeared from the Moses coffers to kickbacks from contractors and foreign bank accounts allegedly used to line the pockets of about 100 people.

How much graft and corruption did we see with the “green” portions of Obama’s Stimulus? Just mention the name “Solyndra.” Government is inefficient, irresponsible with The People’s money, and open to graft and corruption. And, as the article goes on to discuss, the Moses plan was poorly conceived, and even those parts that are operational do not work right. When some gates were tested they were so loud and vibrated so much people thought there was an earthquake.