Monday, January 24, 2011

ZMC Lobbyist Says Senator Carl Levin Supportive of Zenn (a year ago anyway)

From Facebook
Poor Sylvia McCoullough.  Lobbyists tend to shy away from media attention unless it serves a good purpose.  But now here she is in my blog as a centerpiece in the latest chapter about EEStor Inc.  Ouch. (dont worry, this won't hurt a bit)

 About a year ago, I was looking into her work on behalf of ZMC America (Zenn Motor Company's American subsidiary) to see if I could learn anything about what America's elected officials are doing in relation to EEStor.   As I reported previously, no less than the Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin had taken an interest in EEStor/Zenn.

In a prior article, I spelled out some of this and was of course accused of being a liar among other things (thanks geniuses).  At the time, I could have pointed to McCoullough but I figured why drag an innocent bystander into the dirty (but occasionally amusing) debate around whether or not EEStor is real.  Thanks to a Facebook posting today by Mrs. McCoullough on Former Michigan Governor Granholm's page, I no longer have to protect the identity of someone I've never met or spoken to.    It caused me to do a google and find another Facebook reference to EEStor by Mrs. McCoullough.   It is this second posting which interests me the most since it basically provides additional evidence for what I reported previously, that Senator Levin had offered some support for a Zenn facility in Michigan.

In a Discussion Board posting (exact date unknown-'over a year ago'), McCoullough responds to a query from a random guy (talk show host actually: TalkLansing.net) about EEStor:

Lots of work to be done yet, and we have only a small window of opportunity to pull all of this together; as China, Japan, England and Canada are also hoping to win these two new green energy Industries.....but Michigan is in the runnning, and we're working hard to make it all happen. Senator Carl Levin is being supportive and working with us on winning a grant for ZMC who is also investing $5Mil in the new Drivetrain Development & Research Center. 

Later she adds:

 I will keep you posted, and if you like I can send you our presentation information; has all the information regaridng both the battery and ZENN/ZMC Inc. 
EESTor will have a functioning prototype within the next two -three months, if not sooner. They have surpassed all their milestones, and have only one more validation before they all the paper work is signed and they set a production date. The last test will be final wivery soon and a funtioning prototype ready to be introduced to the World!
The same venture capital group that invested in Google and Amazon have also invested in EESTor Inc., and say this battery will do for this industry what the "chip" did for the Silicon Valley, which would be a miracle for Michigan!
The battery will be lighter, cheaper, and be a better battery than what is being proposed for the Volt; plus its been developed in America and will be produced in America, using Bariam , which is commonly found throughout North America; unlike Lithium which is found mainly in China, Russia and Bolivia. 
Yes, the battery will make all electric cars cheaper and better than anything on the development horizon today, including the GM Volt. 
See ZENN Inc. website and EESTOR Cedar Park, Texas website....lot's of great information. 
Thank you so much for your interest, and I'll be sure an let you know what's happening! 
Good Luck with your new Show! 
Sylvia McCollough

It's sort of hard to make that up. But I suppose there will be a few knuckle heads who cast aspersions on Mrs. McCoullough. 


Senator Levin Wagging His Finger at EEStor Doubters
Ok, what does this all add up to?  Not a tremendous amount but it is yet another clue.  As I reported previously, when Senator Levin's office began investigating whether or not they wanted to be involved with Zenn (McCoullough's client), Levin called Lockheed Martin as I learned from an anonymous source Lockheed Martin authorized me to speak with at a conference a year ago (I kept that source anonymous at the source's request).  A call from the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman is a big deal considering Lockheed Martin's almost entire existence depends upon what that committee allows to happen from a $800Bil/yr budget standpoint.   So that call went to Lockheed CEO Robert Steven's office.  And as I noted, the timing of the call was prior to the ZMC proposal being submitted to the DOE (which included a reference to Senator Levin in one of the letters).  ...which basically means Lockheed didn't scare Levin away from EEStor when he called them inquiring. 




This paragraph is solely for the international audience (and a majority of Americans) who have no idea what any of this means. To keep it simple:  funding for the US military emanates from laws passed every year allocating funds.  So, if you're a  top leader in the Military with a great new way to spend several billion dollars, at some point you probably have to run it by the legislature, specifically the Senate Armed Services Commitee, chaired by Senator Levin and Senator John McCain.   It is a very powerful position committee in the US federal government and Levin is a very powerful person in our government (my fingers tremble as I type this). 


Does any of this mean the US government has an official position on EEStor?  No, but it does mean there is some activity afoot and it's those afoots that  keep me writing. 





3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn, but that's some fun investigative journalism. Stick with it--all of us loyal readers really enjoy it.

Stephen Boulet said...

"See [...] EESTOR Cedar Park, Texas website....lot's of great information."

You're right. It is hard to make that up.

Kerry Thurber said...

Doing my duty casting aspersions at Mrs. McCullough:

As you quote her: "EESTor will have a functioning prototype within the next two -three months, if not sooner."

The aspersions kind of cast themselves, don't they. Absolutely false. Withholding judgment on whether the falsehood was intentional deception or simply confusion resulting from a deceiver upstream.