Great Moments in Hypocrisy #6378

Dem Mega-Donor Commutes to Work on Gas-Guzzling Yacht: Bay Area boater Nat Simons funnels shadowy Bermudan money to U.S. green groups

Nice ride, but not enough rod holders

A major Democratic donor and the head of a foundation that finances some of the nation’s leading environmentalist groups commutes to and from work on a gas-guzzling luxury yacht, the Washington Free Beacon has learned.

At around 8 a.m. every morning, Nathaniel Simons leaves Berkeley, Calif., where he lives, aboard the Elan. The 1,550-horsepower, 54-foot yacht drops him off at the Port of San Francisco, a block from the offices of the Meritage Group, the hedge fund management company he leads.

About seven hours later, the Elan returns to San Francisco, picks up Simons, and brings him back across the Bay, weaving between Alcatraz and Treasure Island before docking in the Berkeley Marina.

A nice animated gif of his daily commute courtesy of marinetraffic.com.

His 2014 political giving far exceeds aggregate limits on campaign contributions overturned by the Supreme Court this year in a decision heavily criticized by Democrats.

Simons’ largest financial contributions to the political left have come not through campaign contributions but by way of the tens of millions of dollars that his foundation funnels from overseas financial institutions to major left-wing groups in the United States.

He and his wife Laura run the Sea Change Foundation, which used its $134 million in assets last year to bankroll groups including the Center for American Progress, the Sierra Club, the Natural Resource Defense Council, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Energy Foundation.

I don't have too much experience with a boat that big and powerful, but I would guess it gets something on the order of 5 gallons of diesel to the mile, with a commute of about 10 miles both ways twice a day for an expenditure of 200 gallons of Gaea murdering fossil fuels. A trip which would cost about $3.30 (one way) using BART, the Bay Area "Rapid" Transit system. He probably qualifies for the Senior discount, which would bring it down to $1.20.