BP Critic Matt Simmons Found Dead

2010-08-11

Posted by Vatic at 02:00

Vatic Note: I don't believe he was offed because he was a deep critic of BP, He was not only vocal but also very very visible  appearing on many different talk shows and interviews but then so were others of his ilk, rather I think he got offed due to his work on alternative energy which was actually going to turn into something good. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. Here is an excerpt from the link above here:

"........Simmons founded The Ocean Energy Institute, a think tank and venture capital fund in Rockland to promote offshore wind energy research and development."   

He was the driving force behind this very unique project that was generating a great deal of interest and resources for pursuing the alternative energies from a unique perspective.  Add to that his vicious pursuit of BP in the press, it was almost too convenient, so it may have been a combination of both. 

Matt Simmons apparently drowned at his home Sunday night
http://www.wlbz2.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=123586&catid=3
Krister Rollins, Producer 1 day ago
WLBZ2.com, North Haven Maine (News Center)

NORTH HAVEN, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - The Rockland area is mourning the loss of the man who had hoped to make the city the heart of a new energy industry. Matthew Simmons, a longtime summer resident of Rockport, died Sunday night at a summer house on North Haven island. He was 67 years old. According to the Medical Examiner's office, Simmons drowned. A statement earlier in the day from the Ocean Energy institute in Rockland, which Simmons created, said Simmons suffered a heart attack while using his hot tub. The Medical Examiner's office says Simmons was suffering from heart disease, which may have been a contributing factor in the drowning.
Simmons spent his career as a leading investment banker for the energy industry. In recent years he had become prominent in Maine as well, and was a leading proponent of building large, offshore wind turbines to generate electricity for the state. Simmons had founded the Ocean energy Institute (OEI) in Rockland to pursue research into a variety of ways to produce energy from the ocean. Just three weeks ago, he announced plans to also start a for-profit side of the institute, and said he planned to raise a billion dollars in capital from investors to push the development and construction of offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Maine.

Through his energy work, Simmons had become an advisory to Sen. Susan Collins, Gov. John Baldacci and other state leaders. But his contributions were also local. Most notably, Simmons, his wife, Ellen and two daughters bought and rebuilt the old Strand Theater in downtown Rockland. They also created the non-profit organization that runs the theater, which has become a center of the city's business and cultural district.

He had also been closely involved with the Island Institute and the Farnsworth Art Museum, among other causes. Retired Prof. Wickham Skinner of St. George, who was Simmons' professor at Harvard Business School, called Simmons a "born leader". Skinner is a member of the board of the OEI, and told News center the work of the Institute should continue: "The idea of the Ocean Energy Institute is so good and so strong, I'm hoping we'll pick it up and keep it going and find not another Matt Simmons but somebody who can do it."

NEWS CENTER