A-Power Energy Generation Systems - United Steelworkers union President Leo Gerard, front left, poses with leaders of the plan to build a wind farm in West Texas. At center is Jinxiang Lu, chairman and CEO of the Chinese company A-Power Energy Generation Systems, with a leader of the investment group for the project, Cappy McGarr, a wealthy Texas philanthropist, investor and longtime fixture in Democratic politics, who has given heavily to Democratic candidates across the country and was an early backer of President Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The Chinese firm and its American partners, a group of investors known as the U.S. Renewable Energy Group, are hoping to receive money through the U.S Department of Energy. At rear, from left, are three other leaders of the investment group, lobbyist John O'Hanlon, Democratic fundraiser Ed Cunningham, and mostly obscured, lobbyist Moses Boyd.
Just three weeks before Election Day, Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), center, arrives for the dedication of a wind power manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nev., on Oct. 12, 2010. With him are, second from left, Kai Huang, deputy mayor of Shenyang, China; Jinxiang Lu, second from right, chairman and CEO of A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese company, and Tom Conway, right, international vice president of the United Steelworkers union. Reid's support, and the plan to create jobs in Nevada, helped blunt Congressional criticism that stimulus money was going to the Chinese company, which plans a large wind farm in West Texas, and gave Reid a chance for a photo opportunity during a tight re-election campaign. So far the company has not started employing anyone, or building anything, in Nevada. The company is hoping to receive money through the U.S. Department of Energy.