By Sebastian Anthony – What spans 1,600 hectares, cost $2.2 billion to build, and potentially fries hundreds of thousands of birds per year? The new BrightSource solar power plant in California’s Mojave Dessert. The plant, which uses some 350,000 garage-door-sized mirrors to focus sunlight on three boiler towers, also acts as a death ray, instantly igniting […]
Archive | Solar Power
Apple's Tim Cook: Business isn’t just about making a profit
By: Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith. He leads a company that some would consider the epitome of ruthless global capitalism. But Apple chief executive Tim Cook has shocked some in the US with an impassioned attack on the single-minded pursuit of profit – and a direct appeal to climate-change deniers not to buy shares in his firm. Eyewitnesses […]
GREEN FAIL: Solar Panels Catch Fire on High School Roof – Black Plume Seen for Miles
“Hey, let’s put them on every school.” By Jim Hoft When Webster Groves High School purchased solar panels to put on the roof of the school, no one told them they could catch on fire! The fire department was called on Saturday to put out the flames. At least one classroom was severely damaged. There […]
Harry Reid’s Pet Green Project Goes Solyndra on Him
By Townhall.com staff. Blogger, Townhall.com Another federally subsidized green project bites the dust. The Amonix solar facility in Las Vegas, according to former employees, has been out of operation since May of this year. The solar facility was backed by $21.5 million in federal grants and tax breaks. Naturally, Harry Reid was an early and vocal supporter […]
Shady Solar Dealings
The president’s green energy policies don’t add up By Donald J Bourdreaux Speaking recently at America’s largest solar energy plant — in Boulder City, Nev. — President Obama insisted that green energy is so important, “You’d think that everybody would be supportive of solar power. And yet, if some politicians have their way, there won’t […]
Solar company bankrupt despite 'win-win' DOE loan
By Joel Gehrke In keeping with the recent trend of so-called green companies going into the red, another solar energy company supported by President Obama’s top administration officials declared bankruptcy today. Solar Trust for America received $2.1 billion in conditional loan guarantees from the Department of Energy — “the largest amount ever offered to a […]
5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech
Investors Business Daily Editorial Energy: The White House billed President Obama’s energy policy speech as a response to mounting criticism of record high gas prices. What he delivered was a grab bag of excuses and outright falsehoods. Obama’s main message to struggling motorists was: It’s not my fault, so stop whining. The speech only got […]
Bankrupt Solyndra Caught Destroying Brand New Parts
From CBS San Francisco After filing for bankruptcy last year, Fremont solar company Solyndra still owes American taxpayers half a billion dollars. But CBS 5 caught them destroying millions of dollars worth of parts. At Solyndra’s sprawling complex in Fremont, workers in white jumpsuits were unwrapping brand new glass tubes used in solar panels last […]
The 11 Other Solyndras
By Doug Powers Yesterday there was another White House document dump regarding Solyndra’s bankruptcy filing just after the 2010 elections. While Solyndra is the crown jewel in the Department of Energy’s “you can’t make a green omelette without breaking a few hundred million taxpayer eggs” trial-and-error initiative, there are many other examples. CBS News’ Sharyl […]
Household Electricity Bills Skyrocket
Obama in 2008: “Under my plan… electricity rates will necessarily skyrocket.” By Dennis Cauchon Electric bills have skyrocketed in the last five years, a sharp reversal from a quarter-century when Americans enjoyed stable power bills even as they used more electricity. Households paid a record $1,419 on average for electricity in 2010, the fifth consecutive […]
North Dakota Suing Minnesota Over Alleged Interstate Commerce Infringements.
From Plains Daily North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is announcing a lawsuit against the State of Minnesota over the latter state’s restrictions on using power from coal plants, among other sources. “It is unfortunate it has come to this. As Minnesota seeks to rebuild its economy, it will need energy,” said Stenehjem in a […]
Solar Project That Received $1.2 Billion Federal Loan Sponsored by Financially Troubled Firm
By Stephen Clark With the Solyndra scandal still swirling, the Obama administration is under pressure to reveal the financial condition of the solar companies that received $4.75 billion in similar federal loan guarantees on the last day of the program. Republican lawmakers on two House committees are seeking details about the loans given to First […]
$737 Million Green Loan to Pelosi Kin Fuels Outrage
By Martin Gould GOP claims that the Obama administration’s green energy loan guarantee program is mired in cronyism grew on Friday after a company tied to Nancy Pelosi’s brother-in-law got the lion’s share of the final government hand-outs made before Friday’s end of the fiscal year. The decision to guarantee $737 million comes hard on […]
Solyndra Executives to Invoke Fifth Amendment Rights
By Matthew L Wald The top two executives of a solar-energy company that filed for bankruptcy after getting $528 million in loan guarantees from the Obama administration said Tuesday that they will invoke their constitutional rights against compelled self-incrimination when they appear at a Congressional hearing. The chief executive of Solyndra, Brian Harrison, and Bill […]
Promises of green jobs withering on vine
Subsidies fail to help sector take root By Ben Wolfgang The green-jobs revolution may be going up in smoke.Despite billions of dollars in federal investment and cheerleading from President Obama, even the most ardent supporters of a transformed, job-generating energy sector based largely on wind, solar and other renewable sources acknowledge that their dreams have […]