California solar projects plan undergoing major overhaul

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | September 6, 2014 | Carolyn Lochhead

[artichokegrower]

With billions of dollars in federal stimulus money in hand, the Obama administration set out five years ago on a grand experiment in the California desert.

The goal: Open public lands to renewable-energy development to wean the nation from fossil fuels.

The results haven't been pretty, a fact the administration has tacitly acknowledged by devising a new plan, expected to be released this month, to find better places to put industrial-scale solar farms in the California desert.

[artichokegrower]

Destroyed miles of desert environment, lights migrating birds on fire, doesn't produce enough solar energy and must use natural gas, wasted billions of taxpayer dollars but other than that it has been a great success.

[Cowboy Bob]

Why is it ok to put solar panels in the pristine deserts of California, but it’s not ok to drill for oil in the barren wasteland of Alaska’s ANWR?

[dhs12345]

Wonder how many CA ranchers and farmers were booted off of their land in favor of renewable energy projects.

[McGavin999]

AND sent most of that money to Spain.

[Dixie Yooper]

The only investor in these Green stimulus projects that have experienced any kind of financial payback is the DNC from extorting campaign contributions before, during and after the transfer of stimulus funds to build all this crap. Of course, the DNC never invested a cent of their own money in any of these ventures. This is a text book lesson on how to turn tax revenue into campaign contributions to yourself.

[hal ogen]

Criminals. Follow the money...

[Texicanus]

May I recommend putting the solar sites off-shore on platforms in the Pacific Ocean instead of the desert. We need to save the Californica deserts and the multi-colored sand lizards for future generations if we survive the global climate change. And besides it gets too hot to work in the desert after 10 am. /s

While the’re at it, they might want to use that extra energy to power some on-board desalination plants for salt water. They could bottle the fresh water in recycled beer bottles right on the platforms and ship it back to Californica for distribution to the poor and homeless. /ss

Any birds, fish, or other edible creatures injured or killed in the process could be returned along with the water. I can hear the activist shouting - “Free water, free meat, can’t be beat, let’s eat” as they march to pick up their “share”. /sss

Well, it’s as good an idea as anything the democrats have suggested and it probably cost a whole lot more of the taxpayers money.

PS. Oh hell, just forget about the water, brew some of that famous Whitehut beer instead and party on.

[aumrl]

Why is it ok to put solar panels in the pristine deserts of California, but it’s not ok to drill for oil in the barren wasteland of Alaska’s ANWR?

thanks. this is a question we should continue to ask.

[DUMBGRUNT]

He said that by comparison, domestic cats kill anywhere from 1.4 billion to 3.7 billion birds a year and that nearly a billion die from crashing into buildings.

Because cats kill many; the more the merrier is OK!

[Prophet2520]

This sounds more like a liberal post. Let’s see if I have this argument correct. We should not build a Terawatt power plant because some desert tortises had to be relocated, a small amount of birds die, and some India relics were relocated. Oooh rah, go liberalism!

The Ivanpah used NO tax dollars. What they got was a tax rebate. In other words the $650 million dollars they got out of the larger program from 2009 was OFF the taxes they pay. Oh, but wait, I thought you were conservative and in favor of paying more taxes? No? You mean you support tax breaks?