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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A former executive of a California solar power company was sentenced Tuesday to 6 1/2 years in prison and ordered to pay nearly $620 million in restitution for his role in a $1 billion fraud scheme, federal prosecutors said.

Dodge has announced a “last call” for its Charger and Challenger models, as the company is “celebrating the end of an era” and switching to electric vehicles — whether their customers want them or not. “The Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger, in current form, are coming to an end,” announced Dodge’s parent company Stellantis on Monday. The company added that it plans to release the look of its final 2023 Charger and Challenger models, which will come with a commemorative “Last Call” underhood plaque.

Native American activist Nathan Phillips wants to meet with Pope Francis following the incident with Covington Catholic High School students from Kentucky whom Phillips confronted last Friday in Washington, D.C. in an incident that went viral over the weekend. Phillips garnered national attention when he peddled a false story of being threatened by the boys when it turned out Phillips had approached the boys, banging a drum and chanting, positioning himself mere inches in front of one boy who stood silently and did not move, except to smile.

Devotion to the global warming fraud has driven from office the head of government of a major democracy. Facing a no confidence vote from the Liberal Party (which is actually what passes for a conservative party in Australia – the Labor Party is the leftist party Down Under), Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull resigned. Turnbull had lost 40 to 45 what the Aussies call a "spill motion" to short-circuit a leadership ballot in the party.  The party then chose Scott Morrison as new party leader and therefore prime minister in their coalition with the National Party, which holds 16 seats and represents rural areas.  ...

President Donald Trump has disputed climate change, pledged a revival of coal and disparaged wind power, and his nominee to head the Energy Department was once highly skeptical of the agency’s value. What this means for states’ efforts to promote renewable energy is an open question. States that are pushing for greater reliance on wind and solar power are not quite sure what to expect as Trump takes over. Many of them depend heavily on federal renewable-energy tax credits, grants and research, much of which comes from the Energy Department. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Trump’s pick to lead the...

On May 7, Tom Friedman published an op-ed in the New York Times filled with praise for Germany’s green-power program. “What the Germans have done in converting almost 30 percent of their electric grid to solar and wind energy from near zero in about 15 years has been a great contribution to the stability of our planet and its climate,” gushed Friedman. “ . . . This is a world-saving achievement.” Friedman is not alone in his admiration for the German energy program. President Obama has hailed it too, saying that the world should “look to Berlin” as the model...

An adorable baby bald eagle whose parents were executed by solar panels. (AP) The Obama administration has opened up a new front in its war on America’s eagles. For years, the president has relied on wind turbines to orchestrate his eco-genocide. Biologists estimate that wind farms kill as many as 328,000 birds each year by chopping them out of the sky. The administration’s successful weaponization of solar farms will only accelerate the death rate. Studies indicate that the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California has proved to be an especially efficient apparatus for eagle extermination. The facility, which...

(CNN) – Hoping to help close the gap between workers' skills and the needs of businesses, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will announce he's putting hundreds of millions toward job training programs that produce highly skilled workers. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will head to a community college in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to make the announcement. The funding will come in two parts: $500 million toward a new job training competition that pairs community colleges with businesses, and $100 million for new apprenticeship programs to train workers. The White House says the new initiatives are meant to combat a...

<p>I’ve written before that Obama’s Solyndra-style handouts have been a grotesque waste of tax dollars.</p> <p>I’ve argued that they destroy jobs rather than create jobs.</p> <p>I’ve gone on TV to explain why government intervention in energy creates a cesspool of cronyism.</p> <p>I’ve even shared a column from Obama’s hometown newspaper that criticizes the rank corruption in green-energy programs.</p>

No longer profitable, thanks to renewables - but vital to keep the lights on The German government is engaged in increasingly heated negotiations with energy companies in an effort to stop them closing carbon-emitting power plants which have been rendered unprofitable by the national renewables policies.Last week power giant RWE grumbled that many of its coal and gas power stations "are no longer profitable to operate", and said it would be closing some of them down. Its rival E.ON also said that it had plants "working for nothing", and announced plant shutdowns. The problem for the fossil-fuel powerplants is the...

It ain't easy being green. But the rewards can be many.Much of the information for this report was provided by one of my confidential informants on Middle Eastern affairs, Sheik Mohamed ali-Baba. In the interest of full disclosure, the Sheik on October 16th announced the al Qaeda endorsement of President Obama for reelection as necessary for the survival of the United States under Islam. According to the Sheik, he is the only candidate who understands the beautiful truths of Islam and hence of al Qaeda. That endorsement doubtless played a major role in President Obama's overwhelming victory. * * *...

After raising more than $100 million over the past seven years, GreenVolts, a California startup that makes concentrating photovoltaic systems, has closed its doors after a major investor abruptly withdrew financial support for the company. “A sudden, and unexpected, change in direction from a major strategic investor has affected GreenVolts’ access to funding,” the company said Wednesday in a statement, referring to ABB, the Swiss power and automation giant. “The impact was at the last minute and so severe that GreenVolts cannot continue normal operation and has reduced its workforce to a small team to provide customer support and engage...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — In a surprising turnaround, the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere in the U.S. has fallen dramatically to its lowest level in 20 years, and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal. Many of the world's leading climate scientists didn't see the drop coming, in large part because it happened as a result of market forces rather than direct government action against carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere. Michael Mann, director of...

(CBS News) It was number 17 on the White House's 100 Recovery Projects That Are Changing America list. Now, Abound Solar is about to join the taxpayer-supported green energy firms that have filed for bankruptcy. Abound Solar was approved for a $400 million dollar taxpayer loan guarantee under the same program as did now-bankrupt Solyndra. Abound received about $70 million of the total by last Sept., but failed to meet certain financial milestones and the Energy Department cut off the rest of the loan. The Department of Energy announced news of Abound's impending bankruptcy in an article on its Website...

WASHINGTON—Solar-panel manufacturer Abound Solar Inc. is closing its doors, putting about $68 million in U.S.-backed loans at risk of not being repaid. Abound, of Loveland, Colo., said it had failed to come to terms with potential buyers over the last several months and would seek bankruptcy-court protection next week. It said 125 employees would lose their jobs. Republicans were quick to criticize the firm's collapse as the latest setback to President Barack Obama's energy policy. In the highest-profile case, solar-panel manufacturer Solyndra LLC declared bankruptcy in September after receiving $528 million in federally backed loans. Last month Mitt Romney, the...

Navy’s green fleet runs into fiscal storm Demo still on for next month, includes San Diego ship Republicans in Congress are blocking the Navy’s march toward a future in which jets and ships run on biofuels, saying the “green” most in question is whether the United States has the money, with a shrinking military budget, to invest in a pricey fuel experiment. The Navy will demonstrate its “great green fleet” concept next month, a toe in the water toward easing the country away from dependence on unfriendly foreign oil. But opposition in Congress could push the effort onto the rocks...

Household electricity bills will rise by as much as a quarter to pay for wind farms and other forms of renewable energy, according to a new report. The study challenges the Government’s claims that energy bills will actually fall in the next eight years because of energy efficiency savings. This week the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will publish its draft energy bill, setting out how it plans to reform the electricity market and reduce the cost to households. DECC has insisted that energy bills will begin to fall from next year and will be reduced by seven...

President Obama said that his policies would cause the cost of electricity to skyrocket. Well, it has, but not only because of Obama. . . . the cost is passed on to ratepayers, who have no idea that they are paying extra to subsidize “green” fantasies.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Hybrid vehicle maker Bright Automotive has announced plans to close, blasting the Department of Energy for failing to finalize a loan that the firm says would have kept it afloat. In a letter dated Tuesday to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Bright CEO Reuben Munger and COO Mike Donoughe said they were withdrawing their application for a $314 million loan and winding down their operations. The executives claimed they had been strung along for the past few years as the government insisted on increasingly stringent loan requirements. "The actions -- or better said 'lack of action' --...

Power Plant Closures Due to Environmental Regulations to Take Toll on TownsPublished December 20, 2011 | Associated Press For more than 90 years, the coal-fired power plant in Glen Lyn, Va., has been churning out electricity and contributing to local prosperity. Of late, it has generated nearly a quarter of the revenue for the $1 million budget of the town. Yet when the plant ultimately shuts down to comply with new federal air pollution regulations by the end of 2014, says Town Manager Howard Spencer, so too might the community of 200. "If the town lost all of that revenue,"...