The “environmentally friendly” method of “green energy” production using wind farms, has been known for some time now to also result in the wanton slaughter of birds, including many endangered species. But now we can add another “environmentally friendly” method of “green energy” production to that list of anti-avian power plants: A $2.2 billion solar farm in California is responsible for the slaughter of a plethora of birds.
Unsurprisingly, this project is heavily subsidized by the taxpayers:
“U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is scheduled to speak Thursday at an opening ceremony for the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station, which received a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee.
“The $2.2 billion solar farm, which spans over five square miles of federal land southwest of Las Vegas, includes three towers as tall as 40-story buildings. Nearly 350,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, reflect [and concentrates] sunlight onto boilers atop the towers, creating steam that drives power generators.'”
In effect, taxpayers are subsidizing a bird slaughtering death ray. But not only will taxpayers subsidize the construction of a death ray, the cost to consumers will be shifted and hidden by subsidies paid for by… the taxpayers:
“Utility-scale solar plants have come under fire for their costs–Ivanpah costs about four times as much as a conventional natural gas-fired plant but will produce far less electricity—and also for the amount of land they require.
“That makes for expensive power. Experts have estimated that electricity from giant solar projects will cost at least twice as much as electricity from conventional sources. But neither the utilities that have contracted to buy the power nor state regulators have disclosed what the price will be, only that it will be passed on to electricity customers.”
It only remains to be seen what they will do with all the dead birds. One possibility:
