{"id":61220,"date":"2025-10-11T07:07:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=61220"},"modified":"2025-10-11T07:07:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T11:07:52","slug":"the-end-of-a-boondoggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/?p=61220","title":{"rendered":"The End Of A Boondoggle"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, The Daily Caller<\/a> reported that the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California\u2019s Mojave Desert will be shut down next year.<\/p>\n

The article reports:<\/p>\n

Boosted by $1.6 billion in taxpayer-backed loans in 2011, the gargantuan project was hailed<\/a> by President Obama\u2019s first energy secretary, Ernest Moniz, as \u201can example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead, it has become yet another example of central planners squandering taxpayer money on an ill-conceived green-energy boondoggle. Covering five square miles of the sun-drenched Mojave Desert, 65 miles southwest of Las Vegas, Ivanpah features three 459-foot towers and 173,500 computer-controlled mirrors known as heliostats. \u201cThe mirrors reflect heat from the sun to a receiver mounted on top of the tower,\u201d energy consultant Edward Smeloff told the New York Post. \u201cThat heats a fluid. It creates steam [that spins] a conventional steam turbine. It is complicated.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So complicated, in fact, that the project ran with breathtaking inefficiency. Since going into operation in 2014, Ivanpah, built at a cost of $2.2 billion, never came close to meeting its boosters\u2019 lofty expectations. In the world of solar energy, Ivanpah found itself unable to compete with conventional photovoltaic installations, which themselves are unable to meet the soaring demands of electricity-hungry artificial intelligence (AI).<\/strong><\/p>\n

The solar farm was a very efficient bird incinerator:<\/p>\n

But whatever its shortcomings in producing electricity, Ivanpah has been a super-efficient killer of birds. The light generated from the mirrors\u2019 reflection of the sun can reach temperatures of 1,000 degrees. Birds unfortunate enough to fly over the \u201cclean-energy\u201d facility could be burned alive in the intense heat. According to the Association of Avian Veterinarians, Ivanpah is believed to be responsible for at least 6,000 bird deaths each year,\u201d the Post reported.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The article concludes:<\/p>\n

America\u2019s creaky electric grid desperately needs reliable baseline energy to power the nation\u2019s homes and businesses. Energy-hungry, AI-driven data centers require gobs of electricity 24\/7\/365 that is best generated on-site by small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). Furthermore, the U.S. can flex its muscles by exporting its abundant oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and even coal, to eager customers worldwide. In this emerging world, there should be no place for subsidized, intermittent wind and solar power, much less the soon-to-be shuttered Ivanpah monstrosity in the Mojave Desert.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And if the powers that be in Beijing still want to be the global leaders in green energy, let them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drill, baby, drill.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday, The Daily Caller reported that the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in California\u2019s Mojave Desert will be shut down next year. The article reports: Boosted by $1.6 billion in taxpayer-backed loans in 2011, the gargantuan project was hailed by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8015,7015],"class_list":["post-61220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ivanpah-solar-power-facility","tag-the-daily-caller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=61220"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61221,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61220\/revisions\/61221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=61220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=61220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rightwinggranny.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=61220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}