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Obama-era ‘clean energy’ solar power plant still uses fossil fuels – and kills thousands of birds annually
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This is part 2 of a series on California’s troubled Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in the Mojave Desert.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – More than a decade after it opened, an Obama-era taxpayer-backed «clean energy» solar plant in California still burns fossil fuels and kills thousands of birds each year.
The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a massive facility in the Mojave Desert near the California-Nevada border, uses hundreds of thousands of mirrors to reflect sunlight into three towering structures, generating intense heat to produce electricity.
But those same beams have proven deadly.
A composite image shows a tower at the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant alongside a bird found with burn injuries linked to concentrated solar heat exposure, according to federal wildlife research. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
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Federal researchers and monitoring reports have documented thousands of birds being killed after flying through the plant’s concentrated solar rays — a phenomenon known as «solar flux.»
The plant also relies on natural gas to start up each day – producing tens of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide annually – an amount comparable to the energy use of thousands of homes, raising questions about how «clean» the facility really is.
Standing near the site, its footprint is unmistakable. The towers glow intensely as beams of reflected sunlight converge at their tops, creating an almost surreal scene against the desert landscape.
Once promoted as a symbol of the future of renewable energy, Ivanpah is now drawing scrutiny over whether its environmental costs outweigh its benefits, with critics saying the project raises broader concerns about how «clean energy» is evaluated.
«If oil and gas spills a drop, literally a drop, the entire operation is shut down. And to an extent that’s a good thing,» Daniel Turner, founder of the energy advocacy group Power The Future, told Fox News Digital.
«But you label something ‘green’ or ‘clean’ and all regulations are waived.»
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An aerial view shows the Ivanpah Solar Power Plant near the California-Nevada border, where mirrors reflect sunlight onto towers to generate electricity. (Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group)
Despite the documented wildlife impacts, the plant continues to operate — with California regulators declining efforts to shut it down and instead arguing it is still needed to support the power grid. Officials under both the Trump and Biden administrations have supported shutting the facility down, citing the high cost of its electricity compared to newer alternatives.
The project was built with more than $1.6 billion in federally backed loans and additional taxpayer-funded incentives, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars still outstanding — even as environmental concerns continue to mount. In addition, the U.S. Department of the Treasury provided a $539 million grant to help build the facility, covering about 30% of construction costs.
Bird deaths and wildlife impacts
The facility spans more than 4,000 acres of the Mojave Desert and uses roughly 350,000 mirrors — mounted on more than 170,000 heliostats — to reflect sunlight toward three central towers.
That same concentrated light has had unintended consequences.
Researchers say insects are drawn to the bright towers, which in turn attract birds. Some then fly through the plant’s concentrated solar beams — known as solar flux — where they can be injured or killed.
Researchers dubbed the phenomenon «streamers,» with video released by the U.S. Geological Survey showing birds trailing smoke as their feathers burn.
A peregrine falcon wing shows severe feather damage consistent with exposure to concentrated solar heat, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of the Ivanpah solar plant. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Burned feathers from a peregrine falcon show damage patterns linked to concentrated solar beams at the Ivanpah solar plant, according to federal research. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
A 2016 federal study by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found evidence of birds suffering feather damage and trauma consistent with exposure to intense heat near the towers.
Monitoring reports filed with California regulators and reviewed by Fox News Digital continue to document bird and bat deaths at the site, with hundreds of birds found dead each year.
Environmental reviews conducted before construction anticipated some level of wildlife impact, including bird deaths linked to mirror collisions and concentrated solar beams, according to California Energy Commission documents.
«Bird mortality is still a significant concern at concentrated solar plants like Ivanpah,» Lewis Grove, director of wind and energy policy at the American Bird Conservancy, told Fox News Digital.
«Public estimates are that thousands of birds are killed every year by this single facility,» he said, adding that the trade-off is «generally not worth it for birds.»
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He noted that newer photovoltaic solar systems have significantly lower impacts on wildlife, underscoring how the industry has shifted away from the technology used at Ivanpah.
«The Ivanpah plant was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster,» Julia Dowell of the Sierra Club said in a previous Fox News Digital report. She added the project «killed thousands of birds and tortoises» and showed that «not all renewable technologies are created equal.»
Habitat impact
Beyond bird deaths, the project has reshaped the surrounding desert.
The site was once considered a high-quality habitat, according to federal environmental reviews conducted before construction. Development cleared large areas of land, displacing tortoises and other wildlife and raised concerns about long-term survival.
Early monitoring reports showed dozens of protected desert tortoises went unaccounted for during initial operations — including animals held in controlled enclosures — according to California Energy Commission documents reviewed by Fox News Digital.
Critics have also questioned whether efforts to relocate tortoises away from the site have been effective.
Burning fossil fuels
The plant’s environmental footprint extends beyond wildlife.
Ivanpah relies on natural gas to start up operations each day — a requirement that has raised questions about how «clean» the facility really is.
While the original design assumed limited gas use, actual operations often require several hours of gas-burning to bring the system online. The plant also lacks large-scale energy storage, meaning it cannot generate electricity at night — a limitation newer solar projects increasingly address.
A bird feather shows curling and charring linked to concentrated solar heat exposure at the Ivanpah facility, according to a federal wildlife study. (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
Project documents show the facility was originally approved to use significantly less natural gas than it ultimately required, with operators later seeking approval to increase usage by roughly 60% to maintain reliable operations, according to California Energy Commission filings reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The plant has burned natural gas to support daily startup and operations, producing roughly 25,000 to 30,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually — roughly equivalent to the emissions from several thousand U.S. homes.
That level of emissions is enough to place the plant under California’s cap-and-trade program, which requires major polluters to pay for their emissions — effectively placing the «solar» facility alongside traditional fossil fuel plants when it comes to emissions.
While Ivanpah produces fewer emissions than a conventional natural gas plant, its carbon footprint remains significantly higher than that of modern solar farms, which generate electricity without burning fossil fuels.
NRG Energy, which operates the facility, said in a previous statement that it remains committed to providing renewable electricity but declined to provide additional comment regarding environmental issues.
The California Energy Commission told Fox News Digital the project remains in compliance with its environmental requirements, with wildlife impacts addressed through ongoing monitoring and coordination with federal and state agencies.
The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant in California’s Mojave Desert uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto three towers to generate electricity. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images)
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More than a decade after it opened, Ivanpah now stands as a symbol of the trade-offs in the push for clean energy — where efforts to reduce emissions can also bring real-world environmental costs.
For now, the plant continues to operate because regulators say the power it provides is still needed — even as questions remain about its cost, environmental impact and whether it still makes sense to keep it running.
Those questions extend beyond the plant itself, raising broader concerns about how projects like Ivanpah were approved — an issue Fox News Digital will examine in the next part of this series.
energy, nevada, carbon emissions, california, birds, green economy, barack obama
INTERNACIONAL
Un operativo para levantar los piquetes en Bolivia terminó con enfrentamientos y pocos resultados
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EXCLUSIVE: Trump-backed military vet mocked for disability ahead of Memorial Day: ‘Most shameful thing’
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FIRST ON FOX: A Texas congressional race already marred by scandal is facing new controversy after veterans condemned political ads sent ahead of Memorial Day weekend that mock a President Donald Trump-backed veteran over his military disability.
With days left in a bitter Republican primary runoff election between John Lujan and Carlos De La Cruz in Texas’ 35th Congressional District, a mail ad sent this week by the Lujan-aligned political action committee Protect and Serve knocked De La Cruz over his disability status, referring to him as «the ‘100% disabled’ kickboxer.»
The ad rips into De La Cruz, an Air Force veteran who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, suggesting he «claims a 100% disability to avoid paying any property taxes.» The ad goes on to say that though the «VA defines 100% disabled as for veterans whose ‘conditions are so severe that they result in total impairment,’» De La Cruz «was physically fit enough to train in and operate a kickboxing gym and lists himself as a volunteer carpenter.»
Charlotte Neiner, an Air Force veteran and Wounded Warrior Project member, told Fox News Digital that as a disabled veteran herself, «This is the most shameful thing I have ever pulled out of my mailbox.»
She emphasized that «to do this days before Memorial Day is a disgrace.»
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Republicans John Lujan (left) and Carlos De La Cruz (right) are set to face off again in the Republican primary runoff election on Tuesday. (Campaign Website for John Lujan for Congress; Campaign Website for Carlos De La Cruz for Congress)
«Career politician John Lujan’s team is doing his dirty work, attacking a fellow veteran’s wounds,» she posited, adding, «He never wore the uniform a single day. He has no idea what these injuries cost, and he never will.»
In Neiner’s opinion, «a man with this little honor has no business anywhere near Congress.»
She said that after this episode, Lujan «will not get my vote, he will not get the vote of a single veteran I know, and I will personally make sure every veteran in this district knows exactly what he did.»
Neiner added, «I am proudly voting for Carlos De La Cruz, and John Lujan should be ashamed of himself.»
WARREN TORCHED OVER ‘MY KIND OF MAN’ PRAISE FOR PLATNER AFTER DEATH-WISH POST FOR WOUNDED VETERAN RESURFACES
A pedestrian passes the main gate at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio on Feb. 5, 2020. (Eric Gay/AP)
The Lujan campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Under Texas law, veterans deemed 100% disabled or individually unemployable by the Department of Veterans Affairs can receive a total exemption from property taxes on their primary residence homestead. More than 164,000 Texas veterans with 100% disability ratings are estimated to receive the state’s full homestead property-tax exemption, according to Texas disabled-veteran property tax advocates citing 2024 VA data.
De La Cruz owned and operated a kickboxing gym in the San Antonio area.
DEM CANDIDATE’S ZIONIST CASTRATION RANT SPARKS FIRESTORM AS PARTY LEADERS REWRITE NARRATIVE TO TARGET GOP
Maureen Galindo speaks at a League of Women Voters meeting in Texas. (Katina Zentz/Getty Images)
Lujan and De La Cruz are set to face off again on Tuesday after neither candidate was able to reach the required 50 percent vote threshold to earn the GOP nomination. In their first matchup, Lujan had an edge, finishing with roughly 32 percent of the vote and De La Cruz placing second with roughly 27 percent.
Both candidates have garnered top-name endorsements, with De La Cruz being backed by Trump and Lujan being backed by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.
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This comes as the Democratic primary in the same district has been equally controversial. Democrat Maureen Galindo stirred up national outrage by vowing in a social media post to imprison and castrate «American Zionists.»
Fox News Digital also reached out to Protect and Serve PAC for comment.
midterm elections, donald trump, primary results, veterans, elections, defense, texas
INTERNACIONAL
El Estado Islámico busca reorganizar sus fuerzas en Siria: emboscadas, guerra de guerrillas y asesinatos
El Estado Islámico busca reorganizar sus fuerzas en Siria. Lejos del poder de fuego y del control territorial que logró hace una década, lo que queda del antiguo califato intenta reactivar a sus células dormidas.
La nueva estrategia del grupo es más modesta. Planea lanzar una especie de “guerra de guerrillas” contra el gobierno de Ahmed al-Charaa, un antiguo socio vinculado al terrorismo y hoy reconvertido en aliado de Washington.
Qué poder maneja el Estado Islámico
El Estado Islámico nació de la disgregación producida por la guerra civil siria y del caos que derivó en Irak tras la invasión estadounidense de 2003.
Con métodos brutales que incluyeron decapitaciones transmitidas en vivo y asesinatos de minorías, el llamado ISIS llegó a tener en su apogeo alrededor de 40.000 milicianos armados. Además, mantuvo un férreo control sobre un vasto territorio dividido entre Siria e Irak con capital en la ciudad siria de Raqqa. Se trató de un verdadero reino del terror.
El grupo se financió entonces con las ventas petroleras de pozos bajo su control y tuvo a Medio Oriente y Europa bajo ataque con distintos atentados terroristas.
Milicianos del Estado Islámico en una imagen de archivo. (Foto: EFE)
Pero una ofensiva de grupos armados financiados por Washington, como los kurdos sirios, terminó por derrotar a las milicias islámicas en 2016. Hoy están reducidas a pequeños reductos en el este de de Siria.
“El ISIS tiene una presencia muy reducida en Siria. Se ha mantenido mayormente en la clandestinidad. Intentó desestabilizar al gobierno actual planeando atentados de asesinato y ataques contra las minorías. Sin embargo, hasta ahora, la mayoría de estos intentos han fracasado”, dijo a TN el analista Idrees Ahmad, académico británico de la Universidad de Stirling especializado en Medio Oriente.
Para Ahmad, “el ISIS existió durante mucho tiempo porque resultaba útil para el régimen de (el derrocado presidente) Bashar al Assad, que así podía presentarse como una alternativa preferible. Por eso, Assad evitó en gran medida combatir al ISIS, y cuando otros rebeldes luchaban contra él, prefería bombardearlos”.
“El ISIS no contaba con mucho apoyo interno (excepto cuando inicialmente se le consideraba parte de la rebelión contra Assad). Ahora es prácticamente irrelevante”, afirmó.
Sin embargo, en los últimos días, su dirigencia rescató su vieja retórica para convocar a sus milicianos a “continuar luchando” contra el gobierno sirio en un llamado divulgado en plataformas digitales afines.
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Según el sitio The Media Line, especializado en Medio Oriente, el Estado Islámico pidió a sus combatientes extranjeros iniciar una “nueva fase de lucha” contra el ejército sirio.
Estos milicianos son remanentes del ejército que impuso un régimen de terror en la región. Son combatientes musulmanes, en su mayoría de países asiáticos, africanos y europeos, que llegaron al llamado “Califato Islámico” entre 2013 y 2016.
De esos 40.000 milicianos que la ONU calculó que tenía hace una década, el grupo cuenta hoy con entre 1500 a 3000 milicianos desparramados en el desierto sirio.
Lejos de las amplias ofensivas del pasado, la estrategia militar se recuesta en emboscadas, artefactos explosivos improvisados, asesinatos y asaltos rápidos nocturnos contra puestos de control y fuerzas militares en el desierto sirio entre Homs y Deir ez-Zor y en zonas remotas cerca de la frontera con Irak, según el reporte.
Los milicianos se agrupan en pequeñas células apoyadas por redes logísticas que las protegen.
“Lo que estamos presenciando hoy es una versión diferente de la organización, una que depende más de la guerra de guerrillas y del desgaste de la seguridad que del control directo de las ciudades”, dijo el general de brigada retirado Mustafa al-Sheikh, experto en seguridad y asuntos estratégicos, citado por The Media Line.
Qué pasa con los milicianos islámicos detenidos y sus familias
Más allá de esta anunciada reorganización militar, hay miles de antiguos milicianos extranjeros detenidos en prisiones sirias bajo control de las Fuerzas Democráticas Sirias (FDS) en el noreste del país.
También hay miles de familiares de viejos combatientes, incluidos cientos de niños, en un verdadero limbo judicial. Sus países de origen se niegan a recibirlos.
En febrero pasado, el gobierno sirio reconoció que el campamento de Al Hol para familiares registró fugas masivas en enero. Este lugar llegó a albergar a decenas de miles de personas junto a otro similar en Roj, cerca de Irak. Familiares de milicianos del ISIS en el hoy desmantelado campamento de Al Hol. (Foto: Nanna Heitmann/The New York Times)
Faisal Al-Aswad, miembro de la Organización Siria para el Desarrollo (SDO), una ONG local, contó a TN vía WhatsApp que “el campamento de Al Hol nunca fue una solución a largo plazo”.
“Se trató de una medida de emergencia que gradualmente se volvió insostenible tanto desde una perspectiva humanitaria como administrativa. Además, la falta de una gestión precisa y estructurada agravó el impacto negativo en las familias y los niños, en lugar de abordar las causas profundas del problema”, explicó.
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Finalmente, las esposas, viudas e hijos de milicianos del ISIS fueron trasladados a una ubicación alternativa bajo acuerdos administrativos y de seguridad a cargo del gobierno. El nuevo campamento está ubicado en Akhtarin, al norte de la ciudad de Alepo. Muchas otras familias fueron repatriadas a Irak.
“Cada caso se está revisando individualmente a través de los mecanismos oficiales, con la coordinación pertinente con los países de origen. Es importante evitar generalizaciones. Estos niños son, ante todo, víctimas de las circunstancias del conflicto”, indicó.
Además, el activista mencionó otro problema. “Muchos residentes sirios habían sido detenidos en el campamento bajo acusaciones de afiliación al ISIS, mientras que las Fuerzas Democráticas Sirias (FDS) habían presentado a toda la población del campamento como vinculada a dicho grupo”.
Siria, Estado Islámico
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