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.

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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.

The California man accused of attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner was highly educated and had worked as a tutor, a profile one university president said raises an unsettling question about the role of education in shaping character.

Cole Allen, 31, earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 2017 and a master’s degree in computer science from California State University, Dominguez Hills last year. That doesn’t match the typical resume of a would-be presidential assassin, but a disturbing shift appears to be underway, according to Cornerstone University President Gerson Moreno-Riaño.

«A troubling trend that appears to be emerging is that of the ‘educated assassin,’ individuals who do not fit the typical profile of people who commit such heinous acts,» Moreno-Riaño said. «These individuals are often schooled in some of America’s most elite institutions and act out of a perverted philosophical conviction that sees the killing of others not as evil, but as justified.»

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«My concern has been for many, many years that some of these not just activists, but violent activists, are perhaps some of the most highly educated ones in our country,» he said. «When education ceases to educate, when it’s ideological, when it’s brainwashing, when it’s indoctrination, it’s no longer education… It’s something very different.»

Prosecutors say Allen, who remains in federal custody, targeted Trump and Cabinet officials in the April 25 incident. He allegedly had authored a damning manifesto and left what authorities described as an extensive digital trail showing weeks of planning.

In addition to his advanced schooling, Allen joined tutoring company C2 Education in March 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. A Dec. 30, 2024, Facebook post from the company congratulated «Cole Allen of C2 Education Torrence» as a teacher of the month.

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Law enforcement personnel detain Cole Tomas Allen, a suspect in the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 25, 2026. (Donald J Trump via Truth Social/Handout via Reuters)

Secret Service Director Sean Curran told Fox News Thursday that Allen shot an agent in the chest while «charging through security,» with the round stopped by the agent’s bulletproof vest.

Curran said the agent returned five shots that missed, adding the agent was the only person other than Allen who discharged a weapon during the incident. Allen is believed to have tripped and fallen, prompting Secret Service agents to surround and subdue him.

Defense attorneys claim prosecutors lack key physical evidence and dispute aspects of how the incident has been characterized. A defense memo described Allen as a «devout Christian,» a highly educated man with no criminal history and a «loved and respected teacher.»

But Moreno-Riaño warned that credentials and professional roles do not necessarily reflect deeper moral grounding.

«The universities have rejected the centrality of God, a theistic Christian worldview, but nothing has taken its place,» he said.

«There is no moral compass for universities and for education today. It just doesn’t exist.»

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A Secret Service agent fires at Cole Allen, suspected in the assassination attempt of President Donald Trump on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Obtained by The Washington Post)

He added that parents should take a more active role in understanding what their children are being taught.

«Parents can no longer… simply drop off their student» and assume responsibility ends there, Moreno-Riaño said.

Moreno-Riaño also said people who carry out acts like this can hide their intentions, making them difficult to identify ahead of time.

«Our entire life as a whole, whatever we do in private, whatever we’re doing in secret, does have a significant impact on what we do in public,» he said.

Allen’s next hearing is scheduled for May 11.

For Moreno-Riaño, the case points to a moral concern.

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«There’s a crisis of morality, a crisis of faith,» he said. «Without it, all we’re giving to students is just information then. And that’s not giving them guidance and moral direction.»

Fox News Digital’s Alex Koch, Asra Q. Nomani, Jake Gibson, Julia Bonavita and Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this reporting.

Para la Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá en el país existe la necesidad de mirar de frente a los retos de la realidad laboral, conformada por el desempleo, la informalidad, las desigualdades de acceso y la obligación de generar plazas de trabajo para más panameños.

No obstante, indica que hay una señal “alentadora” en las cifras recientes dadas a conocer por el Ministerio de Trabajo y Desarrollo Laboral (Mitradel).

En el primer trimestre de 2026, de acuerdo con la entidad gubernamental, se registraron 84,067 contratos laborales.

Estos resultados, destaca el Mitradel, evidencian un comportamiento positivo en la generación de empleo formal, en línea con los esfuerzos orientados a dinamizar el mercado laboral y ampliar las oportunidades para la población panameña, manteniendo una ruta de avance progresivo.

Para la Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá la cifra representa un crecimiento de 25.2% al compararla con el 2025.

“Es una recuperación importante del empleo formal y una muestra de mayor dinamismo económico y empresarial”, manifestó Aurelio Barría Pino, presidente del gremio comercial.

Pero, apuntó que “el mensaje debe ser completo. De esos contratos, 55% fueron definidos, 23% por obra determinada y 22% indefinidos. Es decir, aunque hay más contrataciones, aún predomina una estructura laboral donde no todos los empleos ofrecen estabilidad sostenible”.

Por ello, sostuvo que el desafío está en consolidar empleos formales, productivos y sostenibles, que den seguridad a los trabajadores, fortalezcan a las empresas y permitan que más panameños salgan de la informalidad.

Esta es una realidad que para Barría Pino limita ingresos, reduce protección social, afecta la productividad y debilita la capacidad del país para crecer con inclusión.

El empleo formal debe ocupar el centro de las decisiones nacionales, no duda en afirmar la entidad empresarial en la voz de su presidente.

Detalló que el empleo formal surge cuando el país genera condiciones para producir, invertir y crecer, lo cual requiere confianza, agilidad institucional, proyectos en ejecución y empresas con capacidad de abrir nuevas plazas.

Cada sector que se activa mueve una cadena completa de proveedores, comercios, servicios, profesionales, técnicos y trabajadores, por lo que el gremio admite que la mejor política laboral es una economía que funcione y que permita transformar la actividad productiva en oportunidades concretas.

Es indispensable, proponen en su mensaje dominical los comerciantes, cerrar las brechas al mercado laboral de los jóvenes, alegando que la experiencia no debe ser una barrera de entrada, sino parte del proceso de formación.

En esa línea, reiteraron que la Ley de Pasantías debe convertirse en un mecanismo efectivo para acercar el estudiante a la empresa y facilitar el primer paso hacia un trabajo estable.

Desde la Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá ampliaron que asumen este compromiso con responsabilidad. Agregan que seguirán promoviendo la participación del sector privado, la articulación con las autoridades y la adopción de buenas prácticas para que más panameños encuentren espacios reales de crecimiento, formación, empleo digno y sostenible.

“El trabajador panameño necesita oportunidades reales, y esas oportunidades solo se construyen con acción, responsabilidad y visión de país”, afirma la agrupación de comerciantes.

Este pasado 1 de mayo, agrupados en sindicatos y organizaciones sociales, los obreros marcharon por las calles de la ciudad de Panamá exigiendo estabilidad laboral, mejoras salariales y trabajos dignos, mientras denunciaban la persecución sindical.

Los trabajadores llegaron a esa celebración con un atomizado y descabezado movimiento obrero, producto de las medidas impuestas por el gobierno de José Raúl Mulino, que en los tribunales aún tramita la disolución de la mayor agrupación sindical del país, el Sindicato Único de Trabajadores de la Industria de la Construcción y Similares (Suntracs).