Regulators allow Obama-era solar plant to kill thousands of birds annually, investigation finds
Regulators are allowing an Obama-era "clean energy" solar plant to continue operating even as its reflected solar beams kill thousands of birds each year, with no fines or enforcement action...
By Fox News · Fox News
Regulators are allowing an Obama-era "clean energy" solar plant to continue operating even as its reflected solar beams kill thousands of birds each year, with no fines or enforcement action taken since it opened, a Fox News Digital investigation has found. The Ivanpah Solar Power Plant, a sprawling facility built with taxpayer support in the Mojave Desert near the California–Nevada border, remains in compliance under existing regulations, even as birds are burned, injured or killed after flying through the beams which reflect sunlight onto the plant's three central towers. Regulators were aware of those risks before approving the project as part of a broader push to expand renewable energy. Today, it remains in compliance, meaning the wildlife deaths documented at the site fall within limits set under its environmental approvals. That framework allows the plant to continue operating even as thousands of birds are killed each year. OBAMA-ERA 'CLEAN ENERGY' SOLAR POWER PLANT STILL USES FOSSIL FUELS – AND KILLS THOUSANDS OF BIRDS ANNUALLY "Staff is not aware of any formal enforcement actions or fines issued by either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the California Department of Fish and Wildlife related to avian or wildlife mortality at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System," the California Energy Commission, which oversees large energy projects in the state, told Fox News Digital. The commission also said it knows of no special regulatory exemptions for renewable energy projects related to wildlife impacts. Instead, the project was approved as long as monitoring and mitigation requirements would be carried out, meaning some level of wildlife mortality was anticipated. The futuristic-looking facility, known for its three large towers that glow brightly when powered on, was approved during the Obama-era push to rapidly expand renewable energy following the 2008 financial crisis — part of a broader effort to cut emissions and reduce reliance on fossil fuels…