Obama’s Ivanpah Solar Plant On Way To Closure, A “Financial Boondoggle”

By William Teach February 13, 2025 – 3:00 pm

I’ve always said I’m not against “alternative” (can’t call them green, not with ones like Solyndra) energy methods like solar and wind. They just aren’t ready for primetime yet. Instead of dumping, say, $1.6 billion into an untried solar method, there should have been more research and development

Energy experts blast failed billion-dollar DOE project as ‘financial boondoggle,’ ‘disaster’

A major solar power plant project that was granted over a billion dollars in federal loans is on the road to closure, with energy experts blasting the project as a “boondoggle” that harmed the environment.

In 2011, the US Department of Energy (DOE) under former President Barack Obama issued $1.6 billion in loan guarantees to finance the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility, a green energy project that consists of three solar concentrating thermal power plants in California.

The facility was touted by then-Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz as an “example of how America is becoming a world leader in solar energy.”

But after 10 years, the federally funded plant is now on track to close.

“Ivanpah is yet another failed green energy boondoggle, much like Solyndra,” Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, an American energy advocacy group, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Despite receiving $1.6 billion in federal loan guarantees, it never lived up to its promises, producing less electricity than expected while still relying on natural gas to stay operational.”

“Now, with its power contracts canceled, Ivanpah stands as a testament to the waste and inefficiency of government-subsidized energy schemes,” Isaac said.

Now it will be a monument to cult stupidity, rotting away in the desert

“The Ivanpah plant was a financial boondoggle and environmental disaster,” Julia Dowell of the Sierra Club, an environmental activism group, said of the power plant.

“Along with killing thousands of birds and tortoises, the project’s construction destroyed irreplaceable pristine desert habitat along with numerous rare plant species,” Dowell said. “While the Sierra Club strongly supports innovative clean energy solutions and recognizes the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, Ivanpah demonstrated that not all renewable technologies are created equal.”

If even the Warmist Sierra Club is against it, it must be bad. Like, this bad

Read: Obama’s Ivanpah Solar Plant On Way To Closure, A “Financial Boondoggle” »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 13, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is a carbon pollution driven downpour, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 357 Magnum, with a post on good guys 1, bad guys 0.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Push For Harder Resistance To Trump As Moonbat Apoplexy Mounts Or Something

By William Teach February 13, 2025 – 10:30 am

These people are deranged and unable to read the room

Democrats push for tougher resistance to Trump as anger mounts

Democrats are starting to push for a stronger response to President Trump as his policies fuel anger with the party’s base.

Members of the party believe Trump has enjoyed a honeymoon period during his first month in office as Democrats have so far failed to coalesce around a unified counter-message — but at least some of them want that to change.

As frustration grows over Trump’s actions, including his efforts to dismantle parts of the federal government, some in the party are voicing the need to get tougher.

“He’s pushing the boundaries of a system as far as they can go,” said one Democrat who works for an outside organization planning to take action as part of the burgeoning new resistance.

“This guy is doing some crazy s–t,” a second Democrat, who is also involved in planning efforts, added. “This isn’t jamming through a nominee. This is when it starts to be alarming.”

Are you sure you really, really want to do this?

But less than a month into Trump’s return to the Oval Office, Democrats say a different kind of movement is emerging. Strategist Anthony Coley, who worked in the Biden administration, acknowledged the frustration among Democrats.

“The first phase of the last the weeks was Democrats being really gun-shy,” Coley said. “Now folks are really, really tired and can’t sit back and watch him destroy the country that we love without any pushback at all. That’s the phase we’re in now.”

You keep fighting for your crazy and against sanity, Dems. Keep dying on Moonbat Hill.

That slow burn hasn’t been working, liberals agree, and are starting to try newer ways to call out Trump. Some are looking to the grassroots for reliable messengers. By doing so, they’ve frustrated centrist Democrats on Capitol Hill who have reportedly taken issue with leading activist-minded groups like MoveOn and Indivisible who want a more aggressive approach than what the party is currently pushing.

Messaging, eh?

The rest (the embed may or may not show past embezzlement)

Embezzlement of tax dollars

Defrauding the public

Waste and abuse

Money laundering

Weirdos!

Keep working the messaging!

Read: Democrats Push For Harder Resistance To Trump As Moonbat Apoplexy Mounts Or Something »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Democrats | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

Bummer: Warmist Is Burnt Out Trying To Save The World

By William Teach February 13, 2025 – 7:15 am

Well, stop trying to save the world. Calm down. Go about your life. Stop being a nag. Make your own life carbon neutral

The world is on fire and I’m burnt out trying to save it

I was supposed to be named Isabel, but after Hurricane Isabel – one of the deadliest hurricanes in recorded history – my parents quickly changed their minds. They decided on Brianna instead.

Growing up in an extremely climate-conscious family, we were the neighbors on the corner handing out used toys instead of candy on Halloween. Living a sustainable lifestyle was something instilled in me from a young age. (snip)

Four years later, after taking several classes for my minor in Sustainable Environments, I realized how much more difficult it is for society to embrace sustainable living than I ever imagined. What seemed so natural and attainable within my household feels like an impossible challenge when trying to convince an entire country – let alone the world – that climate change is real and poses a tangible, scientific threat to humanity. It’s shocking that some people still can’t or won’t acknowledge this reality.

After spending four years in college participating in sustainability-related activities, I find myself burnt out. My passion still shines through in many aspects of my daily life, but the fire that once burned so brightly within me has started to fade.

I originally just wanted to laugh at her, but, really, this is sad. And you realize that older people in her life just mentally screwed her. Messed her up. This is as bad as a cult messing up the minds of children.

As a final message to those experiencing climate change burnout: remember that what you’re doing is enough. Climate change is a deeply systemic issue, and meaningful change can only happen when political leaders take accountability and implement the steps necessary to create a sustainable planet.

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the uncertainty of our future, but know this: we may not be able to extinguish every fire, but we can keep the flame of hope alive. That resilience, that hope, is what’s truly worth fighting for!

The brainwashing has made these youts think that the appropriate response is to give one’s freedom to government, and get government to take everyone else’s freedom.

Read: Bummer: Warmist Is Burnt Out Trying To Save The World »

Posted in Climate Cult, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

LOL: AG Pam Bondi Sues NY, Gov. Hochul, And Others Over Illegal Alien Support

By William Teach February 13, 2025 – 7:00 am

I almost feel sorry for Democrats, because they haven’t had a chance to come down for Category 5 Moonbattery since January 20th. But, hey, they should remember that what comes around goes around

Department of Justice suing New York, top officials over immigration policies

The Justice Department is taking legal action against the state of New York and Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Wednesday, over its alleged resistance to supporting the Trump Administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The new attorney general delivered heated remarks announcing a new lawsuit against New York state and top officials, claiming they were resisting federal efforts to enforce the nation’s immigration laws.

“This is a new DOJ,” Bondi said. “We sued Illinois. New York did not listen, now you’re next.”

She then brought up a woman whose 20-year-old daughter was raped and killed by a member of MS-13 in 2022.

The civil complaint was not immediately available to reporters at the news conference, but Bondi said the lawsuit was centered around New York’s Green Light Law that she claimed prohibits the state’s sheriff’s department and other agencies from sharing motor vehicle data with federal authorities for purposes of immigration enforcement.

“They have a ‘tip-off’ provision that requires New York’s DMV commissioner to promptly inform any illegal alien when a federal immigration agency has requested their information,” Bondi said. “It’s tipping off an illegal alien. And it’s unconstitutional, and that’s why we filed this lawsuit.”

I’m not sure about unconstitutional, but, it sure is in violation of multiple federal laws on illegal immigration, including on sheltering, harboring, etc.

It didn’t take long for New York officials and city organizations to fire back in response to the lawsuit.

New York Attorney General Letitia James released a statement, saying, “Our state laws, including the Green Light law, protect the rights of all New Yorkers and keep our communities safe. I am prepared to defend our laws, just as I always have.”

We were told that Los Federales have primary control over immigration, like when they were suing Arizona over SB1070 law. And, in this case, federal law does take precedence, since the Constitution does give the power of immigration to the Legislative Branch and they passed laws. So, maybe what NY is doing is unconstitutional. And James, who was named in the suit, will soon find out along with the others.

Read: LOL: AG Pam Bondi Sues NY, Gov. Hochul, And Others Over Illegal Alien Support »

Posted in Democrats, Illegal Immigration | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Trump Climate (scam) Cuts Could Leave Communities On Their Own

By William Teach February 12, 2025 – 3:06 pm

I’m not sure why: those who Believe can simply walk the cult talk. No need for Central Government money

Trump funding freeze could leave communities on their own as climate threats grow

climate change joke

Removing lead paint and pipes. Cleaning up contaminated land. Monitoring pollution. Making houses more energy efficient. Installing solar panels in low-income neighborhoods. Those are some of the projects across the country that were cut off from federal funding when the Trump administration paused spending approved earlier by Congress.

The sweeping move is part of President Trump’s plan to roll back environmental and climate change initiatives that started under former President Biden.

Federal judges intervened, issuing temporary restraining orders that prohibited the Trump administration from carrying out the funding freeze. But grant recipients, contractors and activists say promised government money has been held back even after the courts stepped in, throwing into doubt the government’s standing as a reliable partner in protecting human health and the environment.

“Undermining the trust in the federal government may actually be the real point of this,” says Zara Ahmed, vice president of policy and advisory operations at Carbon Direct, which helps companies, governments and other organizations cut their carbon emissions.

First off, the first four things in the first paragraph have nothing to do with the climate scam. The 5th is just a way to piss away money, because the solar panels get broken. Also, most of the energy from them gets put back in the grid, not to help the low income folks in their government housing projects. Second, notice that this is all about increasing central government power, and the Warmists are very unhappy when power is taken away from the government. Why does Ahmed think people trust government in the first place?

Not too get too deep, but, this exposes a huge problem: the federal government shouldn’t be this powerful and controlling. If states and communities want to Do Something, have at it. It’s not a federal government problem. And the more the feds do the more powerful they become. Which is what the cult wants.

The funding freeze is being felt across the U.S.

A Missouri school district couldn’t pay for almost two dozen electric school buses it ordered to replace a fleet of diesel buses. In Springfield, Mass., officials didn’t know if the city would get money it was promised to weatherize homes, remove lead paint and repair roads. Oklahoma regulators warned $100 million in grant funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells was in jeopardy. A North Carolina official said the state risks losing out on more than $100 million in conservation projects that could protect communities from floods and wildfires. And in Kersey, Colo., officials had to hope the government would unfreeze money to remove an old grain elevator covered in asbestos, a cancer-causing substance that’s linked to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year.

“We wouldn’t be able to move forward without it,” Susie Thielbert, a grant analyst for Kersey, told Colorado Public Radio about the grain-elevator project. “We are a very small community.”

Eventually, a lot of this money will be dispersed, as DOGE and the Trump folks figure out which project are mule fritters and which are good. But, again, this is way too much reliance on Los Federales to fix everything.

One group that’s been waiting on funding is Collaborative Earth. The organization is helping Native American tribes in Oklahoma develop more sustainable grazing practices and small farmers in the southeast reforest waterways to prevent flooding and store carbon pollution.

“It’s strange that the payment of an invoice could make you wonder about the future of a democracy, but that’s exactly what it feels like,” says Aaron Hirsh, organization lead at Collaborative Earth.

Sounds like a good way to take tax payer funds and hook up supporters. How much of this money that goes to non-government groups makes it to the projects and people it’s supposed to? But, you know, “democracy” happened. Trump won. He said he would do this stuff.

Read: Bummer: Trump Climate (scam) Cuts Could Leave Communities On Their Own »

Posted in Climate Cult, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 12, 2025 – 1:04 pm

…is an area flooded from too much carbon pollution Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Not A Lot Of People Know That, with a post on why solar power does not work in Britain.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

FEMA Top Official Fired Over $59 Million Housing Payment For Illegals

By William Teach February 12, 2025 – 10:30 am

There are now consequences for, let’s call it, improper behavior in government service under the Trump administration

Top FEMA Official Is Fired Over Payments for N.Y.C. Migrant Shelters

The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it had fired four employees from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, including the agency’s chief financial officer, over their roles in disbursing federal funds to house migrants in New York City hotels.

The firings capped a startling chain of events that began on Monday with an early-morning social media post by Elon Musk who claimed, misleadingly, that FEMA had recently sent $59 million meant for disaster relief to New York City to pay for “high end hotels” for migrants, and who called the expenditure unlawful.

New York City officials raced to clarify that the federal money had been properly allocated by FEMA under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. last year, adding that it was not a disaster relief grant and had not been spent on luxury hotels.

Nonetheless, just two hours after Mr. Musk’s post, FEMA’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, announced that the payments in question “have all been suspended” — even though most of the money had already been disbursed — and that “personnel will be held accountable.”

You can see that the NY Times is rather upset that any federal employee would be disciplined and that money for illegals would be stopped. To hell with those stupid rubes in Western NC and California.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, said that the four employees had been terminated “for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury N.Y.C. hotels for migrants.”

Ms. McLaughlin did not specify how the employees had undermined leadership, or how making payments previously appropriated by Congress amounted to unilateral conduct. But she said that those fired included two program analysts, a grant specialist and the agency’s chief financial officer, Mary Comans, whom FEMA’s website identifies as a “longtime public servant.”

We were told that FEMA was out of money for Western NC, but, they sure had enough for illegal aliens and fake asylum seekers.

The swift firings underscored Mr. Musk’s growing influence over the federal government as the Trump administration moves to slash government spending and reshape the federal bureaucracy, purging civil servants along the way. Ms. Comans’s firing also appeared to rid FEMA, an agency that Mr. Trump and Ms. Noem have suggested should be eliminated, of the person responsible for managing its $33 billion budget, which helps finance the government’s response to natural disasters.

So, the Times is upset with Musk for uncovering idiotic spending that helps illegals instead Americans? Keep dying on this hill, wackjobs.

Meanwhile

Alabama officer’s minor traffic stop leads to discovery of cocaine being trafficked by illegal aliens

A police force in a small Alabama town uncovered illegal aliens trafficking a large amount of cocaine after an officer stopped their car for a minor violation.

Calera Police Chief David Hyche said a patrol officer stopped a vehicle traveling through the town last week for not having a tag. During the stop, Hyche said “probable cause for a search was evident,” which ultimately led to the discovery of 46 pounds of cocaine.

He said the monetary value of the drugs will be determined after Homeland Security Investigations is done examining what was seized.

The driver and the passenger, both men who are from Colombia and in the U.S. illegally, were arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine. Hyche said one of the men is wanted in Atlanta for drug trafficking and failure to appear.

Were these some of those good illegals we keep hearing about?

Illegal alien charged in sandwich shop owner’s murder caught and released into US under Biden: ICE

The suspect in the grisly murder of a Massachusetts sandwich shop owner is a 25-year-old illegal alien from the Dominican Republic who was released into the U.S. after he was stopped near the border in Texas under then-President Joe Biden in September 2022, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Eric Dionida German-Pena is charged with the murder of Ilias Mavros, better known as Louie and the owner of Crazy Buzzy’s Roast Beef and Seafood in Lynn.

How about him? Another good one?

Read: FEMA Top Official Fired Over $59 Million Housing Payment For Illegals »

Posted in Donald Trump, Illegal Immigration | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Trump’s SEC Chief Comes After Climate Disclosure Rule

By William Teach February 12, 2025 – 7:15 am

That would be Securities And Exchange Commission, not Southeast Conference

S.E.C. Moves to Kill Climate Disclosure Rule

The acting chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mark Uyeda, took the first step on Tuesday to rolling back a rule that would require thousands of publicly traded companies to provide investors with detailed information about the impact of their businesses on climate and the environment.

Mr. Uyeda said in a statement that he was directing the S.E.C.’s legal team to inform a federal appellate court that the regulator was pausing its defense of the so-called climate change disclosure rule. The regulation, adopted last year, is being challenged in court by a number of business groups and state attorneys generals.

The polarizing measure requires companies to identify the impact of their business activities on the climate, in particular the creation of greenhouse gases that have contributed to the warming of the planet. Companies must provide data in regulatory filings that will help investors quantify the impact and risk to their investment in a company. Companies also most provide information about the financial cost of steps it is taking to minimize the climate impact of its business activities.

The rule aims to give investors a clearer picture of the risks that companies might be exposed to because of climate change and its effects, including droughts and wildfires, changes in government environmental policies or consumers’ declining interest in products that contribute to global warming.

Yeah, well, it’s a doomsday cult rule which will over-burden companies for the hell of it. Well, because they’re cultists who do not understand business and want to force Everyone to comply with their cult.

The decision by the S.E.C. to tell the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit to pause any further proceedings in the matter is an indication that the regulator may eventually move to rescind the rule or modify it.

Here’s hoping. It would be one more nail in the cult’s coffin. Of course, they’ll try again in the future.

Read: Bummer: Trump’s SEC Chief Comes After Climate Disclosure Rule »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

A Shutdown Fight Could Be Good For Trump And Really, Really Bad For Democrats

By William Teach February 12, 2025 – 7:00 am

Seriously, do Democrats think supporting the irresponsible, over-spending, secretive, wasteful, and fraud loving bureaucracy is the hill to die on?

The Shutdown Fight That Could Play Right Into Trump’s Hands

With President Donald Trump and Elon Musk taking a sledgehammer to the federal bureaucracy with their “Department of Government Efficiency,” Democrats are desperate to push back — and some are eyeing what they see as an irresistible piece of leverage.

Asked on “Meet the Press” Sunday if he was “prepared to shut down the government” when funding expires on March 14, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said he was: “They are simply trying to dismantle the government,” he said. “I cannot support efforts that will continue this lawlessness that we’re seeing.” (snip)

But having covered more than a few of these shutdown fights, I can say confidently that this isn’t the leverage point Democrats and much of Washington seem to think it is. Not only is this a battle Democrats probably can’t win, it’s one that could play right into Trump and Musk’s hands.

To understand why, let’s unpack the practical and political ramifications of a DOGE-focused shutdown over Musk’s efforts.

Rachel Bade goes through a few reasons, like if this shutdown would look like the others (it’d be better for Trump) and how the 2018 shutdown only briefly hurt Trump’s poll numbers.

For one, Democrats would be embracing a tactic they’ve long shunned: holding the government hostage until they get what they want. The party has never been comfortable with that, and there’s little reason to think Democratic leaders would feel confident about doing so now.

Huh what? Democrats have pretty much been the ones holding the government hostage almost every time.

There’s also the challenging message of explaining to Americans that you’re shutting the government down in order to save the government. The argument might make sense here in Washington, but it’s pretty damn confusing for every other American. And Democrats know that, in a shutdown, the winning message wins the fight.

Ms. Bade almost makes it to the reality: Democrats are willing to shut down government to save the waste, the fraud, the theft, the over-spending, the irresponsible actions, the defiance of their supervisors and the president, the unwillingness to be responsive to the duly elected Legislative Branch and the American People, and a bloated bureaucracy. If they want to die on this hill, well, what will be the name of the political party that replaces the Democratic Party?

Democrats Stand Up for the Bureaucrats

You couldn’t invent a scene that better explains our current politics than the one last week outside the Treasury in Washington. Some genius in the Democratic Party evidently thought it a good idea to put some of the party’s most prominent faces, most notably Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, in front of the cameras to protest Elon Musk’s efforts to get inside the books of the federal government in his presidentially mandated campaign to root out inefficiency.

Picture it: The Democrats, onetime tribunes of the people, fiercely defending government employees from the taxpayers; the party of the oppressed putting it all on the line to protect federal bureaucrats from the people they’re supposed to serve.

It was a tableau for the ages, one example of the many strange battle lines the Democratic Party has chosen to defend these past few years: illegal migrants over citizens, teachers unions over parents and children, criminals over victims, men-turned-women over girls. Good luck with that, Democrats. You might want to fire your pollsters.

It’s a much longer piece at the WSJ, which I’m reading via Webpage Archive. You get the idea. Democrats wouldn’t fire their pollsters: it’s who they are and what they believe.

Read: A Shutdown Fight Could Be Good For Trump And Really, Really Bad For Democrats »

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