“The $3.7 million system is projected to reduce power bills by $3.5 million over the 25-year lease agreement. Unfortunately, as PSC Commissioner Stan Wise pointed out, ‘By the end of the agreement, Dublin taxpayers will actually pay $7.5 million in SPLOST sales taxes for debt service, and this does not include other costs such as operations and maintenance and insurance.’”

Solyndra was a visible black eye for the Obama administration in 2011, when the solar panel manufacturer went bankrupt after taking in more than $500 million from taxpayers and private investors. Closer to home, the silence is deafening: Few even know of the failure of Mage Solar, a company that set up shop in Middle Georgia with great fanfare in 2011.

What started out as a Georgia Public Policy Foundation commentary (by me) to mark Sunshine Week (March 15-21), and the two-year anniversary of Dublin High School’s award-winning solar array, led to a trail of lofty projections, broken promises, unpaid bills, questionable math, and taxpayers left on the hook.…

“The climate-crisis industry is much larger than merely the IPCC and vaguely defined government agencies. Other major players include wealthy, powerful Big Green pressure groups; wind, solar and biofuel companies that offer supposed alternatives to fossil fuels; politicians who have tied their careers, influence and campaign contributions to the global warming/climate change/extreme weather mantra; and journalists and media outlets that have also hitched their wagons to this global movement.”

Georgia Institute of Technology climate sciences professor Judith Curry has perceptively interpreted a recent analysis by economists William Butos and Thomas McQuade on how “Big Players” can distort climate research and other scientific endeavors. Their discussion, and hundreds of comments that followed, deserve careful consideration.

Big Players are institutions and officials who have the funding, influence and power to dictate who receives grants, what research gets published, whose evidence and conclusions receive wide coverage, and whether the findings and related policy proposals will be debated.…

“Despite Georgia Power’s early confidence about staying on track, the massive nuclear expansion of Plant Vogtle south of Augusta is more than three years behind schedule. The company’s share of costs are at least $1.4 billion, or 23 percent, over original projections — enough to build two new Braves stadiums and still have a fortune left over.”

– Matt Kempner, “Overruns Invite Questions about Vogtle Approval,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 5, 2015.

“The new generation of nuclear plants was supposed to be simpler, more efficient, and safer.  The construction was to be easier with the use of modular components. Implementation of the new designs are in trouble all over the world because designs are seriously flawed.” (Jim Clarkson, below)

“Iceberg off the Starboard Bow!” The big ship Vogtle is headed for trouble.…

The Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions (AWED) is an informal coalition of individuals and organizations interested in improving national, state, and local energy & environmental policies. Our basic position is that technical matters like these should be addressed by using Real Science.

It’s all spelled out at WiseEnergy.org, which is a wealth of energy and environmental resources.

A key element of AWED’s efforts is public education. Towards that end, every three weeks we put together a newsletter to balance what is found in the mainstream media about energy and environmental matters. We appreciate MasterResource for their assistance in publishing this information.

Some simply amazing articles this time, are:

Dr. Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit

College Professor Turns Whistleblower on Global Warming

Carmen Krogh’s Turbine Health Studies Synopsis

Wind Energy Chronology: A Timeline

New Study finds major error in climate models

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Greed Energy Economics:

Stop dumping billions into unreliable wind power

What Do We Have To Show for Gov’t Wind Power Subsidies?…