Birds Spontaneously Combust in the Desert Skies

No, I’m not talking about fried chicken here, but did you know that birds are being scorched to death in flight at a rate of one bird every two minutes? This is happening in the Mojave Desert at the BrightSource Energy plant, considered the largest solar thermal power plant of its kind in the world. Their solar power system uses more than 300,000 mirrors the size of garage doors to focus the sun's power toward "power towers" as many as 40 stories tall. Those intensely focused rays are what are cooking the birds as they follow bugs that are attracted to the light from these same focused rays. These same lights are also are said to be so bright they dazzle pilots flying in and out of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. It is estimated that at least 1,000 and as many as 28,000 birds will face a fry-tful death within a single year’s time. Federal wildlife officials are calling this plant a mega trap and hope there will be much needed follow up studies before more power tower plants are opened. This kind of green energy comes with an unexpected price.