QUICK NEWS, February 22: ANTELOPE VALLEY SOLAR GETS GO; CHICAGO BULLS & BLACKHAWKS POWERED BY WIND; ANTI-KEYSTONE HAS FUNDERS, TOO

ANTELOPE VALLEY SOLAR GETS GO
First Solar Receives Missing Antelope Valley Project Permit
17 February 2012 (Solar Industry)

"A critical county-level project permit that threatened to derail First Solar's 230 MW Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 1 project has been secured."click to enlarge

"…[A] Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing [had indicated First Solar] was in danger of losing its U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) loan guarantee if it could not obtain the required construction permit by a Feb. 24 deadline…However, the matter has since been settled…[AVSR1] is now fully permitted by Los Angeles County, and the DOE is expected to begin funding the loan guarantee shortly…"


CHICAGO BULLS & BLACKHAWKS POWERED BY WIND
Utility To Buy Wind Power RECs For Chicago Bulls, Blackhawks Games
17 February 2012 (North American Windpower)

"Constellation Energy has announced that it will secure renewable energy credits (RECs) to match United Center electricity usage with wind power before, during and after all Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks games."

click to enlarge

"As a prelude to Earth Day, Constellation says it will sponsor games for the Blackhawks on April 1 and the Bulls on April 2…The utility sponsored similar efforts last year for the Chicago Bears, Cubs and White Sox. In addition to powering the United Center, Constellation also supplies electricity to Wrigley Field and the Bears' Halas Hall team offices and practice facilities."


ANTI-KEYSTONE HAS FUNDERS, TOO
Campaign against Canadian Keystone XL pipeline driven by US foundation millions
David Martosko, February 21, 2012 (Daily Caller)

"...[D]uring a July 2008 meeting, the $789 million Rockefeller Brothers Fund proposed to coordinate and fund a dozen environmental and anti-corporate activist groups’ efforts to scuttle pipelines carrying tar sands oil from Canada to the United States...The most recent incarnation of that pipeline plan, the Keystone XL project, was the subject of intense public controversy until the Obama administration rejected it in January.

"The 2008 meeting consisted of presentations from Rockefeller Brothers Fund program officer Michael Northrop, Corporate Ethics International Executive Director Michael Marx, Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Susan Casey-Lefkowitz and the director of a Canadian activist group called the Pembina Institute."

click thru for the meeting slide presentations

"Northrop’s presentation described the extraction of oil from Canada’s vast tar sands oil deposits as a threat to environmentalists’ efforts to curb global warming. He outlined a ”globally significant response” consisting of a 'network of leading US and Canadian NGOs' engaged in a 'coordinated campaign structure'...

"The subject of U.S. interests raining money on environmental organizations north of the border is a front-burner issue in Canada."