Energy and Global Warming News for July 27: New wind mega-project in California; For hybrid cars, a hybrid invention; Pines, beetles and bears

Wind farm 'mega-project' underway in Mojave Desert

The Alta Wind Energy Center — with plans for thousands of acres of turbines to generate electricity for 600,000 Southern California homes — officially breaks ground Tuesday. It's being called the largest wind power project in the country, with plans for thousands of acres of towering turbines in the Mojave Desert foothills generating electricity for 600,000 homes in Southern California.

And now it's finally kicking into gear.

The project...