The Week That Was: 2022-01-29 (January 29, 2022)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “No amount of experimentation can ever prove me right; a single experiment can prove me wrong.” – Albert Einstein
Number of the Week: $5,000 a month. $60,000 per year.
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: TWTW will finish its summary of major developments in climate science over the past year with a review of books by Steve Koonin and Mototaka Nakamura. Next week will include an overview. Both Koonin and Nakamura understand climate modeling and expose deficiencies in establishment climate science and modeling procedures.
Personal attacks on Canadian Jordan Peterson exemplified the importance of these deficiencies. Peterson resigned as full professor at the University of Toronto because the political correctness of the University became stultifying, preventing open thought and exploration of ideas. In a Tweet, Peterson cited a book by SEPP founder S. Fred Singer as a source for stating climate models have major errors. That statement brought out the usual attack dogs making bizarre, unsubstantiated claims.
The issue of Net Zero carbon emissions continues to intensify as some citizens realize that the political leaders advocating Net Zero have no idea of the costs involved, and the costs continue to escalate. This is particularly true in the UK where it is becoming obvious that the policies are becoming disastrous, and no one thought the issues out.
TWTW compares the funding SEPP received from Heartland (which was attacked) with funding of three principal US modeling entities: NCAR/UCAR, Princeton’s Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System (CIMES), and NASA/GISS. The reader can personally evaluate undue monetary influence.
On a lighter side, weather forecasts stated the town in which Ken Haapala lived as a child would receive 2 to 3 feet of snow over the weekend. The children in Massachusetts will still know what snow is.
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Unproven Hypothesis: In July 2018, established climate modeler Mototaka Nakamura had published the Japanese Version of Confessions of a climate scientist: The global warming hypothesis is an unproven hypothesis. On July 25, 2020, TWTW reviewed it and discussed it several times thereafter. It reinforced Richard Lindzen’s invited paper in The European Physical Journal Plus in June 2020, on climate change reviewed in TWTW in June and July of that year, Lindzen stated:
- The core of the system consists in two turbulent fluids (the atmosphere and oceans) interacting with each other.
- The two fluids are on a rotating planet that is differentially [unevenly] heated by the sun and unevenly absorbing the solar warming. Solar rays directly hit the equator and skim the earth at the poles resulting in uneven heating, which drives the circulation of the atmosphere. The result is heat transport from the equator towards the poles (meridional).
- The earth’s climate system is never in equilibrium. [Boldface added]
- In addition to the oceans, the atmosphere is interacting with a hugely irregular land surface distorting the airflow, causing planetary scale waves, which are not accurately described in climate models.
- A vital component of the atmosphere is water in its liquid, solid, and vapor phases, and the changes in phases have immense dynamic consequences. Each phase affects incoming and outgoing radiation differently. Substantial heat is released when water vapor condenses, driving thunder clouds. Further, clouds consist of water in the form of fine droplets and ice crystals. Normally, these are suspended by rising air currents, but when these grow large enough, they fall as rain and snow. The energies involved in phase changes are important, as well as the fact that both water vapor and clouds strongly affect radiation.
“The two most important greenhouse substances by far are water vapor and clouds. Clouds are also important reflectors of sunlight. These matters are discussed in detail in the IPCC WG1 reports, each of which openly acknowledge clouds as major sources of uncertainty in climate modeling.” [Boldface added]
[Despite that acknowledgement, the IPCC Summaries to Policymakers largely ignore these uncertainties.]
- “The energy budget of this system involves the absorption and reemission of about 240 W/m2 [Watts per square meter]. Doubling CO2 involves a perturbation [deviation] a bit less than 2% to this budget (4 W/m2) So do changes in clouds and other features, and such changes are common. The Earth receives about 340 W/m2 from the sun, but about 100 W/m2 is simply reflected back to space by both the Earth’s surface and, more importantly, by clouds. This would leave about 240 W/m2 that the Earth would have to emit in order to establish balance. The sun radiates in the visible portion of the radiation spectrum because its temperature is about 6000 K. If the Earth had no atmosphere at all (but for purposes of argument still was reflecting 100 W/m2), it would have to radiate at a temperature of about 255 K, and, at this temperature, the radiation is mostly in the infrared.”
The oceans and the atmosphere introduce a host of complications including evaporation creating water vapor which strongly absorbs and emits radiation in the infrared.
“The water vapor essentially blocks infrared radiation from leaving the surface, causing the surface and (via conduction) the air adjacent to the surface to heat, and convection sets in. The combination of the radiative and the convective processes results in decreasing temperature with height [lapse rate]. To make matters more complicated, the amount of water vapor that the air can hold decreases rapidly as the temperature decreases. Above some height there is so little water vapor remaining that radiation from this level can now escape to space. It is at this elevated level (around 5 km) that the temperature must be about 255 K in order to balance incoming radiation. However, because the temperature decreases with height, the surface of the Earth now has to actually be warmer than 255 K. It turns out that it has to be about 288 K (which is indeed the average temperature of the earth’s surface). The addition of other greenhouse gases (like CO2) increases further the emission level and causes an additional increase of the ground temperature. Doubling CO2 is estimated to be equivalent to a forcing of about 4W/m2 which is a little less than 2% of the net incoming 240 W/m2.
“The situation can actually be more complicated if upper-level cirrus clouds are present. They are very strong absorbers and emitters of infrared radiation and effectively block infrared radiation from below. Thus, when such clouds are present above about 5 km, their tops, rather than 5 km determine the emission level. This makes the ground temperature (i.e., the greenhouse effect) dependent on the cloud coverage.
“Many factors, including fluctuations of average cloud area and height, snow cover, ocean circulations, etc. commonly cause changes to the radiative budget comparable to that of doubling of CO2. For example, the net global mean cloud radiative effect is of the order of − 20 W/m2 (cooling effect). A 4 W/m2 forcing, from a doubling of CO2, therefore corresponds to only a 20% change in the net cloud effect. [Boldface added]
- It is important to note that such a system will fluctuate with timescales ranging from seconds to millennia even in the absence of explicit forcing other than a steady Sun. Much of the popular literature (on both sides of the climate debate) assumes that all changes must be driven by some external factor. [Boldface added]
Simply put, global climate modelers have failed to capture the enormous complexity of the climate system. Further, what the climate modelers produce has major deficiencies. Among other important changing phenomena, the climate system is largely made up of two fluids in dynamic motion, the ocean, and the atmosphere, and we simply do not know enough about fluid dynamics to make long-term predictions about the interactions of these fluids. According to Nakamura the climate models are useful tools for academic purposes, but useless for prediction.
The beginning of Nakamura’s book states:
“Before pointing out a few of the serious flaws in climate simulation models, in defense of those climate researchers who use climate simulation models for various meaningful scientific projects, I want to emphasize here that climate simulation models are fine tools to study the climate system, so long as the users are aware of the limitations of the models and exercise caution in designing experiments and interpreting their output. In this sense, experiments to study the response of simplified climate systems, such as those generated by the ‘state-of-the-art’ climate simulation models, to major increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases are also interesting and meaningful academic projects that are certainly worth pursuing. So long as the results of such projects are presented with disclaimers that unambiguously state the extent to which the results can be compared with the real world, I would not have any problem with such projects. The models just become useless pieces of junk or worse (worse, in a sense that they can produce gravely misleading output) only when they are used for climate forecasting.
“All climate simulation models have many details that become fatal flaws when they are used as climate forecasting tools, especially for mid- to long-term (several years and longer) climate variations and changes. These models completely lack some of critically important climate processes and feedbacks and represent some other critically important climate processes and feedbacks in grossly distorted manners to the extent that makes these models totally useless for any meaningful climate prediction. It means that they are also completely useless for assessing the effects of the past atmospheric carbon dioxide increase on the climate. I myself used to use climate simulation models for scientific studies, not for predictions, and learned about their problems and limitations in the process.” [Boldface added]
So much for the popular press science claiming, “scientists say.” See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and the referenced TWTWs.
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Uncertainty: In his 2021book, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters (reviews in the May 20 and June 3 TWTWs) Koonin writes:
“The process of science is less about collecting pieces of knowledge than it is about reducing the uncertainties in what we know. Our uncertainties can be greater or lesser for any given piece of knowledge depending upon where we are in that process—today we are quite certain of how an apple will fall from a tree, but our understanding of turbulent fluid flow (such as convection in the atmosphere) remains a work in progress after more than a century of effort.”
“Every measurement of the physical world has an associated uncertainty interval (usually denoted by the Greek letter sigma: σ). We can’t say what the measurement’s true value is precisely, only that it is likely to be within some range specified by σ. Thus, we might say the global mean surface temperature in 2016 was 14.85ºC with a σ of 0.07ºC. That is, there is a two-thirds chance that the true value is between 14.78 and 14.92ºC.”
“For a scientist, knowing the uncertainty in a measurement is as important as knowing the measurement itself, because it allows you to judge the significance of differences between measurements…” [pp. 18 & 19, Boldface added]
As Under Secretary for Science at the United States Department of Energy under President Obama, he was responsible for assuring the nuclear arsenal was properly maintained. Since the US no longer does nuclear testing, it is required that the models used to ensure proper maintenance were reliable. Perhaps Koonin was prompted to explore the issues further by the exchange he had as moderator of a debate on man-made global warming (sponsored by the American Physical Society).As Rupert Darwall wrote:
“The ensuing dialogue between Koonin and Dr. William Collins of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – a lead author of the climate model evaluation chapter in the Fifth Assessment Report – revealed something more troubling and deliberate than holes in scientific knowledge:
- Dr. Koonin: But if the model tells you that you got the response to the forcing wrong by 30 percent, you should use that same 30 percent factor when you project out a century.
- Dr. Collins: Yes. And one of the reasons we are not doing that is we are not using the models as [a] statistical projection tool.
- Dr. Koonin: What are you using them as?
- Dr. Collins: Well, we took exactly the same models that got the forcing wrong and which got sort of the projections wrong up to 2100.
- Dr. Koonin: So, why do we even show centennial-scale projections?
- Dr. Collins: Well, I mean, it is part of the [IPCC] assessment process.
Whether he knows it or not, Collins states there is no integrity in the modeling process creating models used by the IPCC to make projections / predictions. Thus, they are misleading and unreliable. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Seeking a Common Ground and the referenced TWTWs.
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The Attack Dogs Bark: Clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson resigned as full professor at the University of Toronto because the political correctness of the University became stultifying, preventing open thought and exploration of ideas. He states:
“First, my qualified and supremely trained heterosexual white male graduate students (and I’ve had many others, by the way) face a negligible chance of being offered university research positions, despite stellar scientific dossiers. This is partly because of Diversity, Inclusivity and Equity mandates (my preferred acronym: DIE). These have been imposed universally in academia, despite the fact that university hiring committees had already done everything reasonable for all the years of my career, and then some, to ensure that no qualified “minority” candidates were ever overlooked. My students are also partly unacceptable precisely because they are my students.”
He then goes on to write:
“Second reason: This is one of many issues of appalling ideology currently demolishing the universities and, downstream, the general culture. Not least because there simply are not enough qualified BIPOC people in the pipeline to meet diversity targets quickly enough (BIPOC: black, indigenous and people of colour, for those of you not in the knowing woke). This has been common knowledge among any remotely truthful academic who has served on a hiring committee for the last three decades. This means we’re out to produce a generation of researchers utterly unqualified for the job. And we’ve seen what that means already in the horrible grievance studies ‘disciplines.’”
The headline of an article by reporter Graham Readfearn of The Guardian was: “Word salad of nonsense’: scientists denounce Jordan Peterson’s comments on climate models,” and “Peterson claimed the climate was too complex to be modelled accurately, which was quickly shot down by scientists.” The Guardian article lists the usual suspects and some new ones. One of those participating was Gavin Schmidt of NASA/GISS, which produces highly questionable surface-based temperature data. [As Nakamura discusses in his book, surface-based data covers less than five percent of the earth’s surface and the records are questionable.]
DeSmog International picked up that Peterson cites Hot Talk, Cold Science and lashes into SEPP founder S. Fred Singer and donations to The Heartland Institute:
“…which has taken donations from oil interests including ExxonMobil and the Koch family. Singer was a speaker at a 2012 Heartland conference where sponsors received $67 million from Exxon, Koch and the Scaife Family Foundations.”
TWTW will leave it to The Heartland Institute and the living authors of the latest edition of Hot Talk, Cold Science to address these false claims, including the $67 million which is probably more than the sum of all donations to The Heartland Institute ever. From this and the discussion above, it becomes clear that many “climate scientists” do not understand the limitations of the models they use, which is critical for improving their models. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
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Net Zero: Europe’s quest for Net Zero, energy systems with no carbon dioxide emissions, is turning into a clear example of what happens when foolish political leaders try to implement foolish policies based on foolish climate models. Amusingly, Lubos Motl reports that coal rich Ostrava in the Czech Republic imported coal from Australia. It was metallurgical coal, not thermal coal used in power plants. But this version of “carrying coals to Newcastle” (a former major producing area in the UK) gives an amusing view to current pointless actions involved in government policy in Europe, especially the UK, and in Washington and by various states.
For Texas and New England, the situation may become dire. As Donn Dears writes, Texas does not have adequate reliable reserve in electricity and another Blu Norther will be an emergency. As for New England, Paul Homewood writes:
“Although natural gas provides nearly half of New England’s electricity, about three quarters of gas consumption goes elsewhere, mainly for residential heating:”
“There is no easy way to say this. People will die, and lots of them, if Joe Biden’s crazy green agenda is implemented.”
As of this writing, the snow in Massachusetts has stopped, but total accumulations are not yet available. As of 6 pm EST on January 29, several towns reported over two feet and south Boston was approaching two feet. The January 30 forecast for Boston is windy and cold with temperatures falling to 5 degrees F (minus 15 C). In northern New England it will be colder.
No doubt, contrary to what some may claim, this big Nor’easter may have broken records for snow, but it was not caused by human-caused global warming. Any statistics produced for claiming probability for the event are meaningless. Using patterns from previous years and numerical forecasting, WeatherBELL LLC was predicting a major storm event at least a week out. Exact details were not known.
Perhaps the closest to net zero this week was achieved by wind power transmitted by the BPA Balancing Authority, with a total wind nameplate capacity of about 2925 MW. On January 25 it briefly peaked at about one-tenth of that and bounced off zero a number of times since. See links under Changing Weather, Questioning European Green, Questioning Green Elsewhere, Energy Issues, Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind, https://transmission.bpa.gov/Business/Operations/Wind/twndbspt.png
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Leadership By Example? Many Western attendees at the UN’s 26th Conference of Parties (COP 26) in Glasgow were urging “leadership by example.” But China, the biggest emitter of CO2, and India are not following. As Paul Homewood writes about China’s leader Xi:
“It is not clear whether Xi was genuine in his desire originally to reduce emissions, or whether he was playing the West on a piece of string.
“But as I have repeatedly commented, the CCP needs to keep growing China’s economy to survive. If their leader stands in the way, he is dead meat.
“Sooner or later then reality was going to catch up. The refusal of China to phase out coal at COP26 was a strong sign of the way the CCP was going, that economic realists were winning the battle with environmentalists. I suspect that Xi has seen the writing on the wall and is siding with the only winners in this battle.
“Nobody would argue that China does not want to tackle genuine environmental problems, such as air pollution. Nor that they won’t embrace energy efficient technology.
“But it must now be clear that carbon dioxide is well down their list of concerns.”
See links under Problems in the Orthodoxy
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Number of the Week: $5,000 a month. $60,000 per year. According to DeSmog,
“In 2014 DeSmog revealed that Singer received $5,000 a month from US right-wing think tank the Heartland Institute…”
Except for the adjective “right-wing”, TWTW does not contest that.
Looking at the latest budgets that are readily available:
- in FY 2018 the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) received $126,340,000;
- between July 1, 2018, and March 31, 2019, Princeton’s Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System (CIMES) received $5 million;
- a report by NASA’s Inspector General that found deficiencies at NASA/GISS stated the funding “totaled $19.1 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016.”
These “premier” US climate modeling entities receive tens of millions of dollars from the public yet fail to address their modeling deficiencies. The models are used to justify policies that will harm the public. See Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal, https://www.nsf.gov/about/budget/fy2020/pdf/40r_fy2020.pdf. file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/final_2018-2019_cimes_annual_progress_report.pdf, and
Science: Is the Sun Rising?
Ancient ice reveals mysterious solar storm
By Staff Writers, Lund, Sweden (SPX) Jan 27, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Ancient_ice_reveals_mysterious_solar_storm_999.html
Link to paper: Cosmogenic radionuclides reveal an extreme solar particle storm near a solar minimum 9125 years BP
By Chiara I. Paleari, et al., Nature Communications, Jan 11, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27891-4
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
An oversimplified picture of the climate behavior based on a single process can lead to distorted conclusions
By Richard S. Lindzen, The European Physical Journal Plus, June 3, 2020
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjp/s13360-020-00471-z
Jordan Peterson: Why I Am No Longer A Tenured Professor at the University of Toronto
January 21, 2022
By Jordan Peterson, Independent.org, Jan 21, 2022
https://www.independent.org/news/article.asp?id=13962&omhide=true&trk=rm
Be Grateful for Global Warming
By Gregory Wrightstone, CO2 Coalition, Jan 28, 2022
2021: Warming as usual?
By David Whitehouse, Net Zero Watch, Jan 25, 2022
Civilization needs courageous warriors, not pitiful, helpless giants
Without coal, oil and natural gas, civilization would still be stuck where it was 200 years ago.
By Wallace Manheimer, American Greatness, Jan 23, 2022
https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/23/civilization-needs-courageous-warriors-not-pitiful-helpless-giants/
“How did this policy of appeasement affect the energy industry over the last decade? Companies were sued by several West Coast cities for imagined climate change. There are at least 40 members of Congress elected in 2018 and 2020 supporting the Green New Deal. And teams of lawyers are circling the oil companies like a pride of lions circling a wounded zebra.”
Climate Alarmist Claim Fact Checks
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, ICECAP, Jan 25, 2022
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/political-climate/alarmist_claim_rebuttals_updated/
What Solution Do Renewable Energy Advocates Offer For The Problem Of Storage?
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 22, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-1-22-what-solution-do-renewable-energy-advocates-offer-for-the-problem-of-storage
[SEPP Comment: A magic wand?]
Defending the Orthodoxy
Gina McCarthy: Why I’m more optimistic than ever on tackling the climate crisis
By Gina McCarthy, The Hill, Jan 20, 2022
https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/590524-gina-mccarthy-why-im-more-optimistic-than-ever-on-tackling-the
[SEPP Comment: Of course, she cannot define the crisis with physical evidence.]
Kerry warns about efforts to blunt climate change: ‘We’re in trouble’
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Jan 24, 2022
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/591049-kerry-warns-about-efforts-to-blunt-climate-change-were-in-trouble
“’That’s a problem … there’s just no other way to cut it. Coal is the dirtiest fuel on the planet, no one has figured out how to make it clean, even though they talk about clean coal,’ Kerry added, attributing ‘the worst’ of climate change to coal use.”
[SEPP Comment: Try breathing smoke from dung cooking fires!]
Methane in the atmosphere is at an all-time high. What it means for climate change
By Euan Nisbet, The Conversation, Phys.org, Jan 17, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-methane-atmosphere-all-time-high-climate.html
“Methane hitting 1,900 ppb is a fire alarm. We cannot stop natural wetland emissions. But human-caused emissions can be reduced, quickly. At COP26 in Glasgow—the most recent UN climate change summit in November 2021—more than 100 nations signed the Global Methane Pledge, promising to cut methane emissions 30% by 2030.”
Importance of Methane
By Staff, EPA.gov, Accessed Jan 28, 2022
https://www.epa.gov/gmi/importance-methane#:~:text=Methane%20is%20more%20than%2025,trapping%20heat%20in%20the%20atmosphere.&text=Because%20methane%20is%20both%20a,effect%20on%20atmospheric%20warming%20potential.
“Methane is more than 25 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. Over the last two centuries, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have more than doubled, largely due to human-related activities.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Al Gore on his hopes for the planet: “Job number one is to stop using the sky as an open sewer”
By Staff, CBS, Jan 13, 2022
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/al-gore-climate-change/
“He has been sounding the climate alarm for more than four decades — first as a young congressman and then 15 years ago, with his film “An Inconvenient Truth.”
“It earned him an Oscar, a Nobel Peace Prize, and plenty of scorn from climate change deniers.”
[SEPP Comment: Carbon dioxide makes the atmosphere a sewer?]
Guest post: Why oceans could face more extremes like the Pacific ‘Blob’
By Profs Gruber, Boyd, Frolicher, and Dr. Vogt, Carbon Brief, Jan 24, 2022
Link to paper: Biogeochemical extremes and compound events in the ocean
By Gruber, Boyd, Frolicher, and Vogt, Nature Dec 15, 2021
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03981-7
Lost birds and mammals spell doom for some plants
Animal-dispersed plants’ ability to keep pace with climate change reduced by 60%
Press Release, NSF, Jan 24, 2022
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304294&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to press release: Lost birds and mammals spell doom for some plants
Animal-dispersed plants’ ability to keep pace with climate change reduced by 60%
Press Release, Rice University, Jan 13, 2022
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/939518
Link to paper: The effects of defaunation on plants’ capacity to track climate change
By Evan Frick, et al. AAAS Science, Jan 13, 2022
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk3510?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D17217070078390829693680401760040852165%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1643060703&_ga=2.98067930.458000925.1643060703-1249691990.1642166285
The net-zero transition: What it would cost, what it could bring
Governments and companies worldwide are pledging to achieve net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases. What would it take to fulfill that ambition?
By Staff, McKinsey Sustainability, Accessed Jan 28, 2022 [H/t Bud Bromley]
https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability/our-insights/the-net-zero-transition-what-it-would-cost-what-it-could-bring#
[SEPP Comment: Bromley registered then wrote: “Is there a chemist or scientist in your organization? Did they have any input to this report? Is this reported anywhere?”
Questioning the Orthodoxy
I’m From The Government And I’m Here To Help
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 27, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/im-from-the-government-and-im-here-to-help-5/
Video
Pavlov’s Humans
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 28, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/pavlovs-humans/
Video
Change in US Administrations
Why Biden Can’t Put A Cap On Oil Prices
By Tsvetana Paraskova, Oil Price.com, Jan 23, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-Biden-Cant-Put-A-Cap-On-Oil-Prices.html
“The problem is, politicians have few tools to influence the oil market ruled by the laws of supply and demand.”
[SEPP Comment: No, the real problem is the ideological beliefs of the Biden Administration. It cannot recognize that, through competition, US domestic producers will put a price cap on oil. Instead, the Biden Administration is trying to cripple US production.]
Biden War on Energy Surrenders US Leverage Over Russia, China, Iran Threats
By Larry Bell, Newsmax, Jan 26, 2022
https://www.newsmax.com/larrybell/biden-energy-russia-china/2022/01/26/id/1054081/
New England Will Freeze If Sleepy Joe Gets His Green New Deal
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 24, 2022
Problems in the Orthodoxy
China’s Xi Says Climate Targets Can’t Compromise Energy Security
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 26, 2022
Seeking a Common Ground
Transcript of Proceedings
Climate Change Statement Review Workshop
By Staff, American Physical Society, Jan 8, 2014
The Landscape Of Denial
By Chuck Dinerstein, ACSH, Jan 10, 2022
https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/01/10/landscape-denial-16049
Link to earlier paper: Denialism: what is it and how should scientists respond?
By Pascal Diethelm, and Martin McKee, European Journal of Public Health, January 2009
https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/19/1/2/463780
Crossing (or not) the 1.5 and 2.0C thresholds
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Jan 23, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Crossing the UN goal is an imaginary problem.]
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Europe’s extreme vulnerability to Russia was totally preventable
Why Europe is so vulnerable to Russia, why it was preventable, and what the US must do to avoid the same fate
By Alex Epstein, His Blog, Jan 26, 2022
https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/europes-extreme-vulnerability-to
Model Issues
Recent changes in Antarctic sea ice are unique since early 20th century
Press Release, NSF, Jan 24, 2022
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304293&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to paper: A regime shift in seasonal total Antarctic sea ice extent in the twentieth century
By Ryan L. Fogt, et al, Nature Climate Change, Jan 10, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01254-9
From the abstract: “To meet this challenge, we have created robust, observation-based reconstruction ensembles of seasonal Antarctic sea ice extent since 1905.”
From press release: “…researchers shows that the increase of sea ice surrounding Antarctica since 1979 is a unique feature of the Antarctic climate not seen since 1905 — an observation that paints a dramatic first-ever picture for weather and climate implications on the world’s southernmost continent.”
[SEPP Comment: Doubt the accuracy of early reconstructions.]
Measurement Issues — Surface
Australia’s Broken Temperature Record (Part 1)
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Jan 26, 2022
Statistical Analysis Can Provide Evidence That the Official Australian Acornsat 2.1 Temperature Analysis Has Added Non-Climatic Warming to The Record, 1910 To 2019.
By Bob Irvine, WUWT, Jan 27, 2022
The Snow Hits the Fan on Saturday: Global Warming Alarmism to Follow
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Jan 27, 2022
Official Data: In Terms Of Precipitation; In Austria There’s Been No Climate Change At All In 140 Years
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 28, 2022
January 26, 1950 – One Of The Most Extreme Days On Record
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 27, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/january-26-1950-one-of-the-most-extreme-days-on-record/
A not so strong wind
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
Link to article: Sahara desert blanketed in snow after bizarre weather event
By Staff, Escape, AU, Jan 21, 2022
https://www.escape.com.au/destinations/africa/sahara-desert-blanketed-in-snow-after-bizarre-weather-event/news-story/952b3caff4407543e21efe43600a42e5
[SEPP Comment: In a town in the Atlas Mountains about 1000 meters above sea level.]
Even Evidence From Poems Suggests 1st Millennium China Had Decades 1-2°C Warmer Than Today
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Jan24, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Early springs do not necessarily mean they are common.]
How cold did it get in Miami and other parts of Florida? The frozen iguanas know
By Nichelle Marchante, Miami Herald, Jan 24, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather-news/article257654473.html
Changing Climate
Warming caused the Little Ice Age
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
“Which will be one more thing to blame on global warming. Or, for the denialists out there, one more piece of evidence that climate is incredibly complicated, with unpredictable feedback loops that make modeling a mug’s game.”
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
Climate change in the Early Holocene
Radiocarbon dating from a prehistoric cemetery in Northern Russia reveals human stress caused by a global cooling event 8,200 years ago Early hunter gatherers developed more complex social systems and, unusually, a large cemetery when faced by climate
Press Release, University of Oxford, Jan 27, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941326
Link to paper: Radiocarbon dating from Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov cemetery reveals complex human responses to socio-ecological stress during the 8.2 ka cooling event
By Rick J. Schulting, et al. Nature Ecology & Evolution, Jan 27, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-021-01628-4
Changing Seas
Southern Ocean storms cause outgassing of carbon dioxide
By Staff Writers, Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX), Jan 26, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Southern_Ocean_storms_cause_outgassing_of_carbon_dioxide_999.html
Link to paper: Storms drive outgassing of CO2 in the subpolar Southern Ocean
By Sarah-Anne Nicholson, et al, Nature Communications, Jan 10, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27780-w#Sec5
Sea Level Scare Machine 2021 Update
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Jan 27, 2022
The Gulf Stream has increased steadily over the last century
Press Release by University of Bergen, Jan 24, 2022
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-gulf-stream-steadily-century.html
Link to paper: Nordic Seas Heat Loss, Atlantic Inflow, and Arctic Sea Ice Cover Over the Last Century
By Lars H. Smedsrud, Review of Geophysics, Dec 9, 2021
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020RG000725
The Gulf Stream is slowing to a ‘tipping point’ and could disappear
By Brandon Specktor, Live Science, Mar 3, 2021 [H/t Chuck Weiss]
https://www.livescience.com/gulf-stream-slowing-climate-change.html
“The current could slow down to a point of no return, altering the climate on both sides of the Atlantic.”
See link immediately above.
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Polar bears at Kolyuchin Island weather station provide a rare photographer’s treat
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Jan 24, 2022
Changing Earth
Sulphur dioxide from Tonga eruption spreads over Australia
By Staff Writers, Paris (ESA), Jan 21, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Sulphur_dioxide_from_Tonga_eruption_spreads_over_Australia_999.html
Tonga eruption was so intense, it caused atmosphere to ring like a bell
By Staff Writers, Honolulu HI (The Conversation), Jan 25, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Tonga_eruption_was_so_intense_it_caused_atmosphere_to_ring_like_a_bell_999.html
Acidic Waters
Fossil snail shells offer new tool for analyzing ancient ocean chemistry
Press Release, University of Texas at Austin, Jan 26, 2022 [H/t Jim Buell]
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/01/220126165526.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A&text=The%20study%20is%20the%20first,of%20the%20planet’s%20deep%20past.
Link to paper: Bioindicators of severe ocean acidification are absent from the end-Permian mass extinction
By William J. Foster, et al. Nature Scientific Reports, Jan 24, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-04991-9
[SEPP Comment: A problem for phony research.]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
New study finds aquaculture could help counter drivers of climate change
By Emma Desrochers, SeafoodSource, Jan 27, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/new-study-finds-aquaculture-could-help-counter-drivers-of-climate-change?utm_source=marketo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=newsletter&mkt_tok=NzU2LUZXSi0wNjEAAAGCPC_uDywn7J_w-FclHcCo8rrVahEQtwSipn4zvuCRYMR0ypl3bC1wGa69gmsU4QoQKY_8i35la_9ZwSf_2uAhSpEvDX_xS3IXe9l67quNHkqK
Climate-Friendly Seafood: The Potential for Emissions Reduction and Carbon Capture in Marine Aquaculture
By Alice R Jones, et al, BioScience, Jan 25, 2022
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biab126/6485038?searchresult=1&login=false
Is your seafood climate friendly? Scientists outline the benefits of marine aquaculture
Press Release by American Institute of Biological Sciences, Jan 25, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-seafood-climate-friendly-scientists-outline.html
Mad Cow And Madder Organic Agriculture
By ACSH Staff, ACSH, Jan 20, 2004
https://www.acsh.org/news/2004/01/20/mad-cow-and-madder-organic-agriculture
Fickle sunshine slows down Rubisco and limits photosynthetic productivity of crops
By Staff Writers, Urbana IL (SPX), Jan 21, 2022
https://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Fickle_sunshine_slows_down_Rubisco_and_limits_photosynthetic_productivity_of_crops_999.html
Link to paper: Faster than expected Rubisco deactivation in shade reduces cowpea photosynthetic potential in variable light conditions
By Samuel H. Taylor, et al., Nature Plants, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-021-01068-9
[SEPP Comment: An important crop in Africa.]
EDP Spin Extreme Weather Lies
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 22, 2022
Lowering Standards
The Corruption of Science by Money and Marxism
By Norman Rogers, American Thinker, Jan 22, 2022
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2022/01/the_corruption_of_science_by_money_and_marxism.html
We’re all going to die… laughing
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
“Instead of gaping blankly, or after doing so, a spokesperson for the Met Office, which really does now go by what was once a slang abbreviation of ‘The Meteorological Office’, stiffened their upper lip and intoned that ‘The Shared Socio-Economic Pathways project is important in order to understand climate risk and resilience as climate change and socio-economic factors are highly linked.’ A classic case of a bunch of fancy words that fail to link ideas together because they individually contain none.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Scientists And Media Outlets Increasingly ‘Scolded’ And ‘Pressured’ To Blame Extreme Weather On Humans
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Jan 27, 2022
Link to one study: Politics of attributing extreme events and disasters to climate change
By Myanna Lahsen and Jesse Ribot, WIRE: Climate Change, January 2022
https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/wcc.750
From abstract: “Thus, while politicians may want to blame crises on climate change, members of the public may prefer to hold government accountable for inadequate investments in flood or drought prevention and precarious living conditions.”
Quis custodiet ipsos fact chuckers?
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Exposing those at AFP who do not understand the difference between scientific evidence and government opinion based on science fiction.]
Hypocritist year ever
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
“Still, National Geographic stands out, for peddling a woke lifestyle that saves the planet without asking readers to make any personal sacrifice of their jet-setting sight-seeing, and in the process blurts out that the poster corpse for climate breakdown, the Great Barrier Reef, is somewhere you should stream jet exhaust over the heads of the proles to take in because it’s secretly flourishing as if there were no climate crisis, dahling.
Good Housekeeping: Don’t Have Kids, Because Climate Change
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 25, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Alaska’s Arctic coastal towns face extensive inundation
Coastal erosion and land subsidence driven by permafrost thawing may lead to extensive seawater inundation
Press Release, NSF, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304296&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Caribou and muskoxen buffer climate impacts for rare plants
Large herbivores help rare species persist in a warming arctic
Press Releasee, University of California – Davis, Jan 27, 2022
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/941558
Link to paper: Large herbivores facilitate the persistence of rare taxa under tundra warming
By Eric Post, Pedersen & Watts, Nature, Scientific Reports, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05388-4
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
How To ‘Prove’ A Chemical Is Dangerous: The Glyphosate Case Study
By Cameron English, ACSH, Jan 23,2022
https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/01/23/how-prove-chemical-dangerous-glyphosate-case-study-16074
“My colleague Dr. Josh Bloom adds that ‘’endocrine disruptor’’ is a catch-all phrase used by anti-chemical types to scare everyone.’”
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
‘Word salad of nonsense’: scientists denounce Jordan Peterson’s comments on climate models
Speaking on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Peterson claimed the climate was too complex to be modelled accurately, which was quickly shot down by scientists
By Graham Readfearn, The Guardian, Jan 27, 2022
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jan/27/word-salad-of-nonsense-scientists-denounce-jordan-petersons-comments-on-climate-models
Climate activists try to smear & censor Jordan Peterson for climate model claims – But Peterson made accurate scientific claims
By: Marc Morano, Climate Depot, Jan 27, 2022
Jordan Peterson’s Climate Expert is Science Denier Funded by Oil-Backed Think Tank
The Canadian author has cited S. Fred Singer, an American physicist who argued climate change was natural, after telling podcast host Joe Rogan that climate change could not be modelled accurately.
By Adam Barnett, DeSmog International, Jan 28, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Social Cost of Carbon – Pretzel Logic Cannot Save NetZero Agenda
By Marlo Lewis, Jr., CEI, Jan 28, 2022
https://cei.org/blog/social-cost-of-carbon-pretzel-logic-cannot-save-netzero-agenda/
Link to plea: Social Cost of Carbon Consistent with a Net-zero Climate Coal.
By Nicolas Stern, et al. Roosevelt Institute.Org, NO Date
[SEPP Comment; Nicholas Stern used a mathematical trick to convince the UK Parliament to pass the destructive Climate Change Act of 2008. There is no reason to believe his papers are credible.]
“Rivers of Rain” Could Wreck China, Unless We Reduce CO2 Emissions
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 26, 2022
New CDN Feature: The sunburnt lands up north
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
John Cook: Climate Deniers Falsely Claim Activists are Anti-Freedom
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 23, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
They just won’t know what snowboarding is
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Canadian Truckers for Freedom growing fast — 11 convoys, $5m, one convoy said to be 70km long
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 27, 2022
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Road Transport Overhaul: Pete Buttigieg Vows More Bike and Bus Lanes, Lower Speed Limits
By Simon Kent, Breitbart, Jan 27, 2022
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/01/27/road-transport-overhaul-pete-buttigieg-vows-more-bike-and-bus-lanes-lower-speed-limits/
[SEPP Comment: More road “diets” such as narrowing roads, so they no longer can handle emergency traffic such as those fleeing the Paradise California fire?]
The EU is sabotaging its economy in the name of unattainable climate targets
By Samuel Furfari, Brussels Report.eu, Jan 19, 2022
“The EU’s stubbornness in sabotaging its economy in the name of unattainable climate targets will go down in history as causing the continent that invented modernity and technology to become a vassal to China and India.”
Cost of a net-zero world ‘much higher’ than estimated
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 25, 2022
“UK GDP is around £2 trillion, so 7.5% works out at £150 billion a year. On top of this of course, the developed world would be expected to pay for the rest of the world’s transition.”
Energy crisis bursts green shares bubble
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 22, 2022
Greens brought coal to Ostrava (from Australia)
…because bringing sand to the beach is no longer green enough…
By Lubos Motl, The Reference Frame, Jan 25, 2022
https://motls.blogspot.com/2022/01/greens-brought-coal-to-ostrava-from.html
Cost of decarbonising housing
By Staff, Net Zero Watch, Jan 26, 2022
Mark Krebs on Energy Efficiency under Biden’s DOE (Part IV of IV: More Issues)
By Robert Bradley, Master Resource, Jan 27, 2022
[SEPP Comments: With links to the previous interviews.]
Ottawa’s Climate Plans “a blueprint for disaster” that will leave city “polluted, fragile and bankrupt.”
Press Release by International Climate Science Coalition – Canada, Jan 27, 2022
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ottawa-s-climate-plans-a-blueprint-for-disaster-that-will-leave-city-polluted-fragile-and-bankrupt–857212865.html
Ottawa, Canada is following Germany’s failed climate goals
By Ronald Stein, WUWT, Jan 25, 2022
“The city’s government has learned little from others that have inflicted huge electricity costs on their citizens”
Non-Green Jobs
European Green Energy Crisis is Crushing Metal, Silicon Production
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 24, 2022
Funding Issues
$9.2 Trillion Per Year To Save The World
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 26, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/9-2-trillion-per-year-to-save-the-world/
Democracy Dies in Dark-Moneyness: Soros Funding Behind Off-Books Congressional “Staff” to Investigate Political Opponents of Climate Agenda
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, LLC. Jan 25, 2022
Woke Capital Won’t Save the Planet – But It Will Crash the Economy
By Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/25/woke_capital_wont_save_the_planet__but_it_will_crash_the_economy_813687.html
“Forcing companies to conform to a scenario that has virtually no chance of materializing destroys more than shareholder value: it makes all stakeholders worse off. In this respect, ESG investing is antisocial because it is detrimental to society.”
Militant ESG Has Become The Biggest Threat To Solving Climate Change & Energy Transition
By Bill Blain, Via Zero Hedge, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/militant-esg-has-become-biggest-threat-solving-climate-change-energy-transition?s=03
New ESG Wave Hits Wall With Disinterested Investors
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, Jan 23, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Finance/the-Markets/New-ESG-Wave-Hits-Wall-With-Disinterested-Investors.html
Litigation Issues
Exposing Baltimore’s Short-Sighted, Frivolous Climate Lawsuit against Energy Companies
By Jonathan Chanis, Real Clear Energy, Jan 24, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/24/exposing_baltimores_short-sighted_frivolous_climate_lawsuit_against_energy_companies_813353.html
Baltimore Big Oil Climate Lawsuit Moves Forward
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 26, 2022
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Removing green levies from energy bills welcomed
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 22, 2022
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Cost Of CfD Subsidies – 2021
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 25, 2022
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Journey to Justice
By Staff, EPA, Accessed Jan 26, 2022
https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/journey-justice
“The actions announced today are a direct result of these conversations and are only the beginning as the agency centers environmental justice in its mission to protect human health and the environment of all people, no matter the color of their skin, their zip code, or how much money they have in their pockets.”
[SEPP Comment: Justice: Energy poverty for all?]
Energy Issues – Non-US
The Eco-Experts!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 23, 2022
UK to import record levels of liquified natural gas
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 27, 2022
“All of the UK’s major parties want to put an end to North Sea oil and gas. So how is that working out?”
Energy Issues — US
Texas Remains in Peril
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Jan 25, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Reliable reserve margins still do not exist.]
The Empty Rhetoric of Fracking Bans
By Gene Yaw, Real Clear Energy, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/25/the_empty_rhetoric_of_fracking_bans_813688.html
Innovative Device Brings Fault-Testing to the Edge of the Grid, Improving Power System Reliability
By Aaron Larson, Power Mag, Jan 27, 2022
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
The U.S. Is Now the World’s Leading LNG Exporter. Let’s Make Sure It Sticks.
By Craig Stevens, Real Clear Energy, Jan 26, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/26/the_us_is_currently_the_worlds_leading_lng_exporter_lets_make_sure_it_sticks_813838.html
A New Model to Power and Protect America
By Benjamin R. Dierker, Real Clear Energy, Jan 23, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/23/a_new_model_to_power_and_protect_america_813084.html
Just Can’t Get Enough – LNG’s Increasing Commoditization Driven By Rising U.S. Production
By Richard Pratt, RBN Energy, Jan 26, 2022
https://rbnenergy.com/just-cant-get-enough-lng-increasing-commodiziation-driven-by-rising-us-production
Return of King Coal?
Global Coal Consumption Reaches New Record High In 2021…China, India Consuming Two Thirds
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 23, 2022
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Oft-Delayed Vogtle Expansion on Track for 2022 Start
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, Jan 27, 2022
Hot stuff: Lab hits milestone on long road to fusion power
By Seth Borenstein, Phys.org, Jan 26, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2022-01-hot-lab-milestone-road-fusion.html
Link to paper: Burning plasma achieved in inertial fusion
By A. B. Zylstra, et al. Nature, Jan 26, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04281-w
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind Power: It Just Ain’t Gonna Work
By Peter Smith, Quadrant, Jan 24, 2022
North Sea Industrialisation
By Staff, Net Zero Watch, Jan 23, 2022
Is Wind Power Reducing Our Bills?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 27, 2022
“So our monthly electricity bills are inflated by £550m a month, against which the renewable lobby brags that it gives us £83m back!”
[SEPP Comment: How the UK auction market is rigged for wind generation.]
Could Florida turn off the sun? Advocates say a utility-backed bill imperils rooftop solar in the Sunshine State
By Steve Contorno, CNN, Jan 23, 2022
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/politics/florida-solar-industry/index.html
“At the center of the debate is the amount solar-powered homes are reimbursed for the excess energy their panels pump back into the grid. It’s an arrangement known as net-metering, and it’s the law in about 40 states. Some customers generate enough power to lower their utility bills to zero dollars.”
[SEPP Comment: Apparently, the reporter does recognize is that someone has to pay for the reliable generation capacity needed when the sun fails!]
Cost of onshore wind has been rising for 20 years
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 24, 2022
MidAmerican proposes adding enough wind, solar generation to meet all of Iowa customers’ power needs
By Donnelle Eller, Des Moines Register, Jan 20, 2022
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/money/business/2022/01/19/midamerican-calls-big-boost-its-wind-solar-energy-capacity-iowa-power-customers/6582986001/
[SEPP Comment: Who pays for the needed back-up?]
Texas wind power critics, Northeast fishing advocates meet at Austin forum
By Kirk Moore, National Fisherman, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/texas-wind-power-critics-northeast-fishing-advocates-meet-at-austin-forum
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Mitsubishi Power Americas Takes Action Towards Decarbonization: Electrify Everything, Everywhere; Then Circle Back with Hydrogen
By Michael Ducke, Real Clear Energy, Jan 24, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/01/24/mitsubishi_power_americas_takes_action_towards_decarbonization_electrify_everything_everywhere_then_circle_back_with_hydrogen_813488.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
How About A Pilot Project To Demonstrate The Feasibility Of Fully Wind/Solar/Battery Electricity Generation?
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Jan 25, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-1-25-how-about-a-pilot-project-to-demonstrate-the-feasibility-of-fully-windsolarbattery-electricity-generation
Vistra Adding More Storage to Moss Landing, World’s Largest BESS
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag. Jan 24, 2022
“The new capacity will be Phase III of the Moss Landing storage installation, bringing total storage at the site to 750 MW/3,000 MWh.”
[SEPP Comment: According to the California ISO, on Jan 27, 2022 at 7 am solar began generation, was peaking with 11,000 MW by 9:00 am. It began to fall about 3 pm and by 5 pm it was close to zero. How much would the required 18 hours of back-up cost? How can it be replenished in 6 hours?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Local Councils Are Subsidising EV Charging
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 27, 2022
“As usual the Telegraph gets it all back to front, claiming that some drivers are being ‘overcharged’.
“In fact, the reverse is true. Many councils it seems are subsidising electric car drivers, as the commercial rate is typically around 45p per KWh.”
Climate Activists Love Their “Brilliant” Ideas…Until They Actually Have To Live Them. Harmon’s E-Car “Nightmare”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 26, 2022
Mercedes owner ‘horrified’ new battery will cost him £15,000 – more than the car is worth
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Jan 26, 2022
“Because EVs are much more expensive new, it has been assumed by finance companies that second hand values will be commensurately higher.”
EV Recharge Hell for Climate Activist Heidi Harmon
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 25, 2022
Carbon Schemes
Meet the CO2 Suckers: More Mechanical Monstrosities to Save Us from Climate Change
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 28, 2022
Health, Energy, and Climate
PM2.5 Dose-Response: Function Or Fiction?
By Fred Lipfert, ACSH, Jan 26, 2022
https://www.acsh.org/news/2022/01/26/pm25-dose-response-function-or-fiction-16079
Environmental Industry
You failed economics, didn’t you?
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Jan 26, 2022
“Anyway, we will enjoy watching it. And wondering whether Greenpeace will one day find itself explaining that, having spent so much money on coal mines, it really has to sell the coal in order to finance its war on same. They wouldn’t be the first ideological group to degenerate into a hustle.”
Other Scientific News
Orbital Insertion Burn a Success, Webb Arrives at L2
By Alise Fisher, NASA, Jan 24, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
https://blogs.nasa.gov/webb/2022/01/24/orbital-insertion-burn-a-success-webb-arrives-at-l2/
Today’s selection — from Great Astronomers: Johannes Kepler by Robert Stawell Ball.
By Staff, Delanceyplace, Jan 25, 2022
https://us5.campaign-archive.com/?e=fe7987da67&u=6557fc90400ccd10e100a13f4&id=2baadd0544
[SEPP Comment: How Kepler used Tycho Brahe’s skillful measurements of Mars to develop the idea that its orbit was elliptical, without understanding gravity.]
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Why climate change is inherently racist
By Jeremy Williams, BBC, Jan 26, 2022
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220125-why-climate-change-is-inherently-racist?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Weekly%20Briefing&utm_content=20220128&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20Weekly
“Climate change divides along racial lines. Could tackling it help address longstanding injustices?”
[SEPP Comment: Nature is racist! It discriminates against those societies that have not benefited from modern prosperity to protect themselves. China emits more CO2 than all other countries combined. Therefore, it is racist?]
Arctic Melting Twice As Fast As The Rest Of The Planet
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Jan 27, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/01/arctic-melting-twice-as-fast-as-the-rest-of-the-planet/
[SEPP Comment: Even faster than the tropics?]
Claim: Climate Change to Kill Coffee and Avocados (Again)
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Jan 28, 2022
ARTICLES
1. Biden’s Berlin Gas Airlift
The West’s energy disarmament is a gift to Putin on Ukraine.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Jan. 26, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/bidens-berlin-gas-airlift-russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-europe-green-energy-11643237127?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
TWTW Summary: The editorial begins:
“Energy is Russia’s most potent nonnuclear weapon, so it’s no surprise that Vladimir Putin is leveraging it as he threatens Ukraine. Europe’s climate obsessions have made it vulnerable to Russia, and so the Biden Administration is riding to the rescue by begging the Arabs and other energy producers to boost natural gas deliveries.
“Russia typically supplies about 40% of Europe’s gas imports, but it has sharply truncated deliveries. Kremlin officials are threatening to cut off supply if the U.S. and Europe impose sanctions in response. Germany is especially dependent on Russian gas, which is why it has been reluctant to help arm Ukraine.
“A Russian gas embargo could starve households of heating fuel this winter and potentially next if there’s a hot war in Ukraine. Gas might have to be rationed. Manufacturers could be forced to shut down, further damaging the economy and supply chains. At this perilous moment, it’s worth recounting how Europe got itself into this cold mess.”
The editorial continues with examples of Europe’s policies making it more dependent on Russia including banning fracturing for oil and gas, shutting nuclear plants, Germany not building LNG terminals, and shutting coal-fired power plants. The editorial concludes:
“White House officials say Russia and Europe are interdependent since the Kremlin relies on oil and gas revenue to fund its budget. But Russia has other energy clients, including China. Gazprom is building gas pipelines to China. Even as Europe becomes more dependent on Russia for gas, Russia is becoming less dependent on Europe for revenue.
“At the same time, the White House is making the U.S. more dependent on China for the minerals needed to advance its green energy agenda. On Wednesday, the Administration canceled Twin Metals Minnesota’s rights to mine copper, nickel and cobalt in northeast Minnesota. Green groups are pushing to scotch lithium mining in Nevada.
“One predictable result will be shortages and higher prices. Doesn’t President Biden understand that inflation and high energy prices empower the very dictators he claims we are fighting in a long, twilight struggle?
“The self-created energy vulnerability of the West is one of the horrifying marvels of the age. You have to go back to the disarmament of the 1920s to recall a time of such willful self-delusion. Even as President Biden races to rescue Europe, his Build Back Better plan would send the U.S. down the same road of energy disarmament.”
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2. Boris Johnson’s Tax Bill Comes Due
The U.K. leader’s big government agenda is a political flop.
By The Editorial Board. WSJ, Jan. 25, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/boris-johnsons-tax-bill-comes-due-uk-big-government-conservatives-11643149004?mod=hp_opin_pos_3#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The Editorial begins:
“As U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s political future becomes less certain, now might seem like an odd time for British Conservatives to argue about tax policy. But they’re right to do so. Mr. Johnson’s career is in danger in large part because he has attempted a foolish and failing agenda of big government conservatism.
“Police said Tuesday they’re investigating parties that were allegedly held in Mr. Johnson’s office-and-residence complex in London’s Downing Street in contravention of lockdown rules in 2020. If evidence emerges that he misled lawmakers about these parties, he may be forced to resign, or subjected to a no-confidence vote by lawmakers from his Conservative party.
“Yet if Tories dump Mr. Johnson, another reason will be that his big-spending, big-taxing conservatism is becoming a political liability. We’ve described his disastrous energy policies, which have built on two decades of mistakes to create a crisis for households trying to keep the lights and heat on this winter. Now households and politicians are peering over the edge of Mr. Johnson’s other cost-of-living cliff.”
The editorial describes pledges Johnson has made before concluding:
“No wonder Tories are losing patience with Mr. Johnson. They’re not getting any political credit for their spending binge—including the £12 billion for healthcare from that payroll-tax increase—and are paying the political price for the cost-of-living crisis Mr. Johnson’s taxes are exacerbating. That’s a warning for big-government conservatives everywhere.”
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