The Week That Was: 2021-12-18 (December 18, 2021)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “The brightest flashes in the world of thought are incomplete until they have been proved to have their counterparts in the world of fact.” – John Tyndall
Number of the Week: $40 Million More after $70 million
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: As the quote of the week by John Tyndall states, thoughts are incomplete unless they are backed by physical evidence. This week, TWTW will continue to emphasize the need for physical evidence considering the climate alarm raised by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the US Biden Administration.
First it will discuss a surprising article in the journal, Cortex, on modification of human behavior to express climate concerns. Then TWTW will review Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom by ecologist Patrick Moore. Afterwards there will be a brief discussion of late season tornadoes and the exaggerations by the Biden Administration.
Then TWTW will briefly discuss a report by investigation journalist David Rose on Big Green in China followed by a review of Robert F. Kennedy’s book on Big Science in medicine. TWTW will finish with the interesting question, which political jurisdiction, country, or state, will hit the energy wall the first – when the public realizes that wind and solar are neither reliable or cheap?
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What Are They Smoking? Announcing a new paper, a press release by the University of Bern, Switzerland begins:
“When it comes to climate-friendly behaviour, there is often a gap between what we want and what we actually do. Although most people want to see climate change slowed down, many do not behave in an appropriately sustainable way. Researchers at the University of Bern have now used brain stimulation to demonstrate that the ability to mentalise with the future victims of climate change encourages sustainable behaviour. [Boldface in original.}
“Global climate change may be the biggest challenge faced by humanity today. Despite decades of warnings and political resolutions, however, sustainability remains a long way from being achieved. “The fact that people aren’t acting in a more climate friendly way isn’t because we know too little about this critical situation, though.” explains Daria Knoch, Professor for Social Neuroscience at the University of Bern. To find out more about the reasons that prevent us from acting sustainably, Daria Knoch and her team have conducted a neuroscientific study. The findings have just been published in the renowned international journal Cortex.
“While some effects of global warming are already visible today, those affected more strongly will be people in the future who we do not know. “It is precisely our inability to mentalise with these strangers that discourages climate-friendly action,” says Daria Knoch, commenting on the findings of the new study that she carried out with her research group in the “Social Neuro Lab” at the University of Bern. During the study, participants received stimulation to a part of their brain which plays an important role for taking the perspective of others. This stimulation led to more sustainable behaviour.”
Published in the journal Cortex, the abstract reads:
“While many people acknowledge the urgency to drastically change our consumption patterns to mitigate climate change, most people fail to live sustainably. We hypothesized that a lack of sustainability stems from insufficient intergenerational mentalizing (i.e., taking the perspective of people in the future). To causally test our hypothesis, we applied high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) to the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). We tested participants twice (receiving stimulation at the TPJ or the vertex as control), while they engaged in a behavioral economic paradigm measuring sustainable decision-making, even if sustainability was costly. Indeed, excitatory anodal HD-tDCS increased sustainable decision-making, while inhibitory cathodal HD-tDCS had no effect. These finding cannot be explained by changes in participants’ fairness norms, or their estimation of how other people would behave. Shedding light on the neural basis of sustainability, our results could inspire targeted interventions tackling the TPJ and give neuroscientific support to theories on how to construct public campaigns addressing sustainability issues.”
What about those who recognize that human behavior has little influence on global warming or climate change and what little it has is beneficial? How will their brains be stimulated into politically correct sustainable behavior? Following revelations of governments attempting to modify the behavior of their citizens during World War II, the Cold War, etc., it is surprising to read such an academic study, because it represents nothing more and nothing less than actual mind control.
Another group in Bern, an international paleoclimatology group based known as PAGES 2k (PAst Global ChangES with 2k referring to the past two thousand years), using a set of studies has insisted that temperatures have been stable up to the industrial revolution. As Steve McIntyre has shown and TWTW has discussed, the work is poor. McIntyre’s most devastating criticism is the deliberate omission of high-resolution, well-established proxy studies of alkenone deposits (produced by marine algae) that date back millions of years. The PAGES 2k work is as solid as a “solid oak table” made of oak sawdust and glue, but Bern’s Social-Neuro Lab group would like to program your brain to believe it. See links under Below the Bottom Line.
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Seeking Physical Evidence: Patrick Moore was a founder of Greenpeace (Don’t Make a Wave Committee in Vancouver) which planned to protest underground hydrogen bomb testing in Alaska. He was in the middle of his Ph.D. program at the University of British Columbia studying Ecology, the branch of biology that deals with the relations of organisms to one another and to their physical surroundings. He writes that after fifteen years in Greenpeace, in the mid-1980s he decided to leave because Greenpeace had shifted from:
“…sensible environmentalism, to a platform of anti-human and anti-science campaigns that were more concerned with fundraising and scaring people with misinformation than with improving the environment. The adoption of the campaign to ban chlorine (the devil’s element) worldwide in 1986 by my fellow directors of Greenpeace International, none of whom had any formal science education was the final straw and for me signaled my departure.” (p. 9)
This must have been an exceedingly difficult decision for Moore and his family, to give up on an organization he had helped found and work diligently to advance because it took a direction that was contrary to physical science.
In his book, Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom, Moore demonstrates he learned the scientific method and ecology very well. He continues to seek physical evidence supporting claims by environmental and other groups and compare the claims with actual evidence. Repeatedly, he finds extreme exaggeration pasted on as fact. As he states:
“It dawned on me one day that most of the scare stories in the media today are based on things that are invisible, like CO2 and radiation, or very remote, like polar bears and coral reefs. Thus, the average person cannot observe and verify the truth of these claims for themselves. They must rely on activists, the media, politicians, and scientists – all of whom have a huge financial and/or political interest in the subject – to tell them the truth. This is my effort, after 50 years as a scientist and environmental activist, to expose the misinformation and outright lies used to scare us and our children about the future of the Earth. Direct observation is the very basis of science. Without verified observation it is not possible to know the truth. That is the sharp focus of this book.”
The write-up of the book on Amazon states:
Greenpeace found itself in the early 1980s with more than $100 million coming in annually and close to 1,000 people on the payroll. It had become a business, and fundraising moved to the top of the priority list. New campaigns were more about using sensationalism, misinformation, and fear to attract donations. Dr. Moore said good-bye in 1986 as Greenpeace was turning into a racket peddling junk science. Since then, he has strived to be a sensible environmentalist, basing his beliefs on sound science and logical thinking. This book is the culmination of 50 years of learning during Dr. Moore’s multi-faceted quest for the truth about environmental issues (an historical account of Dr. Moore’s 15 years with Greenpeace and his analysis of environmental subjects are in his previous book, Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout – The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist, also on Amazon).
The book is clearly written and free of jargon and formulas, and complex issues are clearly explained. For example, if human emissions of carbon dioxide are causing ocean acidification, as claimed by some at NOAA and academic institutions, why did massive amounts of calcifying marine life develop during periods that had far higher concentrations of carbon dioxide than today. The answer is simple, but it escapes many alarmists. Individual marine organisms can control their internal chemistry. If they could not, it is unlikely life would have evolved beyond bacteria. What happens after the organism dies is not relevant to its surviving. The dead marine organisms that make up chalk, limestone, marble, etc. are robust evidence that ocean acidification is a false fear.
Moore has a solid discussion on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which no one can find using satellite photos, or in person. Discarded fishing nets and other articles are a problem, but solvable with proper disposal, such as incineration (waste to energy). The December 4 TWTW had a discussion of a new study by the US National Academies demonstrating they have resorted to fearmongering over evidence.
Few books are as complete, clear, and evidence based as Mr. Moore’s book explaining the false claims of the environmental industry, which have been taken up by Western Governments. It is a welcome addition to any library for those concerned with ecology and very suitable reading for teen-agers who are subject to incessant propaganda about the environment. It exposes the major environmental falsehoods bantered about in political groups from the UN down to elementary schools. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Tornadoes: Last week’s TWTW briefly mentioned the swarm of late-season tornadoes to hit Kentucky and neighboring states. Sure enough, President Biden declared the tornadoes were the result of global warming / climate change. One could say that if the Gulf of Mexico were frozen, there would have been no tornadoes. Unfortunately, tornadoes are more common to the US than any other countries because the nation is subject to cold fronts coming down the east side of the Rocky Mountains with the jet stream clashing with warm humid air from the Gulf of Mexico. The clash creates turbulent weather. Swarms of tornadoes in the southeast US seem to be more common during the Pacific Ocean’s La Niña occurrences, and one is occurring now. The President’s action demonstrates the administration will use virtually any weather excuse to advance its agenda. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Change in US Administrations, Seeking a Coming Ground, and Changing Weather
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Thank You Russia: Those who lived through the Cold War may remember US television news broadcasts declaring that Russia used is veto power in the UN Security Council to kill another fine idea that would benefit humanity – Nyet! This week, Russia said no to a UN resolution that climate change is a global security threat. Given how the UN has expanded its role in interfering with domestic policies in the name of stopping climate change, Russia’s Nyet deserves a thank you for a change. See link under Expanding the Orthodoxy.
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Big Green: Investigative journalist David Rose writes about the September annual meeting of the China Council for International Co-operation on Environment and Development (the CCUCCED:
“Indeed, as the room fizzled with optimistic eco-rhetoric, you could almost forget that China is the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases — and that the new coal-fired power stations in its construction pipeline alone have a greater capacity than Britain’s entire generation fleet.”
“What was remarkable about this meeting, though, was the surprising presence of an external delegation: joining the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) apparatchiks on a collection of screens dotted around the room were a number of enthusiastic Britons and other Westerners.”
“Who were these people? Strange to tell, they consisted of a veritable Who’s Who of British, European and American climate activists.”
“Three years later, following the annual WEF [World Economic Forum, 2017] jamboree at Davos, [Lord Nicholas] Stern said: ‘The world is looking for a climate champion. In China, it has one.’”
It is excessive to state that the CCP controls European green activist groups. But it is good to know that some journalists are worthy of the adjective investigative. See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy.
Big Science: Long time TWTW Reader Peter Freidman asked if TWTW would review a book by Robert F. Kennedy Jr, The Real Anthony Fauci. Upon being informed TWTW had no intention to do so, Mr. Freidman submitted his review, which fits very well with the concept that with big science comes arrogance and the failure to admit errors. Below is Mr. Freidman’s review:
The destruction of medical science
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s detailed and well-researched book, The Real Anthony Fauci makes it clear that the same political playbook that has been used to corrupt climate ‘science’ – outcome-driven control of funding, indoctrination through academia, propaganda from mass media and advocacy by scientific publications – has also afflicted other research fields, specifically medical science.
“According to Kennedy, under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its subsidiary organization the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), medical research operates as more of a religious orthodoxy than a scientific pursuit. Kennedy gives many specific examples of world-renowned scientists with well-researched alternative theories being treated as ‘heretics,’ defunded, de-platformed and ostracized within the medical research community.
“In language that is familiar to readers of TWTW, skeptical medical scientists are considered ‘denialists’ and ‘flat-earthers.’ According to Kennedy, the quest for profit supersedes quest for knowledge using the scientific process. A partnership between NIH, university Principal Investigators and major pharmaceutical companies pushes expensive profitable drugs (those that are patentable) over existing remedies (those for which the patent has expired). This same group of powers targets for destruction any scientist or journalist who interferes with this agenda. Top NIH employees, including Anthony Fauci, who famously stated ‘I represent science,’ often have conflicts of interest as they stand to receive royalties from drugs under investigation.
“In another similarity with the climate debate, public health policy makers frequently push ‘solutions’ that are based on sketchy science. Public health policy makers display a pattern of promoting inadequately-tested, expensive and profitable pharmaceuticals, which are often dangerous. In the case of climate science, policy makers promote expensive so-called ‘green energy,’ which in actuality provides little or no actual environmental benefit and diminishes our standard of living. The poor in developing nations suffer the most. Impoverished people are denied the affordable energy, which could greatly extend life expectancy by providing refrigeration and sanitary facilities. As Kennedy points out, resources that could improve sanitation and hygiene are diverted to ineffective vaccine programs. Worse still, the third world, particularly Africa, has become the testing ground for dangerous medications.
“Although Kennedy is an unlikely ally to those of us who would like to see integrity restored to the subject of climate science (in his book, he ironically refers to Trump as a ‘climate-change denier’), his coverage of the politicization of medical science is well-researched and eloquently written. In Kennedy’s words:
“’[S]ome hundred years [sic] after Galileo—politics and power continue to dictate ‘scientific consensus,’ rather than empiricism, critical thinking, or the established steps of the scientific method. It is a hazard to public health when a kind of religious faith in authoritative pronouncements supplants disciplined observation, rigorous proofs, and reproducible results as a source of truth in the medical field.’
“While consensus may be an admirable political objective, it is the enemy of science and truth. The term ‘settled science’ is an oxymoron…
“Kennedy places the issue in a historical context by reminding the reader of President Eisenhower’s prescient warning in his farewell address.
“’In this revolution, research has become central; it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government… The prospect of domination of the nation’s scholars by Federal employment, project allocations and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded. … [We] must … be alert to the danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific technological elite.’
“Through the years, TWTW has demonstrated that the corruption of climate science is costly, destructive to our economy, damaging to the environment, and dangerous to our national security. As Kennedy demonstrates, the corruption of science extends to other fields. He argues that corrupted medical science may have led to millions of premature deaths along with incalculable human suffering. Certainly, the undermining of real science and replacing it with politically-motivated policy advocacy undermines the advancement of knowledge but, more importantly, it results in poor public policy.”
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Who Will Hit First? Unless utility scale, affordable, electricity storage becomes readily available, the UK, Germany, and some US states face a brick wall, or a cliff. The questions are which one will hit it first? Will the others learn? Norway is running out of excess hydropower, where will Germany and northern Europe go when the wind does not blow? What about the UK? Francis Mention asks these challenging questions. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Energy Issues – Non-US and Energy Issues – US.
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Number of the Week: $40 Million More after $70 million: Last week’s TWTW had an article in the Wall Street Journal which discussed Big Data:” Climate Change Data Deluge Has Scientists Scrambling for Solutions” (also discussed by Donn Dears in this TWTW). It stated:
“Climate change calculations are becoming more than existing supercomputers can handle. The three-year-old Cheyenne supercomputer at the Wyoming Supercomputer Center operated by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Cheyenne, Wyo., pictured here, is being replaced by a $40 million computer that is 3.5 times faster.”
According to NCAR’s web site the computer center cost $70 million. So, we have computer costs of $110 million (including facility) for climate change calculations. Using a laptop, W. A. van Wijngaarden & W. Happer calculated the thermal radiation of the earth’s five most abundant greenhouse gases. Their results are verified and validated. Yet their December 2020 paper still has not been published. Could it be that using a laptop is not Big Science? Or that Big Science does not wish to acknowledge mistakes? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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NO TWTW NEXT WEEK, DEC 25
HAVE A GREAT HOLIDAY WEEKEND
Dear Reader of The Week That Was,
The Science & Environmental Policy Project (SEPP) is a 501-c-3 organization, incorporated in Virginia. Its Federal I.D. Number is 54-1645372 and donations are US tax deductible. Established in 1990 by the late S. Fred Singer to challenge government environmental policies employing poor science, SEPP stands for objective science, based on physical evidence and rigorous adherence to the scientific method.
No matter how elaborate, results from numerical models that are not thoroughly tested against physical evidence are speculative and cannot be relied upon. Testing the results from using parts of a model against the results from the entire model is a ruse used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Major government policies based on speculation and misleading “modeling” are a waste of resources.
Physicist Dr. Thomas Sheahen is Chairman. Other distinguished scientists serve on the board of directors. Ken Haapala continues as president, compiles TWTW, and oversees general operations. We continue to be very productive and are striving to carry on the tradition of scientific integrity, together with the priority of data over theory, which Fred Singer always espoused.
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Censorship
Here’s where the ‘facts’ about me lie — Facebook bizarrely claims its ‘fact-checks’ are ‘opinion’
By John Stossel, New York Post, Dec 13, 2021 [H/t Climate Depot]
https://nypost.com/2021/12/13/facebook-bizarrely-claims-its-misquote-is-opinion/
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
Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases
By W. A. van Wijngaarden & W. Happer Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics, prepublication, Dec
22, 2020
https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/12/WThermal-Radiationf.pdf?x45936
Climate Change and CO2 Not a Problem
By William Happer, CLINTEL lecture, Nov 16, 2021
With transcript and images from Feb 2021 presentation, by Ron Clutz, Via Science Matters, Dec 4, 2021
Deadly December Tornadoes
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, ICECAP, Dec 16, 2021
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/new-and-cool/the_deadly_december_tornadoes1/
“Tornadoes like most all weather extremes are driven by natural factors. Active tornado seasons or years with major outbreaks are strongly correlated with stronger La Nina events and the cold phase of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which favors more frequent and stronger La Ninas.”
Which Country Or U.S. State Will Be The First To Hit The Renewable Energy Wall?
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Dec 17, 2021
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-12-17-which-country-or-us-state-will-be-the-first-to-hit-the-renewable-energy-wall
Climate Model Hubris
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Dec 17, 2021
Climate Sensitivity to an Increase in the Carbon Dioxide Concentration in the Atmosphere Decreases with an Increase in the Water Vapor Concentration upon Warming
By H. I. Abdussamatov, Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo, St. Petersburg, 196140 Russia, Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, Accepted April 26, 2021 [H/t CLINTEL]
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/abduss_GMA_2021-978.pdf
2021, New Year Wishes and Unreliable Weather
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Dec 2, 2021
“If I were the head of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, I would make more skilful weather and climate forecasting my priority. I would put a system in place for measuring improvement, and I would make sure the team of meteorologists believed it was possible to improve, not only in their skill at providing daily weather forecasts, but also in seasonal rainfall forecasts.”
“Antarctica is a long way from the Great Barrier Reef, but it is the temperature and pressure gradients between the two – or at least between the Poles and the Equator – that can have a major impact on the intensity of the Earth’s weather systems.”
New Research: “CO2 Influence On Global Temperature Development Since1860 Only Half As Large As IPCC Estimate!
A remarkable publication on solar influence on climate goes unnoticed
By Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (Die kalte Sonne), (Text translated/edited by P. Gosselin), Dec d14, 2021
Link to paper: Solar and Anthropogenic Influences on Climate: Regression Analysis and Tentative Predictions
By Frank Stefan, Climate, Nov 3, 2021
https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/9/11/163
The East Slams the West’s Climate ‘Colonialism’
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, Dec 17, 2021
Defending the Orthodoxy
IPCC AR6: Atmospheric Blocking, Unspun Edition
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
“One of the main building blocks of extreme weather is so-called “Atmospheric Blocking”. When a block forms, the weather gets stalled and builds in intensity, whether it’s heat, cold, drought or precipitation, until the system finally breaks up and disperses. With so much focus on the drivers of extreme weather, we thought we’d look at what settled science has to say about atmospheric blocking which we find in the new IPCC report, in Section 8.3.2.7.”
The energy debate over “green colonialism” in Africa
By Bryan Walsh, Axios, Dec 8, 2021
https://www.axios.com/africa-fossil-fuels-climate-change-3278493f-a3ed-446d-9ef7-d70540b70a1a.html
“The bottom line: Averting dangerous climate change and ending extreme poverty are two of the most important challenges the world faces in the future but fighting one shouldn’t come at the expense of the other.”
[SEPP Comment: But one is imaginary, and one is real!]
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Climate change is intensifying extremes, even in the oceans
Press Release by Rahel Künzler, ZTH Zurich, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-climate-extremes-oceans.html
Link to paper: Biogeochemical extremes and compound events in the ocean
By Nicolas Gruber, et al., Nature, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03981-7
Opening of the abstract: “The ocean is warming, losing oxygen and being acidified, primarily as a result of anthropogenic carbon emissions.”
[SEPP Comment: CO2 is far more soluble in water than oxygen. Ice cores show that as the earth warms CO2 concentrations increase. The article ignores these facts.]
Farmed seafood supply at risk if climate change goes unaddressed, study predicts
By Brian P. Dunleavy, Washington DC (UPI), Dec 13, 2021
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Farmed_seafood_supply_at_risk_if_climate_change_goes_unaddressed_study_predicts_999.html
Link to paper: Projecting global mariculture production and adaptation pathways under climate change
By Muhammed A. Oyinlola, et al. Global Change Biology, Dec 13, 2021
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/13652486
From the abstract: “We include 85 farmed marine fish and mollusc species, representing about 70% of all mariculture production in 2015. Results show positive global mariculture production changes by the mid and end of the 21st century relative to the 2000s under the SSP1-2.6 scenario with an increase of 17%±5 and 33%±6, respectively. However, under the SSP5-8.5 scenario, an increase of 8%±5 is projected, with production peaking by mid-century and declining by 16%±5 towards the end of the 21st century.”
[SEPP Comment: Using exaggerations to find problems.]
Ocean acidification and warming disrupts fish shoals
Press Release by University of Adelaide, Dec 17, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshie]
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-ocean-acidification-disrupts-fish-shoals.html
Link to paper: Ocean warming and acidification degrade shoaling performance and lateralization of novel tropical–temperate fish shoals
By Angus Mitchell, Global Change Biology, Dec 17, 2021
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16022
Fossil fuels for China: Decarbonisation for everyone else
China analyst warns that Beijing is playing the West for fools
Press Release, GWPF, Dec 13, 2021
Link to paper: China’s Energy Dream
By Patricia Adams, GWPF, 2021
Does the CCP Control Extinction Rebellion?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 15, 2021
Link to full article: Does the CCP control Extinction Rebellion?
Western activists are blind to President Xi’s ambition
By David Rose, UnHerd, Dec 15, 2021
https://unherd.com/2021/12/does-the-ccp-control-extinction-rebellion/?mc_cid=5ea83bd9d0&mc_eid=4961da7cb1
Oh what a tangled web
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
“One strange feature of climate science is that it is settled. Unlike every other field in which new discoveries are not just made but welcomed and indeed sought after by the diligent and the ambitious.”
BBC Uphold My Complaint About Wind Farm Subsidies
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 17, 2021
[SEPP Comment: Offshore wind industry is not virtually subsidy-free as claimed on BBC.]
CO2 Party: Having Fun with Probabilities
By Clyde Spencer, WUWT, Dec 16, 2021
After Paris!
The tragi-comic climate doomsday cult
World leaders have made complete fools of themselves at COP26
By Melanie Phillips, Her Blog, Nov 2, 2021 [H/t Master Resource]
https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-tragi-comic-climate-doomsday
“No wonder Russia and China didn’t even bother to turn up to COP26. Their contempt for the west must be bottomless as they look upon its accelerating economic and cultural green suicide — and rub their hands.”
White House: Biden wants bill passed ‘as soon as Congress returns’
By Morgan Chalfant, The Hill, Dec 17, 2021
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/586281-white-house-says-biden-wants-build-back-better-passed-as-soon-as
Joe Biden vs. the Tornados
By Anthony Watts, American Thinker, Dec 15, 2021
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/12/joe_biden_vs_the_tornados.html
“Dr. Roy Spencer, a climatologist at the University of Alabama, Huntsville points out, ‘To claim that global warming is causing more tornadoes is worse than speculative; it is directly opposite to the clear observational evidence.’”
Build Back Better? 1970s Energy Crisis Redux
By Robert Bradley Jr., Institute for Energy Research, Dec 9, 2021
“And the dark decade of the 1970s went from President Nixon’s energy crisis, to President Ford’s Comprehensive Energy Strategy, to President Carter’s moral equivalent of war. Today, it is President Biden’s ‘existential threat of our time’ as a rationale to demote the mega-energies of oil, natural gas, and coal.
“Authoritarian energy policy is not the solution but the problem. The true path to energy sustainability is what these politicians refuse to see or consider: energy for the masses as freely chosen by them, not politicians.”
Remarkably, Corporations Have Suddenly Become “Greedy” Since Biden Became President
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Dec 14, 2021
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-12-14-remarkably-corporations-have-suddenly-become-greedy-since-biden-became-president
Biden uses tornado tragedy to push climate agenda
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 12, 2021
The Biden Administration’s Energy Policy: Taking Us Back to a Bygone Carter Era
By Guy Caruso, Real Clear Energy, Dec 15, 2021
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/12/15/the_biden_administrations_energy_policy_taking_us_back_to_a_bygone_carter_era_807860.html
Finally a use for all that spare money
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
“NBC crows that ‘Biden signs executive order to make U.S. government carbon neutral by 2050/ The president aims to leverage the federal government’s massive buying power to jump-start the market for clean energy, electric vehicles and more efficient buildings.’ Which seems a backdoor admission that the market is in sorry need of a lot of juice. As well as a mistaken assumption that the U.S. government, with its $2.7 trillion deficits, has so much extra money it might as well slosh tonnes of it around in this direction.”
Top US diplomat says China needs more ambitious climate goal
By Staff, AP, Dec 12, 2021
https://apnews.com/article/climate-joe-biden-business-china-beijing-7446b6a0fe27dc6f1a88e4f123b0fa1b
“China and U.S. had a ‘very good year’ for collaboration on dealing with climate change, but Washington is still pushing Beijing to adopt more ambitious carbon reduction goals, the top U.S. diplomat in China said.”
Problems in the Orthodoxy
When the “Climate Catastrophe” Levee Breaks
The energy race in the post-apocalyptic world.
By Duggan Flanakin, Real Clear Energy, Dec 13, 2021
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/12/13/when_the_climate_catastrophe_levee_breaks_807591.html
China Walks Back COP26 Carbon Emission Pledges
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 14, 2021
Seeking a Common Ground
A Critical Gap in Tornado Warning Technology: Lessons of the Recent Tornado Outbreak
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Dec 12, 2021
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/12/a-critical-gap-in-tornado-warning.html
TORNADO
By Judith Curry, Her Blog, Dec 16, 2021
Were the Recent Tornadoes the Result of Global Warming?
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Dec 15, 2021
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/12/were-recent-tornadoes-result-of-global.html
“Tornadoes are infrequent in the warm, humid tropics, where large and frequent thunderstorms are noted. Essential ingredients are missing.”
“Claims that the severe tornadoes experienced last Friday evening were the result of global warming/climate change have little basis in the scientific literature or meteorological observations. Observed trends contradict the claims. No such conclusions have been made by the leading scientific groups (e.g., the IPCC).”
[SEPP Comment: Great map of frequency of tornadoes world-wide. Need a clash between heat and cold for tornadoes to develop.]
Science, Policy, and Evidence
In the Race for ‘Climate Leadership,’ Everyone’s a Loser
By Rupert Darwall, Newsweeek, Dec 10, 2021
https://www.newsweek.com/race-climate-leadership-everyones-loser-opinion-1657808
Austria says only the rich can go unvaccinated for £12,000 a year
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 14, 2021
“Health Minister Wolfgang Mueckstein says this is not about punishment.
“‘I say very clearly that we don’t want to punish the people who aren’t vaccinated. We want to bring them along, we want to convince them of this vaccination and we want them to show solidarity with everyone so that we can regain our freedom.’”
Changing Weather
California’s Wild Weather, Wet or Dry, is Nothing New
These mega-droughts and mega-floods all occurred well before ‘climate change’ was blamed for every weather event
By Anthony Watts, California Globe, Dec 13, 2021
Link to web site with drawings and graphs:
“The highest rainfall ever in California during recorded history likely occurred in January 1862, during the ‘Great Flood’. This was an atmospheric river event like we are experiencing now, but lasted several days, dumping 24.63 inches of rain in San Francisco, 66 inches in Los Angeles, leaving downtown Sacramento underwater.”
[SEPP Comment: Who knows how much rain fell in the Sierra Mountains. According to contemporary reports, the natives moved to high ground before the heavy rains fell.]
Experts Refute Claims Linking Deadly Tornadoes to Climate Change
By Nathan Worcester, Epoch Times, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.theepochtimes.com/mkt_breakingnews/experts-rebuke-claims-linking-deadly-tornadoes-to-climate-change_4157257.html?utm_source=News&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2021-12-15-3&mktids=4a9bab10e2e5d0a237ff278ff77f5fd6&est=tdOH8PfUpH3eNmC7Yks6MSkvGAeHJO%2FVETUwZ9VVgZt%2BfOoom0k4cPUyVw%3D%3D
La Nina Begins to Influence Our Weather, and the Latest Forecast: All in My New Podcast
Podcast by Cliff Mass Weather Blog, Dec 17, 2021
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2021/12/la-nina-begins-to-influence-our-weather.html
Kentucky Tornado Updates
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 13, 2021
January 1967 Tornado In Wisconsin
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Dec 17, 2021
https://realclimatescience.com/2021/12/january-1967-tornado-in-wisconsin/
1920 or 2020? Wilson’s Promontory Edition
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
Changing Climate
Winter is coming: Researchers uncover the surprising cause of the Little Ice Age
Press Release by University of Massachusetts Amherst, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-winter-uncover-ice-age.html
Link to paper: Little Ice Age abruptly triggered by intrusion of Atlantic waters into the Nordic Seas
By Francois Lapointe and Raymond Bradley, AAAS Science, Dec 15, 2021
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi8230
From the abstract: “Here, we show that the LIA was preceded by an exceptional intrusion of warm Atlantic water into the Nordic Seas in the late 1300s. The intrusion was a consequence of persistent atmospheric blocking over the North Atlantic, linked to unusually high solar activity.”
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
Researchers uncover earliest evidence for prehistoric humans transforming surroundings
By Brian P. Dunleavy, Washington DC (UPI), Dec 15, 2021
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Researchers_uncover_earliest_evidence_for_prehistoric_humans_transforming_surroundings_999.html
Were the ancient Maya an agricultural cautionary tale? Maybe not, new study suggests
Maya had extensive systems of sophisticated irrigation and terracing
Press Release, NSF, Dec 15, 2021
https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?WT.mc_id=USNSF_1&cntn_id=304105&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to paper: Airborne Lidar Survey, Density-Based Clustering, and Ancient Maya Settlement in the Upper Usumacinta River Region of Mexico and Guatemala
By Charles Golden, et al. Remote Sensing, Oct 14, 2021
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/20/4109
Changing Seas
Study: Ancient Fish Thrived During PETM Extreme Global Warming
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 15, 2021
Link to abstract of presentation: PP23A-02 – Enhanced open-ocean fish production and community resilience across the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum
By Elizabeth Sibert, AGU Fall Meeting, Dec 14, 2021
https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm21/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/934149
Climate Central : Tweleve Feet Of Sea Level Rise By 2100
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Dec 17, 2021
https://realclimatescience.com/2021/12/climate-central-tweleve-feet-of-sea-level-rise-by-2100/
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
New Study: Northern North Atlantic Sea Ice Cover No Less In 2000 CE Than In 1600s – 1800s CE
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Dec 13, 2021
Link to paper: Sea ice in the northern North Atlantic through the Holocene: Evidence from ice cores and marine sediment records
By Niccolò Maffezzoli, et al. Quaternary Science Reviews, Dec 1, 2021
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S027737912100456X
[SEPP Comment: Refutes the 2000-year hockey-stick in the IPCC AR6 Summary for Policymakers.]
Mid-December polar bear habitat update
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Dec 16, 2021
Melting sea ice forces polar bears to travel farther for food
Press Release by Washington State University, Dec 14, 2021 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-sea-ice-polar-food.html
Link to paper: Effects of sea ice decline and summer land use on polar bear home range size in the Beaufort Sea
By Anthony M. Pagano, et al. Ecosphere, Oct 26, 2021
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.3768
Changing Earth
Study combines climatic, tectonic models to explain Andean conundrum
Press Release by The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Geology, Dec 14, 2021 [H/T WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/937939
Link to paper: Southward expanding plate coupling due to variation in sediment subduction as a cause of Andean growth
By Jiashun Hu, et al. Nature Communications, Dec 14, 2021
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-27518-8
The abstract starts: “Growth of the Andes has been attributed to Cenozoic subduction. Although climatic and tectonic processes have been proposed to be first-order mechanisms, their interaction and respective contributions remain largely unclear.”
[SEPP Comment: Highly question the value of the strange combination.]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Dismissing Anti-GMO Groups As COVID Conspiracists Is A Dangerous Mistake
By Cameron English, ACSH, Dec 8, 2021
https://www.acsh.org/news/2021/12/08/dismissing-anti-gmo-groups-covid-conspiracists-dangerous-mistake-15981
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Three Myths About Renewable Energy and the Grid, Debunked
Renewable energy skeptics argue that because of their variability, wind and solar cannot be the foundation of a dependable electricity grid. But the expansion of renewables and new methods of energy management and storage can lead to a grid that is reliable and clean.
By Amory Lovins and M. V. Ramana, Yale Environment 360, Dec 9, 2021
https://e360.yale.edu/features/three-myths-about-renewable-energy-and-the-grid-debunked
[SEPP Comment: Typical academic non-science. If it is true part of the time, it must be true all of the time? If you can show it on a graph, it must be real?]
Lowering Standards
Mediterranean Weather In The Arctic
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 16, 2021
“’The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday verified the record, reported in the Siberian town of Verkhoyansk on 20 June last year.’
“The reality however is not what the BBC and WMO want you to know.
“Summer temperatures in Siberia regularly peak at well over 30C. Although last year set a record of 38.C, the previous highest was only slightly lower at 37.3C, set as long ago as 1988.”
Changing Sea Level Propaganda At National Geographic
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Dec 17, 2021
https://realclimatescience.com/2021/12/changing-sea-level-propaganda-at-national-geographic/
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Tomlinson Bullies the “Bullying” Oil Industry
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, Dec 14, 2021
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Analysis: Obura et al Coral Bleaching Study: Models Used Misrepresent Warming Rate….”30% Too High”!
A German analysis finds that the threatening scenarios about the imminent death of all coral reefs in a recent study cannot be justified.
The corals off East Africa, doomed to extinction?
By Frank Bosse, Kalte Sonne, (Translated, edited by P. Gosselin), No Tricks Zone, Dec 10, 2021
Hawaii has weather, Ohio has climate
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
Study: Winter tornadoes to get more powerful as world warms
By Seth Borenstein, Phys.org, Dec 14, 2021
https://phys.org/news/2021-12-winter-tornadoes-powerful-world.html
A poster presentation at the AGU Conference
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Violence In Cameroon? Blame It On Global Warming!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 11, 2021
“It is worth pointing out that the 1970s drought coincided with a period of global cooling. This is not coincidental: HH Lamb wrote about a’moisture optimum in the Lake Chad Basin between AD700 and 1200’, followed by ‘greater difficulties during the Little Ice Age’.”
Poisonous storms annihilate mankind
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
PBS: Ten Feet Of Sea Level Rise In The Next Ten Years
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Dec 17, 2021
https://realclimatescience.com/2021/12/pbs-ten-feet-of-sea-level-rise-in-the-next-ten-years/
Communicating Better to the Public – Do a Poll?
One more go at the 97% consensus
By Rafe Champion guest post, Jo Nova’s Blog, Dec 11, 2021
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Claim: Climate Anxiety is Destroying the Lives of Young People
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 17, 2021
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Russia vetoes UN resolution on climate change as global security threat
By AFP Staff Writers, United Nations, United States (AFP), Dec 13, 2021
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Russia_vetoes_UN_resolution_on_climate_change_as_global_security_threat_999.html
“The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said there was “no justification” for Moscow’s veto.
“The climate crisis is a security crisis,’ she said.”
The Looking Glass World Of “Climate Injustice” — Part III
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Dec 12, 2021
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2021-12-12-the-looking-glass-world-of-climate-injustice-part-iii
Columbia Climate School: “Every Year will Bring New Converts”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 15, 2021
Exclusive: Climate movement veterans launch major new foundation
By Ben Geman, Axios, Dec 16, 2021
https://www.axios.com/climate-change-policy-foundation-carbon-emissions-207e5915-8825-4e9c-b2d6-6c770c1a2787.html
Link to foundation web site: Climate Imperative
Secure a better future of all, accessed Feb 17, 2021
“Climate Imperative is emerging publicly today and with a planned budget of $180 million annually over five years.”
Questioning European Green
Germany’s New Government Plans To Use 10% Of Country’s Land Area For Wind Turbines
Germany’s coalition agreement and the 2% target for wind energy
By Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (Text translated/edited by P. Gosselin), No Tricks Zone, Dec 12, 2021
[SEPP Comment: What harm can a little clear-cutting do?]
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Brownwashing
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
“But Alex Epstein suggests that it’s worse than they think, because the reason even very woke outfits like Starbucks are faking it [greenwashing] rather than making it isn’t that they’re lazy, greedy or hypocritical. It’s because genuine carbon neutrality is a pipe dream they share but cannot grasp when they get up from the couch and face the light of day.”
Non-Green Jobs
‘Urban myth’: Can Congress replace coal with renewables?
By Benjamin Storrow, E&E Climate Wire, Nov 29, 2021
“The limits of renewable development are one reason labor advocates had hoped to see Congress offer more assistance to displaced coal workers. A carbon pricing bill proposed by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) would have provided wage replacement, health care coverage and educational benefits for five years.”
[SEPP Comment: The article is on coal jobs and misses the major problem. Can a complex civilization operate on wind and solar?]
Funding Issues
Banks Agree: No more Coal-fired Power Plants
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Dec 14, 2021
Billions and billions
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Dec 15, 2021
“We’re in a heap of trouble, folks. Uh, except for one thing. The estimated costs of all this climate damage is chump change compared to what we’re throwing at climate policies that won’t do anything to stop it anyway.”
Norway’s Power Surplus Disappearing Rapidly
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 13, 2021
“Virtually all of Norway’s electricity comes from hydro, and last year total generation amounted to 154 TWh. According to this latest report, demand in Norway will rise from 139 to 158 TWh by 2026.”
“And when southern Norway is short of power, will the country carry on exporting electricity to the rest of Europe?
“Don’t hold your breath!”
No Wind Friday
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 17, 2021
“In Germany, demand is currently running at 70 GW, leaving a shortfall of 10 GW with generation at 60 GW.
“Poland, France and Spain have little to spare, which means that the rest of Europe is largely dependent on Norway and Sweden, which together have a surplus of 13 GW.
“Given that this surplus all comes from hydro and nuclear (Sweden), there will be no easy way to increase this when the demand for it inevitable arises.”
Energy Issues – Australia
Awakening? Queensland green types realize what environmental horrors wind farms can be
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 16, 2021
Nature Conservation Groups Demand More Renewable Energy Transmission Lines
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 14, 2021
Rolling blackouts possible this winter, regional grid warns [New England]
By Staff, AP, Dec 11, 2021
https://www.wbur.org/news/2021/12/11/rolling-blackouts-possible-this-winter-regional-grid-warns
New York City is banning natural gas hookups for new buildings to fight climate change
By Emma Newburg, CNBC, Dec 15, 2021
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/15/new-york-city-is-banning-natural-gas-hookups-for-new-buildings.html
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
U.S. liquefied natural gas export capacity will be world’s largest by end of 2022
By Victoria Zaretskaya, EIA, Dec 9, 2021
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50598
More, More, More – Permian Gas Production Growth Spurs Still More Infrastructure Projects
By Housley Carr, RBN Energy, Dec 14, 2021
https://rbnenergy.com/more-more-more-permian-gas-production-growth-spurs-still-more-infrastructure-projects
Return of King Coal?
Global Coal Power Demand On Track For Record As Green Energy Transition Crumbles
By Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, Dec 17, 2021
https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/global-coal-power-demand-track-record-green-energy-transition-crumbles
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
MPs Finally Wake Up To Biomass Scandal
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 17, 2021
“It’s a pity these MPs did not raise their concerns years ago, before the subsidy contracts were awarded. By law, they cannot now be rescinded.
“And rather than writing to Kwasi Kwarteng objecting about the £4bn of subsidies, perhaps they should have written instead to Ed Davey, who awarded the subsidies when he was Energy Secretary.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Owning a car is outdated ’20th-century thinking’ and we must move to ‘shared mobility’ to cut carbon emissions, transport minister says
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 12, 2021
“This never had anything to do with “climate change”. It is all to do with limiting our personal freedom, to stop us going where we want, when we want and doing what we want.”
Summary: Comparison: Real World Cost of Fueling EVs and ICE Vehicles
By Patrick L. Anderson & Alston D’Souza For Anderson Economic Group, Nov 3, 2021
https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/public_affairs/2021/11/03/comparison_real_world_cost_of_fueling_evs_and_ice_vehicles_801901.html
Link to full study: Comparison: Real World Cost of Fueling EVs and ICE Vehicles
Electric vehicles can be more expensive to fuel than their internal combustion engine counterparts
By Patrick L. Anderson & Alston D’Souza For Anderson Economic Group, Oct 21, 2021
The World’s Top Automakers Are Doubling Down On Electric Vehicles
By Felicity Bradstock, Oil Price.com, Dec 14, 2021
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/The-Worlds-Top-Automakers-Are-Doubling-Down-On-Electric-Vehicles.html
Vauxhall Mokka Electric
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Dec 11, 2021
“I looked at the range of the Audi e-Tron the other day. Audi’s figures suggested 162 miles for motorway driving – unlike normal cars, EVs have lower efficiency on motorways than urban driving.”
Oh Mann!
Climate Activist Michael Mann Calls Climate Denial ‘Deadlier’ than COVID Denial, Demands Censorship of Dissenters
By Joshua Klein, Breitbart, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t William Readdy]
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2021/12/15/climate-activist-michael-mann-calls-climate-denial-deadlier-than-covid-denial-demands-censorship-of-dissenters/
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Brain study on how to slow down climate change,
Press Release, University of Bern, Dec 15, 2021 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/938000
Link to paper: Mentalizing with the future: Electrical stimulation of the right TPJ increases sustainable decision-making
By Benedikt P. Langenbach, et al. Cortex, January 2022
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010945221003609?via%3Dihub
[SEPP Comment: Real Brain Twisters.]
ARTICLES
John Kerry’s Financial Crusade Against Oil and Gas
Public officials have told the climate envoy to stop trying to raise energy costs for U.S. consumers.
By Andy Puzder, WSJ, Dec. 15, 2021
https://www.wsj.com/articles/john-kerry-crusade-against-oil-gas-fracking-climate-banks-fossil-fuels-biden-energy-prices-11639603757?mod=hp_opin_pos_3#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The former CEO of CKE Restaurants, chairman of 2ndVote Value Investments, Inc., and a visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation writes:
“‘The reality is the Biden administration is not standing in the way of increasing domestic oil production to meet today’s energy needs,’ Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk asserted at the World Petroleum Congress in Houston last week. Really? He might want to check with John Kerry.
“The president’s climate envoy has been pressuring banks and financial institutions to reduce their commitments to U.S. oil and gas companies and join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which would hobble the ability of oil and gas companies to increase production. Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase signed on to the alliance this year.
“Mr. Kerry’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed. In April, members of the Senate Banking Committee sent him a letter expressing concern that he had “been pressuring banks to make extralegal commitments regarding energy-related lending and investment activities” that would result in “higher energy costs for American consumers.”
“In May, 15 state treasurers sent a letter to Mr. Kerry observing that he and other members of the Biden administration are “privately pressuring U.S. banks and financial institutions to refuse to lend to or invest in coal, oil, and natural gas companies, as part of a misguided strategy to eliminate the fossil fuel industry in our country.” They urged banks and financial institutions “not to give in to pressure from the Biden Administration.”
“It will take more than letters to halt the Biden administration’s war on fossil fuels. Responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey for the third quarter, one oil-and-gas producer identified “expanding credit” as a major headwind because “the money center banks continue to seek to reduce their commitments to oil and gas borrowers.”
“On Nov. 22, another group of 16 state financial officers signed an open letter to the U.S. banking industry with some teeth. The letter states that the signers will take “concrete steps” to “select financial institutions that support a free market and are not engaged in harmful fossil fuel industry boycotts for our states’ financial services contracts.” If these officials follow through, noncompliant banks would lose lucrative state contracts. According to the letter, these officials are responsible for a combined total of more than $600 billion in assets.
Texas went a step further in June, enacting a law banning state investments in businesses that boycott oil and gas companies and another law that blocks state investments in companies that restrict business with the firearms industry. Since the laws took effect, two of Wall Street’s biggest municipal-bond underwriters—Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase—haven’t managed a single municipal-bond sale in Texas, the second-largest issuer of state and local government debt with some $58 billion sold last year.
After stating the antiboycott approach may be good, but it fails to address financial firms such as BlackRock. These hedge fund managers may boycott the biggest company in Texas, Exxon Mobil, the author concludes with:
“A more comprehensive state legislative solution might have produced a different result. The Texas law could have included a provision placing the voting rights for shares purchased by Texas entities, or the financial advisers those entities employ, under a committee that includes individuals answerable to Texas voters, rather than climate-change activists.
“The Biden administration will pursue its nonstop war against America’s oil and gas producers for at least the next three years. Unless it meets resistance, prices will increase and the U.S. energy industry will continue to shrink. While state legislatures can’t stop Mr. Biden from pursuing his agenda, they can discourage the financial sector and institutional investors from supporting it.”
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