The Week That Was: 2022-07-09 (July 9, 2022)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Experience keeps a dear [expensive] school, yet Fools will learn in no other.” — Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard’s Almanac, 1743 [H/t Zero Hedge]
Number of the Week: 85% more than total capability
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: Justice Elena Kagan’s dissent in West Virginia v. EPA is discussed further. Probably unintentionally, the dissent highlights what is wrong with the administrative state, reliance on a government of experts. The views of Francis Menton and William Briggs are discussed.
Boris Johnson, the UK leader at the UN 26th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, (UNFCCC) in Glasgow, now called UN Climate Change Conference, has resigned as the prime minister of the United Kingdom. UK commentator Paul Homewood suggests a sixteen-point program for the new prime minister. The public is slowly learning how economically disastrous the Net Zero pledge given in Glasgow can be.
The Biden administration is retaliating against the US public for the administration’s defeat before the Supreme Court. Its childish behavior is discussed by Menton and others.
With Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany and other European Countries face a bleak, cold winter. As discussed in last week’s TWTW, Menton considers Germany was the first country to hit the wall – realize that Net Zero is disastrous. Problems with trying to substitute Russian natural gas with gas from other countries are becoming clear. As usual, many academics do not understand financially challenging problems or technological limitations until it is too late.
Issues with electric vehicles are discussed, including a proposed electric combine harvester, a complex labor-saving machine critically need a few months of the year.
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Missing – The Whole Truth: Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan was Solicitor General of the United States from March 2009 to August 2010 when she went to the Supreme Court. Previously she had been Dean of the Harvard Law School. According to the Department of Justice:
“The task of the Office of the Solicitor General is to supervise and conduct government litigation in the United States Supreme Court. Virtually all such litigation is channeled through the Office of the Solicitor General and is actively conducted by the Office. The United States is involved in approximately two-thirds of all the cases the U.S. Supreme Court decides on the merits each year.”
Justice Kagan must be familiar with the Oath given by Federal judges to a witness before their testimony:
“Do you solemnly swear [or affirm] that all the testimony you are about to give in the case now before the court will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
As stated by Menton, in her dissent in West Virginia v. EPA, to which two other justices concurred, Kagan wrote:
“Climate change’s causes and dangers are no longer subject to serious doubt. Modern science is “unequivocal that human influence”—in particular, the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide — “has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land.” Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Sixth Assessment Report, The Physical Science Basis: Headline Statements 1 (2021). The Earth is now warmer than at any time “in the history of modern civilization,” with the six warmest years on record all occurring in the last decade. U. S. Global Change Research Program, Fourth National Climate Assessment, Vol. I, p. 10 (2017); Brief for Climate Scientists as Amici Curiae 8. The rise in temperatures brings with it “increases in heat- related deaths,” “coastal inundation and erosion,” “more frequent and intense hurricanes, floods, and other extreme weather events,” “drought,” “destruction of ecosystems,” and “potentially significant disruptions of food production.” American Elec. Power Co. v. Connecticut, 564 U. S. 410, 417 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). If the current rate of emissions continues, children born this year could live to see parts of the Eastern seaboard swallowed by the ocean. See Brief for Climate Scientists as Amici Curiae 6. Rising waters, scorching heat, and other severe weather conditions could force “mass migration events[,] political crises, civil unrest,” and “even state failure.” Dept. of Defense, Climate Risk Analysis 8 (2021). And by the end of this century, climate change could be the cause of “4.6 million excess yearly deaths.” See R. Bressler, The Mortality Cost of Carbon, 12 Nature Communications 4467, p. 5 (2021).” [Boldface added.]
Previous TWTW’s have discussed the essay by William Happer and Richard S. Lindzen filed on June 22 as a friend of the court brief in The State of Louisiana, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. et al. The essay and the brief show how scientifically corrupt the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has become, starting in 1995 with the second assessment report. Peer reviewed segments are rewritten in the Summary for Policymakers (SPM) by representatives of governments.
In August and September TWTW carried a series of posts by Stephen McIntyre showing glaring deficiencies in the SPM of Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021), which Kagan cites. Graphs are composed of various proxy data that in many cases have no relationship with the actual proxy data reconstructions. Further, the SPM reconstructions show no standardization periods (calibration periods) needed to demonstrate they measure the same thing. It is like declaring a desk made of oak sawdust and glue covered by a thin veneer is solid oak.
Yet, the graphs in the SPM are used to claim that for about 1850 years global temperatures were roughly stable until the Industrial Revolution, when fossil fuels were being used to replace wood. John Christy, Director, Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville reports monthly the atmospheric temperature trends. He participated in the IPCC process several times, but the IPCC refuses to publish these trends. The IPCC does not tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Even worse, Kagan cites the U. S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), Fourth National Climate Assessment with thirteen participating government agencies. According to its website,
“The U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) is a federal program mandated by Congress to coordinate federal research and investments in understanding the forces shaping the global environment, both human and natural, and their impacts on society. USGCRP facilitates collaboration and cooperation across its 13 federal member agencies to advance understanding of the changing Earth system and maximize efficiencies in federal global change research.
“Together, USGCRP and its member agencies provide a gateway to authoritative science, tools, and resources to help people and organizations across the country manage risks and respond to changing environmental conditions. [Boldface added]
Posted on June 1, 2014, its vision and mission are:
“Vision – A Nation, globally engaged and guided by science, meeting the challenges of climate and global change.
“Mission – To build a knowledge base that informs human responses to climate and global change through coordinated and integrated Federal programs of research, education, communication, and decision support.”
The USGCRP web site states:
“The Fourth National Climate Assessment (NCA4), developed by the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), is a state-of-the-science synthesis of climate knowledge, impacts, and trends across U.S. regions and sectors to inform decision making and resilience-building activities across the country. It is the most comprehensive and authoritative assessment to date on the state of knowledge of current and future impacts of climate change on society in the United States.” [Boldface added]
Yet the USGCRP ignores 43 years of atmospheric temperature trends taken by satellites and independently verified by instruments on weather balloons. These show that the linear trend of warming in the lower atmosphere (lower troposphere) is 0.13 degrees C per decade (0.23 F per decade). There is nothing state-of-the-art in USGCP science and the US government entities fail to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” It is very disturbing when US Supreme Court Justices cite these administrative half-truth as evidence of fact.
In presenting evidence showing the failure of climate change predictions, William Briggs writes:
So, Kagan has bought and believes, seemingly sincerely, the failed predictions of global warming, which she calls ‘climate change.’ This is her adopted opinion, provided her by climate Experts, who claim there is no ‘serious doubt’ about their theories.
We have seen many times that her (or her Experts’) quoted predictions of doom are false. There has not been an increase, but a decrease, in floods. Same for drought. There is no ‘destruction of ecosystems.’ And just last week a paper appeared—a peer-reviewed paper in the regime-approved journal Nature, going by the name ‘Declining tropical cyclone frequency under global warming’—which shows the number of tropical cyclones has been decreasing, not increasing.
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Measurement Issues – Atmosphere, Litigation Issues, Other News that May Be of Interest https://www.justice.gov/osg/about-office#:~:text=The%20task%20of%20the%20Office,actively%20conducted%20by%20the%20Office. and https://www.globalchange.gov/about
https://www.globalchange.gov/about/highlights/2014-USGCRPs-Vision-Mission
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Green Dreams: Last November, Boris Johnson led the vain boasts by attendees at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26). Now that Johnson has resigned under pressure from his own party, Paul Homewood repeats some practical advice he wrote following COP 26, Manifesto for 2022. Homewood realized that it was unlikely that any UK politician would cancel Net Zero, so he wrote these in that light. It includes:
“Preamble
It is gradually dawning on the public just how ruinously expensive and suicidal the Net Zero project is going to be.
Sadly, though Net Zero is embedded across all the main political parties, throughout the establishment and the media. There is therefore no realistic chance that it will be abandoned anytime soon.
However, there are a number of things which could and should be done, that would effectively put the brakes on Net Zero and help to reduce some of the costs already being incurred by the public because of climate policy.
Fundamental Principles
All government actions regarding Net Zero should be consistent with two fundamental principles:
1) Policy should be affordable, both for the public and government finances.
2) Decarbonisation in future should not be at a faster rate than the rest of the world.”
Homewood follows with sixteen policy recommendations, some of which are specific to the UK. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Showing Whose Boss: After the West Virginia v. EPA decision, the Biden administration struck with spite. As discussed in last week’s TWTW:
According to Our World in Data in 2020 CO2 emissions totaled 34.8 billion tonnes worldwide. Major regions for emissions were China, 10.7 billion tonnes (31%); Asia excluding China and India, 7.2 billion tonnes (21%); US 4.7 billion (14%); EU 2.6 billion (7%); India 2.4 billion (7%); and Europe excluding EU 2.4 billion tonnes (7%). “The US and Europe now account for just under one-third of emissions.” One must realize that these numbers are approximate, but they are probably as good as any.
So, do we have an administration and judges in the US that wish to ignore the Constitutional separation of Federal governmental powers and punish American industry and the public because they believe Americans who emit 14% of the global CO2 emissions are causing a climate crisis for which the government has no physical evidence? Further, they claim that power plants that emit one-quarter of US emissions, less than 4% of the world’s total emissions, are causing human and environmental harm?
According to the EPA, in 2020 electrical power plants accounted for 25% of US emissions, while transportation accounted for 27%, so transportation is now the target for the Biden Administration even though US transportation accounts for less than 4% of global emissions.
As bad, if not worse, as the world is starving for oil and natural gas in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Biden administration is clamping down on US oil and gas production. After quoting the June 30 announcement by EPA Administrator Michael Regan (used in last week’s TWTW) Francis Menton writes:
“The very next day, July 1, David Blackmon at Forbes reported that ‘EPA Targets Permian Basin, Widening Biden’s War On Oil And Gas.’ The Permian Basin is currently the most productive oil and gas region in the United States, providing about 40% of the oil production and 15% of the gas of the entire country. The Permian Basin is also the site of about 40% of the nation’s active drilling rigs. And so, it seems that EPA is gearing up to declare the Permian Basin a so-called ‘non-attainment area’ with respect to ozone. Blackmon:
“[T]he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced [this week that] it may soon issue a ruling declaring that vast parts of the Permian Basin are in ‘non-attainment’ status under the agency’s ozone regulations. If such a declaration is made, it will constitute a direct governmental assault on what is by far America’s most active and productive oil-producing region and its second most-productive natural gas area. [Italics in original.]
“What would be the effect of such a declaration on current and future U.S. domestic oil and gas production? Blackmon again:
“Placing the Permian Basin in non-attainment status would force a significant reduction in the region’s rig count, severely limiting the domestic industry’s efforts to increase U.S. oil production at a time when the global oil market is already severely under-supplied.
“Texas Governor Greg Abbott promptly called on the Biden Administration to back off, saying that an EPA ‘non-attainment declaration ‘could interfere in the production of oil in Texas which could lead to skyrocketing prices at the pump by reducing production, increase the cost of that production, or do both.’ But Blackmon notes that the plan comes from an office headed by a Biden-appointed anti-fossil-fuel activist, and thus is likely a core element of the administration’s program:
“Mr. Biden appointed Joe Goffman, another of the many anti-fossil fuel activists that now hold senior posts at his various agencies, to head up EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation on an acting basis. That appointment might have been made with this specific policy action in mind.
“Meanwhile, over at the Interior Department, July 1 was also the day for issuance of a statutorily mandated five-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan. Nicholas Groom at Reuters has a summary here. The bottom line is, we’re going to completely shut down leasing off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but maybe we’ll allow a little in the Gulf of Mexico or the Cook Inlet (Alaska). The number of auctions over the five-year period will be in the range of ‘zero to eleven,’ and supposedly we’ll take public input as to which way to go. But Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement left no doubt as to where she wants and expects this to come out:
“‘From Day One, President Biden and I have made clear our commitment to transition to a clean energy economy,’ Haaland said in a statement. ‘Today, we put forward an opportunity for the American people to consider and provide input on the future of offshore oil and gas leasing. The time for the public to weigh in on our future is now.’
“There is a 90-day period for public comment. You can be sure that environmental activist groups will flood the zone with thousands of comments to support the approach of the ‘zero’ option of ceasing all further offshore leases.
“Other agencies were eerily silent in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s June 30 decision. Notable among those were the SEC and the Federal Reserve, both of which have recently ventured into adding ‘climate change’ to their missions with only the most questionable of statutory support. Neither has given any indication of an intention to slow down.
“And then on July 2, President Biden issued his now-famous tweet blaming the rising price of gas at the pump on gas station owners:
“My message to the companies running gas stations and setting prices at the pump is simple: this is a time of war and global peril. Bring down the price you are charging at the pump to reflect the cost you’re paying for the product. And do it now.
‘A bureaucracy-wide campaign is ongoing under this guy’s direction to suppress oil and gas production in any way they can think of, and yet he has the gall to blame high prices on ‘companies running gas stations,’ the majority of which are small independent businesses. At this point Biden has become malicious.”
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Change in US Administrations, and https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions
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Maxed Out: According to reports from Natural Gas World, the export terminals for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the US, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar were at or above nameplate capacity. This means there is no easy way to replace LNG from Russia that Europe desperately needs. It appears to be a bleak winter for many in Europe that depend on natural gas for heat. Yet, the Biden administration is rampaging against US production of oil and gas. See Article # 2 and links under Energy Issues – Non-US, and Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
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What? The modern combine-harvester is a marvel of diesel-electric engineering. With various attachments they can be used to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops including wheat, rice, oats, rye, barley, corn (maize), sorghum, soybeans, flax (linseed), sunflowers and rapeseed. They combine reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnowing into a single process. They are an essential labor-saving part of modern farming. For example, the John Deere X9 1100 has a 13.6 L (830 cubic inch) engine producing a power rating of up to 630 horsepower (460 kW) and has a 330-gallon fuel tank. This is not the biggest one. Also, they have a wide range of electronics so operators can optimize speeds for better utility and yields. The machines can cost up to $1 million.
Thus, it was strange to read a post by Pierre Gosselin stating that a Midwest farmer relayed to him that a representative from John Deere contacted him about using a new battery powered combine-harvester on his demonstration farm. According to Gosselin the conversation went:
“’How do I run them 24 hours a day for 10 or 12 days straight when the harvest is ready, and the weather is coming in?’
“’How do I get a 50,000+ lb. combine that takes up the width of an entire road back to the shop 20 miles away when the battery goes dead?’
“There was dead silence on the other end of the phone.”
See links under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles.
SEPP’S APRIL FOOLS AWARD – THE JACKSON
SEPP is conducting its annual vote for the recipient of the coveted trophy, The Jackson, a lump of coal. Readers are asked to nominate and vote for who they think is most deserving. The entire Biden Administration won in 2021, so individuals in it are still eligible.
The voting will close on July 30. Please send your nominee and a brief reason the person is qualified for the honor to [email protected]. The awardee will be announced at the annual meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness on August 14 to 16 at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Registration: https://aaps.wufoo.com/forms/qb79fo31o62uh1/; Hotel: https://be.synxis.com/?adult=1&arrive=2022-08-14&chain=6903&child=0¤cy=USD&depart=2022-08-15&group=DOC0811&hotel=11548&level=hotel&locale=en-US&rooms=1
Number of the Week: 85% more than total capability. In estimating how much electricity will be needed to operate electric vehicles at the same standard if all petroleum vehicles in the US were replaced by electric vehicles Joseph D’Aleo calculated:
“7.617 Trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity would be the energy equivalent required to replace petroleum fuel for transportation. 4.116 Trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity equals the total generation capability of the United States.”
The 7.6 Trillion kilowatt-hours is 85% more than total US electricity generation capability. See link under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles.
Suppressing Scientific Inquiry
A Victory for Faculty Freedom of Speech and Diversity of Viewpoint At the University of Washington
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 7, 2022
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2022/07/a-victory-for-faculty-freedom-of-speech.html
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
IPCC Summary Report, Part 1
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, June 29, 2022
Link to: Brief of Amicus Curiae Dr. William Happer, Dr. Richard S. Lindzen, and the CO2 Coalition in Support of the Plaintiff-Appellee States
The State of Louisiana, et al. v. Joseph R. Biden, Jr. et al, June 22, 2022
IPCC Summary Report, Part 2
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, July 6, 2022
PAGES 2019: 0-30N Proxies
By Stephen McIntyre, Climate Audit, Sep 15, 2021
[SEPP Comment: Last in a series of posts.]
The Administrative State Moves To Show Who’s Boss On Energy Policy
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 8, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-7-8-the-administrative-state-moves-to-show-whos-boss-on-energy-policy
Manifesto For A New Prime Minister
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2022
[SEPP Comment: A sixteen-point program that makes practical sense.]
How To Think Like A Liberal Supreme Court Justice
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 5, 2022
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2022-7-5-how-to-think-like-a-liberal-supreme-court-justice
[By 1995] “The Mexican police will round up illegal American migrants surging into Mexico seeking work as field hands.” Princeton’s Michael Oppenheimer
SEC Climate Disclosure Rule: A Duck That Quacks
By Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy, July 05, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/05/sec_climate_disclosure_rule_a_duck_that_quacks_840873.html
The Madness of Net Zero
By Aynsley Kellow, Quadrant, July 3, 2022
Defending the Orthodoxy
“No More Excuses”: Aussie Academics Demand Global Paris Agreement Compliance
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 4, 2022
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
More Geoengineering: Salting the Oceans to Defeat the Carbon Monster
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 4, 2022
Link to article: Can we beat climate change by geoengineering the oceans?
Chemically altering the seas through iron fertilisation or alkalinity enhancement could be our best hope to suck vast amounts of carbon out of the atmosphere – but questions remain on whether it is worth the risk.
By Adam Vaughan, New Scientist, June 29, 2022
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25533930-600-can-we-beat-climate-change-by-geoengineering-the-oceans/
[SEPP Comment: Climate scientists greatly overestimate the possible slight reduction in the alkalinity of the oceans, are the capable of geoengineering the oceans to stop climate change, which they don’t understand?]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Invitation to the Premiere of Our New Film – A Coral Bleaching Tragedy
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, July 3, 2022
West Virgina v. EPA: Enthroning or Dethroning a Regulatory Czar?
By Richard W. Fulmer, Master Resource, July 8, 2022
That 70s show
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“The state of policymaking nowadays is so bad that that The Economist recently said the plan to keep the lights on in Europe this winter is as follows: ‘Europe has so far been unlucky in its energy war with Russia. If it is to keep the lights on until the spring, that needs to change.’ Hoping for luck is not what we’d call a plan. Though it may be better than what the planners have in mind, namely a loopy scheme from the G7 to try to cap global energy prices,…”
“The lack of enthusiasm to increase production ‘is astounding to anyone who is familiar with the oil and gas markets and shows just how hostile the Biden administration has been to domestic fossil fuel production.’ D’oh”
Energy and Environmental Review: July 5, 2022
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, July 5, 2022
After Paris!
The Retreat from met zero
By Dieter Helm, Essay, July 4, 2022
http://www.dieterhelm.co.uk/assets/secure/documents/The-retreat-from-net-zero-040722.pdf
“Like the gunpowder, you can smell the retreat, and it is getting stronger. Long gone are the sunny uplands of the Glasgow COP26 jamboree and all those pious words from politicians, rehashed from every previous COP that was also going to “save the world”, “turn the corner”, and “meet the challenge”. There is scant evidence that Russia and China are going to follow the UK’s “leadership”, as boasted by Boris Johnson.
Yes, You CAN Blame Biden For High Energy Prices
The experts were wrong once again
By Michael Shellenberger, His Blog, July 2, 2022
https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/yes-you-can-blame-biden-for-high
White House ‘Disinformation’ Campaign Against Climate Policy Critics Sparks Litigation
By Kevin Mooney, The Daily Signal, July 5, 2022
https://www.dailysignal.com/2022/07/05/lawsuit-alleges-white-house-collusion-with-green-activists-to-silence-critics-of-climate-agenda/
“Under President Joe Biden, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has kept a tight lid on how the administration advances its climate agenda,…”
Ruling on EPA “Another Defeat For President, Who Seems To Have Lost All Fortune Anyway”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 6, 2022
“One ruling, but two different perceptions. The German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) takes a very different view of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on the powers of the federal EPA than leftist Der Spiegel does.”
Unpacking Three New Washington Energy Policy Missteps
By Kevin O’Scannlain, Real Clear Energy, July 06, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/06/unpacking_three_new_washington_energy_policy_missteps_841110.html
Biden-Harris Administration Takes Step Forward to Combat Climate Change, Announces Proposed Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Framework
Press Release, Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, July 7, 2022
https://highways.dot.gov/newsroom/biden-harris-administration-takes-step-forward-combat-climate-change-announces-proposed
DOT’s Doublespeak Carbon Reduction Program
By Marlo Lewis, Jr., CEI, July 8, 2022
https://cei.org/blog/dots-doublespeak-carbon-reduction-program/
“Third, the 30 senators who voted against the $1.1 trillion infrastructure bill—with its cronyism, waste, and anti-federalism “carbon reduction” mandate—were proven right here.”
Obama/Biden’s EPA Power Grab Blown Up
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2022
Biden administration proposes rule requiring states, cities to set transportation climate targets
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 7, 2022
Biden Admin Unveils Plan To Track And Reduce CO2 Emissions From Cars Driving On Highways
President Biden Delivers Remarks In Cleveland, Ohio On Administration’s Economic Agenda
By Jack McEvoy, Daily Caller, July 8, 2022
https://dailycaller.com/2022/07/08/biden-admin-unveils-plan-track-and-reduce-co2-emissions-from-cars-driving-highways/
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Green groups blast Europe for labeling LNG, nuclear power ‘sustainable’
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 6, 2022
Major loss for Renewables Industry: EU declares nuclear and gas are “Green” too
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 7, 2022
Seeking a Common Ground
Rebels to the Coral Reef Cause (Part 5)
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, July 8, 2022
“The narrative in the mainstream media is that the Great Barrier Reef is dying due to repeated coral bleaching from global warming. Yet at the same time there is a tourist industry, with dive shops advertising their local coral reef as pristine. So, there is one narrative and then there are claims by tourist operators.”
Finding Our Way Through a Perfect Energy Storm
By Gerard Scimeca, Real Clear Energy, July 07, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/07/finding_our_way_through_a_perfect_energy_storm_841104.html
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Dumb As It Gets: Germany Heads Into Winter Refusing To Let Badly Needed Power Plants Operate
Into winter chaos without extending power plant operation
By Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (Translated by P. Gosselin, one hyperlink added), Via No Tricks Zone, July 5, 2022
Without a Major Shift in U.S. Energy Policy, European Resistance to Russian Aggression and the Transatlantic Relationship Are at Risk
By Angelique Talmor & Thomas J. Duesterberg,, Real Clear Energy July 06, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/06/without_a_major_shift_in_us_energy_policy_european_resistance_to_russian_aggression_and_the_transatlantic_relationship_are_at_risk_841088.html
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
Global Temperature Report, May 2022
By Staff, Earth System Science Center, The University of Alabama in Huntsville, July 5, 2022
Map: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2022/May2022/202205_Map.png
Graph: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2022/May2022/202205_Bar.png
Text: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/climate/2022/May2022/GTR_202205May_1.pdf
Changing Weather
The long-forgotten floods of Windsor and Sydney
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 7, 2022
Coldest, Wettest & Stormiest – The Good Old Days Before Global Warming
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 3, 2022
Late Spring In Finland, Sweden Has Not Been Warming, JMA Data Show
By P Gosselin, Charts by Kirye, No Tricks Zone, July 1, 2022
June In Tokyo, Hachijojima Island Hasn’t Warmed In Decades
By P Gosselin, Charts by Kirye, No Tricks Zone, July 3, 2022
“While the mean daily maximum temperature for Hachijojima has risen modestly over the past 115 years, Tokyo has seen an almost 2°C linear trend increase.”
Changing Climate
“We Live In The Coldest Period Of The Last 10.000 Years”
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 5, 2022
Link to video on Greenland temperatures, from ice cores confirmed by other data made twelve years ago: “We started observe meteorology at the costs spot in the last 10,000 years”. https://vimeo.com/14366077
Putting the Heat on Climate Dogmatism
Sudden Warming Periods of the Past
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 4, 2022
Video
The Roman Warm Period vs. the current warm period
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
From the CO2Science Archive:
Changing Seas
Depths of North Atlantic ocean once as warm as the Mediterranean
Press release: by University of St Andrews, Phys Org, July 6, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshhire]
https://phys.org/news/2022-07-depths-north-atlantic-ocean-mediterranean.html
Link to paper: Cenozoic evolution of deep ocean temperature from clumped isotope thermometry
By A.N. Meckler, et al, AAAS Science, June 30, 2022
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0604
[SEPP Comment: Attributing the change to CO2 assumes ocean currents, planetary albedo, and solar intensity 65 million years ago were similar as those today. A false assumption: changing land masses shut off the east-west currents creating north-south currents in the Atlantic.]
CDN by the Sea: Alexandroupolis, Greece
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
New Study: Greenland ‘Must Have Been At Least 3°C Warmer’ Than Today During The Early Holocene
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 4, 2022
Link to paper: Melt in the Greenland EastGRIP ice core reveals
Holocene warm events
By Julien Westhoff, et al. Climate of the Past, May 10, 2022
We Prefer Greenland Icy, Not Green
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 8, 2022
Video: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/we-prefer-greenland-icy-not-green-2/
Text: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/we-prefer-greenland-icy-not-green/
Since 2000 The Arctic’s Hudson Bay Has Cooled -0.35°C With 10 Of 15 Sites Gaining Sea Ice
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 7, 2022
Link to paper: Landfast sea ice in Hudson Bay and James Bay: Annual cycle, variability and trends, 2000–2019
By Kaushik Gupta, et al. Science of the Anthropocene (2022)
https://online.ucpress.edu/elementa/article/10/1/00073/169461
Hudson Bay polar bears still have lots of ice on July 1
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, July 1, 2022
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Listen To The Science Journalists
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 7, 2022
Video: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/listen-to-the-science-journalists-2/
Text: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/listen-to-the-science-journalists/
Lowering Standards
We the people in charge
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“Nature magazine, which you can be forgiven for having thought was just a science journal, went mental, hollering ‘US Supreme Court hobbles the EPA’s authority over climate emissions/ Legal ruling limits the environmental agency’s regulatory powers, hamstringing Biden’s climate plan.’”
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Methane release from thawing permafrost: worse than expected
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“Worse, that is, for the alarmists who love having scary stories to run on the nightly news.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Norway Heatwaves Are Perfectly Normal, Despite What Paul Krugman Says
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 5, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Do a Poll?
What do they really think?
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“One thing that frustrates climate alarmists is that polls routinely show overwhelming support for “action” on global warming. But nothing satisfactory to them ever happens. And while one reason, as we discussed last week, is that policy initiatives built on bad science and bad economics cannot deliver results no matter how many people fervently wish they would, the other is that polls notoriously fail to measure the intensity or even sincerity of people’s views.”
Shock Survey: A Quarter of Young Europeans Don’t Worry About Anthropogenic Climate Change
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 3, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
How Climate Propaganda Works
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, July 7, 2022
Guilting The Woke Mind
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 8, 2022
Video: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/guilting-the-woke-mind-2/
Text: https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/guilting-the-woke-mind/
How Climate Change Is Leaving Some Species with ‘Nowhere Left to Go’
From the depths of the ocean to the peaks of mountains, species are moving out of their historical homes in search of cooler conditions
By Fionna M. D. Samuels, Scientific American, July 5, 2022
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-climate-change-is-leaving-some-species-with-nowhere-left-to-go/
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Dutch Farmers mass protest with tractors against regulations that will reduce farms and food
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 6, 2022
Expanding the Orthodoxy
‘Defining challenge’: NATO names climate as major threat
By Adam Aton, E & E News, June 30, 2022
Link to NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept
The 2022 Strategic Concept was adopted at the Madrid Summit, 29-30 June 2022. Learn more about NATO’s enduring purpose and its fundamental security tasks.
For the first time, NATO is updating its strategic plans to treat climate change as a major threat.
By Staff, NATO, 2022
https://www.nato.int/strategic-concept/
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/290622-strategic-concept.pdf
SEC’s Climate Rules Violate First Amendment
By Sean Griffin, National Review, June 29, 2022
A global Carbon Currency would be a wonder-tool for Bankers, Bureaucrats and Crooks
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 5, 2022
Questioning European Green
Energy rationing is inevitable without a fundamental rethink of net zero–David Frost
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 1, 2022
European energy crisis: “The worst winter we’ve seen since the 1970s”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 9, 2022
CCC Admit Heat Pumps Cost More To Run Than Gas Boilers
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 6, 2022
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Biden’s Green Energy Policy May “End In Tears”
By ZeroHedge, Oil Price.com, Jun 29, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Bidens-Green-Energy-Policy-May-End-In-Tears.html
Germany launched new green energy policies way back in 2000, and it could have been a viable lesson for America if it was paying attention.
High subsidies for wind and solar have had a costly impact on consumers who still need fossil fuels
The Biden Administration’s push toward green energy has failed to balance energy demand with the reality of the resources we have at our disposal.
Later, sooner, harder, softer
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“Trudeau saves the planet again… inside his own head.”
Sri Lanka Begging Russia and India for Fuel: A Nation Wrecked by Green Agricultural Policies
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 7, 2022
South Africa grid struggling with national rolling blackouts: Strikes, corruption and no respect for coal power
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 4, 2022
“Just as in Australia the demand for electricity peaks at dinner time and wind and solar are more useful at nearly every other hour. The Integrated plan to add 18GW of wind and 8GW of solar won’t solve anything.”
Puerto Rico is pushing LNG when it says it’s shifting to renewables
The U.S. territory has pledged to transition to clean energy, but it backed a controversial liquefied natural gas terminal and may increase LNG imports.
By Maria Gallucci, Canary Media, July 5, 2022
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/fossil-fuels/puerto-rico-is-pushing-lng-when-its-supposed-to-be-shifting-to-renewables
The Political Games Continue
Unleashing American Energy Calls for Bold Action
By Chip Roy, National Review, July 5, 2022
The EPA’s loss is a win for democracy
The Supreme Court hands more power back to the people
By Rupert Darwall, Spectator, July 2, 2022
https://spectatorworld.com/topic/the-epas-loss-is-a-win-for-democracy/
“The administrative state’s threat to democratic accountability, which does not feature in Kagan’s dissent, is the theme of Gorsuch’s concurrence. ‘The framers believed that a republic – a thing of the people – would be more likely to enact just laws than a regime administered by a ruling class of largely unaccountable ‘ministers,’’ Gorsuch argues.”
“These are not legal arguments. The disagreements between Kagan and Gorsuch, and between the court’s current minority and majority, reflect differences in political philosophy and interpretations of America’s history. As such, they can’t be resolved by appeals to legal doctrine alone. By quashing the already extinct Clean Power Plan, the Supreme Court chalked up a win for democracy over the administrative state. That is something to celebrate this weekend.”
Elena Kagan’s Blind Love Of The Expertocracy: SCOTUS Slaps The EPA
By William Briggs, His Blog, July 5, 2022
The Supreme Court Rejects EPA’s Broad Claim of Authority to Limit Greenhouse Gases from Power Plants
By Staff, Institute for Energy Research, July 1, 2022
What the Supreme Court ruled the EPA can and can’t do
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 2, 2022
Supreme Court strikes a blow on bureaucrats
By John Fund, New York Post, June 30, 2022
https://nypost.com/2022/06/30/supreme-court-strikes-a-blow-on-bureaucrats/
[SEPP Comment: Great propaganda photo of invisible CO2 blackening the skies.]
Supreme Court handcuffs Biden’s climate efforts
The decision comes amid accumulating warnings from scientists that human-caused climate change is increasing the likelihood of more severe floods, droughts, storms and other calamities in the coming decades.
By Alex Cullen, Politico, June 30, 2022
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/30/supreme-court-handcuffs-biden-on-major-climate-rule-00043423
Climate Litigants Look Beyond Big Oil for Their Day in Court
Airlines and fashion firms increasingly defendants in lawsuits
Cases have doubled since 2015; growing outside the US, Europe
By Katharine Gemmell, Bloomberg, June 20, 2022
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-29/climate-litigants-look-beyond-big-oil-for-their-day-in-court
Link to press release: New figures show climate litigation is growing risk to fossil fuel industry and other companies, by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and Political Science, June 30, 2022
Link to report: Global trends in climate change litigation: 2022 snapshot
By Joana Setzer and Catherine Higham, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, June 30, 2022
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Letter to U.S. Department of Energy from AFPM, API
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 6, 2022
From Chet Thompson, head of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and Mike Sommers, head of the American Petroleum Institute, to Secretary Jennifer Granholm
Energy Issues – Non-US
EU Imports More U.S. LNG Than Russian Pipeline Gas For The First Time Ever
By Tsvetana Paraskova, Oil Price.com, Jun 30, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/EU-Imports-More-US-LNG-Than-Russian-Pipeline-Gas-For-The-First-Time-Ever.html
For the first time in history, U.S. LNG overtakes Russian piped gas in EU.
IEA: The drop in Russian supply calls for efforts to reduce EU demand to prepare for a tough winter.
In April 2022 alone, five European countries—France, Spain, the UK, the Netherlands, and Poland—accounted for 54.1% of total U.S. LNG exports.
[SEPP Comment: According to a graph from the IEA, piped Russian gas went from about 12 bcm in early 2021 to a low of less than 5 bcm in June, while US LNG went from 3 bcm in early 2021 to almost 5 bcm in June 2022. Doubtful US can fill the need for next winter, particularly with Washington clamping down on US oil and gas production.]
Energy Issues — US
No Air Conditioning? No Thanks.
Every American needs to know the term “baseload”
By Rich Powell, Real Clear Energy, July 04, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/04/no_air_conditioning_no_thanks_840715.html
[SEPP Comment: Apart from special cases, such as using oil and gas fields that are being depleted, TWTW has not seen any demonstration that CO2 storage is economically viable.]
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden administration punts on whether to open up more offshore drilling
By Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 1, 2022
“House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) called any new lease sales in the years ahead a “lose-lose” for Americans.”
Why Biden Sent American Oil To China
Reuters reports that the U.S. sent 5 million barrels of oil to China, India, and Europe last month. Why?
By Michael Shellenberger, His Blog, July 6, 2022
https://michaelshellenberger.substack.com/p/why-biden-sent-american-oil-to-china?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
The Department of Energy’s Intent to Eliminate Non-condensing Furnaces
By Mark Krebs, Master Resource, July 7, 2022
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
LNG Export Terminals Max Out in 2021
By Callum Cyrus, Natural Gas World, July 6, 2022
https://www.naturalgasworld.com/lng-terminals-max-out-in-2021-99416
Shell joins Qatar’s LNG expansion mega-project
By Andrew Mills, Reuters, July 5, 2022
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/shell-joins-qatars-lng-expansion-mega-project-2022-07-05/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Butler County, Ohio Bans Wind and Solar Projects in a Dozen Townships
U.S. wind rejections now total 344 since 2015
By Robert Bryce, Real Clear Energy, July 05, 2022
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2022/07/05/butler_county_ohio_bans_wind_and_solar_projects_in_a_dozen_townships_840864.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Hot Sand
By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, July 7, 2022
“Well, the first thing not to like is cost. The Tesla Megapacks cost about $327 per kilowatt-hour of storage, a huge amount.”
“A Tesla Megapack costs about one million dollars … and ten of them went up in smoke. That’s an expensive ‘learning opportunity’”.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
John Deere Engineers Really Aiming To Build Battery-Powered Harvesters?
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 8, 2022
Fast-track transition BACK to electric vehicles – but are we ready and at what cost?
By Joseph D’Aleo CCM, ICECAP, July 7, 2022
Electric Police Cars “Running Out Of Puff”!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 6, 2022
Some Countries Are Having Second Thoughts About Electric Car Mandates
The United States should consider adopting a market-based strategy for increasing electric vehicle usage.
By Joe Lancaster, Reason, June 29, 2022
“As part of the 2015 Paris Agreement, over 190 nations pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050.”
[SEPP Comment; The Obama administration made such a pledge as it ignored the pledge the Clinton administration made to protect the sovereignty of Ukraine when Russia seized Crimea.]
Tesla Owner Exposes Dark Secret About Electric Cars
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2022
The Futuristic Vehicles That Could Compete With EVs
By Felicity Bradstock, Oil Price.com, July 04, 2022
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Futuristic-Vehicles-That-Could-Compete-With-EVs.html
“From cars powered by solar to cars that run on biofuel and hydrogen, there are plenty of competitors aiming for commercially viable cars by 2030.”
Carbon Schemes
Pipeline proposed to bury European CO2 off Norway
By AFP Staff Writers, Oslo (AFP), June 29, 2022
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Pipeline_proposed_to_bury_European_CO2_off_Norway_999.html
Other Scientific News
Cataloging the diverse origins of Earth’s minerals
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX) Jul 01, 2022
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Cataloging_the_diverse_origins_of_Earths_minerals_999.html
Link to paper: On the paragenetic modes of minerals: A mineral evolution perspective
By Robert M. Hazen and Shaunna M. Morrison, American Mineralogist, July 2022
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/msa/ammin/article-abstract/107/7/1262/614721/On-the-paragenetic-modes-of-minerals-A-mineral?redirectedFrom=fulltext
Other News that May Be of Interest
Oath to witness
By Staff, Benchbook for U.S. District Court Judges, Sixth Edition. Federal Judicial Center, March 2013
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
[US Homeland Security Secretary] Mayorkas says immigration crisis due to climate change
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 3, 2022
It’s snow laughing matter
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“If you had been planning an Independence Day visit to Montana’s Glacier National Park, alas the weather did not cooperate. Oh no, we hear some cry, that blasted global warming melted the glaciers waah waah waah. But actually ‘Visitors to Glacier National Park won’t be able to cruise Going-to-the-Sun Road for the July Fourth weekend this year. Park officials say that’s thanks to unprecedented winter and late spring snow storms.’”
2016 – New York Times Complained California Wasn’t Allowing Forest Fires
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 7, 2022
https://realclimatescience.com/2022/07/2016-new-york-times-complained-california-wasnt-allowing-forest-fires/
Callous dolts on parade
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 6, 2022
“So many silly things are said about climate that it is hard to keep up. But we do have to extend special recognition to Ireland’s president Michael Higgins for exploiting a slaughter to advance the alarmist agenda with a statement, as brainless as it was heartless, that blamed an Islamist massacre of Christians at prayer in Nigeria on climate change:”
You Can Spot Climate Change in Old Restaurant Menus
In the 1880s, Vancouver’s seafood joints served lots of salmon. These days they serve squid.
By Ian Rose, The Atlantic, July 2, 2022
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2022/07/climate-change-vancouver-seafood-restaurant-menus/661465/
[SEPP Comment: Does the return of fish-eating seals, hunted to almost extinction, indicate climate change?]
ARTICLES
A Court for the Constitution
The historic Supreme Court term that ended this week was a triumph for originalism.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, July 1, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-supreme-court-for-the-constitution-originalism-dobbs-abortion-religious-liberty-11656711597?mod=opinion_lead_pos11
TWTW Summary: After discussing a ruling for the Biden Administration on immigration the editorial continues:
“This isn’t a partisan Court looking for preferred policy outcomes. It’s a Court that hews to the tenets of originalism, with different shades of emphasis by different Justices. The Court’s jurisprudence is focused more than anything else on who under the Constitution gets to decide policy, not what that policy should be.
“This is the main reason Democrats and the press corps are furious about the Court’s decisions. For decades they have counted on a majority of Justices to deliver or bless the policy results they want: on abortion, voting rights, healthcare, racial preferences, climate and economic regulation. You name it, the Court found ways to deliver it with balancing tests, trimester analysis, and the discovery of unenumerated rights between the lines of the Constitution’s text.
“For decades conservative critics have argued that the role of the Court should be different—supporting rights that are actually in the Constitution, but otherwise enforcing the separation of powers so each branch of government stays in its lane as defined by the Founders. With the arrival of three new Justices nominated by Donald Trump and shepherded to confirmation by GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell, that Court has arrived.
“The result is the opposite of judicial imperialism. In the Dobbs abortion case, the Court is trying to extricate itself from abortion policy debates. As Justice Brett Kavanaugh put it, “the Constitution is neutral on the issue of abortion.” Policy will now be set by legislators in the states as informed by voters, subject to a low-level of legal review known as the “rational basis” test.
“The political result may be surprising. The right-to-life movement now must persuade voters across 50 states, and most voters favor some limits on abortion but not an outright ban. If Republicans sound like moral scolds and can’t make their case with compassion for women, they will lose the debate. If Republicans seek a national ban on abortion via Congress, the Court could strike it down. The Court majority in Dobbs has invigorated democracy and federalism.
“In its administrative law cases, the Court also isn’t dictating outcomes. It is invigorating its role as a traffic cop among the branches. On immigration law, two conservatives joined the liberals to side with the White House. But on climate six Justices found that the Biden Administration had exceeded the authority that Congress provided in legislation.
“The cries from the left are that the Court has doomed the world to burning up. But progressives can still regulate carbon emissions. The rub is that to achieve their climate goals, they will have to pass legislation, not merely reinterpret an obscure corner of the Clean Air Act that wasn’t written with carbon emissions in mind.
“As Justice Neil Gorsuch observed in West Virginia v. EPA, legislating can be difficult in the American system. But that is how the Founders designed it to protect liberty and guarantee political accountability. Telling Congress it must write clear commands to the bureaucracy enhances accountability.
“The Court is also taking a more robust approach to protecting the rights that the Constitution does mention, especially the First and Second Amendments. On gun rights, the Justices put new substance into the individual right to bear arms recognized by the 2008 Heller decision. Politicians can still regulate guns, but they must do so more carefully so individuals can defend themselves outside their homes.
“On religious liberty, the Court cleaned up decades of confusing instructions to lower courts on the separation of church and state. The Justices gave new vigor to the free exercise of religion by supporting private prayer in a public place and barring discrimination against religious schools. States don’t have to aid private schools, but if they do they can’t deny that aid to religious schools. This is a proper policing role for the Court in securing liberties specified in the Constitution.
“All of this vindicates the decades-long effort known as the conservative legal movement. What started with the law and economics school grew with the Federalist Society and a generation of federal judges into something far larger and now more consequential.
“Lately some on the social right have called this movement a failure, but they are as mistaken as critics on the left. This Supreme Court term yielded victories for libertarians and cultural conservatives under the principle of originalism. The separation of powers is as crucial to protecting religious freedom as it is to protecting property rights or limiting regulation without Congressional commands.
“This is a Court for the Constitution, and that means the right and left will have to win their policy victories the old-fashioned way—democratically.”
************************
2. The Global Search for Energy Security
As inflation soars, the West is finally getting serious about a goal it abandoned years ago.
By Daniel Yergin, WSJ, July 6, 2022
https://www.wsj.com/articles/energy-security-oil-gas-natural-prices-independent-america-russia-ukraine-export-eu-11657140599?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The vice chairman of S&P Global writes:
“The amnesia about energy security is over. The global energy crisis fueling record high inflation is shaking governments as consumers are stunned and angry at high prices and the prospect of shortages.
The general concern with energy security had dissipated over the past decade, in part because of the emergence of U.S. shale oil. Fracking transformed America from the world’s largest importer of oil to the largest producer and, after decades of promise, delivered energy independence. “Political or military threats to energy supplies in the Middle East or elsewhere could be absorbed by U.S. production. When Iranian missiles hit a huge oil-processing facility in Saudi Arabia in September 2019—something that in previous years would have sent prices skyrocketing—American shale production cushioned the supply shock. Prices hardly budged.
“Many observers also believed that demand for oil had peaked in 2019 and would quickly be replaced by renewables. Depressed demand during Covid lockdowns seemed to validate that assessment. An energy transition was thought to be well on its way, facilitated by a wide range of government policies.
“Yet that perception ran up against reality. Demand for oil and gas bounced back as lockdowns ended and economies rebounded. The global energy supply couldn’t keep up, owing in large part to underinvestment in conventional energy sources.
“This strong demand and weak supply set the stage for the global energy crisis that began to manifest last autumn. Prices for natural gas, coal and oil all spiked. Late last year, Europeans were paying five or six times the normal price for liquefied natural gas, and gasoline prices were taking off at U.S. pumps.”
After discussing that Russia expected a quick conquest of Ukraine and European acceptance the author continues:
“No country is making as rapid and determined a turnaround from dependence on Russian energy as Germany, which is undergoing what Chancellor Olaf Scholz calls the Zeitenwende, or turning point. Green Party leader and Economic Minister Robert Habeck has worked closely with the energy industry to understand how to move the country off Russian oil and gas—although gas is more difficult than oil. Berlin is committing to building several LNG-importing facilities—something Germany has spurned for decades. The country has even authorized restarting coal-fired plants to shore up energy supplies ahead of winter.
“Other European governments are making a concerted effort to ban Russian oil. As Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in June, Russia is ‘practically being pushed out of the European market.’ This requires these countries to consider energy sources they once rejected. France is an example. At the beginning of his first term in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron floated the idea of shuttering 14 nuclear reactors and reducing the country’s dependence on nuclear power, which then accounted for 75% of France’s electricity. Now he is calling for six new nuclear reactors, and potentially another eight.
“Or look to the U.K., which has given the go-ahead for the development of a new North Sea gas field. European nations have also been sending missions to the U.S. and Africa in search of more oil, gas and coal. The European Union is now promoting the development of Israel’s and Egypt’s abundant eastern Mediterranean gas field as an alternative to Russian energy.
“Washington has also rediscovered energy security. President Biden entered office determined to accelerate the transition to renewables. Yet as Americans faced record-high prices at the pump, the administration began to urge U.S. companies to produce more oil and gas and refine more gasoline and diesel fuel. The Energy Information Administration forecasts that U.S. oil production will increase by about 800,000 barrels a day over the year, and refineries are currently going flat out. Though the administration continues to maintain its goals on energy transition, it recognizes that the world urgently needs more oil and natural gas. Mr. Biden has promised Europe more U.S. LNG, and the administration has been pushing other countries to pump more oil—most notably Saudi Arabia, which the president is scheduled to visit next week.
TWTW disagrees with the above paragraph. The actions of the Biden Administration indicate a hostility towards domestic oil and gas production.
“The global mismatch between demand and available supply for oil and natural gas is precarious. It will likely get worse over the next few months as Mr. Putin steps up his energy war, China’s demand increases as it comes out of Covid shut-ins, the dislocations in the global-supply system increase, and the tight balance between supply and demand tightens even further. Oil is a complex global market in which more than 100 million barrels typically move around the world every day with remarkable fluidity. But when the market is tight, it is highly vulnerable to disruption. New interruptions could come from a variety of sources—from a widening of the war beyond Ukraine to a cyberattack on natural-gas pipelines or a hurricane knocking U.S. refineries temporarily out of operation.
“At this point, it would seem that the only thing that would take the pressure off global markets is an economic downturn resulting from high prices and central banks’ tightening. And that prospect does not provide a great sense of security.”
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