The Week That Was: 2022-06-18 (June 18, 2022)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Social Engineering – The art of replacing what works with what sounds good.” – Thomas Sowell [H/t Ron Clutz]
Number of the Week: From $50 per barrel to $88 per barrel before Russia invaded Ukraine.
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: Tom Sheahen and Ken Haapala filed SEPP’s comments on SEC’s proposed rules on climate change risk disclosure. Separately, Howard Hayden filed his comments. Both sets of comments assert that no one in this administration understands the greenhouse effect, confusing it with other human influences and natural variation. Bureaucrats cannot regulate concepts they don’t understand despite costly, pathetic efforts. TWTW does not expect anything meaningful to come from these comments. But they may make interesting reading for those pursuing litigation against the SEC, which is sure to follow if the rules are implemented.
*******************
Several papers appeared on possible solar influences. One solar influence was direct, a mapping of the major magnetic storm of March 1989. The other possible solar influence was implied, but not discussed by the authors of the paper, the unusual drought in the sixth century that paved the way for Islam.
Blackouts were a problem in Australia, compounded by government policy. Consumers were simply told to use less electricity – the sure-fire answer for many problems brought on by government policy. The public may be realizing the Green New Deal for what it is – a poorly thought-out illusion. To relieve problems they created by trying to stop use of fossil fuels, some politicians are proposing subsidizing the use of the fuels by the poor. This is particularly absurd in North America, where there is no shortage of fossil fuels, except that created by government.
*******************
There are two book reviews. Jim Steele reviews a book by John Christy on measurement of surface temperatures with significant land-use changes. Allen Brooks reviews a new book by Vaclav Smil, a prolific writer on energy and modern civilization.
*******************
Economist Donald Boudreaux warns of the allure of simple solutions proposed by public opinion manipulators he terms as the clerisy. Very often their attitudes and opinions are childish. The Green New Deal is one example.
*******************
SEPP Comments to SEC: After an introduction and a reference to comments submitted by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the comments state:
The science used by the US government to claim a climate crisis or climate emergency fails to understand and explain the realistic influences of greenhouse gases on the earth’s temperatures. That science ignores the proper field of physics, the proper mathematics, and the proper databases to correctly capture the maximum influence of a doubling of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases. The proper physics and mathematics have been long established, The databases of what is actually occurring in the atmosphere have been established for over 40 years with the use of instruments on weather balloons and satellites,
In declaring a climate crisis, the US government ignores modern advances in our understanding of what is occurring in the atmosphere and relies on global climate models which fail to capture these over forty years of advances in understanding. The deficiency of the global climate models is illustrated in Figure 1 of the Lewis comments, a simplified version is given below [not shown here].
A simplified version of the well-known graph by John Christy showing the great disparity between observations from four different weather balloons data sets and three satellite data sets is used. The comments then state:
The Scientific Method: The scientific method has been developing since the days of ancient Greece. The Egyptian astronomer of Greek descent, Claudius Ptolemy, carefully studied the observations and measurements of Babylonian and Greek astronomers before him, and used his mathematical skills to develop a model of an earth-centered universe about 150 A.D. This was generally accepted by all western astronomers until the work of the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus became known after his death in 1543, creating a major controversy, an earth centered universe, or a sun centered planetary system. A problem with both systems was the belief that planetary motion was circular. Thus, the models required some planets to move in small circles [epicycles] while generally moving within a large circular path.
The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe believed he could resolve the strong controversy between an earth centered system and a solar centered system by careful observations, helping establish the principle that in physical sciences the scientific method requires physical evidence, from either observation or experiment.
After Brahe’s death, his assistant Johannes Kepler used Brahe’s observations to develop his laws of planetary motion: 1) The planets all move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus and 2) an imaginary line drawn from the center of the Sun to the center of the planet will sweep out equal areas in equal intervals of time meaning that the planet’s speed changes during its orbit. About the same time Galileo Galilei used the telescope to study planetary movement, particularly the moons of Jupiter. Also, Galileo conducted experiments on falling bodies.
Later, Isaac Newton put the work of Kepler and Galileo together to develop the three laws of motion and gravitation, which have been modified by the theory of relativity. The purpose of this brief summary is to emphasize that physical sciences must consider all available physical evidence, both experimental and observational. Those who ignore contradicting physical evidence are no longer adhering to the scientific method.
The global climate models used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose findings are used to justify a climate emergency or climate crisis, overestimate the warming of the atmosphere. By ignoring this fact, the modelers are no longer following the scientific method. Instead, they are creating an artificial atmosphere.
Understanding the Greenhouse Effect: The term “greenhouse gas” was first used by Irish physicist John Tyndall working in England trying to solve the vexing problem of why the earth was warm enough to support life, given its distance from the sun. Tyndall was a pioneer in spectroscopy, the study of the absorption and emission of light and other radiation by matter. It involves the splitting of electromagnetic radiation (light) into its constituent wavelengths (a spectrum). Newton discovered it by using a prism of glass to split a beam of light into a rainbow of colors.
Starting in 1859, Tyndall used early instruments to study how certain atmospheric gases are transparent to sunlight (permit it to pass through unimpeded) but delay the transmission of heat (now called infrared energy) from the surface to the earth to space. He identified water vapor as the dominant greenhouse gas and the principal gas controlling air temperature, preventing the planet from cooling so much at night as to kill all growing life. Also, he identified the absorption powers of carbon dioxide, methane, and other trace gases.
Some scientists misunderstood the work of Tyndall, chiefly Svante Arrhenius who in 1896 made calculations of how much carbon dioxide is needed to eliminate Ice Age glaciation and who retracted these calculations in 1906. Generally, the retractions have been ignored. However, decades of laboratory experiments demonstrated that all greenhouse gases are what is termed “saturated.” That is, when more of that gas is present, infrared radiation cannot all be absorbed, because of the saturated energy states of the molecules. In effect, an increase in the concentrations of a greenhouse gas results in only a logarithmic increase in absorption: as the concentration increases, the total effect levels off.
Stagnation In 1979, the US National Academy of Sciences published an influential report by the National Research Council, called the “Charney Report.” It established the benchmark for comparisons to be a doubling of the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. Heavily influenced by climate modelers who claimed that a small warming from carbon dioxide would cause an increase in water vapor, which in turn would cause greater atmospheric warming, The Charney Report estimated that doubling CO2 would cause warming of 3 °C (plus or minus 1.5 °C). That range is roughly 3 to 8 degrees F. Across 4 decades since then, six reports by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (1990 to 2021) and four US National Climate Assessments (2000 to 2017) have made similar estimates.
The science has stagnated, despite enormous advances in computing power, as well as improved measurements of changes in the atmosphere (where the greenhouse effect occurs).
A Better Way: The experiments of Tyndall led to the development of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics (AMO). Further measurements over the following century yielded a good understanding of how atmospheric gases affect the transmission of light through the atmosphere. This accumulated science led the US Air Force and others to develop and maintain two important databases.
The SEPP comments quote extensively from MODTRAN and the HITRAN websites without attempting to make the terminology readily understandable. Western science journals have become highly politicized, refusing to publish articles questioningly the party line of the IPCC and its followers. These databases are needed for national defense. The precision of optically guided weapons systems depends on realistic understanding on how atmospheric gases influence electromagnetic energy. After the quotes, the comments continue:
In short, these databases give a good understanding of what is occurring in the atmosphere with changing concentrations of greenhouse gases. But they have a significant limitation. They are appropriate for only clear sky (cloudless) calculations. As of now, no one has developed a good model for radiation absorption and emission when clouds are forming and disintegrating. Knowing that clouds generally cause surface cooling, the databases are useful for determining the maximum possible warming that may be caused by a doubling of carbon dioxide.
Realistic Results: Using the HITRAN database physicists W. A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer (W & H), who specialize in AMO physics, calculated the influence of the five most abundant greenhouse gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide, on infrared radiation (heat loss from the surface of the earth). They determined the extent to which the influences of these gases overlap and the influence they have throughout the atmosphere They found that all the gases are saturated, meaning that adding additional gases will have a small impact on earth’s surface temperatures. It would be like adding an 11th coat of paint to a barn that has been freshly painted with 10 coats of the same paint. It won’t change much.
They find that a doubling of CO2 would cause an increase in surface temperature of 1.4 °C. That change at the surface occurs with fixed absolute humidity; it would be 2.3 °C with fixed relative humidity. It bears mentioning that the data are not clear whether absolute humidity will increase with an increase in temperatures – an assumption critical to the Charney Report and subsequent governmental reports. As stated in the Lewis comment, there is no atmospheric evidence of a pronounced warming from an increase in humidity (water vapor).
Using the analysis by W & H, AMO physicist Howard Hayden developed 10 essays posted on the SEPP website on Basic Climate Physics. He uses the well-established Stefan-Boltzmann law to establish a planetary heat balance for the earth. Then he shows that the numbers used in the UN IPCC Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021) for important components of the Earth’s heat balance cannot account for even 25 percent of the 3 °C warming still claimed in the reports.
Conclusion: The reports produced by the UN and the US government greatly exaggerate a warming from a doubling of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The temperature data taken by over 40 years of satellite observations and weather balloon observations plus weather reanalysis data show this deficiency. Using the proper field of physics to understand the greenhouse effect, the proper mathematics (which includes integral and differential calculus as well as probability theory), and the proper databases based on atmospheric observations and calculations therefrom, competent physicists have calculated the maximum extent to which a doubling of carbon dioxide and other gases will increase temperatures.
Given the extent to which government entities exaggerate the impact of increasing CO2, government estimates should not be used for policy or for regulating private entities. Any effort of the SEC to do so will erode public confidence in the national financial system and undermine the integrity of the SEC.
References include: “Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases;” by W. A. van Wijngaarden1 and W. Happer; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Canada; Department of Physics, Princeton University, December 22, 2022 https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/12/WThermal-Radiationf.pdf?x45936 and “Basic Climate Physics;” by Howard “Cork” Hayden, Prof. Emeritus of Physics, UConn, 2022; http://www.sepp.org/science_papers.cfm
As stated above, TWTW does not expect much will come of this during this administration. However, the selective ignorance by journal editors who reject papers that challenge the IPCC is truly anti-science. Upon reflection, the above omits a few critical concepts such as the current atmospheric temperature trends by Spencer and the per molecule forcing calculated by W & H. See links under Problems in the Orthodoxy and Expanding the Orthodoxy.
*******************
Hayden’s Comments: In his comments, Howard “Cork” Hayden uses graphs to illustrate a decline in major hurricanes, tornadoes, and major heat waves hitting the US. He also shows the enormous decline in global annual death rate from natural disasters from Our World In Data. He writes:
“I have only a trivial amount of investment, and I have nothing to gain or lose by your decisions regarding ‘climate-related disclosures.’ My interest is in the science, and it is fair to say that the public has been overwhelmed by inept climate science.
“In particular, two matters of basic, fundamental, freshman physics have been lacking from the ruminations on climate by the IPCC, upon which thousands of official documents and hundreds of millions of climate comments rely. If you can imagine a thousand Constitutional Scholars meeting frequently and producing document after document for three decades without explicit mention of the Bill of Rights, then you are getting a glimpse of how bad things are in ‘climate science.’
“The surface of the earth, consisting of solids and liquids, emits heat according to a law that has been with us since the late 1800s, and understood theoretically by Planck in 1900. Though the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) pretends to understand the greenhouse effect, they have spent 30 years with no explicit mention of this law — the Stefan-Boltzmann radiation law. Far worse is that they have never — repeat, NEVER — applied the law to their speculative temperature rises. Failure to do so has led to hundreds of models that violate the law of conservation of energy.
“Planetary Heat Balance — a law that says that the heat that a planet absorbs from the sun equals the heat the planet radiates away — tells us that the heat radiated away can be determined by the solar intensity and the fraction of heat reflected away. Yet, IPCC’s model after model fails to account for this almost trivial fact. Three decades of failure to understand this law has led to three decades of bizarre predictions from the IPCC — equilibrium situations that violate the Planetary Heat Balance equation.
“After three decades, the IPCC finally came to the realization that the greenhouse effect is the numerical difference between the heat emitted by the surface and the heat radiated to space. (In other words, after 30 years, they finally learned to subtract.)
“Now let us look at ‘remedies.’ The population of polar bears was rather low for a while, and climate alarmists blamed the low population on ‘climate change,’ by which they mean ‘CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels.’ Their remedy then would be to reduce CO2 emissions. The problem, however, was excessive hunting of polar bears. The correct remedy was to reduce hunting; the polar bear population is on the strong increase.
“Another inappropriate remedy was to burn witches.
“That much said, what is the meaning of the expression, ‘Climate-Related Disclosures?’ Herein lies an utter failure to understand that we presently live in a climate that is the most amenable to human existence that has ever existed. In 1900, life expectancy in the US at birth was 45 years; now it approaches 80.”
*******************
Solar Influences: Solar influences on earth can be dramatic or subtle. The sun can have solar flares (magnetic energy) and coronal mass ejections (massive clouds of particles) that greatly increase the total energy carried by the solar wind. These may cause geomagnetic storms on earth. One such geomagnetic storm occurred during March 13 to 14, 1989. It disrupted electric power systems in eastern Canada and US, causing a blackout of the Hydro-Quebec power system. Understanding these events is critical for retaining reliable power. WUWT reports a mapping of how the event developed. An electromagnetic pulse weapon may cause similar disruptions.
In his lecture series, Jim Steele discusses how solar influence may change the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), causing rains or droughts in major regions of the world. The 2008 NIPCC report showed the remarkable correlation between carbon-14 produced by cosmic rays (a proxy for solar activity) and oxygen-18 (a proxy for climate change) in a stalagmite in Oman. The period covered over 3000 years from about 6500 years before present to over 9500 years before present and supported the Svensmark Hypothesis.
Now we have a study based on a stalagmite in a cave in Oman that was used to asset that Saudi Arabia had an extreme drought about 600 AD giving rise to the emergence of Islam. The cave, the Hoti Cave, is close to the approximate boundary today of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), marking the northern limit of the current monsoon rainfall. Strangely, this study was published in AAAS Science which does not publish studies questioning CO2-caused climate change. Perhaps the editors did not realize the significance of what they were publishing. See links under Science: Is the Sun Rising? Commentary: Is the Sun Rising? Challenging the Orthodoxy – NIPCC, and
*******************
Blackouts: Blackouts and high energy prices are creating problems for governments that are trying to replace fossil fuels, contrary to the physical evidence that fossil fuels are not causing a climate emergency or crisis. North American can easily produce all the fossil fuels the countries need for reliable energy (particularly electricity), if governments stop overregulating in pursuit of a fantasy.
There is an energy crisis coming and the Russian invasion only accelerated it, not caused it. Australia, which has huge deposits of uranium, coal, and natural gas, is experiencing blackouts, because A) nuclear and coal power require constant operation to pay for the capital costs of the plants, and B) the politicians placed a cap on the price emergency generators (natural gas) can charge to provide electricity when wind and solar fail. The UK is experiencing similar problems after making vain boasts of Net Zero at COP-26.
Australian blogger Jo Nova has amusing comments about the sad government failures such as:
“Reality must be depressing for Green-believers. Here they are, after all this revolutionizing, they’ve installed more than a million megawatts of glorious solar and wind totems and it has barely made a dent. The world still stubbornly runs on fossil fuels.”
“The renewable wonderland of South Australia is tonight running on fossil fuels:”
“The Renewable Crash Test Dummies: Test in progress”
See links under: Change in US Administrations, Problems in the Orthodoxy, Questioning European Green, Energy Issues – Non-US, and Energy Issues – Australia
*******************
Book Reviews: Ecologist Jim Steele reviews John Christy’s new book: Is It Getting Hotter in Fresno…or Not. Fresno is in the heart of the Central Valley of California, which has undergone significant human alteration of the landscape. TWTW was unaware of the book and cannot comment on it except to say that Christy is a very competent scientist and Steele understands the interrelationships among natural variation, human causes, and CO2-cause. In the review, the following paragraph stood out:
“You might need to read twice the chapters on why temperature adjustments are needed, but I suggest you do. It points out how different landscapes, natural or altered, affect the weather. That will help you separate good adjustments from bad adjustments. Christy saw firsthand how each change in the location of Fresno’s weather station brought it to a new landscape. He witnessed the effects of growing urbanization on various areas of the region. Too many climate skeptics readily assume all adjustments are driven by a political bias. Indeed, without a thorough knowledge of the surrounding landscape changes, applying a one-size-fits-all algorithm and the expectation that any warming must be driven by rising CO2, will certainly bias temperature adjustments. But good skeptical climate scientists, like John Christy, understand there are several important variables affecting weather, and good adjustments must be made.”
TWTW looks forward to reading the sections on temperature adjustments.
Allen Brooks reviews How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil. Smil is an exceptional researcher and writer. One may not always agree with his conclusions, but he is thought-provoking and provides solid evidence supporting his conclusions. As Brooks writes:
“The thesis of Smil’s book, and most of his other books, too, is that the clean energy transition people desire will take a long time and unrealistic assumptions about how fast it can be done, premised on flawed understandings of our energy system and its role in modern life, may make things worse.”
Part of the public in countries going down the road of Net Zero are discovering their leaders do not have a clue. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Seeking a Common Ground, and Science, Policy, and Evidence,
*******************
Clueless: Economist Donald Boudreaux has an essay in American Institute for Economic Research, which Ron Clutz reposts with comments. Although taking a different approach, Boudreaux draws conclusions similar to Smil. He writes:
“Most journalists and writers working for most premier media and entertainment companies, along with most professors and public intellectuals, think, talk, and write about society with the insight of kindergartners.
“This sad truth is masked by the one feature that does distinguish the clerisy from young children: verbal virtuosity. Yet beneath the fine words, beautiful phrases, arresting metaphors, and affected allusions lies a notable immaturity of thought. Every social and economic problem is believed to have a solution, and that solution is almost always superficial.”
Clueless in Washington could be a new movie. See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy. See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy.
********************
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 Ken@SEPP.org. 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: From $50 per barrel to $88 per barrel before Russia invaded Ukraine. In Master Resource, David Simon writes:
“Biden’s restriction of U.S. oil production has driven the price of West Texas Intermediate sharply higher. It was $51.56 a barrel in January 2020, when the economy was humming before the pandemic, and about $50 in December 2020, the month before Biden took office. By January 2022, Biden’s actions had pushed it to $88.15. A month later, Russia launched its war against Ukraine and sent the price to over $100.” See link under Washington’s Control of Energy.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Mapping a Magnetic Superstorm: March 1989 Geoelectric Hazards and Impacts on United States Power Systems
Posted by Charles Rotter, WUWT, June 15, 2022
Link to paper: Mapping a Magnetic Superstorm: March 1989 Geoelectric Hazards and Impacts on United States Power Systems
By Jeffrey J. Love, et al. Space Weather, May 12, 2022
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Droughts in the sixth century paved the way for Islam
Press Release, University of Basel, June 16, 2022 [H/t WUWT]
Droughts and societal change: The environmental context for the emergence of Islam in late Antique Arabia
By Dominik Fleitmann, et al. AAAS, Science June 16, 2022
Scientists Link 1950s-Present Climate Change In Europe To Sunshine Duration, ‘Natural Factors’
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, June 16, 2022
Link to paper: The thermal state of the North Atlantic and macrocirculation conditions in the Atlantic-European sector, and changes in sunshine duration in Central Europe
By Marsz, Matuszko, and Styszynska, Internal Journal of Climatology, June 30, 2021
Censorship
6 Truths About The Environment The Biden Administration Would Like To Censor
By Elise McCue, The Federalist, June 17, 2022
“White House adviser Gina McCarthy proposed tech companies must shut down conversations that challenge the narrative on energy.”
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:
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
Replacing the World’s Fossil Fuels
By Andy May, WUWT, June 16, 2022
A Review of Dr. John Christy’s Book “Is it Getting Hotter in Fresno…or Not?”
By Jim Steele, WUWT, June 17, 2022
New Data Absolutely Destroys Media Claims of ‘Climate Change is Causing More Wildfire’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, June 14, 2022
Defending the Orthodoxy
UN: “New funding for fossil fuel exploration and production infrastructure is delusional
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 14, 2022
John Kerry Guarantees It
By Tony Heller, His Blog, June 16, 2022
Link to article: John Kerry: Green Transition Will Be Bigger Than The Industrial Revolution
By Haley Zaremba, Oil Price.com, Jun 15, 2022,
[SEPP Comment: The industrial revolution did not need subsidies, why should the green transition require them?]
Out of thin air
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
Our Childish Leaders
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, June 13, 2022
Article by Donald J. Boudreaux, American Institute for Economic Research, June 6, 2022
New research questions hypotheses about climate-controlled ecosystem change during the origin of dinosaurs in Argentina
Press Release, University of Utah, June 13, 2022
Link to paper: Paleoenvironmental and Biotic Changes in the Late Triassic of Argentina: Testing Hypotheses of Abiotic Forcing at the Basin Scale
By Adriana C. Mancuso, et al. Frontiers in Earth Science, June 13, 2022
If only it were mere hypocrisy
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
“Trudeau, like John Kerry, simply applies a different standard to himself than to you because he really, shamelessly, blithely believes he’s waaaaaay more important than you.”
Munich Professor: Role Of Methane From Cows On Climate Exaggerated By A Factor Of 3 To 4!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, June 15, 2022
[SEPP Comment: The calculations by W & H indicate that it is a tiny fraction of what is claimed.]
After Paris!
UN Bonn Climate Talks Ends in Arguments Over Money
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 17, 2022
Bumbling, Stumbling Biden’s War On Fossil Fuels
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 17, 2022
Video
The New Joe Biden – Friend of American Industry?
By Ben Lieberman, CEI, June 13, 2022
The UK Is Prioritizing Energy Security Over Climate Pledges
By Felicity Bradstock, Oil Price.com, Jun 16, 2022
“Despite the U.K.’s leading role in COP26, its ongoing presidency, and its ambitious climate pledges, in the face of energy shortages and rising prices, the government seems to be quickly turning back to oil, gas and even coal, in a bid to ensure the country’s energy security.”
‘We’re being led by a bunch of idiots’
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 16, 2022
Sky video on Australia
“India and China will burn this year 4 billion tons of coal.”
Seeking a Common Ground
Book Review: “How the World Really Works” (Vaclav Smil)
By Allen Brooks, Master Resource, June 15, 2022
The Energy Poverty Project: ‘Social Justice’ in Action
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, June 16, 2022
“Energy economists have long noted the regressive effect of higher energy prices on lower-income users. Energy is an essential, not a luxury. Al Gore and John Kerry can consume massive quantities of energy and not notice (and even support) higher prices; not so for the masses. Derrick Hollie represents the masses.”
‘The Energy Poverty Prevention and Accountability Act’ (H.R. 4266)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, June 17, 2022
[SEPP Comment: The need for such an act is a sad reflection of Washington’s foolish energy policies.]
Energy Crisis Is A Taste Of What The IEA Has In Store For Us
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 11, 2022
“But in the real world the results will be cataclysmic. So far we have only been talking about abstract numbers, but with such a collapse in the supply of energy however, the effects will go way beyond a hit to our wallets, or even a bit of rationing. There will inevitably be civil disorder and riots, poverty and starvation. Societies will be destabilised and governments overthrown.
“And all in the name of a baseless fear.
“Fortunately, I suspect that most of the world will refuse to follow the West down its suicidal path. But if they were ever in any doubt, the past 12 months have surely been a warning of what lies in store.”
Models v. Observations
The silence of the trees
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
“You have to persist to page 57 to be told that despite more fire suppression and less anthropogenic fires (now down to about 54% from 95%) ‘the current rate of burning is still lower than historical levels’.”
“As Blacklock’s notes, ‘The latest study follows Department of Environment claims that climate change was to blame for the worst forest fires in Canadian history. The findings cited in a 2018 report were based on climate modeling and data on fires that occurred after 1950.’ Because it seems that as so often, if you take the long view, natural variability dominates even if only man is vile.”
Measurement Issues — Surface
FINALLY. U.S. Drought Monitor Drops Severe Drought For Washington State
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, June 13, 2022
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
The NASA TROPICS Mission: Monitoring Tropical Cyclones with a Fleet of Small Microwave Radiometers
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, June 12, 2022
Changing Weather
The Origins of the Yellowstone Flooding and a June Gloom Forecast: All in My New Podcast
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, June 17, 2022
A comment from Richard (?) “In the not-too-distant past, the weather was in a very complex equilibrium situation. It is being nudged by global warming out of this equilibrium, perhaps into a new equilibrium – perhaps centuries in the future.”
[SEPP Comment: When and where was the weather in equilibrium?]
June 17, 1882 Tornado Outbreak
By Tony Heller, His Blog, June 17, 2022
Changing Seas
James Bevan’s Ludicrous Sea Level Claims
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 12, 2022
CDN by the Sea: Bergen, Norway
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
Running AMOC with the climate
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
Video on false predictions of a 2003 Pentagon report: The Pentagon’s Cracked Crystal Ball
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Recent Greenland Cooling And Only ‘Limited Retreat’ Of Glaciers Since The Little Ice Age
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, June 13, 2022
Link to latest study: Early Holocene palaeoceanographic and glaciological changes in southeast Greenland, by Camilla Andresen, et al. The Holocene, 2022
Greenland’s Summers Surprisingly Cooling Over Past Decade…Driven By Natural Oceanic Cycles
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, June 12, 2022
Polar Bear Numbers Growing
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 17, 2022
Link to report: State of the Polar Bear Report 2021
By Susan Crockford, Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF), 2022
Newly discovered SE Greenland polar bear subpopulation: another assumption proven false
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, June 16, 2022
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Particulate pollution is reducing global life expectancy by more than two years: analysis
By Sharon Undasin, The Hill, June 14, 2022
[SEPP Comment: There is no question that sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide from unfiltered, coal-fired power plants are a health hazard, but lumping them in with PM 2.5 renders such studies meaningless.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Climate Alarm From 1882
By Tony Heller, His Blog, June 17, 2022
[SEPP Comment: The language has not changed, just the dates.]
Reuters Fails Journalism Test — Again
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, June 17, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
A durable U.S. climate strategy … or a house of cards?
We need to prepare to manage climate risks for decades, centuries ahead: How can we also manage inevitable shifting winds in priority setting?
By Richard Richels, Benjamin Santer, Henry Jacoby and Gary Yohe, Yale Climate Connections, June 6, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
More Sea Level Porn
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 17, 2022
“In the last fifty years, the rate of rise on the vulnerable East Coast has been just 1.54mm a year, much slower than the first half of the 20thC:
“They also invoke the “coastal erosion” bogeyman, even though they must know that the coast has been eroding for thousands of years:”
[SEPP Comment: The observed sea level rise has been 6 inches per century.]
Climate change causes inflation now too. Quick, put on more solar panels….!
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 12, 2022
“Starving for any attention, the carbon-haters need to find a reason to get into the inflation debate. CO2 keeps rising but crops are up, forests are greener, tropical islands are growing, mangroves are expanding, and the world is in more danger of being overrun with cheap soy and corn than by rising seas. Whatever. The disaster-bus will find a way to blame fossil fuels for everything that’s bad, as if through some miracle EV’s and windmills will make pork cheaper.
“It’s a cult:”
Holy Battery Powered Australia: Chris Bowen thinks we can store electricity “like water in a dam”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 17, 2022
“Someone needs to tell the Australian Energy Minister the bad news about batteries.”
[SEPP Comment: Wrist watches run on battery power, why can’t civilization?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Climate Propaganda Award Winners
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, June 16, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Vox: Stop telling kids that climate change will destroy their world
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 13, 2022
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda
Germany’s Fridays For Future Spokesperson: “We’re Planning How To Blow Up” African Oil Pipeline!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, June 14, 2022
The Many Arbitrary and Capricious Aspects of SEC’s Climate Risk Disclosure Rule
By Marlo Lewis, Jr. CEI, June 17, 2022
GOP attorneys general push back against SEC climate change disclosure initiative
By Monique Beals, The Hill, June 16, 2022
CRES Submits Comments to SEC on Overreaching Climate Disclosure Rule and Risks to American Companies
By Staff Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions, June 14, 2022
The Realities Of “Going Green”
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 14, 2022
“I came across this on Facebook, translated from Norwegian. It’s a good summary:”
Questioning Green Elsewhere
There Will Be No Just Energy Transition Without Mining In Our Backyards
By Murray W. Hitzman, Real Clear Energy, June 14, 2022
Funding Issues
Wrong kind of green
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
“BTW the Bank of Canada’s mission statement is impeccable: ‘We are Canada’s central bank. We work to preserve the value of money by keeping inflation low and stable.’”
“Even better. But it must be said that none of these institutions has managed to do anything about inflation… or climate change. So, they do need to stick to their knitting and, on inflation, knit harder, faster and better.”
Litigation Issues
New Mexico, Wyoming Oil and Gas Drilling Approvals Draw Lawsuit
By Maya Earls, Bloomberg Law, June 15, 2022
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
‘Laughing stock’: New Zealand to tax sheep and livestock for ‘belching and flatulence’
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 12, 2022
Video
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Automakers and climate activists agree on need for Congress to extend electric vehicle tax credits
By Ben Adler, Yahoo, June 14, 2022
[SEPP Comment: How “temporary” subsidies become permanent!]
Global-Woe: The transition has stalled — the world is using more fossil fuels than ever (Still 80%!)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 16, 2022
Why record wind output is no cause for celebration
By Bruno Prior, Net Zero Watch, June 14, 2022
“California has advantages relative to the UK. It is nearer the equator so it enjoys higher solar load factors. And there is better correlation between renewable output and demand, because their peak demand is in summer for the cooling load, whereas the UK’s peak demand is in winter for the heating and lighting load. The problems that California is experiencing will be worse for us.”
Boris Johnson warned he won’t survive continued ban of UK shale gas
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, June 15, 2022
The Revenge Of The Fossil Fuels
By Tilak Doshi, Forbes, June 10, 2022
Green energy ‘stagnates’ as fossil fuels dominate
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 17, 2022
[SEPP Comment: From BBC News?]
Gove Blocks Shale Gas Project Because Of “Fence”
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 11, 2022
‘Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s energy giant Ineos is ‘apoplectically cross’ after Michael Gove blocked plans for a fracking site in south Yorkshire.”
Australian grid teeters on edge of blackouts tonight
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 13, 2022
Blackout risk in five states continues: Wholesale energy market suspended; Australians told to use less electricity
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 15, 2022
Still teetering: Blackout warnings across the Australian grid next three days
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 14, 2022
Australian “Green Transition” Electricity Grid on the Brink of Failure
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 13, 2022
Australian Government: More Committed than Ever to Renewable Energy
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 17, 2022
Chortle
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
Sydney Grid Fail: Australia’s Greenest Voters Plunged into Darkness
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 14, 2022
Energy Issues — US
Consumer Advocate Warns: Your Electric Bill Could Balloon by 50 Percent (FYI-just the start)
By Damien Fisher, ICECAP, June 16, 2022
[SEPP Comment: Politicians respond by subsidizing those who suffer, rather than eliminating regulations that cause the suffering.]
Shell Goes Full BP – Part Trois
By David Middleton, WUWT, June 15, 2022
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden’s Virtue-Signaling: The Costs of Climate Policy
By David Simon, Master Resource, June 13, 2022
Chevron Hits Back, Says Biden Trying To “Impose Obstacles” To Energy Delivery
By Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, June 16, 2022
Exxon Mobil, Chevron push back on Biden blaming industry for oil prices
By Lexi Lonas, The Hill, June 16, 2022
“The company [ExxonMobil] said emergency measures “such as waivers of Jones Act provisions and some fuel specifications to increase supplies” could be used to address short-term concerns. Long-term policies could include “streamlined regulatory approval and support for infrastructure such as pipelines,” it suggested.”
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Access to Abundant Natural Gas Shields U.S. Consumers from World Events
By Ed Finklea, Real Clear Energy, June 13, 2022
Jackdaw Gas Field Given Go-ahead
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 11, 2022
[SEPP Comment: In the North Sea.]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Uganda to build East Africa’s first nuclear power plant
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 13, 2022
“Africa wants energy. The West can leave that space open for other powers to fill or act like the world cultural and technological leaders that they are.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Runaway energy prices require a green energy rethink
By Jennifer Schubert-Akin, Washington Examiner, June 13, 2022 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Welcome to a weather dependent nation — whether you can use your dishwasher depends on the wind
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 16, 2022
“Renewable Crash Test Dummy: Friday edition”
“It doesn’t matter how many wind farms we build when one High Pressure cell arrives to sit on them all
“And here is the cell that stops a million dishwashers.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Dirty cost of keeping the Government’s net zero strategy alive revealed
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 17, 2022
‘The Government’s plan to reach net zero relies on burning the equivalent of the New Forest every five months, The Telegraph can reveal.”
Want to Keep Plastic Out of the Ocean? Burn It Like Coal
By Kathrine Nitter, Maritime Executive, June 12, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Hydrogen Is Unlikely Ever To Be A Viable Solution To The Energy Storage Conundrum
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, June 13, 2022
Link to estimates: Hydrogen Vs. Natural Gas For Electric Power Generation
By Myers-Briggs, Seeking Alpha, Dec 2, 2020
Battery shortage is affecting U.S. energy, drive to replace fossil fuels with other sources
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 12, 2022
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
EV’s Fossil Fuel Economy No Better than ICE Vehicles
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, June 17, 2022
The Last Thing the USPS Needs Is a ‘Green’ Fleet
By Cesar Ybarra, Real Clear Energy, June 15, 2022
Let Them Drive Teslas
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 12, 2022
Two videos
Stabenow’s Out of Touch Quip About Her Electric Car
By Holly Wetzel, Real Clear Energy, June 14, 2022
Health, Energy, and Climate
We sense a pattern
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 15, 2022
Other Scientific News
Sun Dog
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, June 14, 2022
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Obama Installing 2500 Gallon Propane Backup at Martha’s Vineyard
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 17, 2022
“Typical residential storage for back-up generators is 100 to 500 gallons.”
[SEPP Comment: Will the propane generators work when the home is covered by water from increasing sea level rise?]
Fear Dihydrogen Monoxide, Not CO2
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, June 17, 2022
Video
A Great Science Fiction Writer Underwhelms With Climate Change Thriller
Celebrated science fiction writer Neal Stephenson’s latest novel on climate change has lots of interesting asides on technology, but little excitement and flat characters.
By Aguste Meyrat, The Federalist, June 17, 2022
Ice Cream Climate Justice
By Tony Heller, His Blog, June 16, 2022
Things NASA climate scientists say:
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, June 16, 2022
ARTICLES
1. Climate-Change Censorship: Phase Two
Now Gina McCarthy tells Big Tech to stifle debate global-warming policy responses.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, June 13, 202s
“Progressives first demanded that social media platforms silence critics of climate alarmism. Now White House national climate adviser Gina McCarthy wants them to censor content on the costs of a force-fed green energy transition.
The editorial cites the efforts to fact check Bjorn Lomborg and Steven Koonin who criticized apocalyptic climate models and studies.
“Now progressives are moving to censorship phase two, which is shutting down debate over climate ‘solutions.’ ‘Now it’s not so much denying the problem,’ Ms. McCarthy said in an Axios interview last Thursday. ‘What the industry is now doing is seeding doubt about the costs associated with [green energy] and whether they work or not.’
“Ms. McCarthy cited the week-long power outage in Texas in February 2021. ‘The first thing we read in the paper was’ that the blackouts occurred ‘because of those wind turbines,’ she said. ‘That became the mantra.’ In fact, most of the media immediately blamed climate change and fossil fuels.
“We were among the few to point out that wind energy plunged as temperatures dropped and turbines froze. Gas-fired plants couldn’t make up for the wind shortfall despite running all-out, and then some went down too. Ms. McCarthy doesn’t want to admit the inconvenient truth that renewable energy sources are making the grid increasingly unreliable.
“Comparing fossil-fuel companies to Big Tobacco, she complained that ‘dark money’ is being used to ‘fool’ the public about ‘the benefits of clean energy.’ ‘We need the tech companies to really jump in,’ she said, because highlighting the costs of green energy is ‘equally dangerous to denial because we have to move fast.’ Got that, Mark Zuckerberg ?
“Merely pointing out technical limitations of lithium-ion batteries could be ‘disinformation.’ Asked whether climate disinformation posed a threat to public health, Ms. McCarthy replied ‘absolutely’ while adding hilariously that ‘President Biden doesn’t focus on, and neither do I on, bashing the fossil-fuel companies.’ The Axios interviewer smiled and nodded along.
“Some conservative scholars argue that Big Tech companies could be sued as ‘state actors’ for violating users’ First Amendment speech rights when they censor content at the behest of government officials. Ms. McCarthy is helping make their case.”
***********************
2. Richard Glick’s White House Chats
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman had regular confabs with the climate adviser.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, June 12, 2022
The editorial begins:
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Richard Glick denied taking orders from the White House when he rushed through regulations mandating climate reviews for new natural gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals. Documents shared with us raise questions about that answer.
The Institute for Energy Research obtained Mr. Glick’s meeting calendar from Nov. 8, 2020, through this past April 19 via a Freedom of Information Act request. Not surprisingly, it includes many meetings with utilities, energy providers and FERC staff. But starting last September, he began holding biweekly meetings with Deputy White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi.
This is notable because Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy asked Mr. Glick point-blank at a hearing on March 3: ‘Has anyone higher up in the Administration ever spoken to you in regards to somehow slow-walking or otherwise impeding or otherwise accentuating policy that would have the effect of impeding the development of natural gas pipelines?’ Mr. Glick replied, ‘Absolutely not.’
Recall how Mr. Glick and his two fellow Democratic commissioners in February revised FERC’s long-standing policy for permitting new pipelines and LNG exports by mandating an analysis of the direct and potentially indirect greenhouse-gas emissions from upstream fuel production and downstream consumption. This was mere days before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.
Mr. Glick falsely claimed the policy change was required by federal court rulings. FERC is required by law to certify gas projects as long as they are in the public interest and won’t have a significant environmental impact. The new policy merely provided a regulatory pretext to veto enormously important gas projects such as pipelines that cause little or no direct harm to the environment.
After getting rapped by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democratic commissioners paused their new climate policy in late March. But President Biden last month appointed Mr. Glick for a second five-year term, and the chairman is likely to revive the policy once confirmed. That’s why his regular meetings with Mr. Zaidi merit scrutiny.
The editorial concludes that it has been impossible to discover if pipelines were discussed.
“The global climate models used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose findings are used to justify a climate emergency or climate crisis, overestimate the warming of the atmosphere. “
Undeterred, climate…
“Scientists are using machine learning to improve their climate change predictions.
Machine learning algorithms use available data sets to develop a model. This model can then make predictions based on new data that were not part of the original data set. “
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/how-is-machine-learning-helping-us-to-create-more-sophisticated-climate-change-models/
And then I heard something wonderful and very funny. Nadine Dorries is The Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport. And as part of the Media bit of her job…
“Dorries arrived at a meeting with software giant Microsoft and immediately asked when they were going to get rid of algorithms, according to an official given an account of the meeting. She also raised the same issue in a separate stakeholder meeting, a lobbyist familiar with the exchange said.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/nadine-dorries-digital-minister-big-tech/
I’m not sure what her advisors have been telling her…
ATTACKIONG THE DEVELOPMENT OF OIL PRODUCTION FOR THE NEAR AND LONG-TERM FUTURE IS ATTACKING OIL SUPPLY – EVEN IF THEY LET CURRENT LEASES, TRANSPORT AND REFINING ALONE. Which this administration is also attacking. The STATED GOAL they are acting on is to take our existing tank (readily recoverable oil and gas) and drain it without refilling it. They attack development in every politically feasible way with a promise to end it all.
The price of Oil is set based on every market participant’s expectation of what is and will be readily recoverable. What this administration has done is to attack what is readily recoverable. That is our current supply – our “tank of oil.” NOT JUST what is currently being pumped.
Currently WHILE THEY BLAME RUSSIA AND OIL COMPANIES FOR NOT PRODUCING, this administration is cancelling new leases, has agreed with environmentalists to review existing leases for cancellation, and proposed taxes on producers. (And issued a sternly worded letter that US oil companies were responsible for the price.)
One of the White House Council of Economic Advisers was defending the administration on Friday. Incredibly, he noted that “pumping” and refining both were up – and took credit for it. While blaming oil companies for not pumping and refining.
Quitting their malevolent stupidity may be the only thing they aren’t willing to do.
Observing the combination of anger, finger pointing, blaming the innocent and rewarding the uninvolved I see throughout the Federal Administration, I am reminded of a group of tweens or adolescents stirred into a frenzy over some idiotic rumor and misinformation.
On the 25th April 2022 I ordered, from Amazon UK, the book ‘Climate at a Glance for Teachers and Students’ by Watts & Taylor, but all I get from them, when I ask when it will be despatched is ‘they will let me know’.
Has anyone else had problems (ordering was OK) RECEIVING it?
Thanks
No problems – ordered in late April and it arrived soon after. I put a review on the Amazon UK website on the 27th April. Amazon UK says it is currently “in stock” so maybe re-order it?
Here in the US, I ordered it and received it the next day. It was in Las Vegas, where most EVERYTHING I order is stocked in the local warehouses.
I ordered a part for a refrigerator at about 6 pm Sunday and received it BEFORE 8 am the next morning. At the time of purchase it said it would be delivered between 4 and 8 AM, 10 to 14 hours after it was ordered.
I don’t know how much longer they will be able to keep this up. I ordered a less that $4 purchase and they delivered it the next day, I have prime so there was no delivery charge. It HAD to cost them the $4 to deliver it. Just doesn’t make sense.
I have gotten to where I go through the trouble to save items up in the cart if I don’t need things quickly, and TRY to set them up for delivery together, but sometimes Amazon will still deliver items on different days, crazy.
I dislike Besos, but Amazon is amazing. Also, most items I purchase online at other vendors are free delivery at some minimum total price, often under $100, I think because of the pressure from Amazon.
They took my money!!
Just looked on Amazon and it’s ‘Currently Unavailable’ and they don’t know when it will be back in stock.
I decided to, in the meantime, go the for the Kindle version but this takes you to ‘Reconsider II’. I’ve no idea what’s going on!
Yet they will persist in this belief. One factor not mentioned in this debate is the impact of public service commissions on electrical energy supplies and cost. The mandate of such commissions is usually limited to ensuring reliable energy supply at least cost to the consumer. There is nothing similar in the transportation fuels market (especially if we ignore the futures markets which normal consumers do not participate in anyway). This is why transportation fuels pricing changes rapidly.
PSCs are undoubtedly beginning to believe they have another mandate to mitigate “climate change”. By the time everything depends on electrical energy supplied principally, or even in full in some peoples’ colorful fantasies, with renewables consumers will have to be brought to feel the full effects of supply/demand. Energy will be very costly at times by the normal operation of spply/demand in a free market.
What regulators will try to do instead most likely is insulate consumers from these forces and rather than having them face decisions based on high prices when supply is limited there will simply be no energy available at times — forced blackouts. What we saw in Texas in February 2021 was a lack of any way to roll blackouts equitably.
Kevin, would you (or better your wife and kids) put up with significant blackouts when you most need energy?
The powers that be will be forced to go back to regulated wholesale rates: The deregulation of wholesale energy failed, as most of us who knew anything back in the late 1970s predicted and gave testimony about to legislatures, PUCs and Energy Commissions. One must have a central authority to direct necessary activities to keep the lights on; distant politicians must be kept out of it at all levels. At best its a regulated monopoly. At worst it is government owned except at very local levels (munis, coops & etc.).
The whole Net Zippy scam exposed the weaknesses of politicians, entrenched bureaucrats, NGOs and activist do-gooders tinkering with things of which they had no understanding. Hell, stuff like the Enron and CA disasters should have tanked the whole thing (In response in the early 2000s we told the same organizations what we told them in the late 1970’s.). But government and NGO pukes thought they knew better based on some silly, socialistic and unrealistic guesses about what would work in the real world. Government-regulated “markets” will have neither the efficiency of market economics nor will they avoid the stupid misallocation of resources by centralized governmental action.
Need a better, more scholarly explanation? Spend 30+ years dealing with all aspects of the real world problems of planning, designing, financing, constructing, operating and maintaining generation, transmission and distribution systems like I did. Until you do, don’t opine to my notice on complex things you don’t understand.
Rant over.
Why was this rant directed at me? I can’t see why anything I said suggests that government directed energy is desirable in the least. How did you become an authority to decide who may opine on what?
Your: “What regulators will try to do instead most likely is insulate consumers from these forces and rather than having them face decisions based on high prices when supply is limited there will simply be no energy available at times — forced blackouts.” Not going to happen in any open, First World country.
My being an authority? Read closer.
Better yet, sir, tell me how the markets regulated by a PSC will deal with supply falling far short of demand when there is inadequate dispatchable energy. This will likely come as a surprise as February in Texas did. Tell me how a PSC will deal with that.
Kevin, my rant was directed generally to those with no practical experience in an extremely complex area of supreme importance to the functioning of a modern society/economy who throw out entirely fanciful opinions. Those who do so should stick to Twatter and Faceplant.
A functioning, non-politicized Public Utilities Commission (PUC) [your PSC?] used to be charged with regulating essentially monopoly generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power services to provide reliable and cost-based electric power to industrial, commercial and residential customers. In your specific example of Texas’ recent debacle, a true PUC would have required realistic plans from involved public electric utilities that provided for realistic contingencies including known, past weather conditions.
As I and colleagues repeatedly pointed out over the years separating out generation from a complex, integrated power system into politically manipulated government “markets” would not provide the lowest-cost, reliable electric system for consumers. Without going into the technical and economic details on a blog posting, what we are seeing is electric energy shortages and spiraling costs caused by feckless Leftist governmental mismanagement over time.
“They find that a doubling of CO2 would cause an increase in surface temperature of 1.4 °C. That change at the surface occurs with fixed absolute humidity; it would be 2.3 °C with fixed relative humidity. It bears mentioning that the data are not clear whether absolute humidity will increase with an increase in temperatures – an assumption critical to the Charney Report and subsequent governmental reports.”
It has always bothered me that under the GHG theory an increase in temperature from CO2 increased concentration results in an increase in water vapor concentration that causes additional warming. If this were true, then the increase in warming due to more water vapor should result in an additional increase in water vapor and yet more warming ad infinitum. Since the earth is still habitable and the seas have not boiled way, this is obviously not true.
It seems to me that the observations cited in the main post that indicate warming has not been greater than the calculated effect of CO2 alone falsifies the water feedback theory and hence the entire CAGC conjecture. Maybe some genius who understands the “climatology” can explain to me why warming caused by CO2 increases atmospheric moisture, but warming cause by increased moisture does not.
I have seen two calculations made by William Happer – one with climate senstivity 0.84°C (this month) and one with 0.92°C. (from 2016)
La Niña is not at risk.
Temperatures in the upper stratosphere over the southern polar circle are well below the multi-year average.