The Week That Was: 2023-09-23 (September 23, 2023)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”— Richard Feynman
Number of the Week:12 hours, 20 minutes to Zero
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: The following topics will be discussed: In his opening remarks to the UN Climate Ambition Summit, during Climate Week NYC, UN Secretary-General António Guterres employed old-fashioned fire and brimstone. Writing for the CO2 Coalition, Burce Everett and Edward Hoskins discuss issues frequently ignored by advocates of Net Zero. UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is trying to delay the onset of Net Zero in the UK. The US Department of Energy made a modest effort to recognize that electricity storage is a problem that has not been addressed. Some observations from hearings on five-year electric power plans in Virginia.
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Green Fundamentalism: In the USA in the early 20th century, particularly in the Southeast, fundamentalist religions were noted for revival meetings to inspire active members and gain converts. They would feature a preacher with sermons full of fire and brimstone, the threat of Hell or damnation. Based on his opening remarks at the Climate Ambition Summit in NYC on September 20, UN Secretary-General António Guterres thinks of himself as a revivalist preacher. He began:
“Our focus here is on climate solutions – and our task is urgent.
Humanity has opened the gates of hell.
Horrendous heat is having horrendous effects.
Distraught farmers watching crops carried away by floods.
Sweltering temperatures spawning disease.
And thousands fleeing in fear as historic fires rage.
Climate action is dwarfed by the scale of the challenge.
If nothing changes, we are heading towards a 2.8-degree temperature rise – towards a dangerous and unstable world.
But the future is not fixed.
It is for leaders like you to write it.
We can still limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees. We can still build a world of clear air, green jobs, and affordable clean power for all.
The path forward is clear.
It has been forged by fighters and trailblazers – some of whom are with us today:
Activists refusing to be silenced;” [Boldface added, temperatures in C]
It is doubtful that China, the world’s largest CO2 emitter, or the rest of BRICS who are using fossil fuels to free themselves from extreme poverty are impressed. Nor is anyone else who has knowledge of Earth’s changing temperatures. See links under Defending the Orthodoxy.
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Cold Water: Writing for the CO2 Coalition, oil market specialist Bruce Everett and architecture applied research specialist Edward Hoskins ask some serious questions which those participating in the UN revival ignore. In summary, they address:
“The climate policy debate has two components: scientific and economic. In terms of the science, people should ask the following questions:
- On what basis do climate activists refer to carbon dioxide (CO2), a life-giving molecule essential for all life on Earth, as “pollution”?
- Are the computer models which generate catastrophic climate scenarios reliable?
- Is it true that adverse events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfire, floods, ice melt, etc. are actually increasing or is our recent experience within the range of natural variation?
In terms of economics, people should ask:
- What is the role of energy in the economy?
- Who emits carbon dioxide in the world?
- What are the costs involved in actions to reduce CO2 emissions?
- What are the actual trends in energy use?
Others have addressed the scientific controversies in detail. This monograph will offer a primer on the economic landscape of CO2 and provide a basis for interested readers to ‘run the numbers’ and make up their own minds about the costs and benefits of proposed climate policies.’
After carefully addressing these issues with significant data, Everett and Hoskins conclude:
‘The two main sources of CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are electric power generation and transportation.
Regarding electric power generation:
• Since electricity cannot be stored, modern electricity grids require a high proportion of dispatchable generating capacity. Too much intermittent power, like wind and solar, undermines the reliability and stability of the grid.
• When the costs of back-up capacity are included, wind and solar power are much more expensive than electricity generated by fossil fuels.
• The industrial countries are struggling to find a political balance between the need for a high-quality electricity grid and the demands of climate activists.
• In seeking this balance, politicians in the industrial countries will push renewable energy into the marketplace until they hit limits based on the voting public’s willingness to tolerate high costs, unreliable electricity supply and national security risks.
• The developing countries are growing their electricity grids rapidly with whatever local and affordable sources are available, mainly fossil fuels and hydro.
• The growth in renewable energy in the developing world is largely an artifact of international lending institutions responding not to the needs of the poor but to the political demands of wealthy countries.
Regarding transportation:
• Automobile ownership in the industrialized countries is reaching a plateau. In the developing countries, however, the driving age population is growing rapidly, and they will demand mobility.
• Gasoline-powered vehicles provide that mobility at the lowest cost and best performance.
• Powered by heavy subsidies, electric vehicles have made slight inroads in the U.S. and some other countries, but these vehicles remain much more expensive than gasoline-powered cars, and the numbers are still small.
• The high cost and limited performance of batteries are the main obstacles to further market penetration by EVs. Battery technology is likely to improve, but there is no guarantee that the improvement will be sufficient to allow widespread adoption of EVs.
• In the U.S., EVs are a niche market serving mainly upper middle-class males in California.
• Aviation is a high growth segment throughout the world, and there are no viable substitutes for jet fuel in the foreseeable future.
• Public transport remains a small part of total travel throughout the world. Even major increases in travel on public transit would have a negligible impact on CO2 emissions.
• The recently passed Infrastructure and Jobs Act and the proposed Build Back Better Act offer expensive, but largely symbolic carbon reductions in an effort to help President Biden fulfil his largely rhetorical 2030 promise.
• The current objective of the climate movement is ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050.
• The technology for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) does not yet exist, implying that ‘net zero’ must be accomplished entirely by reductions in CO2 emissions.
• Climate politics are significant primarily in the industrial countries. The developing world ‘talks the talk’ primarily to encourage financial flows from the rich countries.
• None of the pledges made by the developing countries in the various climate agreements has yet been translated into real actions, and nothing in the numbers suggests any trend toward ‘net zero’ emissions.
• An ‘energy transition’ away from fossil fuels may happen, but there is no evidence that it is happening now.
• According to the latest projections by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the trends evident in the last 25 years are likely to continue. Specifically, the strong growth of CO2 emissions in the developing world will probably overshadow any actions taken by the industrial countries. Even if the industrial countries reduced their CO2 emissions to zero, total global emissions would still increase through 2050.
• The climate debate is not over pathways to ‘net zero’ emissions, but rather about whether to spend large amounts of money in order to achieve modest reductions in the rate of growth in CO2 emissions.” [Boldface in original]
The issue of vehicles is particularly appropriate. Henry Ford did not need subsidies or mandates to replace the polluting horse with the less polluting automobile. He offered a better, affordable product. Why do Ford Motor Company and other manufacturers need huge mandates and subsidies to replace the clean internal combustion engine with a slightly cleaner (ignoring mining requirements) and more expensive electric vehicles? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Sensing the Wall: UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is scaling back the Net Zero policies the UK adopted after adopting the Climate Change Act of 2008 following statistical manipulations by an honored economist and the UN IPCC’s faulty Fourth Assessment Report (2007) showing acceleration of sea rise, false plunge of Northern Hemisphere snow fall, and false changes in physical and biological systems associated with false sharp increases in surface temperatures.
However, optimism expressed by some opponents of the Act may be premature. As Ben Pile wrote for Net Zero Watch:
“Rishi Sunak could not have done less to correct the Net Zero mess. But what he has done is a good thing. And it includes setting a trap for the eco-catastrophists. The more they howl and wail, the more they will expose their utter contempt for ordinary people.”
“It was the mildest possible reversal. It is in fact an attempt to save Net Zero, not roll it back.”
In correspondence, Cornwall observer Richard Courtney cautions against assigning political party or economic ideology labels to the issue (in the UK the Tory party is considered conservative and the Labor Party liberal). IPCC critic Courtney wrote:
- “A UK (Tory) government created the political issue of ‘global warming.’
- After that, a succession of UK governments (both Tory and Labor) promoted the ‘climate nonsense’.
- Since the mid-1980s the British public has been subjected to a constant barrage of ‘climate nonsense’ from the BBC.
- Lack of opposition to the barrage has resulted in the bulk of the British public believing the ‘climate nonsense’.
- Clear evidence exists that members of the British public can be ‘converted’ to climate realism by exposure to the facts of the ‘climate nonsense’; e.g., to their surprise, Courtney, Morner, and Monkton won the ‘Climate Debate’ at St Andrews University.
- The next Labor government will not want to accept the costs of the ‘Net Zero’ project and may lack the ability to accept them.
- Points 1 to 6 suggest climate realists need to provide the Labor Party with evidence and arguments needed to justify the next Labor government postponing the ‘Net Zero’ project prior to ‘forgetting’ the project at a later time.
So, I think we need to provide the British Labor Party with selected (tailored?) information from CLINTEL, the CO2 Coalition, Ed Berry, etc. which the next Labor government can use to justify postponing the ‘Net Zero’ project. i.e., give the next Labor government an ability to do what we – and they will – want them to do.
Please remember that a change to UK government policy on ‘Net Zero’ is likely to disrupt the ‘climate nonsense’ everywhere because a UK government created the political issue of ‘global warming’ and a succession of UK governments (both Tory and Labor) have been the world leader of the ‘climate nonsense’ since then.”
[Boldface in original.]
In Western Europe, the issue covers political party distinctions and economic ideologies. But not so much in the US. See links under Questioning European Green.
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Storage: The Department of Energy announced the spending of $325 million for long-duration energy storage. The press release states:
“Funded by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, these demonstration projects will increase community control of local power systems, mitigate risks associated with disruptions to the grid, and help communities develop reliable and affordable energy systems. Today’s announcement will help DOE realize its Long Duration Storage Shot goal of reducing the cost of LDES by 90% by 2030 and supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to advance critical clean energy technologies, expand the adoption of renewable energy resources, and strengthen America’s energy security.
‘As we build our clean energy future, reliable energy storage systems will play a key role in protecting communities by providing dependable sources of electricity when and where it’s needed most, particularly in the aftermath of extreme weather events or natural disasters,’ said U.S Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm.”
“According to DOE’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: LDES report, cheaper, longer, and more efficient storage is needed to meet energy demand that fluctuates throughout the day and night. For example, solar power generated during the day could be stored for nighttime use or nuclear energy generated in low demand periods can be used when demand increases.
The LDES Demonstrations Program, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), funds a range of different technology types intended to overcome technical and institutional barriers to full-scale deployment of LDES systems in diverse geographies and climates. Projects selected will feature a range of intraday (10 to 36 hours) and multiday (36 to 160+ hours) storage solutions, which can minimize the frequency and length of power interruptions caused by events such as severe weather or cyberattacks on the grid.’
At least some in Washington recognize we do not yet have the technology to turn off natural gas or coal-fired power plants. But there is no indication they have any understanding of the scale and the cost of long-term storage required. See links under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy – Storage.
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Green Dreams: This week, the Virginia State Corporation Commission held hearings on the five-year plans of Dominion Electricity and its subsidy Virginia Power on its 2023 Integrated Resource Plan. Having signed up to give oral testimony, Ken Haapala monitored part of the hearings. The hearings were continued to October 24. Two noteworthy observations were made: 1) many environmental groups do not understand the importance of carbon dioxide for green plants; hence for all life on Earth; and 2) local governments are promoting data centers which require massive amounts of highly reliable electricity, which many government officials have voted to undermine.
For example, experts for the Sierra Club emphasized the fabricated social cost of carbon (dioxide), apparently totally unaware that thanks to increased atmospheric carbon dioxide green life on this planet is flourishing. This is sad because some of the so-called experts are professors at major universities.
On the second issue, Loudoun County has become a data center for Virginia. Today, tax revenues from data centers account for more than 30% of Loudoun County’s operating budget. The equipment in data centers is very expensive, the counties tax centers and equipment, yet the data centers employ few people and do not strain government services. Properly zoned land prices in Loudoun are about two to three million dollars per acre. One of the first things planned and built in a new data center is an electric power substation. Typically, the substation is 100 megawatts, the planning costs are $200,000 to $300,000 and the construction costs are $20 to $30 million. Yet, many politicians in the state who desire such facilities voted for wind and solar power which cannot deliver the reliable electricity needed. See links under Energy Issues – US.
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Number of the Week: 12 hours, 20 minutes to Zero. Since Washington is seeking long term electricity storage solutions, it is useful to have a basic understanding of what is needed to replace reliable electricity from coal and natural gas with wind and solar. California has the greatest penetration of wind and solar in its electricity system of any state in the continuous 48 states, and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) posts supply (generation) and demand (consumption) data every 5 minutes and keeps records. California has far more solar power than wind power and has the highest residential electricity prices in the 48 states.
TWTW examined these records for the longest day of the year and the shortest day of the year. Ignoring nuclear and hydro power, on June 21, 2023, total renewables (wind and solar) exceeded natural gas generation and imports for 12 hours and 20 minutes. For about 20 minutes, power was available to recharge batteries. On December 21, 2022, total renewables never exceeded natural gas and imports and only matched natural gas generation for 2 hours and 30 minutes. At no time was any power available to recharge batteries. The batteries were recharged, but not by renewable power. No matter what type of storage is used, the system must be replenished or recharged – something that many organizations have difficulty understanding. See link under California Dreaming.
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
New Study: Earth Will Cool By 1°C Over The Next Decades Due To The Upcoming Grand Solar Minimum
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Sep 22, 2023
Link to paper: Periodicities in Solar Activity, Solar Radiation and Their
By Valentina V. Zharkova, et al., Natural Science, Mar 31, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Has it reached a maximum?]
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
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
Download with no charge:
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Climate-Change-Reconsidered-II-Fossil-Fuels-FULL-Volume-with-covers.pdf
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
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
Challenging the Orthodoxy
A Primer on Climate Policy Math
Press Release, CO2 Coalition, Sep 20, 2023
Link to report: A Primer on Climate Policy Math
By Bruce Everett and Ed Hoskins, CO2 Coalition,
Challenging the Mathematical Basis of General Circulation Models
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Sep 21, 2023
Link to paper: The unique, well posed reduced system for atmospheric flows: Robustness in the presence of small-scale surface irregularities
By G.L. Browning, Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, September 2020
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S037702651930096X?via%3Dihub
German Professor: Part Of Warming Last 150 Years Due To Measurement Station Siting Changes
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Sep 22, 2023
Defending the Orthodoxy
UN climate science now at “Gates of Hell” level
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 22, 2023
Link to article: UN chief warns of ‘gates of hell’ in climate summit, but carbon polluting nations stay silent.
By Seth Borenstein, AP, Sep 21, 2023
https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-united-nations-summit-disasters-8b4de7469a1745f42d76a11bd7ac8641
Link to remarks: Secretary-Secretary-General’s opening remarks at the Climate Ambition Summit
By António Guterres, UN Secretary General, Sep 20, 2023
https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-09-20/secretary-generals-opening-remarks-the-climate-ambition-summit
Questioning the Orthodoxy
New Study: The Rising-CO2-Causes-Warming Perception Not Supported By Real-World Observation
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Sep 18, 2023
Link to paper: On Hens, Eggs, Temperatures and CO2: Causal Links in Earth’s Atmosphere
by Demetris Koutsoyiannis, et al. Sci, Sep 13, 2023
https://www.mdpi.com/2413-4155/5/3/35
“All evidence resulting from the analyses suggests a unidirectional, potentially causal link with T as the cause and [CO2] as the effect. That link is not represented in climate models, whose outputs are also examined using the same framework, resulting in a link opposite the one found when the real measurements are used.”
[SEPP Comment: Update of previously published papers.]
Devastating risks of transitioning to ‘green’ energy: Mining for electric-powering minerals has left 23 million people exposed to toxic waste, 500,000km of rivers polluted and 16 million acres of farmland ruined
By Matthew Pheland, Daily Mail, Sep 21, 2021
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12545855/Devastating-transition-green-energy-metal-mining-23-million-people-toxic-waste-rivers-polluted-farmland.html
Link to paper: Impacts of metal mining on river systems: a global assessment
By M.G. Macklin, et al, AAAS Science, Sep 21, 2023
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg6704
Climate Fact Check: August 2023 Edition
By Steve Milloy, Junk Science, Sep 13, 2023
Hypocrite Khan’s Airmiles
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 18, 2023
“Sadiq Khan, his deputies and officials have racked up more than 430,000 air miles since he was first elected London Mayor in 2016, analysis shows.
The Labour politician, who has positioned himself as a champion of environmental causes, attracted condemnation yesterday as he flew to the US for a climate summit.”
Problems in the Orthodoxy
World’s largest companies stall climate action despite promises
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 19, 2023
“Cutting emissions is proving harder than committing to cut emissions”
“I suspect that many companies and investors are growing tired of spending money for no good reason at all.”
Allison Pearson: The public is wiser than the net zero hysterics
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 22, 2023
Climate Change, Misguided Activism, and a Roadmap for Institutional Investors
By Robert G. Eccles & John D. Skjervem, Real Clear Energy, Sep 18, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/18/climate_change_misguided_activism_and_a_roadmap_for_institutional_investors_980310.html
Seeking a Common Ground
Lomborg on the 21st century part 4: cost-benefit analysis of the Paris treaty
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
Prove it
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“But unlike silly assertions that someone just refuted all the conventional physics behind claims of man-made climate change, the point about experimental verification contains an important truth so large it’s hard for either side to see. It is that the overall global warming theory, even in its non-hysterical version, relies on assembling a bunch of individually sound pieces of science and logic into a vast speculative theoretical construct that not only hasn’t been tested in a laboratory, it couldn’t be, because you’d need one as big and complicated as the Earth, with all the processes that operate there. The Earth, in fact. So, it’s no good saying what’s happening now is explained by a theory that was proved somewhere else. What’s happening now is the test, and its results are necessarily hugely ambiguous.”
[SEPP Comment: But like Newton’s planetary motion, a hypothesis cannot be tested in the laboratory, but can be tested by observations.]
Science, Policy, and Evidence
20 equals 5
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer says the vast subsidies hurled at EV-battery makers by politicians who think they know all about business, technology and the weather will take 20 years to repay not the ‘very optimistic’ five we were promised by the usual subsidy hucksters.”
Measurement Issues — Surface
Mapping methane emissions from rivers around globe reveals surprising sources
Freshwater ecosystems account for half of global emissions of methane
Press Release, NSF, Sep 19, 2023
https://new.nsf.gov/news/mapping-methane-emissions-rivers-around-globe?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to paper: Global methane emissions from rivers and streams
By Gerard Rocher-Ros, et al., Nature, Agu 16, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06344-6
[SEPP Comment: Contrary to what the NSF and the paper claim, presence of water vapor greatly reduces the effectiveness of methane as a greenhouse gas. Apparently, the concept of marsh gas is new to NSF.]
Changing Weather
Hurricane Daniel and the Medicanes: A Dive into Science
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Sep 17, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Cyclones appear in the Mediterranean and not all cyclones are tropical]
Stuff you’re not allowed to know #5: droughts
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Droughts are not new, from CO2 caused climate change.]
Valley Drainage Season
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Sep 21, 2023
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2023/09/valley-drainage-season.html
The Great New England Hurricane of 1938
By Paul Dorian, WUWT, Sep 20, 2023
The Great Tunisian Flood of 1969
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 17, 2023
“The 1973 floods in Tunisia were the second such disaster in just four years:”
Tunisian Flood Disasters In 1973
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 17, 2023
Changing Seas
Proof of a biologic control on coral calcification
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
From the CO2Science Archive:
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Arctic Ice Recovery Starts Sept. 2023
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Sep 22, 2023
“Mind-blowing” Claims of Record Low Antarctica Sea Ice on BBC Contradicted by Statements Made Seven Years Ago
By Cris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Sep 19, 2023 [H/t WUWT]
Scientists Are Alarmed
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Sep 19, 2023
Video: https://realclimatescience.com/scientists-are-alarmed/
Text: https://realclimatescience.com/scientists-alarmed/
Lowering Standards
And the Walter Duranty Award Goes To…
By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Sep 20, 2023
“In 1932, Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty of the New York Times won the Pulitzer Prize for his glowing reports of happiness and progress in the Soviet Union. He followed that with denials of the genocide-by-famine in the Ukraine, in which Stalin engineered the death by starvation of four million peasants.”
‘ExxonKnew’: More Correction
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Sep 18, 2023
“The erroneous, agenda-laden ExxonKnew narrative was again in evidence in last weekend’s WSJ News Exclusive, ‘Inside Exxon’s Strategy to Downplay Climate Change.’”
BBC Happisburgh Complaint
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 22, 2023
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Let the mind games begin: Scorching summer of brutal bushfire hell is in the news before it even happens
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 20, 2023
UK migratory birds ‘in freefall’ over climate change–BBC
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 21, 2023
Didn’t tell you so
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“It’s a man-made disaster for sure when aging dams in a nation racked by over a decade of war, banditry and unrest give way. And we know the names of the men. The calamity struck in a city built by Mussolini a century ago, below a dam built under Gaddafi 50 years ago that last had a maintenance test 20 years ago. But the pundits nonetheless blame climate change. What else could it be? Never mind that the same storm hit Europe with only minor damage. And never mind that nobody predicted that Libya would suffer catastrophic flooding. With climate science, pouncing on a tragedy after the fact is fine and decent.”
“And another expert they interviewed said if the authorities had simply opened the dams a bit before the storm they might have held. You don’t say.”
Another Stupid Los Angeles Times Climate Alarmist Propaganda Claim
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, Sep 18, 2023
Sorry, Guardian and Reuters, Island Nations Have No Climate Case
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, -Sep 11, 2023
L A Times “Green China” Latest News
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, Sep 21, 2023
Sooner Than The Boston Globe Expected
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Sep 18, 2023
From a third-party comment: “When they don’t use children for their propaganda, they use people in wheelchairs?
And it was obviously so extremely hot that all 3 of them wear black clothes.”
[SEPP Comment: The photo was taken in Pheonix, not Boston.]
Could Extreme Weather Hit the 2026 World Cup?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 20, 2023
True, Indianapolis Star, “Climate Change is not ‘Theoretical,’” but Its Connection to Extreme Weather Is
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, Sep 13, 2023
[SEPP Comment: A period of glaciation would be connected to climate change, but not from increased CO2.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
China Coal: Reuters’ “weird climate logic”
By Ed Ireland, Master Resource, Sep 21, 2023
“The fact that China’s carbon dioxide emissions are being ignored while U.S. energy policies are destroying the reliability of its power grids and undermining its energy independence is telling.”
[SEPP Comment: Is CO2 racist?]
Reuters: Chinese Carbon Dioxide Is Different
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Sep 20, 2023
Link to article: China’s huge coal plant building has weird climate logic
By Clyde Russell, Reuters, Sep 19, 2023
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-huge-coal-plant-building-has-weird-climate-logic-russell-2023-09-19/
“The world’s largest producer and importer of coal has 136.24 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired generation under construction, according to data released in July by the Global Energy Monitor.
This represents 66.7% of the global total of 204.15 GW, and China is streets ahead of second-placed India, with 31.6 GW being built and third-placed Indonesia with 14.5 GW.”
“China’s under-construction coal generation is about 12% of its existing capacity, and adding more coal-fired power would seem incompatible with the stated goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2060.”
“The large coal-fired construction programme can be seen in the wider context of China’s rapid shift to electric vehicles and away from internal combustion engine (ICE) cars and trucks.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Here now, and coming soon
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“Thus, for instance the New York Times’ ‘Climate Forward’ huffs that ‘One of the startling things about the climate crisis is just how quickly we’ve brought it upon ourselves. In a relatively short period of time – just 150 years or so – humans have dramatically heated up the planet, ushering in the Anthropocene.’”
Now they want you to believe beach-weather is “deadly”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 18, 2023
The Weather Channel’s Absurd ‘Hot’ Propaganda
By Jim Lakely, Climate Realism, Sep 20, 2023
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
“Listen to me!”: A Climate Study into Angry Young People
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 22, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Teenage angst about climate?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Thousands of climate activists march in NYC, calling on Biden to declare climate emergency
By Miranda Nazzaro, The Hill, Sep 17, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4209143-thousands-of-climate-activists-march-in-nyc-calling-on-biden-to-declare-climate-emergency/
[SEPP Comment: How many hundreds of thousands marched in annual abortion protests but were ignored by the mainstream press?]
Questioning European Green
The Impossibility of Net Zero
By Ben Pile, Net Zero Watch, Sep 22, 2023
Sunak’s Net Zero speech: the road to rationality
By Andrew Montford, Net Zero Watch, Sep 21, 2023
Media Watch: Sunak’s Net Zero climbdown
By David Whitehouse, New Zero Watch, Sep 21, 2023
Rishi Sunak Waters Down Net Zero Pledges
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 20, 2023
Video
Sunak breaks the Net Zero consensus
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Sep 20, 2023
Rishi Sunak Speaks Sense on Net Zero
By Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy, Sep 21, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/21/rishi_sunak_speaks_sense_on_net_zero_981146.html
It’s big: The UK does a NetZero u-turn on cars, heaters, and promises no taxes on meat or flights
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 22, 2023
Will Germany be the first to ditch its net zero commitments?
By Ross Clark, The Spectator, Sep 18, 2023
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/will-germany-be-the-first-to-ditch-its-net-zero-commitments/
Germany went from envy of the world to the worst-performing major developed economy. What happened?
By Daivd McHugh, AP, Sep 19, 2023 [H/t WUWT]
https://apnews.com/article/germany-economy-energy-crisis-russia-8a00eebbfab3f20c5c66b1cd85ae84ed
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Not just birds and whales: Windmills threatening extinction for jaguars and pumas in Brazil
By Thomas Lifson, American Thinker, Sep 19, 2023
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/09/not_just_birds_and_whales_windmills_threatening_extinction_for_jaguars_and_pumas_in_brazil.html
Thrown To The Wind
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 22, 2023
Video by Michael Shellenberger with environmentalists studying noise from survey ships testing for offshore wind facilities. “Precautionary principle is no longer a priority.” Saving the climate has overtaken the precautionary principle. Avoidance is not accounted for by NOAA. Members of an organization investigating whale deaths are receiving money from wind power companies.
Funding Issues
Biden administration announces $400 million to help states adopt climate-friendly building codes
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Sep 19, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4210818-biden-administration-announces-400-million-to-help-states-adopt-climate-friendly-building-codes/
“The funding comes from the Inflation Reduction Act. It is a portion of $1 billion that the climate, tax and health care law provides to help state and local governments take up building energy codes.”
Bloomberg launches $500 million war to close all coal plants and block new gas plants
By Breanne Deppisch, Energy and Environment Reporter, Washington Examiner, Sep 21, 2023 [H/t Sharon Camp]
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/economy/bloomberg-launches-war-close-coal-plants-block-new-gas-plants
“The funds will also finance the work of major environmental groups in the U.S., including Earthjustice, Hip Hop Caucus, Sierra Club, RMI, League of Conservation Voters, Advanced Energy United, and Coalfield Development to accelerate the transition to clean and renewable energy sources, Beyond Carbon said.”
[SEPP Comment: Perhaps all those advocating Beyond Carbon will give up all their carbon-based molecules?]
Litigation Issues
California goes after ‘Big Oil’ companies with lawsuit, citing years of deception
By Tara Suter, The Hill, Sep 16, 2023
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/4208396-california-goes-after-big-oil-companies-with-lawsuit/
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Carbon Credits: The Predictable Unraveling of a Flawed System
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Sep 22, 2023
“Whaddya mean the Indulgences don’t live up to their hype?”
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Motor Industry Demands Subsidies for EVs, as Sales Stagnate
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 19, 2023
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Update: DOE Appliance Minimum Efficiency Standards
By Mark Krebs, Master Resource, Sep 19, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Is the theme of the current DOE is spend more you’ll save more – in 20 years! Or price the poor out.]
Energy Issues – Non-US
AI Part II: Power-hungry AI data systems will follow cheap, reliable energy, no matter what the fuel is
By Terry Etam, BOE Report, Sep 20, 2023
Energy Issues – Australia
Australian Electricity Generation – 2023 Update
By Chris Morris, Climate Etc. Sep 18, 2023
Climate Change won’t get the chance to kill off the Tasmanian Wedge-tailed Eagle — the wind industry will do it first
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 19, 2023
Clean Energy Dirty Tricks? A $500 Gift Card for Signing Over Your Property Rights
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 17, 2023
Energy Issues — US
FERC, NERC Reveal Disturbing Details from Winter Storm Elliot Inquiry
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, Sep 21, 2023
https://www.powermag.com/ferc-nerc-reveal-disturbing-details-from-winter-storm-elliot-inquiry/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
“That finding, one of many disturbing details unveiled by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as part of their joint inquiry into the devastating December 2022 winter storm, points to an urgent need for cold weather reliability standard revisions for power and gas systems, the entities suggested on Sept. 21.”
Northern Virginia ranks as the largest data center market in the world
By Staff, Dominion Energy, Economic Development, Accessed Sep 18, 2023
Corrected Direct Testimony of Josh Levi on behalf of the Data Center Coalition
Filed with Virginia State Corporation, September 7, 2023
U.S. Offshore Wind Plans Are Utterly Collapsing
This is not the time for Delaware to be considering offshore wind.
By David T. Stevenson, Real Clear Energy, Sep 21, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/21/us_offshore_wind_plans_are_utterly_collapsing_980864.html
Electricity Competition in Georgia
By Jim Clarkson, Master Resource, Sep 20, 2023
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden administration to put $4.6 billion toward state and local climate plans
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Sep 20, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4214002-biden-administration-to-put-4-6-billion-toward-state-and-local-climate-plans/
“’President Biden secured this historic funding because he knows that communities need resources to fund projects to cut climate pollution, lift up disadvantaged communities, and reap the economic and job-creation benefits of climate action,’ EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a written statement.”
Biden’s Permitting Proposal Would Backfire, Add Red Tape for Affordable Energy Projects
By Patrice Douglas, Real Clear Energy, Sep 19, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/19/bidens_permitting_proposal_would_backfire_add_red_tape_for_affordable_energy_projects_980544.html
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Alaska politicians remain optimistic about AK LNG even as overseas market cools
By Riley Board, KDLL, PBS, Sep 15, 2023
Nuclear Energy and Fears
The POWER Interview: Making the U.S. Nuclear Industry Great Again
By Aaron Larson, Power Mag, Sep 21, 2023
https://www.powermag.com/the-power-interview-making-the-u-s-nuclear-industry-great-again/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Dinner in the dark, a taste of what’s ahead
By John Mikkelsen, Quadrant, Sep 21, 2023
[SEPP Comment: When failure of wind power from changing weather patterns becomes “climate change.”]
Geothermal: Hydrocarbon Sector’s Evolution to Own the Energy Revolution
By Igor Kocis, Power Mag, Sep 19, 2023
https://www.powermag.com/geothermal-hydrocarbon-sectors-evolution-to-own-the-energy-revolution/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
“Breakthrough Technologies are Here … Many skills and technologies used in oil and gas extraction are transferable to geothermal energy production.”
[SEPP Comment: Heat loss from bringing heat in the deep rock to the surface remains a problem, not addressed.]
Using Community Solar to Protect Energy Freedom
By John Szoka, Real Clear Energy, Sep 19, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/19/using_community_solar_to_protect_energy_freedom_980539.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Energy Department investing $325M in batteries that can better store clean electricity
By Lauren Irwin, The Hill, Sep 22, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4218248-energy-department-investing-325m-in-batteries-that-can-better-store-clean-electricity/
Press release: Biden-Harris Administration Announces $325 Million For Long-Duration Energy Storage Projects to Increase Grid Resilience and Protect America’s Communities
By Staff, DOE, Sep 22, 2023
https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-harris-administration-announces-325-million-long-duration-energy-storage-projects
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
EV Sales In Decline To Private Buyers
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 19, 2023
“This new study in The Times not only shows that EV sales to private buyers have actually dropped year-on-year. It also indicated that about 8% of private sales are BEV.”
California Dreaming
California ISO
By Staff, Today’s Outlook, Supply, Accessed Sep 22, 2023
http://www.caiso.com/todaysoutlook/pages/index.html
Exxon Knew: California Sues Oil Giants for Committing Free Speech
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 17, 2023
Environmental Industry
A tale of two whale protection groups
By David Wojick, CFACT, Sep 18, 2023
https://www.cfact.org/2023/09/18/a-tale-of-two-whale-protection-groups/
Lies, Damn Lies, and the Sierra Club
By Tucker Davis, Real Clear Energy, Sep 20, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/09/20/lies_damn_lies_and_the_sierra_club_980859.html
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
CUT!!!
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“’A group of Canadian filmmakers have joined forces with Hollywood A-listers in asking the Toronto International Film Festival to end sponsorship ties with the Royal Bank of Canada because of the financial institution’s funding of the oil and gas industry.’”
“So fine. You don’t like oil and gas. Don’t use it. Nice knowing you.”
[SEPP Comment: Movie film is made from cellulose acetate from plants, or the stronger and less brittle polyester base made from petroleum.]
The Fake History Channel
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Sep 20, 2023
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 20, 2023
“This just in from the New York Times on the Chinese Communist Party that John Kerry and others believe is a true believer on climate change: ‘When wildfires swept across Maui last month with destructive fury, China’s increasingly resourceful information warriors pounced. The disaster was not natural, they said in a flurry of false posts that spread across the internet but was the result of a secret ‘weather weapon’ being tested by the United States. To bolster the plausibility, the posts carried photographs that appeared to have been generated by artificial intelligence programs, making them among the first to use these new tools to bolster the aura of authenticity of a disinformation campaign.’ Our buddies in Beijing.”
Wrong, Euronews, Fire Ants Are Unlikely to Flourish in Most of Europe
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, Sep 18, 2023
ARTICLES
1. The Great Northeast Wind Bailout
The politicians are already demanding more green corporate welfare.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Sept. 21, 2023
https://www.wsj.com/articles/governors-wind-project-bailout-joe-biden-orsted-b6559721?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
The editorial begins with:
“If only the hot air blowing at the United Nations’ Climate Ambition Summit this week could be used to generate electric power. That would be especially convenient since Governors in the Northeast are lobbying the White House to bail out their states’ offshore wind projects, which have hit a gale of ballooning costs.
‘Inflationary pressures, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering supply chain disruptions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have created extraordinary economic challenges,’ wrote Govs. Kathy Hochul (N.Y.), Ned Lamont (Conn.), Phil Murphy (N.J.), Maura Healey (Mass.), Wes Moore (Md.) and Dan McKee (R.I.) to President Biden last week.
‘Offshore wind faces cost increases in orders of magnitude that threaten States’ ability to make purchasing decisions,’ they say. ‘Without federal action, offshore wind deployment in the U.S. is at serious risk of stalling because States’ ratepayers may be unable to absorb these significant new costs alone.’
The pandemic and Ukraine are excuses. The real problem is government policies that have increased demand for wind equipment and ships, which has inflated prices at the same time interest rates have climbed. Wind turbine makers are having to replace defective equipment, which is leading to order backlogs.
The U.S. lacks specialized ships for assembling turbines at sea that comply with the 1920 Jones Act, which requires cargo vessels that run between U.S. ports to be built and crewed by Americans. Offshore wind developers are having to resort to expensive work-arounds like ferrying parts from Canada.
Large offshore developers are asking New York for an average 48% price adjustment on contracts to cover rising costs. Two have moved to scrap contracts for projects off Martha’s Vineyard. Danish developer Orsted is warning it may have to write down its projects off New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.”
Then, after citing comments by Orsted CEO Mads Nipper, the editorial concludes.
“But the Governors fear making their constituents pay for their climate follies. Ergo, they are lobbying the Administration to boost the value of the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) renewable energy tax credits for offshore wind. Orsted has also been putting ‘maximum pressure,’ to quote Mr. Nipper, on the Administration to sweeten the credits.
They want the White House to let offshore projects qualify for ‘bonus tax credits,’ which the IRA conditions on using U.S. manufactured content and building in ‘energy communities.’ These subsidy sweeteners would boost credits to 50% from 30% of a project’s cost. Yet the projects don’t meet either condition.
The IRA defines an energy community as abandoned land that is polluted from an industrial activity; a census tract with a recently closed coal mine or plant; or an area disproportionately reliant on fossil fuels for employment or tax revenue. If oil drilling were allowed off New England, maybe the wind projects could qualify for bonus credits. But they don’t.
The Governors also want offshore wind transmission lines to be eligible for tax credits, which would socialize the costs of building out the green grid.
All of this exposes the folly of government industrial policy that force-feeds an energy transition that makes no economic sense and won’t matter to the climate in any case. The corporate welfare demands will keep coming, and consumers will pay one way or another.”
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