Newsbytes from Dr. Benny Peiser at the GWPF
The riots and their fallout will eat up all the political oxygen for months, if not years to come. A party conference season that should have seen at least some debate on the grave threat posed by climate change and the huge opportunity presented by the low carbon economy will now be dominated by much hand-wringing and political jostling over “the state of modern Britain”. The riots have undoubtedly emboldened those Conservative backbenchers who are at best indifferent to environmental issues and at worst openly hostile to green policies. Significantly, they are supported by a similarly emboldened right-wing media that has in recent months cranked up its opposition to environmental initiatives, most notably through the Daily Mail’s increasingly overt climate scepticism and repeated attacks on green energy policies. —James Murray, Business Green, 15 August 2011
The sun is setting on Evergreen Solar, whose green-energy business fizzled even though Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration showered the Marlboro company with $58 million in subsidies and tax breaks. Evergreen, which made solar-power panels, cut about half of its 133 remaining employees and sought bankruptcy protection after concluding that it couldn’t compete with low-cost Chinese manufacturers. The company had already shifted some work to China last year in a cost-cutting move, then closed its Devens factory in March and eliminated 800 jobs. —Jerry Kronenberg and Greg Turner, Boston Herald, 16 August 2011
Solar module manufacturer Solon Corp. will lay off 60 local workers as it shuts down its production facility in Tucson, the company said Monday. Solon, part of German-based Solon SE, said it will seek lower-cost sources of solar modules for utility and commercial photovoltaic systems in Asia. —Tucson Sentinel, 15 August 2011
Last year, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn announced the city had won a coveted $20 million federal grant to invest in weatherization. McGinn had joined Vice President Joe Biden in the White House to make it. It came on the eve of Earth Day. It had heady goals: creating 2,000 living-wage jobs in Seattle and retrofitting 2,000 homes in poorer neighborhoods. But more than a year later, Seattle’s numbers are lackluster. As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program —Seattle Pi, 16 August 2011
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The Green Lobby group are losing credibility eh? It was a con right from the start, from Al Gore
his compatriots, James Hansen and Stephen Schelberg and the IPCC. Green energy is a very expensive alternative and if coal fired electricity generators in Australia were updated it would result in 30-40% reductions in carbon emissions and cost millions less than solar farms or useless
wind turbines who can’t carry the load. I hope Al Gore invested in Evergreen. Also a geo thermal
exploration plant has been hammered in Australia from lack of funds (and workability). Update the coal generated plants, and for now forget too much investment in clean energy although I feel solar thermal is a thing for the future to invest in.
The thing is nuclear, wind and other clean energy projects have failed to cut carbon emissions.
So if carbon emissions are not changing the climate as spouted by alarmists, the IPCC and Al Gore and fiends, why put billions for so called scientists to try and prove AGW rather than putting money into saving each countries definite environmental threats. ie., hurricanes, tsumanis, bush fires, floods etc.Sustainable agricultural methodology and animal husbandry and sanitation. Weather kills us. Volcanoes do also.
Even in my area – Queensway/Bayswater, looting was widespread, so it was much more widespread than portrayed in the media – and these riots over a few days left 5 people dead.
A lot of these looters and rioters have been complaining about their energy bills, as quite a significant part of energy bills go to the government under the guise of climate change levies.
You know, take into account this generation’s odd interest in 70s music, style, and cars (just yesterday I was behind a brand new Mustang, Camaro and Challenger that were all racing), and it makes perfect sense that we’re also going to revisit the all but forgotten Energy Crisis.
Oh yes, the 70s was loaded with get-rich-quick energy-alternative scammers too. I’m sure everyone old enough to remember can recall the hype with windmills, solar, etc, all the hippy obsessions with getting away from “foreign oil” and living off the grid. It was so horrible, and the crash, when it came, was so definitive, that it’s almost like something we never talk about. Unfortunately, that means another generation failed to learn from the mistake.
Solar panels and windmills will ALWAYS be linked, in my head, with Disco and sideburns, hairy chests and gold chains, Starsky and Hutch, gas lineups around the block, and lining up around the block to see Star Wars.
and the huge opportunity presented by the low carbon economy
==============================================================
What can you say to this…………………..
……….it just says it all
As rates spiral out of control due to green “mandates” the average Briton is feeling the vice tighten on their privates. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/utilities/8693920/Utility-bill-rise-is-biggest-consumer-concern.html Not exactly the thing that increased mandates of “green” energy are made of.
Actually in the British and Canadian Parliamentary systems you live for these days of confusion and chaos…
While everybody is talking about such stories, you use Ministerial Directives and Orders in Council to carry out the dirty work.
For example in Ontario… Some Older Directives
http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/regulatory-affairs/directives-opa-minister-energy-and-infrastructure
Some Newer Directives
http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/about-us/directives-opa-minister-energy-and-infrastructure
For Example: From July 29,2011
Korean Consortium’s Haldimand Projects – This is further to the Minister’s April 1, 2010 direction to the OPA to negotiate power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Samsung C&T Corporation and Korea Electric Power Corporation (collectively the “Korean Consortium” or “KC”) or the project companies for each of the 5 Phases of the 2,500 MW of wind and solar generation projects that the KC agreed to develop in Ontario. The OPA was also directed to hold in reserve transmission capacity in Haldimand County for the KC or its project companies. Consistent with government objectives to develop economic opportunities for First Nations communities, the Minister has now directed to OPA to enter into PPAs with the KC or its project companies for Phase 1 wind and solar projects in the Haldimand County and, to encourage this, the government has given the Korean Consortium another year to develop an agreement with the Six Nations Elected Council. If no agreement is reached by July 31, 2012 the Korean Consortium may elect between August 1 – 31, 2012, to relocate their Phase 1 projects and to enter into new PPAs. The New PPAs will have a contract capacity of not more than 150 MW for wind and of not more than 100 MW for solar generation at the then current FIT prices, with commercial operation dates of no more than 32 months from the date the PPAs are signed by the OPA and all parties.
Nevertheless the BBC News for the past two days has been featuring the installation of an offshore turbine farm. Whilst there were some alusions to the increase in bills that the governments wind power programme would undoubtedly engender, we were assured by an employee of the installation company that these costs would diminish within the next twenty years.
The British Brainwashing Corporation can thus be seen to be furthering the will of an inept or corrupt government, which has set it’s face against a growing weight of both scientific and engineering contrarian evidence, whilst at the same time protecting it’s ill advised staff pension fund investments.
The recent oportunistic outbreaks of criminality by a disaffected underclass on the streets of some of our cities may well have given politicians pause for thought. A harsh winter to come after the enormous escalations in fuel costs that were levied to pay for these ineffective monstrosities will almost certainly result in an uprising that will be less easy to quell.
“As of last week, only three homes had been retrofitted and just 14 new jobs have emerged from the program”
It took 14 people to weatherize 3 homes? Now there’s efficiency for you. /sarc
These riots had many drivers but poverty was not one. when rioters were seen dressed in designer clothing using the latest mobile phone it is clear that poverty was a background issue. The biggest problem were the police who stood around watching the rioting and looting start. They want to be a service and the peoples friend. Unfortunately they should be a force as they used to be. It is their job to break up riots and if a few rioters get hurt then toug, learn the lesson and don’t riot.
Some parents are no better than their rioting children,yes many were under 16 years of age, and there were even well paid employed people now arrested for rioting so lack of work is no excuse either.
I felt disgusted with these yobs. It will take time and a big change in attitude to get things back to what should be.
I do expect some wooly liberal to blame climate change for the problems, at least that will get a bit of laughter.
As a UK Lefty – although in regrettable circumstances, I welcome the return of the discussion of real social issues to both politics and the mainstream media int he UK . Too long has the ‘Left’ been obsessed with circular and self-defeating green navelguasing – based on assumption rather than evidence. Those of a rightwing persuasion – be aware, however; if the sons and daughters of the ‘left’ who have spent years/£££ conversing/ protesting/ cycling and buying holier than consumables in the name of ‘saving the earth’ transfer this into attacking real problems, like deprivation and inequality – then the right really is in trouble!! I genuinely think the right has more to fear from the overall victory of the sane ahem sorry skeptical on AGM. Indeed somemtimes, in my less rational moments I think the AGM movement was a rightwing invention/conspiracy bacause someone rightwing genius somewhere (mann?) thought (quite rightly): – ‘This is perfect, itll have them being holier than thou for years, they wont talk of anything else or acheve anything -and its pretty much unfalsifiable!!!… (mental image of the Brain saying this to Pinky).
However, personally I hope ‘increasingly overt climate Scepticism’ is not forwarded onlyby the Daily Mail – as most of the UK population (not just the left like me but most in the middle too) are fully aware of DMs reputation for publishing bulls***t . Friends like these are not required.
ex nihilo nihil fit? eh what?
Many of the quotes seem down right melancholy about the falling apart of the green agenda. I have a hard time believing any human being with a healthy psyche could possibly be upset over that.
Despite the political implications…
Imagine what the outcome would have been had the shopkeepers and home owners possessed the tools that were designed to deal with these problems. They could wait around as hapless victims, hoping that the alleged “police” would eventually get off their arse and come to their aid, or they could have retired inside, locked the doors and loaded their Mossberg/Remington/Colt.
Yes, with that form of society both sides are potentially armed, but there is a lot more thinking that goes through your mind when you consider that your potential victim has a much greater ability to defend themselves.
As it was, news of the riots subsiding only came about at the same time as the story of shopkeepers and home owners banding together and seeking out some of the perpetrators and beating them senseless once they got them cornered.
See, a victim isn’t any fun if they can really hurt you.
“The riots have undoubtedly emboldened those Conservative backbenchers who are at best indifferent to environmental issues and at worst openly hostile to green policies.”
…I guess the rioters must be those Conservative backbenchers, they are the only openly hostile people I see in Britain right now! Good thing ‘global warming’ is the GREATEST threat to the UK, right BBC!? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3381425.stm
I grow tomatoes. Lots of them. We simply need more CO2. It’s a good thing. Oh, and I eat as much chocolate as the doctor allows – we need more CO2 for cocao as well. Since CO2 is a very, very good thing and you can’t really have enough of it, why even try to use energy sources that don’t increase CO2. Especially those that move jobs to China where all those rare earths are located?
Solar is good for places like the Alaska ghost town of Iditarod where electricity at any price is a good thing but if your outside (of Alaska), the utlitity company burnig coal is the way to go. They can scrub out all the emissions leaving only the good CO2.
The rioting and outrage over mounting electrical bills and the fallout for the green revolution should begin to shift the the British Broadcorping Castration away from their extreme CAGW moorings, if they realize that their government funding will shrink with the ideological shifts in the “wind”.
So,the article doesn’t say whether the entire $20 mil was spent on the 3 houses. Anyone know?
The first aricle concludes:
“Consequently, the riots are not just a grievous blow to British self-confidence and a tragic indictment of our long-term failure to address deep-seated socio-economic failings – they could also represent yet another barrier to the development of a greener economy. An economy, which through the delivery of enhanced stability, greater sustainability, increased employment and improved living standards, would help make the kind of devastating riots we have seen in recent weeks a thing of the past.”
When the poor are faced with another winter approaching, and can’t afford to heat their homes due to “green” taxes, how can any call it, “enhanced stability, greater sustainability, increased employment and improved living standards?”
I think they who tax are leeches, sucking the lifeblood of many. The true phrase should be, “enhanced leeching, greater leeching, increased leeching and improved leeching standards.”
End/Rant
elbapo says:
August 16, 2011 at 8:32 am
“Indeed somemtimes, in my less rational moments I think the AGW movement was a rightwing invention/conspiracy bacause someone rightwing genius somewhere (mann?) thought (quite rightly): – ‘This is perfect, itll have them being holier than thou for years, they wont talk of anything else or acheve anything -and its pretty much unfalsifiable!!!”…
_______________________________________________________________________
While I never take conspiracy theories seriously, I thoroughly enjoy reading them.
That was a good one!
Roger @8.17 am 16th August:
I saw that too; David Shukman and the BBC at their Greenie tricks again. The embodied energy in those turbines is just mind-boggling. What happens at the end of their inefficient lives too?
Friends:
I notice that some looters interviewed on the radio say they have jobs and could have afforded to buy things they looted. They stole because – they said – they knew they could get away with it.
In my opinion, there are several contributing factors to this. And the riots are ‘chickens coming home to roost’ following a loss of cultural adhesion in Britain.
Firstly, discipline has been replaced by obedience.
Discipline is being constrained by a personal understanding of what is ‘right’.
Obedience is doing as one is forced to do.
Good parents impose obedience on the very young: e.g. you will not go near the fire.
And obedience is imposed by force.
As a child grows the reasons for the imposed rules are explained by good parents who teach that there are basic rules of conduct which people are expected to apply to themselves: e.g. manners, respect for others, etc. Thus a growing child learns discipline.
Every society expects its members to be disciplined to follow the ‘rules’ of that society.
Thus individuals of different societies are an expression of the culture of each society.
Britain has always contained several cultures (mostly class-based but also ethnically based).
In recent decades cultural identity has been lost as religious adherence has declined and the so-called ‘classless society’ has been adopted. There has been no replacement for this cultural loss, and this has removed discipline from many of the young who are left with only obedience as a constraint on their behaviour.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, ‘child-centred education’ has been adopted. This has placed primary importance on giving children what they want instead of what they need.
The rights of the child have become so important that the rights of the teacher have diminished to almost nothing.
Corporal punishment was abolished without any consideration of what should replace it. This is not to say that corporal punishment should have remained, but removal of the ‘ultimate deterrent’ while not providing a replacement ultimate deterrent was a mistake. Children are now taught that there is little consequence of wrong-doing.
Indeed, children are taught that there is little risk from their actions. They are not encouraged to climb trees because it risks injury, but that risk is the reason they should climb trees. And playgrounds have soft surfaces so falling down does not graze knees.Indeed, parents of children assume their young will always be kept from harm. (One result is that parents assume their children will be safe when camping in tents in polar bear territory; i.e. an assumption of the impossible).
Meanwhile children are not now taught that strangers should be met with caution but, instead, are taught that strangers should be feared because they may be paedophiles. In effect, children are taught that people whom they do not know are aliens with whom they have no affinity.
Thirdly, we have imposed the cult of celebrity. People are admired and rewarded for e.g. having appeared in a TV reality show and not for any kind of achievement. The young are not taught that there are heroes whose achievements are to be emulated: they are taught that people can get fame and riches whether or not those things are earned.
So, we 9the people of Britain) have raised a generation that is undisciplined, feels no affinity with those whom they do not know, perceives little risk from wrong-doing but sees that ‘right is what you can get away with’, and thinks riches are what you can get for nothing.
Hence, when the opportunity arises some of them will loot and steal then burn any evidence of what they have done. They do it because that is the culture we have given them.
They get security in numbers and they almost all have mobile phones which they can use to tell each other where they can next congregate.
Anyway, that is the view of this grumpy old man.
Richard
I have submitted an e-petition to repeal the UK Claimate Change Act (the mandate for bogus “green taxes”). It can be signed here:
http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2035
If you agree, please sign.
Britain is the most messed up country on the planet – immigrant thieves, rapists, and murderers cannot be deported because that would infringe on their “Human Rights” as ruled by UK judges. Somalian immigrants who never worked a day are housed in $2 million pound homes other immigrant families are living off the taxpayer in high end homes no honest Brit taxpayer can afford – and it just keeps goes on and on and on over there. All those riot bums? What do you expect will happen? A slap in the wrist – entire books of useless words and political promises made by Brit politicians – and all forgotten in a few weeks as usual. And if anyone here is silly enough to think the riots will effect the Green lobby in any way then I got ocean front property to sell you – real CHEAP. Come on! Think about it. We’re talking about the Brits here – entirely ruled by non-elected Europeans from Brussels. And forget about kicking out rioters from council housing or losing welfare payments – otherwise THEIR “Human Rights” will be affected. We’re talking about PC gone insane over there.
Greetings from ireland, after we enjoyed the coldest winter in two generations, we have basked in the coolest June, coolest July and an already bloody cold August. To quote the traditional Irish proverb: “global warming my arse!”