Quote of the Week:
“We concluded that the technical support document that accompanied EPA’s endangerment finding is a highly influential scientific assessment and thus required a more rigorous EPA peer review than occurred. EPA did not certify whether it complied with OMB’s or its own peer review policies in either the proposed or final endangerment findings as required.” EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins, Jr.
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Number of the Week: $0.25, 0.44 … $23.37, 24.34

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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Save the Date: October 22 from 11 am to 1 pm. SEPP and VA-SEEE will be hosting a forum in Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University. Details to follow.
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EPA Endangerment Finding: On September 28, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported on a study it did at the behest of Senator Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Senator Inhofe asked: Did the EPA perform the procedures required under the Data Quality Act when issuing its finding that greenhouse gases (GHG), including carbon dioxide (CO2), endanger human health and welfare? As illustrated by the quote above, the OIG found the EPA did not meet these standards of scientific rigor. The OIG report addressed only the procedures involved and not the science itself. Thus the report does not validate or invalidate the science supporting or not supporting the EPA’s Endangerment Finding (EF).

Some articles in the news fail to comprehend the background and the significance of the OIG report. In the 1990s, the EPA, under Carol Browner, produced a number of studies that significantly lowered the level of scientific rigor acceptable to the EPA. For example, the infamous second-hand smoke study doubled the acceptable statistical standard confidence limits from 5% to 10%. Otherwise, the study would have been rejected. Indeed, similar studies that maintained scientific rigor were statistically rejected. Such activities prompted Congress to pass the Data Quality Act (DQA), which was buried in a larger bill that outgoing President Clinton signed in December, 2000.
The Act requires certain agencies set procedures of peer review that meet standards set by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Studies that failed to meet these standards would be so noted and future funding highly questionable. One of the first studies to fail the DQA was the U.S. National Assessment of Climate Change, which was led by then Vice President Al Gore. Of course, the alarmists were outraged and have little positive to say about the Act. [See NIPCC 2008, p 15.]
At issue now is the Technical Support Document (TSD) that accompanied EPA’s Endangerment Finding, which provides the scientific justification for the EF. One cannot be certain, but apparently EPA played a clever game in avoiding DQA’s peer review requirement. The TSD relies on the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as its scientific foundation. As noted by Alan Carlin, then a long standing (35 years) EPA scientist, the EPA should have provided an independent analysis of the science. EPA argues that the IPCC peer review is sufficient, but did not establish that to the satisfaction of the OIG. [The two other US funded reports cited by the EPA, one by the National Research Council and the other by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, follow a similar pattern of accepting the IPCC AR4 as indisputable and fail to provide independent review.]
As Climategate and other reports revealed, the peer review process of the IPCC has major deficiencies. The Summary for Policymakers was not supported by the larger scientific section and was published before that section. Largely, only studies agreeing with IPCC conclusions are included. Numerous attribution claims came from advocacy magazines, not peer reviewed journals. Phil Jones, the head of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) was the lead author of the chapter that reviewed the product of the CRU, etc.
As IPCC AR4 expert reviewer Ross McKitrick points out, peer-reviewed studies contradicting IPCC findings were dismissed without evidence – even after the final peer review of AR4. The IPCC dismissal of these studies was cited in the EPA TSD. Another questionable citation in TSD is the 2008 work of Santer and 16 others. They attempt to address the 2007 work of Douglass, et al, which shows that the atmospheric temperature trends as determined by observations depart significantly from those calculated by the models. [NIPCC 2008, p. 8] The trick used by Santer, et al. is now a familiar one – expand the error ranges so that the results of the models are not statistically different from the observations. It was such tricks that brought on the DQA. [Please see both Singer 2011 and McKitrick]
The EPA has 90 days to respond to the OIG report. It did not accept the report’s conclusions and recommendations. One can only guess if the report will change the current litigation against the EPA EF. However, the litigation and the NIPCC reports, particularly the 2008 report that was submitted early enough to be considered in the EF, have become more significant.
According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), between 1993 and 2010, the Federal Government spent $107 Billion on climate change programs, not including tax subsidies, tax credits, etc. Further, the Federal government has spent over $31 Billion on what the GAO classifies as climate science. For that amount of money Federal agencies should be able to produce a study that meets the requirements of the Data Quality Act.
Next week TWTW will discuss some of the dubious science EPA has submitted to the courts to justify its endangerment finding. Please see links under “Climategate Continued,” McKitrick under “Suppressing Scientific Inquiry,” “EPA and other Regulators on the March” and SEPP links:
Singer 2011
http://www.sepp.org/science_papers/ICCC_Bookl…
NIPCC 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/NIPCC_final….
and Douglas, et al. 2007
http://www.sepp.org/science_papers/DCPS_IJC_f…
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Validation of Climate Models: Roger Pielke, Sr, brings up the interesting issue of validation of climate models. Can they be tested and rejected based on providing skillful predictions? EPA claims that the models have been validated. Others may disagree. Please see link under “Models v. Observations” and next week’s TWTW.
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Faster than the Speed of Light? Last week CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, announced that repeated experiments indicated that neutrinos travel faster than the speed of light – an absolute according to Einstein’s relativity theory. String theory physicist Michio Kaku discusses this finding in the Wall Street Journal. If correct, the finding will require significant revisions to modern physics. As an aside, many modern conveniences, such as global positioning satellites, depend on Einstein being correct.
The subtitle of the article expresses this dilemma well: “Unlike religion or politics, science will mercilessly pursue the evidence with repeated experiments.”
In a letter, Walker White points out the differences in response to disturbing news between physicists and (some) climate scientists. Please see Articles # 1, and #2.
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Personality Types: Donald Rapp, the author of Assessing Climate Change, provides amusing commentary on an article exploring the personality type differences between climate researchers and the general public. No doubt the researchers covered in the study do not include those labeled climate change deniers. Please see Article # 3.
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The New Technology: European politicians promoting severe cutbacks in electricity generation from traditional sources and expanding solar and wind are facing an increasingly hostile public and contradicting energy facts. The great alternative energy plan of the government of Scotland is being challenged as ruinous by Scotland’s business, the government of the UK has no idea what to do about the major find of shale gas in northwest England, and the government of Poland has declared it will veto any attempt by the European Union to control its development of shale gas.
Too many people recognize the success in the US of the development of oil and gas from shale, and recognize that it can provide affordable, reliable energy far into the future. Electricity from wind and solar is not affordable or reliable.
The technology revolution is sinking in. The Federal and state governments in the US face a similar dilemma. Even an article by the National Public Radio, which is not a supporter of oil and gas, included the following succinct comment: “The point is you can’t force a technology that’s not commercial. Rather than subsidize things that are not going to be competitive, we need to actually use that money to do R&D to create technologies – the same way that the industries created these technologies to produce natural gas and it turned out so commercially successful.” Please see Article # 4 and links under “Questioning European Green” and “Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past.”
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Malaria and Tropical Diseases: The review of “The History of Malaria in Finland” by NIPCC prompted further investigation. Except for an archipelago in the south west, Finland lies above 60 degrees North Latitude as does much of Russia, most of Alaska, the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada, and Greenland. After the Reformation, the Lutheran Church was very important in Finland and required, at least, rudimentary reading and writing by all its members. After 1749, the church demanded all ministers keep vital statistics on all within their parish, including causes of death. This is one of the finest such records in all of Northern Europe.
During the 1700s and 1800s, malaria was endemic in Finland and the church records show that epidemics were frequent – including at least one north of the Arctic Circle. Yet in the late 1800s and early 1900s malaria began to disappear in Finland and the last recorded epidemics were in the 1930s – well before the use of DDT to kill mosquitoes (the vector that spreads malaria). The authors of the referenced study suggest that the decline of the disease was due to changes in living conditions. In the 1890s it became known that the vector spreading malaria was mosquitoes; thus, one can speculate that the church, which greatly influenced the rural areas, also insisted on measures controlling mosquitoes.
Similar control of malaria occurred in much of Northern Europe and North America prior to the use of DDT as an insecticide. Yet many supposed experts claim that global warming threatens human health because it will result in the spread of malaria and other tropical diseases beyond the range they now exist. Obviously, these experts never bothered to learn history. Please see link under “Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC.”
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Department of Energy: This week provided an excellent example of government financial irresponsibility. On September 30, the program, under the Stimulus Bill, of loan guarantees for alternative energy ended. The Department of Energy had $6.3 Billion to pass out. If it failed, it was not for the lack of trying. Supporters claimed these loan guarantees are different than grants. So they are, but they are obligations of the government (taxpayers). The bankruptcy of the prized solar company Solyndra shows that the taxpayers are on the hook for the guarantees and likely to receive nothing from the bankruptcy. Please see links under “Alternative, Clean (‘Green’) Energy.”
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Number of the Week:$0.25, 0.44 … $23.37, 24.34 These are the dollar amounts of subsidies for various energy producing industries as calculated in 2007 by the Energy Information Administration and repeated in a study “Empty Promises for Green Jobs” for the Congressional Budget Committee. The full list is: $0.25 for Natural Gas and Petroleum, $0.44 for Coal, $0.67 for Hydroelectric, $0.89 for Biomass, $0.92 for Geothermal, $1.59 for Nuclear, $23.37 for Wind, and $24.34 for Solar. These subsidies do not include the large amounts of money spent under the Stimulus Bill that went largely to Solar and Wind.
The report also brings up a dreaded concept: return on investment. The wind industry claims it needs subsidies to catch up with gas, oil, and coal. It has been receiving subsidies for over 30 years. It has not stated when subsidies will be sufficient. Please see link under “The Political Games Continue.”

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ARTICLES:
For the numbered articles below please see this week’s TWTW at:
http://www.sepp.org…
The articles are at the end of the pdf.
1. Has a Speeding Neutrino Really Overturned Einstein?
Unlike religion or politics, science will mercilessly pursue the evidence with repeated experiments.
By Michio Kaku, WSJ, Sep 26, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311…
2. ‘Faster than light’ vs. climate change
Letter by Walker White, Washington Post, Sep 27, 2011 [H/t Conrad Potemra]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/faster…
3. Personality type differences between Ph.D. climate researchers and the general public: implications for effective communication
By Weiler, et al, Climate Change, July 28, 2011
http://disccrs.org/files/WeilerEtAl_2011_Clim…
Comments by Donald Rapp
4. The Lessons of the Shale Gas Revolution
North American oil production can double by 2035.
By Lucian Pugliaresi, WSJ, Sep 29, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…
5. Inside the EPA
Memos show that even other regulators worry about its rule-making.
Editorial, WSJ, Sep 26, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405311…
6. Cosmic Rays and Climate Changes
Letter, Deke Forbes, Sep 27, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1000142…

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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Science: Is the Sun Rising?
Evidence that the sun drives the oceans which control our weather and climate
By Joe D’Aleo, ICECAP, Sep 29, 2011
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/new-and-cool/ev…
[SEPP Comment: Relationships that warrant further investigation.]
Climategate Continued
Climate Audit Submission to EPA
By Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, Jun 23, 2009 [H/t Russell Cook]
http://climateaudit.org/2009/06/23/climate-au…
“Evasion of transparency” to avoid Freedom of Information requests.
How the WWF Infiltrated the IPCC – Part 1
By Donna Laframboise, No Frakking Consensus, Sep 23, 2011
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2011/09/23/how…
[SEPP Comment: The first of a series on how the special interest group, World Wildlife Fund (or World Wide Fund for Nature), influenced the supposedly scientifically objective IPCC reports.]
Suppressing Scientific Inquiry
Global Warming: Who’s Disagreeing with What?
By Ross McKitrick, presentation, Sep 28, 2011
http://rossmckitrick.weebly.com/uploads/4/8/0…
[SEPP Comment: A summary of some of the major defects in the IPCC science.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy
War of words over global warming as Nobel laureate resigns in protest
A Nobel laureate has quit one of the world’s leading organisations for scientists in protest at its assertion that the evidence of damaging global warming is “incontrovertible”.
By Philip Sherwell, Telegraph, UK, Sep 25, 2011
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/…
EPA Inspector General Finds Procedures Used in Preparing GHG Endangerment Finding Did Not Follow OMB Requirements
By Alan Carlin, Carlin Economics and Science, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.carlineconomics.com/archives/1363…
[SEPP Comment: An independent review of the science is desperately needed.]
The Vindication of Alan Carlin
By Steven Hayward, Power Line, Sep 30, 2011 [H/t Marc Morano, Climate Depot]
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09…
Defending the Orthodoxy
Climate commissioner admonishes US for climate change denial
Connie Hedegaard says America’s “anti-science” political opposition is delaying effective climate solution
By Jennifer Buley, Copenhagen Post, Sep 26, 2011
http://www.cphpost.dk/component/content/52211…
[SEPP Comment: Anyone who dares to question the IPCC is anti-science!]
IMF, World Bank eye carbon tax on airline, ship fuels
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 23, 2011
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/IMF_World…
[SEPP Comment: $250 Billion in taxes by 2020 - the goal of the UN, IMF, and World Bank in promoting global warming.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
How the US’s Climate of Opinion Changed
By Myron Ebell, Standpoint, Oct, 2011
http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/4107/full…
“The global warming fad is waning.”
Climate skeptics don’t ‘deny science’
By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe, Sep 24, 2011 [H/t James Seyster]
http://www.jeffjacoby.com/10407/climate-skept…
Global Warming: New study challenges carbon benchmark
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sep 28, 2011 [H/t ICECAP]
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/new-and-cool/gl…
[SEPP Comment: Is nature absorbing, through photosynthesis, more carbon dioxide than previous studies suggest?]
Major UN Climate Program “Basically A Farce”
By Steven Hayward, Power Line, Sep 29, 2011 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/09…
Questioning European Green
Alex Salmond’s green energy revolution ‘threatens firms with bankruptcy’
The costs of Alex Salmond’s green energy revolution are “going through the roof” and threaten to bankrupt companies by doubling energy bills, business leaders have warned the First Minister.
By Simon Johnson, Telegraph, UK, Sep 29, 2011 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/scotla…
[SEPP Comment: Scotland's energy plan is being questioned.]
Poland vows to veto any EU law on shale gas fracking
By Marek Strzelecki and Ben Farey Warsaw, Bloomberg, Sep 29, 2011 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/p…
Economy of Thought
Ah, so that’s it. ‘Shale gas will not solve Britain’s energy problems’, because the likes of The Economist, and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change simply don’t want it to.
By Ben Pile, Climate Resistance, Sep 30, 2011
http://www.thegwpf.org/best-of-blogs/3992-ben…
Airlines decry EU carbon emissions scheme
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 27, 2011
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Airlines_dec…
European refineries face ‘dramatic’ future
By Sonja van Renssen, European Energy Review, Sep 22, 2011
http://www.europeanenergyreview.eu/site/pagin…
>Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate?
World Without Ice
56 million years ago a mysterious surge of carbon into the atmosphere sent global temperatures soaring. In a geologic eyeblink life was forever changed.
By Robert Kunzig, National Geographic, Oct, 2011 [H/t Debbie Wetlaufer]
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/10/hot…
Models v. Observations
Can Climate Model Predictions Be Tested And Rejected As Providing Skillful Predictions? Of Course!
By Roger Pielke, Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Sep 29, 2011
http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/09…
[SEPP Comment: Since models are chaotic, validation fails unless a sufficient number of model runs are averaged.]
Changing Weather
D’Aleo- How A Warm Polar High Atmosphere Can Mean A Cold Winter In Mid-Latitudes
By Joe D’Aleo, WeatherBELL Analytics, Sep 26, 2011
http://www.weatherbell.com/newsletter-9-27-20…
Changing Climate
El Nino and the Tropical Eastern Pacific Annual Cycle Run to the Same Beat
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 23, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/El_Nino_and…
[SEPP Comment: But the IPCC does not recognize such things.]
Changing Sea Ice
Model provides successful seasonal forecast for the fate of Arctic sea ice
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 23, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Model_provi…
[SEPP Comment: Using measurements made in the fall to predict the summer melt. Based on ten years of measurements, it will be interesting to see if the relationship holds.]
Acidic Waters
Ocean Acidification – a little bit less alkalinity could be a good thing
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 30, 2011
http://joannenova.com.au/2011/09/ocean-acidif…
The Political Games Continue
The Empty Promise of Green Jobs
The Costly Consequences of Crony Capitalism
By Republican Staff, Committee on the Budget, Sep 22, 2011 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://budget.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.a…
Litigation Issues
Angry federal judge rips ‘false testimony’ of federal scientists
By Ron Arnold, Washington Examiner, Sep 22, 2011 [H/t Tom Burch]
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columni…
EPA’s Absurd Defense of Its Greenhouse Gas Regulations
By Daniel Simmons, Institute for Energy Research, Sep 23, 2011 [H/t Bud Bromley]
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/201…
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Merger pressures Massachusetts utility on wind power
By Jay Lindsay, AP, Sep 25, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/…
[SEPP Comment: Using a proposed business merger to bail out a politically favored wind farm. The consumers don't count.]
EPA and other Regulators on the March
PRESS STATEMENT
Office of Inspector General, EPA, Sep 28, 2011
http://epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/IG_Statement_…
Procedural Review of EPA’s Greenhouse Gases Endangerment Finding Data Quality Processes
Office of Inspector General, EPA, Sep 26, 2011
http://epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/20110926-11-P…
[SEPP Comment: The full report.]
Report calls the scientific integrity of EPA’s decision-making process into question and undermines the credibility of the endangerment finding
By Matt Dempsey and Katie Brown, Press Release, Sep 28, 2011
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAc…
Watchdog: EPA cut corners on global-warming decision
Report supports lawsuits seeking to block Obama global-warming rules
By Stephen Dinan, Washington Times, Sep 28, 2011 [H/t Malcolm Field]
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/…
EPA inspector general faults climate document peer review
By Ben Geman, The Hill, Sep 28, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/…
Economic Euthanasia: More Poison Pills From The EPA
By Larry Bell, Forbes, Sep 27, 2011
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/09…
How Absurd Is Regulating Greenhouse Gases through the Clean Air Act?
By Marlo Lewis, Global Warming.org, Sep 27, 2011
http://www.globalwarming.org/2011/09/27/how-a…
EPA delays auto emissions, mileage rule rollout
By Ben Geman, The Hill, Sep 27, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/…
Energy Issues
Nord Stream: Neue Sorgen for Europe
By Matthew Hulbert, European Energy Review, Sep 26, 2011
http://www.europeanenergyreview.eu/site/pagin…
[SEPP Comment: Political implications of the gas pipeline directly from Russia to Germany, which passes under the Baltic Sea.]
Refining Pinched On East Coast
By Daniel Gilbert, WSJ, Sep 28, 2011
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…
[SEPP Comment: Three east coast refineries with a total capacity of 700,000 barrels per day are being taken off line because they are no longer profitable. May be behind a pay wall.]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Shale Gas Is Britain’s Golden Opportunity
The discovery of 200 trillion cubic feet of shale gas in north-west England could revolutionise Britain’s energy market
By Benny Peiser, GWPF, Sep 27, 2011
http://www.thegwpf.org/opinion-pros-a-cons/39…
UK Shale Gas: Larger Than the Marcellus Shale
By Tim Worstall, Forbes, Sep 22, 2011 [H/t Warren Wetmore]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/…
Shale Oil Boom Comes to More US Plains States
By Al Fin, Al Fin Energy, Sep 29, 2011 [H/t GWPF]
http://alfin2300.blogspot.com/2011/09/shale-o…
New Boom Reshapes Oil World, Rocks North Dakota
By NPR Staff, National Public Radio, Sep 25, 2011 [H/t Warren Wetmore]
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/25/140784004/new-b…
[SEPP Comment: Even a NPR article gets it.]
Over to you, Andrew
Editorial, New York Post, Sep 28, 2011 [H/t Warren Wetmore]
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editoria…
In North Dakota, Flames of Wasted Natural Gas Light the Prairie
By Clifford Krauss, NYT, Sep 26, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/business/en…
[SEPP Comment: Pipelines are needed to capture this gas - environmentalists and the government regulations have made building pipelines very difficult.]
Administration’s Control of Oil and Gas
War on energy at home creates disasters abroad
By Sol Sanders, Washington Times, Sep 25, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/…
Oil Spills & Consequences
LSU researchers find impact of oil spill in marsh fish species
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 27, 2011
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/LSU_resea…
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Big money needed for German energy transition
By Staff Writers, World Nuclear News, Sep 22 2011
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newsarticle…
Feds: Virginia nuclear plant will remain closed until operator proves it’s safe
By Andrew Restuccia, The Hill, Sep 30, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/…
[SEPP Comment: Exactly, what would be the standards of proof?]
USA and Russia commit to expand nuclear power
By Staff Writers, World Nuclear News, Sep 21 2011
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP_USA_and_…
New IAEA system to streamline communications
By Staff Writers, World Nuclear News, Sep 22, 2011
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-New_IAEA…
[SEPP Comment: A lesson from Japan is the need for effective communication when power and telephone systems (including cell) are down.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy
DOE Mulls Green Energy Loans At $23 Million Per Job
By Sean Higgins, IBD, Sep 27, 2011
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Arti…
DOE Trying to Use $6.5 Billion in Loans to Create 283 Jobs
By Bob Beauprez, Townhall, Sep 29, 2011
http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/bobbea…
Energy Department invests $156 million in ‘game-changing’ research
By Andrew Restuccia, The Hill, Sep 29, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/…
More ‘Green’ For Donor Energy
Editorial, IBD, Sep 29, 2011
http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Arti…
U.S. Defense aims for clean energy
By Staff Writers, UPI, Sep 23, 2011
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/US_Defens…
[SEPP Comment: The Pentagon has been captured by the environmental industry.]
Delaware’s very own Solyndra
By Paul Driessen, Townhall, Sep 26, 2011
http://townhall.com/columnists/pauldriessen/2…
O’Malley’s wind energy plan worse than hot air
Editorial, Washington Examiner, Sep 26, 2011
http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editori…
The Not-So-Green Mountains
By Steve Wright, NYT, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/29/opinion/the…
[SEPP Comment: Environmentalism is great until it affects me.]
Carbon Schemes
Texas IGCC Project with Carbon Capture to Get Federal Cost-Shared Funding
By Staff Writers, POWERnews, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4068.html?h…
CO2 storage law falls through in Germany
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 23, 2011
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/CO2_stora…
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see
http://www.NIPCCreport.org…
The History of Malaria in Finland
Reference: Hulden, L. and Hulden, L. 2009. The decline of malaria in Finland — the impact of the vector and social variables. Malaria Journal 8: 10.1186/1475-2875-8-94.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/sep/…
New Streamflow Records of Upper Colorado River Tributaries
Reference: Gray, S.T., Lukas, J.J. and Woodhouse, C.A. 2011. Millennial-length records of streamflow from three major Upper Colorado River tributaries. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 47: 702-712.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/sep/…
Urban Warming vs. Global Warming in East China
Reference: Yang, X., Hou, Y. and Chen, B. 2011. Observed surface warming induced by urbanization in east China. Journal of Geophysical Research 116: 10.1029/2010JD015452.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/sep/…
[SEPP Comment: Reinforcing Ross McKitrick's findings that the land temperature data used by the IPCC has a strong socio-economic component that, contrary to IPCC claims, has a significant influence on global warming trends.]
Amazon Forest Dynamics
Reference: Laurance, S.G.W., Laurance, W.F., Nascimento, H.E.M., Andrade, A., Fearnside, P.M., Rebello, E.R.G. and Condit, R. 2009. Long-term variation in Amazon forest dynamics. Journal of Vegetation Science 20: 323-333.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/sep/…
Health, Energy, and Climate
The Amazing Decline in Deaths from Extreme Weather in an Era of Global Warming, 1900-2010
By Indur Goklany, WUWT, Sep 25, 2011
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/09/25/the-ama…
Environmental Industry
Nobels savage Keystone XL
How do the Holy Men travel the world? Sailing ship? Magic carpet?
By Peter Foster, Financial Post, Sep 27, 2011
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/09/27/p…
Greens want terror oil in your gas tank
Using Canada’s ethical oil makes economic, national security sense
By Bernard Weinstein, Washington Times, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/…
Brazil court orders halt to work on $11 bn mega-dam
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 29, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Brazil_cour…
Do we need the RSPO?
By P. Gunasegaran, The Star (Malaya), Aug 6, 2011
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file…
[SEPP Comment: What constitutes "sustainable" palm oil?]
Green groups sue Interior to thwart Shell’s Arctic drilling
By Ben Geman, The Hill, Sep 29, 2011
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/677-e2-wire/…
Other Scientific News
How global warming could cause animals to shrink
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 29, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/How_global_…
‘World-first discovery ‘can help save coral reefs’
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 30, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/World_first…
Venus Weather Not Boring After All
By Bill Steigerwald, SPX, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Venus_Weath…
Aboriginals get new history
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 23, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Aboriginals…
Other News that May Be of Interest
The era of big American physics about to end
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 26, 2011
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_era_of_…
New packaging for old US rocket
By Oleg Nekhai for Voice of Russia
Moscow (RIA Novosti) Sep 26, 2011
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/New_packa…
[SEPP Comment: The proposed new NASA launch system does not impress the Russians.]
US, Indonesia sign $30m debt-for-nature swap
By Staff Writers, AFP, Sept 29, 2011
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/US_Indonesi…

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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
World’s First DNA Astronauts to Launch Into Space
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/World_Fir…
New energy in search for future wind
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.winddaily.com/reports/New_energy_i…
[SEPP Comment: Wind speeds cannot be estimated in the present much less than the long term.]
Dust makes light work of vehicle emissions
By Staff Writers, SPX, Sep 30, 2011
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Dust_makes_l…
[SEPP Comment: Next step, driving permitted only during a dust storm.]

PLEASE NOTE: The complete TWTW, including the full text of the numbered articles, can be downloaded in an easily printable form at this web site: http://www.sepp.org/the-week-that-was.cfm…