Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister’s director of strategy and ‘green guru’, is the latest person to admit to doubts about climate change. ‘I’m not sure I believe in it,’ he announced at a meeting of the Energy Department, prompting one aide to blurt out: ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’ — The Mail on Sunday, 27 November 2011
Britain’s leading green activist research centre spent £15,000 on seminars for top BBC executives in an apparent bid to block climate change sceptics from the airwaves, a vast new cache of leaked ‘Climategate’ emails has revealed. The emails – part of a trove of more than 5,200 messages that appear to have been stolen from computers at the University of East Anglia – shed light for the first time on an incestuous web of interlocking relationships between BBC journalists and the university’s scientists, which goes back more than a decade. They show that University staff vetted BBC scripts, used their contacts at the Corporation to stop sceptics being interviewed and were consulted about how the broadcaster should alter its programme output. BBC insiders say the close links between the Corporation and the UEA’s two climate science departments, the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Research, have had a significant impact on its coverage. — David Rose, Mail on Sunday, 27 November 2011
Labour MP Graham Stringer last night said he would be writing this week to BBC director-general Mark Thompson to demand an investigation into the Corporation’s relationship with UEA. ‘The new leaked emails show that the UEA scientists at the Tyndall Centre and the CRU acted more like campaigners than academics, and that they succeeded in an attempt to influence the output of the BBC,’ Mr Stringer said. –David Rose, Mail on Sunday, 27 November 2011
Using research money to evangelise one point of view and suppress another defies everything I ever learnt about the scientific method. These emails go to the heart of the BBC’s professed impartiality… its actions must be investigated. –David Davis MP, Mail on Sunday, 27 November 2011
Steve Hilton, the Prime Minister’s director of strategy and ‘green guru’, is the latest person to admit to doubts about climate change. ‘I’m not sure I believe in it,’ he announced at a meeting of the Energy Department, prompting one aide to blurt out: ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’ Hilton has become a big fan of former Chancellor Nigel Lawson, a vocal critic of the global warming lobby. His new doubts chime with the Prime Minister’s decision to tone down his previous emphasis on environmental measures to concentrate on stimulating economic growth. —Mail on Sunday, 27 November 2011
Is the global warming scare the greatest delusion in history? The scare over man-made global warming is not only the scientific scandal of our generation, but a suicidal flight from reality.
On one hand there is the utterly lamentable state of the science which underpins it all, illuminated yet again by “Climategate 2.0”, the latest release of emails between the leading scientists who for years have been at the heart of the warming scare (which I return to below). On the other hand, we see the damage done by the political consequences of this scare, which will directly impinge, in various ways, on all our lives. — Christopher Booker, The Telegraph 27 November 2011
h/t to Dr. Benny Peiser of The GWPF
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I read much of this in Brit newspapers and they’re having a field day on the BBC and UEA and the CRU over there. And rightly so. In fact much of Europe and parts of the US are wising up big time with little belief left in AGW anymore. For instance – Spain slashed payouts for wind projects by 35% while denying support for solar thermal projects in their first year of operation. This latest round of Spanish cuts followed announcements in November that payouts for solar photovoltaic plants would be cut by 45%.
France announced a four-month freeze on solar projects and a cap on the amount of solar that can be built. These measures and others continue a retrenchment that saw industry payouts cut twice last year, and that will likely continue as opposition grows to France’s rapidly using power tax on electricity.
The German government announced it may discontinue the solar industry’s sweetheart tariffs in 2012. This latest announcement follows a surprise reduction in 2009 and another reduction to start in 2011.
Solomon also reported that in October, New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, slashed by two-thirds the revenue that homeowners who had installed solar panels would receive from 60 cents per kilowatt-hour to 20 cents. New South Wales overnight went from being Australia’s most generous to least generous subsidizer. Also in October, the UK government announced that withering spending cuts were coming to renewable projects.
Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Virginia either cancelled or delayed renewable energy projects
In the US, state regulators in Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Virginia either cancelled or delayed renewable energy projects that would raise rates for consumers.
‘The Emperor is naked!’ he announced at a meeting of the Energy Department, prompting one aide to blurt out: ‘Did I just hear that correctly?’
Some movement in the UK but Lisa Jackson and Obama are still on a roll. Skyrocket energy costs and kill as many jobs as Mr. Green can.
“Now China to probe U.S. renewable energy support”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/25/us-china-usa-energy-idUSTRE7AO05I20111125
“The [Chinese] companies complained that U.S. measures “violated the United States’ commitments under World Trade Organization rules, …”
We live in interesting times.
And this may be where the next financial/economic collapse comes from.
All those borrowed green $ may come home to roost.
Lookout!
The phrase to “believe in” is one I have always had trouble with. It is either happening or it isn’t. both Wigley and Hulme says that we have seen 0.7C of temperature rise over the past 100 years. Ok, fine. So what? 0.7 degrees of temperature rise over a 100 year period is likely quite within the bounds of natural variation. The problem comes in where they imply that climate should be stable, neither cooling nor warming. They seem to want to lead the recipient of the message to come to the conclusion that any change from stasis in climate is likely due to human causes. If it is cooling, then it must be industrial aerosols causing it so we need more government regulations. If it is warming, then it must be CO2 doing it and so we need more government regulations. The answer is always more government policies which many of these institutions are only too willing to help governments in creating … for a fee, of course.
The fundamental problem is that the projections of 20 years ago for what we were to expect 10 years ago were wrong. The projections of 10 years ago for what we were to see today were wrong. They keep telling us that we have only 5 or 10 more years “left” else the entire climate system goes into runaway warming. This despite the fact that we can find times in the past when temperatures were warmer and CO2 levels higher and things didn’t go into runaway heating then. Why would it do so now? Because their computer model tells them it will, that’s why.
You know what the scariest thing is in all of this? Our nuclear weapons are now being designed and “tested” with computer models.
They should be able to show VERY clearly without using “circumspect language and explicit caveats” (Briffa 5089.txt) that it is warming at an unnatural rate, and they just can’t do it and it has been 25 years and they just can’t do it.
I wish some one in the UK would start an E petition on the YouGov.co.uk site, so that this latest batch of emails could be debated in Parliament, think it takes 100,000 people to sign up to it, then it has to be debated!
Amazing, now we just need to model the effects all this corruption will have on the children!
To add to today’s newsbites is one from the usually warmist Independent on Sunday:
“Britain and other rich countries are using aid money as a lever to bully developing countries over climate change, according to a new report by an anti-poverty pressure group.
With international climate change negotiations beginning in South Africa tomorrow, a report by the World Development Movement reveals that threats and bribery are often attached to aid packages.”
For the full story:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/rich-nations-accused-of-climatechange-bullying-6268679.html
Also in the UK, I am a littel concerned att he geo-political aspects of a sudden cessation of all renewable energy projects, which may be the knee-jerk reaction of a political class which cannot tell the difference between scientific method and a tuna sandwich – but which is finding it has been lied to by the Team.
That risks leaving the UK [and much of ‘the West’] open to energy blackmail – not that honourable states with oil, gas etc. [Qatar, Russia, Venzuela, etc.] would ever consider doing that. Putin is a democratic philanthropist, not a kleptocratic criminal.
Or are you conspiracy theorists thinking – that’s the whole long game, anyhow!?
Now Brown and Blair have impoverished the UK – and destroyed our schools, our agriculture and our industry [and the House of Lords and the lives of a generation of ‘NEETs’ – Not in Education, Employment or Training] – we need to make use of economic renewables; tidal and current power, perhaps. Localised solar/wind power – for railway signals etc., is fine – but – despite the Wind from Westminster [or Christopher Huhne as he is known] -wind is not good enough. How much energy does it take to make a windmill, ship it to the Uk from gemany, raise it, connect it to the grid, and then maintain it? And when the wind doesn’t blow, it doesn’t turn.
The BBC – a Team member, and none too keen on Britain. but god at internal reviews that find ‘some veidence’ of bias – but it doesn’t matter . . . . And the Licence Fee – unavoidable.
Great to see left wing European MPs driving these challenges to dodgy science. Hopefully it will once and for all nail the idea that skepticism is a right wing concept and that the left is a naturally a massive supporter of climate change policy. Good to see that here in the UK we are still at the cutting edge and first in the queue of nations to suggest the Emperors butt is getting cold. I think the YouGov petition would be a great idea, unfortunately 100,000 signatures do not guarantee a debate, though they may prompt an early day motion from a brave member of the house.
Do you reckon it may be time to move the WUWT show to the UK Anthony? You may even get to enjoy real beer!
>>Solomon
>>“Britain and other rich countries are using aid money as a lever to
>>bully developing countries over climate change, according to a new
>>report by an anti-poverty pressure group.
Is that why Cameron increased the UKs oversead aid budget to £12 billion? – to increase his bullying firepower?
.
Graham Stringer. My hero, and that rarest of beasts, a principled politican (with some scientific background as an analytical chemist to boot); the only one on the climategate #1 enquiry with any integrity and common sense.
It should be deadly, but they’ll all wiggle their way through the required whitewashes with the help from a few friends. But I do like the creativity they show in their explanations, It’s art, it’s surreal art, real Chirico stuff.
In today’s UK Sunday Times hard copy (the electronic version is paywalled) there is a letter from a Professor Keith Barnham, in response to an item in last week’s Sunday Times by Professor David MacKay on the amount of land required for renewal power generation.
In his letter Professor Barnham claims:-
“There are 250 times more solar panels in Germany than here, and solar electricity is already dominating its energy supply. Thanks to this source, the peak electricity price in that country has been falling, winter and summer. Our government, advised by MacKay, is denying British industry this future benefit”
Does anyone have any references, links or information to back-up or disprove these claims? Currently I can’t find any in either direction.
I hope the CBC gets some well earned comeuppance also.
Labour MP Graham Stringer last night said he would be writing this week to BBC director-general Mark Thompson to demand an investigation into the Corporation’s relationship with UEA.
Should the BBC be asked to investigate itself?
SandyInDerby says:
November 27, 2011 at 11:11 am
In today’s UK Sunday Times hard copy (the electronic version is paywalled) there is a letter from a Professor Keith Barnham, in response to an item in last week’s Sunday Times by Professor David MacKay on the amount of land required for renewal power generation.
————–
Would this help? A typical nuclear power plant produces 1,000 megawatts of electricity per hour. At 25 megawatts to 1500 acres for a nice wind farm of 60 to 70 turbines, you would need 60,000 acres and 2400 to 2800 wind turbines to equal 1,000 megawatts. Of course, these wind turbines only produce that much power when the wind is blowing just right. That only happens about 25% of the time, so you really need four times as many wind turbines and four times as much space to produce, on average, 1,000 megawatts of electricity per hour. So that’s, 240,000 acres and 9,600 to 11,200 turbines. 240,000 acres is 375 square miles. At 5 acres of solar panels per megawatt, you need 5,000 acres of solar panels to equal 1,000 megawatts of electricity. Those solar panels only work at peak power levels during the sunny times, so, on average, they only put out about 25% of their rated capacity. That means you really need 20,000 acres of solar panels to generate 1,000 megwatts of electricity per hour, on average. 20,000 acres is 31.25 square miles. We aren’t going to put them anywhere. They are way too expensive and they don’t provide a stable enough power supply to rely on. Anyplace with enough open spaces, enough wind or sun shine to be a good candidate is too far away from the east and west coasts where that power is needed most.
Such wonderful news! This second round of scoundrel-exposing is a wonderful thing. The silence from the usual pundits of climatophobia is gloriously deafening. And right now there’s a super-chinook blasting away here in Calgary…must be all that air rushing into the vacuum.
Auto says:
November 27, 2011 at 10:58 am
“Now Brown and Blair have impoverished the UK – and destroyed our schools, our agriculture and our industry [and the House of Lords and the lives of a generation of ‘NEETs’ – Not in Education, Employment or Training] – we need to make use of economic renewables; tidal and current power, perhaps. ”
“Economic renewables”? There’s one problem with that, with the exception of big hydro they don’t exist.
Better use that huge amount of Shale Gas under Lancashire (I think that’s where it was discovered) – that should save you for the next decades.
Can’t be sure of the details here, it’s a while since I saw the EU price comparisons for electricity – but for private consumption Denmark had the most expensive electricity in the EU with Germany a close second in the price stakes. Their electricity is roughly 2X more than France or the UK. Hardly a sound recommendation.
See here http://www.energy.eu/
IE renewables cost, if not the earth then an unconscionable amount of your pay packet.
We are accustomed to watching business lobbying for its self interest, mostly in the guise of public interest of course. We are less accustomed to the business side of big science and big education doing the same thing, it happens remember the space race, that is obvious. We are accustomed to Special Interests doing the same thing as free enterprise business and this subsidized (by both free enterprise and government) big science & big education. We know it is and has been happening, the average tax payer is now aware of how this lobbying is effecting us (we too are average tax payers). As a society if we do not find a rational way to moderate this foolishness from all sides we will continue to suffer. Don’t expect any help on this any time soon either. The North American media is so compromised as to be totally unless, they are capable of entertainment and ideological baffle gab only. The British are as bad, all be it a somewhat different situation.
The BBC and the others will all come out of this, some only slightly embarrassed, other less so, the “old boy” network will see to that. Just like it did for CG 1. In an age of excess, where no one is held accountable for anything, what else can or should we even expect? I suspect few people even care. If they did care they would vote with ballots, firing the whole lot and with their money and time. If you don’t trust this or that then don’t listen, read, watch or purchase. The only thing any of these people understand is power and money is power.
It seems any one can start an E petition,
all you need it seems is a good opening question/statement
any idea’s what to ask..along the lines of?
“Will the Government hold a new independant inquiry into the new climate gate emails”
any more suggestions.
Theres already one to repeal the Climate Change Act which has only 990 people sign it,that close’s on 16/8/2012
Auto says:
November 27, 2011 at 10:58 am
“Localised solar/wind power – for railway signals etc., is fine ”
Ahem, go and try to convince any railway company or office on the planet of solar-powered signals… Signals are safety critical. Doesn’t combine very well with an intermittent power supply.
The point with German solar power is that much of it is located in Bavaria which is a reasonably dry climate. Here in the UK we are more famed for our cloud and rain. The 2 renewables that would probably suit our climate and geology are tidal power and hydro electrics. The trouble is that a plan for a barrage across the Severn estuary, probably one of the best places in the world to site such a project was fiercely opposed by environmentalists and shelved as a result. It would interesting to see what Steve Hiltons stance on this was. Has he had a Damascene revelation or did he always feel this way? Unfortunately we have a chancellor who is currently trying to destroy what is left of the UK manufacturing base to mollify bankers, so I guess in the long term our energy needs will crash. Possibly this is the method behind the economic madness of curious George, but you never know. The CEO of the Boing company gave him some sound advice today on economics, maybe it will be heeded. Personally I’d rather have nuclear power than unemployed millions.