Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
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Quote of the Week:
“a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over considerable time periods.” Article 1 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change [H/t Tim Ball]
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Number of the Week: 32%
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Summertime: It is summer in the US and the global warming chorus is in full voice. As explained by Tim Ball linked in last week’s TWTW, the Rossby waves associated with the circumpolar vortex and jet streams have become very pronounced. This results in a blocking – slower movement of pressure systems from west to east. A high pressure system is stalled over the eastern US, resulting in a series of hot days. This is similar to what happened in Russia in 2010. As was the case in 2010, the chorus is blaming global warming / climate change with prophesies that this is the future if carbon dioxide emissions continue. In the winter of 2010, the chorus called the unusual cold as normal weather change. And the members of the chorus wonder why the public is becoming increasingly skeptical towards global warming / climate change.
Although it has been hot for some, the actual data does not confirm that June was unusually hot.
As a side note, the hot days in the East came immediately after a derecho knocked out electricity for over one million people, in some cases for over a week. In the Mid-Atlantic States, a summertime high pressure system results in little air movement – insufficient to generate electricity from wind turbines. So we may be experiencing the future if those who demand solar and wind power are politically successful.
Please see links under Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?, Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up, Models v. Observations, and Changing Weather
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Forest Fires: The forest fires in Colorado have been unusually severe. According to a Washington Post article, the Undersecretary of Agriculture who oversees the Forest Service blames these fires on global warming / climate change. At the request of Gordon Fulks, professional forestry consultant Mike Dubrasich prepared an essay on Pine Beetles, Fire, and Global Warming. The temperature trend in the Rockies is one of cooling, not warming. The destruction of the forests is more a result of Forest Service (environmental) mismanagement, than any other single factor. Nature can be a brutal manager of natural assets. In 1988, when the Park Service set controlled burns that ran out of control and burnt over one-third of the forests in Yellowstone, it did not have global warming / climate change to hide behind. Please see Article #1 and links under Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
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Transparency: The Royal Society Report suggesting that both data and codes should be archived is a positive step, but will such a proposal be enforced by government funding agencies? Steve McIntyre states that track record of the US National Science Foundation is very uneven. This is inexcusable. The funds used are public money. There are no national security issues in making climate science transparent. As seen with the hockey-stick, studies must be reproducible if they are to be accepted.
On a similar issue, Chris Horner of the American Tradition Institute reports that during their efforts to have public records released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), a significant element has appeared. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is organizing efforts to resist FOIA requests for some but not for all. Please see links under Climategate Continued. Does the dog of Anthony Watts, a member of UCS, have any comments?
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IPCC: Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), has made it clear that the IPCC is a political pressure group, not a scientific organization. He has called for the general public to support IPCC claims in order to bypass governments that do not fully accept them. This comes after announcements that lead authors will not be selected by merit alone, but by geographical preferences, and that the IPCC will accept grey literature, such as articles by environmental groups, which it did in the last report but claimed it did not. What this will do to the claims that only accepted climate scientists can understand climate science remains to be seen. Please see links under Expanding the Orthodoxy.
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Australia: July 1 marked the implementation of a carbon tax in Australia, something which the Prime Minister Gillard asserted would not happen if she is elected. Please see links under Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes.
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Nobel Conference: A conference of Nobel laureates became unsettling to some when Ivar Giaever gave his talk, The Strange Case of Global Warming. One could quibble if there has been cooling over the past 15 years, but certainly there has not been a warming trend as forecast by the models. Please see links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Oil Prices: An article in the Financial Post (Canada) gives estimates of the cost of production for various countries and situations. The precision of the numbers is unrealistic, but the order is important. For example, it costs about $22 to produce a barrel of oil in Saudi Arabia, $43 in Libya, $59 in the Bakken Formation in the US, $62 in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico, $66 off Norway, and $87 in Venezuela (heavy oil). Canadian oil sands may range from $55 to $108, depending on the methods of extraction. This is useful, but not complete.
The article takes the analysis one step further – what do various nations, with state controlled companies need to meet their budget goals? This can range from $55 in Kuwait, $78 in Saudi Arabia, $116 in Russia to a high of $127 in Bahrain.
If the numbers are reasonably close, then many countries cannot afford low oil prices. Please see links under Energy Issues – General.
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Green Jobs: Last week, TWTW linked to a study for US House Committee on Energy and Commerce that reported that the $8 Billion in subsidies given to solar and wind industry under Section 1603 directly produced about 910 jobs on an annual basis for the life of the systems. This is far below that promised. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has no precise classification of a green job, so even bus drivers are counted as indirect green jobs, rendering the concept meaningless. But this does not explain why job creation from building wind farms is not occurring as promised.
Most jobs for wind farms are temporary construction jobs and few are long term. Further, the promised general prosperity is not materializing. A major problem is incomplete Keynesian analysis. Usually, only the impact of the construction phase is emphasized, and what happens when the construction phase is over is not carefully analyzed. A simple explanation is in order.
Suppose a government wishes to spend a 100 million of its currency to stimulate the economy. It has three alternative projects, all of which are heavily loaded in construction with little long term costs thereafter and all produce roughly the same indirect effects. One alternative is building a hydroelectric dam to provide electricity where there is none. A second alternative is to build a monument, say a pyramid in the desert. And the third alternative is to build wind farms to replace coal-fired power plants with mandates to utilities to buy the electricity from wind farms as the highest priority. The last alternative describes what many Western countries are doing.
After construction, the hydroelectric dam will provide low cost electric power to those who do not have it and will become a positive asset to the region. After construction, the pyramid becomes economically neutral; it may or may not attract tourists. After construction, the wind farms become an economic liability to the region, an economic drain.
Wind farms become an economic drain because wind is unreliable and the wind farms require extensive back-up on order for electric utilities to supply reliable power. Contrary to initial expectations that the need for back-up will diminish as wind supplies a greater percent of the power, experience in a number of countries shows that the need for back-up does not diminish. Wind farms may be required for 80 to 100% of the installed capacity of the wind. The coal plants are not replaced and utilities will be forced to charge customers for two electricity production systems. Businesses will face increasing costs and households, with higher utility bills, will face a reduction of their disposable income and a lower standard of living.
The above is very simplistic, but illustrates that not all government spending increases the general prosperity of the region or the nation.
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Number of the Week: 32%. According to the US Energy Information Administration, in April, almost equal amounts of electricity were produced using coal and natural gas, each accounting for 32% of electricity generation in the nation. This is a one-month statistic and will not necessarily hold for the entire year. However, the trend is clear. Thanks to hydraulic fracturing, natural gas is plentiful and prices are very low. Utilities can afford to burn it. In the late 1970s, it was so scarce that the US government outlawed its use as a boiler fuel. As late as 2008, natural was use to generate 21% and coal 48% of US electricity.
We are in an energy revolution that has defied regulators. No wonder many in Washington are determined to regulate hydraulic fracturing.
As a side note, some analysts are projecting that by year end US carbon dioxide emissions will decline to where they were in 1990, without direct regulation. The sharp recession and prolonged, slow recovery are a major influence on the decline of emissions, but the energy revolution is as well. Today, unemployment continues at an unusually high at 8.2%. The U-6, which includes those who have given up looking for work and those working part-time who wish for a full time job, stands at 14.8%. Please see links under Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
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Quote of the Week: The definitions used by the UN, and its cohorts, create logical impossibilities. Under this framework, as atmospheric carbon dioxide increases, one cannot logically prove that climate change is not the result of human influence. This corruption of language, logic, and science will continue until governments reject it. Please see: http://drtimball.com/2012/climate-change-of-the-ipcc-is-daylight-robberyclimate-change-of-the-ipcc-is-daylight-robbery/
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ARTICLES:
For the numbered articles below please see this week’s TWTW at: www.sepp.org. The articles are at the end of the pdf.
1. Pine Beetles, Fire, and Global Warming
By Mike Dubrasich, Western Institute for Study of the Environment, July 8, 2012 [H/t Gordon Fulks]
http://www.sepp.org/key_issues/Pine-Beetles.pdf
2. A Fracking Rule Reprieve
Next year comes the federal deluge.
Editorial, WSJ, Jun 29, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577490680003198686.html?mod=ITP_opinion_2
3. Smashing Success
The Higgs boson breakthrough marks a beginning, not an end.
Editorial, WSJ, Jul 4, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303962304577506741737994650.html?mod=ITP_opinion_2
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Scientists Say A Grand Episode In Solar Activity Started in 2008 – But No Support For A Grand (Maunder-Type) Minimum
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jul 4, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
Climategate Continued
Boulton’s Nature Editorial
By Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, Jun 28, 2012
http://climateaudit.org/2012/06/28/boultons-nature-editorial/
Lonnie and Ellen, A Serial Non-Archiving Couple
By Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, Jul 1, 2012 [H/t Gordon Fulks]
http://climateaudit.org/2012/07/01/lonnie-and-ellen-serial-non-archivers/#comment-341083
Sunday Reflection: The collusion of the climate crowd
By Christopher Horner, Washington Examiner, Jul 7, 2012
http://washingtonexaminer.com/sunday-reflection-the-collusion-of-the-climate-crowd/article/2501500
[SEPP Comment: Freedom of information for the select few.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Nobel prize winner — Ivar Giaever — “climate change is pseudoscience”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jul 6, 2012
[SEPP Comment: See video at the link immediately below.]
The Strange Case of Global Warming (Video)
By Ivar Giaever, 62nd Meeting of Nobel Laureates, The Lindau Mediatheque, 2012 [H/t Climate Depot]
http://www.mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/#/Video?id=1410
Fallacies in Climate Models
NZ Climate Truth Newsletter NO 296
By Vincent Gray, Climate Sceptics Party, Jul 2, 2012
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/fallacies-in-climate-models.html
New paper finds clouds act as a negative feedback and cause significant cooling
By Staff Writer, Hockey Schtick, Jul 5, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://hockeyschtick.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/new-paper-finds-clouds-act-as-negative.html
Defending the Orthodoxy
NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environment Laboratory Carbon Program goes overboard on ocean acidification – leaves uncorrected error
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Jun 30, 2012
[SEPP Comment: This is not surprising. In November 2010, Richard Feely gave misleading, alarmist testimony to a committee of Congress.]
The EPA wins, for science’s sake
Editorial, Washington Post, Jul 4, 2012 [H/t David Manuta]
[SEPP Comment: The court decision was based not on science, but on what the EPA claimed is science.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Liberal Doses Of Dirty Air And Water Politics: Polluting The Energy Issue
By Larry Bell, Forbes, Jul 3, 2012
The EU has opted to do nothing and die
The real drama of the latest EU summit was not what happened, but what didn’t happen
By Christopher Booker, Telegraph, UK, Jun 30, 2012
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9366090/The-EU-has-opted-to-do-nothing-and-die.html
OK, we got 2012 wrong – but trust our forecast for 2100
What is timely to recall, however, is the admission made to MPs in March 2010 by Professor Julia Slingo, the Met Office’s chief scientist, that the “numerical models” used by the Met Office to make its short-term weather forecasts are exactly the same as those “we use for our climate prediction work”.
Global Warm-Mongers Again Ignore Contrary Evidence
Editorial, IBD, Jul 5, 2012
Questioning European Green
World Saddled by Europe
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, July 6, 2012
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2012/07/06/world-saddled-by-europe/
[SEPP Comment: Europe is leading the way to a dismal world.]
Optimising the energy supply
By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, Jul 5, 2012
http://www.scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/optimising-energy-supply
[SEPP Comment: Governments establishing irrational policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.]
Germans Cough Up for Solar Subsidies
By Alexander Neubacher and Catalina Schröder, Spiegel Online, Jul 4, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
Solar subsidies cost German consumers billions of dollars a year and are widely regarded as inefficient. Even environmentalists are concerned that Berlin’s focus on solar comes at the detriment of other renewables. But the solar industry has a powerful lobby, and politicians have proven powerless to resist.
Green and pleasant land
By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, Jun 29, 2012]
http://www.scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/green-and-pleasant-land
[SEPP Comment: Overpopulation is a matter of perception.]
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Dr Rajendra Pachauri: Time to forget governments and use people power to fight climate change
By Ed King, RTCC, Jul 2, 2012
IPCC Turns Political Activist: Pachauri Calls On Green Campaigners
From Responding to Climate Change, GWPF, Jul 3, 2012
Bottoms up
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Jul 3, 2012
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2012/7/3/bottoms-up.html
[SEPP Comment: Montford’s view on the IPCC publicly announcing it is going political.]
UNESCO, butt out!
By Walter Starck, Quadrant, Jun 22, 2012
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/06/unesco-butt-out
[SEPP Comment: A rather adamant essay opposing a possible UN declaration that the Great Barrieris a World Heritage Site and the supposed environmental concerns.]
Rio + 20 – World Control?
Rio: not plus or minus, just 20
By Sunita Narain, Down to Earth, Jul 15, 2012
http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/rio-not-plus-or-minus-just-20
[SEPP Comment: Comments on the Rio conference from an environmental group in India.]
Seeking a Common Ground
False Positives,
By Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, Jun 28, 2012
http://climateaudit.org/2012/06/28/false-positives/
[SEPP Comment: Setting out practical guidelines for scientific studies that rely heavily on statistics.]
Epidemic of false claims
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc, Jul 1, 2012
http://judithcurry.com/2012/07/01/epidemic-of-false-claims/#more-3437
[SEPP Comment: Illustrating again the reproducibility is critical in science.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
University of Nebraska claims record drought in the USA? Not so fast…
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Jul 5, 2012
[SEPP Comment: The press releases from the National Drought Mitigation Center need adult supervision.]
Colorado’s table was set for monster fire
By Darryl Fears, Washington Post, Jul 1, 2012
In Colorado wildfires, ‘worst in state history’, why won’t the Forest Service use the biggest firefighting tool available?
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Jun 30, 2012
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Comment On Seth Borenstein AP News Article “This US Summer Is ‘What Global Warming Looks Like’”
By Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science, Jul 3, 2012
[SEPP Comment: The AP reporter did not report on those who did not view this past June as unprecedented and global.]
To Explain Temperatures/Storms, Borenstein And Scientists Apply A Totally Different, Absurd Science Just 2 Years Later
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jul 3, 2012 [H/t ICECAP]
[SEPP Comment: When it is cold, the cause is natural variability. When it is hot, the cause is global warming / climate change.]
Polar Bear Scare: A Letter To The Economist
By Matt Ridley, Andrew Montford, Benny Peiser, GWPF, Jul 6, 2012
http://thegwpf.org/science-news/6116-polar-bear-scare-a-letter-to-the-economist.html
[SEPP Comment: The editors of any magazine proclaiming it to be The Economist should know better.]
How would you lead us out of the climate predicament?
Our only option is to lead from below. What would you do to achieve the fastest, greatest progress in the fight against climate change?
By Andrew Simms, Guardian, UK, Jul 3, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2012/jul/02/lead-climate-predicament?intcmp=122
[SEPP Comment: Logical fallacy of false dilemma. The question assumes that humans can control climate change.]
Models v. Observations
Latest Global Temps
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Jul 6, 2012
http://www.drroyspencer.com/latest-global-temperatures/
[SEPP Comment: Above the mean for June in the 34 year old record, but Nature continues to flaunt the models.]
June 2012 U.S. Temperatures: Not That Remarkable
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Jul 6, 2012
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/07/june-2012-u-s-temperatures-not-that-remarkable/
Measurement Issues
The Contrast Between The NOAA NCDC and NASA NEO Images Of Land Surface Temperature Anomalies – Further Evidence Of The NOAA Warm Bias
By Roger Pielke, Sr, Climate Science, Jun 28, 2012
[SEPP Comment: More inconsistencies at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center.]
Changing Weather
35 Years Ago Today: Global Cooling Caused Severe Wind Damage
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Jul 4, 2012
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/07/35-years-ago-today-global-cooling-caused-severe-wind-damage/
Is there a derecho in here?
By Joe D’Aleo, ICECAP, Jul 1, 2012
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/political-climate/is_there_a_derecho_in_here1/
Weather from before coal fired power stations — shock — not perfect?
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jul 4, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Thoughts on Australian climate (weather) change 150 years ago.]
Predicting hot days in Europe
By Staff Writers, Cordis News, Jun 28, 2012
http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=34776
Cold Comfort
By Alan Caruba, Warning Signs, July , 2012
http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/07/cold-comfort.html
Changing Climate
Researchers able to better pinpoint history of droughts through exploration of tree rings
By Staff Writers. Pittsburgh PA, (SPX) Jul 05, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Such research questions the use of tree rings only to determine temperature. Mr. Mann anyone? Some proofreading needed. Castor Lake is on a plateau, and the water inflow comes only from precipitation and groundwater. Therefore, no water is lost through evaporation (outflow?)]
Changing Seas
NRC Sea Level Rise Scare: Losing Sight of the Science
By Patrick Michaels, World Climate Report, Jun 29, 2012
Part 2 of “On Sallenger et al (2012) – Hotspot of Accelerated Sea Level Rise on the Atlantic Coast of North America”
By Bob Tisdale, WUWT, Jul 1, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Local sea level change can come from a variety of reasons. Projecting these changes into the future, without careful examination, is speculation, not science. See link immediately above.]
The NAO seafood oscillation
By Bob Tisdale, WUWT, Jul 6, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/07/06/the-nao-seafood-oscillation/#more-66908
[SEPP Comment: Linking temperature change in the North Sea to the North Atlantic Oscillation.]
Changing Humanity
2012 IGBP Article “Cities Expand By Area Equal To France, Germany And Spain Combined In Less Than 20 years”
By Roger Pielke, Sr, Climate Science, Jul 2, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Increased world-wide urbanization influences local and regional climate and reported surface temperatures.]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Blaming villagers for global warming
By Fay Walker, Coral Keegan, Abigal Friedman, Morgan Washburn, Ellery Graves, Guest Contributors, New Mandala, Jun 21, 2012 [H/t WUWT]
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2012/06/21/blaming-villagers-for-global-warming/
[SEPP Comment: The sheer madness of the global warming mania.]
Litigation Issues
Court decrees global warming
Judge stipulates what science has failed to prove
Editorial, Washington Times, Jul 5, 2012
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jul/5/court-decrees-global-warming/
NEWS: New legal approach — consumer protection laws may protect citizens against misleading BOM statements
By Anthony Cox, Jo Nova, Jul 6, 2012
http://joannenova.com.au/2012/07/news-legal-action-against-agw/#more-22568
[SEPP Comment: A creative approach to bring a lawsuit against those government agencies that manipulate temperature data.]
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
The-Tax-Whose-Name-Shall-Not-Be-Spoken Begins
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 2, 2012
http://joannenova.com.au/2012/07/the-tax-whose-name-shall-not-be-spoken-begins/
[SEPP Comment: In Australia it is illegal for business to declare they are raising prices due to government imposed carbon taxes. When it comes to environmentalism, freedom of speech is secondary.]
Carbon Tax: PM says change is never easy but benefits will flow
By Julia Gillard, Herald Sun, AU, Jul 5, 2012 [H/t Des Moore]
Carbon price floor at risk of being scrapped
By Gregg Borschmann, ABC News, AU, Jul 4 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.abc.net.au/environment/articles/2012/07/04/3538788.htm
[SEPP Comment: Great propaganda photo of chimneys emitting steam at sunset.]
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
German solar bubble? Look again!
By Craig Morris, European Energy Review, Jul 5, 2012
[SEPP Comment: The world-wide production capacity of PV panels is twice the 2011 actual consumption. The companies producing PV panels in Germany are going bankrupt. This is a sign of success of a program that is massively increasing electricity prices to consumers?]
The Ruinous Privileges of Renewable Energy
Ray Evans & Tom Quirk, Quadrant, Jul, 2012
[SEPP Comment: This study of government backed wind power includes graphs based on performance which clearly show why wind power mandates are ruinous to electricity customers in South Australia, including households.]
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Why EPA Prevails
By Donn Dears, Power for USA, Jul 3, 2012
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/why-epa-prevails/
[SEPP Comment: A short outline of the dreary, but necessary, fight to overcome EPA efforts to control the US economy.]
Energy Issues – General
OPEC’s gift to oil sands producers: high oil prices
By Yadullah Hussain, Financial Post, Jul 6, 2012
http://business.financialpost.com/2012/07/06/opecs-gift-high-oil-prices-2/?__lsa=44b54869
Europe Burns Coal Fastest Since 2006 in Boost for U.S.
By Rakteem Katakey, Rajesh Kumar Singh and Rachel Morison, Bloomberg, Jul 3, 2012
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Three New Facts Prove That Banning Fracking Boosts Carbon Pollution & Challenge Environmentalists To Rethink Shale Gas
By John Hanger, His Blog, Jul 3, 2012
http://johnhanger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/three-new-facts-prove-that-banning.html
Shale Gas Causes First Quarter 2012 US Carbon Emissions To Plummet Again
By John Hanger, His Blog, Jul 2, 2012 [H/t Carpe Diem]
http://johnhanger.blogspot.com/2012/07/shale-gas-causes-first-quarter-2012-us.html
[SEPP Comment: If the trend continues, US CO2 emissions may fall to 1990 levels. Of course, the recession helps. No wonder many in Washington are demanding the Federal Government t slap severe controls on hydraulic fracturing and the gas and oil it produces.]
Monthly coal- and natural gas-fired generation equal for first time in April 2012
By Staff Writers, EIA, Jul 6, 2012 [H/t Carpe Diem]
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=6990
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Japan Panel Blames Disaster on Negligence
By Mitsuru Obe and Phred Dvorak, WSJ, Jul 5, 2012
Some Facts About Radiation
By Ted Rockwell, Learning about Energy, Jul 2012
http://www.learningaboutenergy.com/2012/07/some-facts-about-radiation.html
[SEPP Comment: Rockwell is a pioneer and technical expert on the nuclear Navy. SEPP has not asked him what he thinks of the bio-fuel navy.]
Forbidden Science: Low Level Radiation and Cancer
By Norman Rogers, American Thinker, Jul 6, 2012
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/07/forbidden_science_low_level_radiation_and_cancer.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
A Skeptic Looks at Alternative Energy
It takes several lifetimes to put a new energy system into place, and wishful thinking can’t speed things along
By Vaclav Smil, IEEE Spectrum, July 2012 [H/t WUWT]
http://spectrum.ieee.org/energy/renewables/a-skeptic-looks-at-alternative-energy/0
[SEPP Comment: A brief look at what is required to convert from traditional sources. Too much of the promise of solar and wind is as solid as campaign promises by politicians.]
How solar subsidies can distort the power market: the case of Italy
By Carlo Stagnaro, European Energy Review, Jul 5, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Four major problems for electricity from PV in Italy. It is a great success except for its high cost. World-wide the greatest capacity is in Germany, then Italy, then Spain. Italy has more solar capacity than the US, China, and Japan combined.]
Japanese Energy Supply Gets FiT With Solar Bonds
By Staff Writers, Tokyo, Japan (SPX), Jul 05, 2012
http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Japanese_Energy_Supply_Gets_FiT_With_Solar_Bonds_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Without mandatory purchase requirement, this will result in another bubble.]
Japan eyes clean energy revolution after Fukushima
By Staff Writers, Tokyo (AFP), July 4, 2012
http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Japan_eyes_clean_energy_revolution_after_Fukushima_999.html
[SEPP Comment: One more nation making a massive, very expensive, green energy “investment”, or a black hole for the customers? This article continues the failure to recognize the difference between name plate capacity and effective capacity as well as failing to recognize the need for back-up.]
An unholy gale brewing up in Devon
When villagers discovered their clergy’s turbine plans, shepherd-flock relations turned nasty
By Christopher Middleton, Telegraph, UK, Jul 2, 2012 [H/t Malcolm Ross]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/windpower/9368852/An-unholy-gale-brewing-up-in-Devon.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
U.S. Navy Sails the Ocean Green
By Lloyd Billingsley, Front Page, Jul 6, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Forget the blue navy, the current fad is a green navy.]
California Dreaming
New Study on CA Global Warming Law Indicates Higher Costs
By Lucy Ma, IVN, Jul 4, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://ivn.us/2012/07/04/new-study-on-ca-global-warming-law-indicates-higher-costs/
[SEPP Comment: The California Air Resources Board (CARB) underestimated the costs of regulations it imposed? But many in CARB learned their techniques in the EPA.]
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Climate Change and Armed Civil Conflict
Reference: Bergholt, D. and Lujala, P. 2012. Climate-related natural disasters, economic growth, and armed civil conflict. Journal of Peace Research 49: 147-162.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/jul/3jul2012a2.html
Climate Variability and Civil Strife
Reference: Koubi, V., Bernauer, T., Kalbhenn, A. and Spilker, G. 2012. Climate variability, economic growth, and civil conflict. Journal of Peace Research 49: 113-127.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/jul/4jul2012a2.html
Effects of Elevated CO2 on the Growth of Marine Algae
Reference: Moazami-Goudarzi, M. and Colman, B. 2012. Changes in carbon uptake mechanisms in two green marine algae by reduced seawater pH. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 413: 94-99.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/jul/4jul2012a1.html
With Moazami-Goudarzi and Colman determining that S. minor and S. cylindricus “were able to tolerate a broad range of pH from pH 5.0 to 9.5,” as well as the broad range of salinities they investigated, it would appear that even the worst nightmare of the world’s climate alarmists would not be a great impediment to the continued wellbeing of these two green marine algae, even without the positive influence of evolutionary forces that would likely come into play over the timespan involved in the seawater transformations envisioned by Caldeira and Wickett.
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Motility and Swimming Speed of Sea Urchin Sperm
Reference:Caldwell, G.S., Fitzer, S., Gillespie, C.S., Pickavance, G., Turnbull, E. and Bentley, M.G. 2011. Ocean acidification takes sperm back in time. Invertebrate Reproduction and Development 55: 217-221.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/jul/3jul2012a4.html
[SEPP Comment: Apparently you cannot keep these little critters back.]
Environmental Industry
The Population Control Holocaust
By Robert Zubrin, The New Atlantis, Spring 2012 [H/t SPPI]
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-population-control-holocaust
[SEPP Comment: A recommended essay on anti human ideology consuming those who wish to save the world.]
EPA’s Regional Administrators Love Activism, Litigation
By Paul Chesser, NLPC, Jul 3, 2012
http://nlpc.org/stories/2012/07/03/litigious-activist-backgrounds-epas-regional-administrators
[SEPP Comment: A revolving door between Big Green and Government – say it is not so?]
Greenpeace slams ‘illegal’ Indonesia coal plant
By Staff Writers, Jakarta (AFP), July 4, 2012
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Greenpeace_slams_illegal_Indonesia_coal_plant_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Keeping the natives at a subsistence level.]
Other Scientific News
CERN experiments observe particle consistent with long-sought Higgs boson
By Staff Writers, Geneva, Switzerland (SPX), Jul 05, 2012
Deep-sea rare earths found in Japan
By Staff Writers, Tokyo (UPI), Jul 3, 2012
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Deep-sea_rare_earths_found_in_Japan_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Costs of extraction will be an issue.]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Parkinson’s Researcher Fabricated Data
Neuroscientist Mona Thiruchelvam agrees to retract two studies linking neurodegeneration to pesticides.
By Hayley Dunning, The Scientist, Jun 29, 2012 [H/t Catherine French]
http://the-scientist.com/2012/06/29/parkinsons-researcher-fabricated-data/
China’s Three Gorges Dam at full capacity: Xinhua
By Staff Writers, Beijing (AFP), July 4, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Chinas_Three_Gorges_Dam_at_full_capacity_Xinhua_999.html
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Shrinking leaves point to climate change
By Staff Writers, Adelaide, Australia (SPX), Jul 05, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Shrinking_leaves_point_to_climate_change_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Hasty conclusion, it may be due to enhanced atmospheric carbon dioxide.]
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In England it was colder than normal in May, in June it was colder than normal, in July so far it is colder than normal and predicted to stay that way into August.
Sometimes I just hope and pray that there was a shred of truth in gobal warming.
To Old England: Thank your global warming “experts”….
they will all tell you that global temps are up and your
thermometer is just hanging upside down…..
Ah, the British Met Office. Ass-backward into the unknown…
Anthony,
I’m getting a 403 error on that Giaever link and now on the Jonova site saying I don’t have permission. Very odd indeed.
O/T I’m also getting a “Forbidden” message on Jo Nova’s site. My guess is she’s having tech problems again (I hope that’s all it is).
“the Rossby waves associated with the circumpolar vortex and jet streams have become very pronounced”
Its worth mentioning again that Prof Mike Lockwood, who is not a sceptic, said two years ago that such pronounced blocking is linked with solar minima. And we’re in the weakest solar cycle for arguably a couple centuries. Hard to tell whether this is the cause or a contributer to this particular heatwave event, but it is evidence diametrically opposed to the CAGW wolf criers of the last few weeks.
Breaking news: CERN scientists today revealed that they could finally announce with 5-sigma certainty the discovery of the ‘lost’ Thompson climate data.
“We have been running our giant ATLAS detector for months now,” said one physicist “and found it needed some fresh wiring in one component. In the cupboard next to the toolbox was a stack of papers marked ‘property of Lonnie and Ellen – do not distribute’. This is a far more surprising discovery than the Higgs, and opens up whole new possibilities for science…”.
Climatists of global warming alarmism essentially have given up pretending that they can use science to make their case against Western industrial man; they’ve given up on reason. The climatism of the weather fearmongers has evolved to the point now where it has the credibility of earthquake prediction science. The official `science’ of the global warming alarmist community is simply to pray for catastrophe and then point. The only real `consensus’ that exists, now that Bush is gone, is to simply blame capitalism whatever Nature brings our way.
http://evilincandescentbulb.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/hot-world-syndrome-white-coat-hysteria/
And in Australia, Canberra chilled through it’s coldest morning in 65 years;
http://www.australianclimatemadness.com/2012/07/canberras-coldest-mornings-since-1965/
See! Carbon tax *IS* working.
When is a heatwave not a heatwave?
When it is “a series of hot days”
Anthony,
Regarding the Colorado fires. Can you provide a link for the mentioned cooling trend experienced in the Colorado Rockies?
Interesting take on Coal …
http://www.peakprosperity.com/blog/78984/coal-ignored-juggernaut
From the above mentioned the huge amount of data, one can not conclude that is known what is the main cause of global warming or climate change.
This means that for that reason absolutely knows the science nor the individual scientist.
In the race for prestige and knowledge in property, people have lost their orientation and relationship with its natural eternal, and changing laws.
The main causes of change are forces in the system. Mutual relations between them depend on the movement and position of celestial bodies, which groups depends on the cycle of their intimate relationship.
The concentration of forces causing increased motion of the core body heat, which causes all the other changes: electro-magnetic fields, vortices in the masses, the vacuum in the shift of nuclei, which causes the reverse effect of pressure and mass ejection, and again this phenomenon in many other physical chemical changes .
Let’s start this way, I have some evidence about the 11 year sunspot cycles. For now, I do not have sufficient conditions for publication without contractual obligations.
Edit: “Wind farms may be required for 80 to 100% of the installed capacity of the wind. ” — nonsensical. Perhaps “Backup may be required for 80 to 100% of the installed capacity of the wind farms.” ??
“Nature can be a brutal manager of natural assets. In 1988, when the Park Service set controlled burns that ran out of control and burnt over one-third of the forests in Yellowstone, it did not have global warming / climate change to hide behind.” Nature took the opportunity to play catch-up for all the years of saving up ground fuel prior to 1988 — and burned it all at once. Very inconsiderate! .But hardly unexpected, except by the weak of mind.
I was impressed over the weekend by Alexandra Steele (now CNN, formerly Weather Channel) who was baited by the news announcer to do a climate change diatribe but refused to take the bait.
[SEPP Comment: Above the mean for June in the 34 year old record, but Nature continues to flaunt the models.]
I think you meant “flout,” not “flaunt.”
Natural gas fracking is capitulation to the greenies. If we put the General Welfare of human beings first, nuclear power with the full fuel cycle would be the keystone of our national energy supply strategy, while research would be directed at several approaches to fusion, including the fusion-fission hybrid.
Fracking lowers the cost of natural gas extraction, but at the expense of underground water quality. Oil, gas and water have a natural tendency to separate when not disturbed; fracking forces them to mix; it is a far more disruptive way to mine oil and gas than drilling. This would be acceptable if we had no alternative other than to die for lack of energy, but we have an alternative and have had it for nearly 70 years, but we’ve let the greenies sabotage it until they’ve convinced us that it’s more expensive, despite a 3 million-to-1 energy density advantage over coal by weight, and even better by volume!
Old England: The Guardian ran a good article on the weird English weather, and current meteorology theories linking it to changes in the jet stream caused by the loss of Arctic ice.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/jul/08/summer-unending-rain
We may have permanently disrupted our weather systems. You may have to start either getting used to it and live with the deterioration it causes to your life. Or if it gets worse, well, we’ll remember the English as some of the first casualties in the upcoming series of planetary changes.
LONDON: Large wind farms might have a warming effect on the local climate, research in the United States showed on Sunday, casting a shadow over the long-term sustainability of wind power.