The Week That Was: 2013-05-25 (May 25, 2013) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
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Quote of the Week:. Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects…The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality. Peter Gwyne, Newsweek, April 28, 1975, Lamenting the failure of governments to prepare for global cooling.
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Number of the Week: 11
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Abolish the IPCC? Ross McKitrick, along with Steve McIntyre, exposed the significant statistical failings of the “Hockey-Stick” that was featured in the Third Assessment Report (AR3) of UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). McKitrick has spent significant time in trying to improve the quality of the work of the IPCC, and served as an expert reviewer on the Fourth Assessment Report (AR4), the latest one, published in 2007. From this experience, McKitrick uncovered major flaws in the procedures used by the IPCC, and articulated the failings in a 2011 pamphlet published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation, along with a set of recommendations to bring transparency and rigor to the procedures.
Five-time IPCC expert reviewer Vincent Gray uses McKitrick’s recommendations to further analyze what he considers to be the major failings in the IPCC procedures. In doing so, Gray brings in his rich knowledge of the IPCC history. Gray reports that in the first Assessment Report, 1990, the first six chapters were devoted to climate models, and it was not until the seventh chapter that observations were discussed. In spite of the emphasis on climate models, the models have never been validated in a computer engineering sense, much less in a scientific sense. Gray states it was not until the draft of the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) that the concept of how validation may be accomplished was even discussed. It will be interesting to see if this section in the draft survives to the final.
Gray states that the main temperature data base used by the IPCC is defective and is not a scientifically or mathematically acceptable guide for global temperature trends. In long range projections, a scientifically calculated range of uncertainty would exceed many estimates of future warming. Gray further states that the concepts of certainty expressed in the IPCC reports (often 90 to 99%) are subjective opinions of “experts” without any scientifically acceptable evidence. As such they are little better than estimates of certainty in stock picks by brokers.
Gray discusses many other critical topics and concludes that the IPCC should be abolished. This is unlikely any time in the near future, because governments have poured tens of billions of US dollars in creating the climate establishment that follows the leadership of the IPCC. From fiscal year 1993 to fiscal year 2012, the US government has spent some $140 to $150 Billion, not including tax subsidies to renewable energy, etc.
Please see links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Moving Mainstream? A set of mainstream climate scientists published an article calling into question the more dire projections from the IPCC models. The authors of the short article include well-known IPCC lead authors. The technical article suggests that, based on including 2000 to 2009 data in the climate models, the temperature sensitivity of the earth’s climate to increasing greenhouse gases (GHG), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), is not as great as previously projected. This does not mean the climate models are correct, Vincent Gray’s criticisms still apply, but it does mean that some individuals in the Climate Establishment are beginning to openly question the more extreme projections. This is a welcome sign, and shows that prior claims that “the science is settled” were not correct. Please see links under Problems in the Orthodoxy. [Note: ECS is equilibrium climate sensitivity (temperature) of the earth to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide.]
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Public Enemies? Last week, TWTW linked to a report by P. Gosselin that the German Federal Office of Environment, UBA, equivalent to the US EPA, published a pamphlet identifying those US and German scientists who have been significant in objecting to the claims that human (anthropogenic) emissions of CO2 are causing unprecedented and dangerous global warming (carbon-based AGW), and that these scientists have thwarted efforts by governments to control CO2 emissions. This week, Gosseling reports that this action by the UBA is causing many in Germany to publically severely criticize the UBA. Please see link under Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
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Oklahoma Tornado: On Monday a major tornado, category EF5, hit the town of Moore Oklahoma, south of Oklahoma City. Immediately, certain politicians and journalists blamed the event on global warming/climate change. They ignored the fact that a tornado with far greater wind speed his the same town in 1999 and that tornados have been a fact of life on the Great Plains of the US ever since the plains were settled. Please see links under Changing Weather
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Hurricane Season: US hurricane season starts in June. For over 7.5 years, the US has not experienced a major hurricane, Category 3, 4, or 5, making landfall. [Sandy was a large storm, but barely a Category 1 hurricane when it made landfall.] Last week TWTW linked to an article by Joe Bastardi of WeatherBell Analytics predicting greater than normal hurricane activity this year with a greater than normal chance of a major hurricane making landfall on the East Coast or Gulf Coast. Hurricane experts Philipp Klotzbach and William Gray made similar predictions in April. This week, NOAA predicted a greater normal hurricane season. NOAA made no predictions about landfalls.
Both Bastardi and Klotzbach & Gray expressly state that their hurricane forecasts are unrelated to atmospheric CO2, with Bastardi expressly denying any relationship between hurricanes and global warming, or CO2, and emphasizing his forecasts are based on natural patterns such as a cold Pacific Decadal Oscillation and a warm Atlantic Multi-decadal Oscillation. None-the-less we can expect that the global warming chorus will be in full throat, should a major hurricane makes landfall. Please see links under Changing Weather and http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/04/tornadoes-drop-to-new-record-alltime-low/
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Carbon Taxes: The US Congressional Budget Office released a study on carbon taxes. It shows that the tax will significantly add to government revenues. The question is what would government do with these revenues? The tax would be regressive, hitting lower income groups worse than higher income groups and would thwart job-creation in some of the few industries in the US that are growing robustly, such as oil, natural gas, and related industries. It is doubtful that, no matter how the government uses the revenue, the tax would create prosperity. As the stimulus bill demonstrated, Keynesian concepts, such as the balanced budget multiplier, are based on untested, and faulty, assumptions.
One of the misleading arguments of the carbon tax is that it is simple. The same could have been said of the US income tax. It was a simple tax Congress enacted in October 1913 as part of the Revenue Act of 1913, levying a 1% tax on net personal incomes above $3,000, and with a progressive structure topping at a 6% surtax on incomes above $500,000 for a total marginal rate of 7%. As the rates became onerous, so did the provisions and complexity of the tax code. Now the tax is complex, confusing, and largely undecipherable, subject to many interpretations and occupying the efforts of many talented people. Please see links under Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revenue_Act_of_1913.
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Amplifications and Corrections: Last week, TWTW stated that the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere may have reached 400 parts per million (ppm) prompting “alarmist reports stating it is the highest in human history, which is technically true.” Several readers corrected TWTW stating it ignored the analysis of atmosphere by chemical methods, which show concentrations in the atmosphere on a number of occasions of greater than 400ppm. Please see: 180 Years of Atmospheric CO2, Gas Analysis by Chemical Methods, By Ernst-Georg Beck, Energy and Environment, Vol 18, No. 2, 2007
http://www.friendsofscience.org/assets/files/documents/CO2%20Gas%20Analysis-Ernst-Georg%20Beck.pdf
As always, TWTW thanks it readers who take the time to correct TWTW or point out issues it may have overlooked.
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Number of the Week: 11. As discussed in the opening section, Ross McKitrick recommended changes to the IPCC procedures that would provide transparency and promote more rigorous science. The recommendations numbered 11. At the beginning of his comments, Vincent Gray lists these recommendations. It will be interesting to observe how many, if any, will be followed by the IPCC at the publication of AR5.
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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. NASA Adrift in Interplanetary Space
By S. Fred Singer, American Thinker, May 24, 2013
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/nasa_adrift_in_interplanetary_space.html
2. Going Green? Then Go Nuclear
We’re environmentalists, but pretending that solar power is ready for prime time is delusional.
By Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger, WSJ, May 23, 2013
3. The Global Solar Cartel
Subsidies, then tariffs, and now fixing prices and quotas.
Editorial, WSJ, May 24, 2013
4. The Other Government Motors
Tesla by the numbers: How taxpayers made an electric car company.
Editorial, WSJ, May 24, 2013
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
CERN’s Jasper Kirkby On The Newest Unpublished Results Of CLOUD: “The Results Are Very Interesting”
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, May 19, 2013
From The Latest on the CLOUD Experiment at CERN
By Sebastian Lüning and Fritz Vahrenholt
Climategate Continued
UnderCooked Statistics
By RomanM, Climate Audit, May 24, 2013
http://climateaudit.org/2013/05/24/undercooked-statistics/#more-17962
Challenging the Orthodoxy
The IPCC Should Be Abolished
By IPCC Expert Reviewer Vincent Gray, NZ Climate Truth Newsletter No 331, May 21, 2013
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/the-ipcc-should-be-abolished.html
Defending the Orthodoxy
Government commitment to support investment in low-carbon technologies would secure significant savings for UK consumers
By Staff Writers, Committee on Climate Change, UK, May 23, 2013
Link to the report: Next steps on Electricity Market Reform
By Barrs, et al., Committee on Climate Change, May 2013
http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1720_EMR_report_web.pdf
[SEPP Comment: Assumes adherence to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of levels in 1990 by 2050. The motto of the committee is: A balanced response to the risks of dangerous climate change.]
The Climate-Change Wars Begin This Summer
By Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine, May 22, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/climate-change-wars-begin-this-summer.html
[SEPP Comment: They have not started yet?]
Forget pipelines – Canada must prepare for a post-carbon world
By Danny Harvey, The Globe and Mail, May 17, 2013 [H/t David Kreutzer]
Global inaction shows that the climate sceptics have already won
By Martin Wolf, Financial Times, May 22, 2013
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9742cc76-c142-11e2-b93b-00144feab7de.html#axzz2Tq09YCkm
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Climate Scientist Hans Von Storch Warns: Climate Scientists Have Been “Taking On The Roles Of Medicine Men And Priests”
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, May 18, 2013
Five Reasons The Global Warming Scare Is Fading
Editorial, IBD, May 20 2013
The Collapsing ‘Consensus’
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, May 22, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/22/the-collapsing-consensus/
Monckton challenges the IPCC – suggests fraud – and gets a response
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, May 20, 2013
Protect the Poor, Prevent Prostitution: Don’t Fight Global Warming!
By E. Calvin Beisner, Cornwall Alliance, May 22, 2013
Overheated rhetoric on climate change doesn’t make for good policies
By Lamar Smith, Washington Post, May 19, 2013
So What, If Carbon Levels Hit 400ppm?
By Peter Glover, Energy Tribune, May 22, 2013
http://www.energytribune.com/77072/so-what-if-carbon-levels-hit-400ppm#sthash.krTrfnzE.dpbs
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Energy budget constraints on climate response
Otto, et al., Nature Geoscience, May 19, 2013
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1836.html
Mainstreaming ECS ~ 2 C
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc., May 19, 2013
http://judithcurry.com/2013/05/19/mainstreaming-ecs-2-c/#more-11727
Why the new Otto et al climate sensitivity paper is important – it’s a sea change for some IPCC authors
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 20, 2013
Major 30% reduction in modelers estimates of Climate Sensitivity (Skeptics were right)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, May 20, 2013
The implications of lower climate sensitivity
Global warming will probably be a net benefit for several decades
By Matt Ridley, His Blog, May 24, 2013
http://www.mattridley.co.uk/blog/the-implications-of-lower-climate-sensitivity.aspx
A second chance to save the climate
By Michael Marshall, New Scientist, May 22, 2013
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21829184.100-a-second-chance-to-save-the-climate.html
Seeking a Common Ground
Climatic Effects of Black Carbon
By Staff Writers, SPPI & CO2 Science, May 22, 2013
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/black_carbon.pdf
[SEPP Comment: More study needed.]
On academics, abstraction, and model addiction
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc., May 19, 2013
http://judithcurry.com/2013/05/19/on-academics-abstraction-and-model-addiction/#more-11720
[SEPP Comment: Excerpts from a provocative essay by Gregory Melleuish that, unfortunately, is behind a paywall [must pay to access it]. As Eisenhower feared, government bureaucrats and academics are working hand-in-glove against the interests of the ordinary citizen.]
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Communicating Climate Science: A Historic Look to the Future
AGU Chapman Conference
http://chapman.agu.org/climatescience/
Questioning European Green
EU Energy Summit: Climate Protection Is Not That Important Anymore
By Christopher Ziedler, Der Tagesspiegle, Tran by Philipp Mueller, May 23, 2013
http://www.thegwpf.org/eu-energy-summit-climate-protection-important-anymore/
EU Commission Plans Fundamental Course Change In Energy Policy – More Focus On Economics, Less On Climate
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, May 21, 2013
Europe Wants “Backsies” on Green Energy Policies
By Walter Russell Mead, Via Meadia, May 23, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
[SEPP Comment: The graph of electricity prices by various countries is revealing.]
EU leaders face up to shale challenge
By Staff Writers, Brussels (AFP), May 22, 2013
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/EU_leaders_face_up_to_shale_challenge_999.html
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Environmental Fear-Mongering Isn’t Just Silly, It Kills People
By Walter Williams, IBD, May 21, 2013
The Green Enemies of Humanity, Science and the Truth
By Alan Caruba, Warning Signs, May 18, 2013
http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-green-enemies-of-humanity-science.html
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Climate Warnings, Growing Louder
Editorial, NYT, May 18, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/19/opinion/sunday/climate-warnings-growing-louder.html?emc=eta1&_r=0
Dire outlook despite global warming ‘pause’: study
By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), May 19, 2013
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Dire_outlook_despite_global_warming_pause_study_999.html
Shifts in global water systems markers of The Anthropocene epoch
By Staff Writers, Bonn, Germany (SPX), May 22, 2013
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Climate experts to announce global climate time bomb will go off by 2040, says WWF’s Kokorin
By Andrei Ozharovsky, Translated by Maria Kaminskaya, Bellona, RU, May 21, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/climate_bomb
Cook’s 97% consensus study falsely classifies scientists’ papers according to the scientists that published them
When asked about the categorizations of Cook et al, – “It would be incorrect to claim that our paper was an endorsement of CO2-induced global warming”
By Andres of Popular Technology, WUWT, May 21, 2013
Heat-related deaths in Manhattan projected to rise
By Staff Writers, New York NY (SPX) May 23, 2013
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Heat_related_deaths_in_Manhattan_projected_to_rise_999.html
Link to study: Projections of seasonal patterns in temperature- related deaths for Manhattan, New York
By Tiantian Li, Radley M. Horton, & Patrick L. Kinney, Nature Climate Change, May 19, 2013
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nclimate1902.html
[SEPP Comment: The abstract starts with a false statement: Global average temperatures have been rising for the past half-century, and the warming trend has accelerated in recent decades. Yet, there has been no warming for at least a decade. Makes one wonder how many studies in the Cook survey had a false premise?]
Heat-related deaths in Manhattan projected to rise – except reality shows them going down in the USA
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 20, 2013
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
German UBA Federal Environment Office’s “Declaration Of War” On US And German Skeptics Backfires Big Time
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, May 24, 2013
Models v. Observations
Anti-information in climate models
By Patrick Michaels, and Chip Knappenberger, WUWT, May 23, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/23/anti-information-in-climate-models/
Amazon River exhales virtually all carbon taken up by rain forest
By Hannah Hickey for UW News, Seattle WA (SPX), May 22, 2013
Measurement Issues
Ocean temperatures – Is that warming statistically significant?
By Jo Nova & David Evans, Her Blog, May 19, 2013
The oceans as measured by ARGO are warming, but that warming is not only far less than the models predicted, it is far less even than the instrument error.
Changing Weather
Does global warming cause tornadoes?
By Luboš Motl, The Reference Frame, May 23, 2013
http://motls.blogspot.com/2013/05/does-global-warming-cause-tornadoes.html#more
[SEPP Comment: A memo to Senator Boxer who claimed that global warming will increase severe tornados.]
Oklahoma tornado officially an EF5 – wind speeds still less than 1999 Moore tornado
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 21, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/21/oklahoma-tornado-officially-an-ef5/
After Oklahoma City Tragedy, Shameless Politicians Unsheath Global Warming Card
By James Taylor, Forbes, May 22, 2013
The Lessons of the Moore Oklahoma Tornado
By Cliff Mass, His Blog, May 21, 2013
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-lessons-of-moore-oklahoma-tornado.html
No, global warming did not cause Oklahoma tornado
Editorial, Washington Examiner, May 22, 2013
No Rest For Weather Weary: Expect More Extremes After Oklahoma Tornado
By WeatherBELL Analytics, Forbes, May 22, 2013
Extended Range Forecast of Atlantic Seasonal Hurricane Activity and Landfall Strike Probability for 2013
By Philip Klotzbach and William Gray, Colorado State University, Apr 10, 2013
http://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/forecasts/2013/apr2013/apr2013.pdf
[SEPP Comment: Statistical predictions based on 29 years of data.]
NOAA predicts active 2013 Atlantic hurricane season
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 23, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/05/23/noaa-predicts-active-2013-atlantic-hurricane-season/
Changing Climate
The Cooling World,
By Peter Gwyne, Newsweek, Apr 28, 1975 [H/t Catherine French]
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142747497/its-getting-cold
In 1975 Deadly Tornadoes Based on Global Cooling
By Gary DeMar, Godfather Politics, May 21, 2013 [H/t ICECAP]
http://godfatherpolitics.com/10929/in-1975-deadly-tornadoes-based-on-global-cooling/
Changing Seas
On Sea Level Rise, The IPCC Is Right – And That’s Good For Us
By Hank Campbell, Science 2.0, May 15, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.science20.com/science_20/sea_level_rise_ipcc_right_and_thats_good_us-112099
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
World’s biggest ice sheets likely more stable than previously believed [By Alarmists]
By Staff Writers, CIFAR, May 17, 2013 [H/t WUWT]
http://www.cifar.ca/ancient-shorelines-ice-sheets-stability
Link to paper: Dynamic Topography Change of the Eastern United States Since 3 Million Years Ago
By Rowley, et al., Science, May 16, 2013
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/early/2013/05/15/science.1229180
World’s melting glaciers making large contribution to sea rise
By Staff Writers, Boulder CO (SPX), May 17, 2013
Recent snowfall anomalies in Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, in a historical and future climate perspective
By Lenaerts, et al., GRL, May 15, 2013 [H/t Catherine French]
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/grl.50559/abstract
[SEPP Comment: The period covered is too short to draw conclusions.]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Interactive Effects of Temperature and Enhanced C02 on Agricultural Crops
By Staff Writers, SPPI & CO2 Science, May 15, 2013
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/temp_co2_crops.html
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Tropical Upper Tropospheric Warming: Models vs. Measurements
Reference: Po-Chedley, S. and Fu, Q. 2012. Discrepancies in tropical upper tropospheric warming between atmospheric circulation models and satellites. Environmental Research Letters 7: 10.1088/1748-9326/7/4/044018.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/may/21may2013a3.html
[SEPP Comment: No improvement in the new CMIP5 models from the old CMIP3 models]
Storms of the Northern Hemisphere
Reference: Sorrel, P., Debret, M., Billeaud, I., Jaccard, S.L., McManus, J.F. and Tessier, B. 2012. Persistent non-solar forcing of Holocene storm dynamics in coastal sedimentary archives. Nature Geoscience 5: 892-896.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/may/22may2013a3.html
[SEPP Comment: Cyclical nature of storms – every 1500 years. Warming leads to less storms.]
Changes in Global Precipitation Over Land in a Warming World
Reference: Sun, F., Roderick, M.L. and Farquhar, G.D. 2012. Changes in the variability of global land precipitation. Geophysical Research Letters 39: 10.1029/2012GL053369.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/may/21may2013a4.html
Holocene Histories of Atmospheric CO2 Concentration and West Greenland Air Temperature
Reference: Axford, Y., Losee, S., Briner, J.P., Francis, D.R., Langdon, P.G. and Walker, I.R. 2013. Holocene temperature history at the western Greenland Ice Sheet margin reconstructed from lake sediments. Quaternary Science Reviews 59: 87-100.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/may/21may2013a1.html
The Political Games Continue
Moniz Confirmed as Energy Secretary, EPA’s McCarthy Confirmation Nears Full Senate Vote
By Sonal Patel, Power News, May 21, 2013
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/5651.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2678482&hq_l=10&hq_v=5e660500d0
Litigation Issues
The EPA Could Lose Its Power to Fight Climate Change Before Using It
By Philip Bump, Atlantic Wire, May 17, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Effects of a Carbon Tax on the Economy and the Environment
By Staff Writers, Congressional Budget Office, May 22, 2013 [H/t Randy Randol]
Link to full document: Effects of a Carbon Tax on the Economy and the Environment
By Terry Dinan, et al., CBO, May 2013
http://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/44223_Carbon_0.pdf
Congressional Budget Office Looks at a Carbon Tax
By David Kreutzer, The Foundry, May 23, 2013
http://blog.heritage.org/2013/05/23/congressional-budget-office-looks-at-a-carbon-tax/
CBO: Carbon tax an option to avoid ‘catastrophic’ outcomes
By Zack Colman, The Hill, May 22, 2013
[SEPP Comment: Could The Hill newspaper be showing a bias?]
CBO: Carbon Tax Could Be Costly to Economy but Generate Trillions, Avert Climate Change Effects
By Staff Writer, POWERnews, May 23, 2013
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/5661.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2678482&hq_l=7&hq_v=5e660500d0
Carbon Taxation: Just Say No (NAM-led letter represents a broad business front)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, May 24, 2013
http://www.masterresource.org/2013/05/nam-letter-no-carbon-tax/#more-25737
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Chamber: Greens using ‘sue and settle’ to coerce EPA
By Megan R. Wilson, The Hill, May 20, 2013
Link to the report: Sue and Settle: Regulating Behind Closed Doors
By William Kovacs, et al., U.S. Chamber of Commerce, May 2013
http://www.uschamber.com/sites/default/files/reports/SUEANDSETTLEREPORT-Final.pdf
Industry accuses EPA of skirting rules for public review of draft fuel regs
By Ben Goad, The Hill, May 21, 2013
[SEPP Comment: 23 days to comment on a 1572 page set of proposed rules.]
Energy Issues – Non-US
Lateral thinking
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, May 22, 2013
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2013/5/22/lateral-thinking.html
[SEPP Comment: The capability of horizontal drilling 10km reduces the effectiveness that the UK is too densely populated to permit drilling of shale.]
Energy Issues — US
‘All-of-the-above’ approach to energy policy
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc., May 22, 2013
http://judithcurry.com/2013/05/22/all-of-the-above-approach-to-energy-policy/#more-11739
[SEPP Comment: Each side on the polarized issue is more capable of hindering the opposition than promoting its own preference. Do not agree with the assumption that spending money on renewables will reduce climate change.]
FERC Directs NERC to Develop Reliability Standards Addressing Solar Storm Effects
By Sonal Patel, Power News, May 23, 2013
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/5626.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2678482&hq_l=9&hq_v=5e660500d0
Insight: The road to a greener America is littered with road-kill
By Nichola Groom, Reuters, May 20, 2013 [H/t George Nicholas]
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/insight-road-greener-america-littered-050356566.html
Washington’s Control of Energy
Obama Has Been Dealt A Spectacular Energy Hand: He Should Play It
By James Glassman, Forbes, May 23, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesglassman/2013/05/23/play-the-energy-card/
Obama administration supports fracking and natural gas exports
By Steve Goreman, Washington time, May 22, 2013
Keystone Pipeline Is An Economic Slam Dunk For America
By Rep Marsha Blackburn, IBD, May 20, 2013
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Big Data And Microseismic Imaging Will Accelerate The Smart Drilling Oil And Gas Revolution
By Mark Mills, Forbes, May 8, 2013 [H/t NCPA]
Obama administration approves natural gas export site
By Ben Wolfgang, Washington Times, May 17, 2013
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/17/obama-administration-approves-natural-gas-export-s/
Return of King Coal?
Can Coal be Dumped?
By Donn Dears, Power for USA, May 24, 2013
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2013/05/24/can-coal-be-dumped/
[SEPP Comment: As the EPA charges forward in its goal of shutting down coal, the lack of reliable alternatives is becoming apparent.]
Lighting Big Green’s match to burn King Coal
Energy suppliers must quit collaborating with renewable-power enemies
By Tom Harris and Tim Ball, Washington Times, May 20, 2013
http://p.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/20/lighting-big-greens-match-to-burn-king-coalenergy-/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind Power Sucks Subsidies Instead of Turning Turbines
By Viv Forbes, NCTCS, May 22, 2013
http://theclimatescepticsparty.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/wind-power-sucks-subsidies-instead-of.html
Wind Farms Get Pass on Eagle Deaths
By Dina Cappiello, AP, May 14, 2013 [H/t NCPA]
“What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK,”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Navy Captain Guns Down Biofuels
By Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune, May 20, 2013
http://www.energytribune.com/76974/navy-captain-guns-down-biofuels#sthash.JU8kZgWJ.dpbs
Exxon Takes Algae Fuel Back to the Drawing Board
A $300 million project seems to have failed to produce a cheap way to make fuel from algae.
By Kevin Bullis, MIT Technology Review, May 20, 2013 [H/t Deke Forbes]
[SEPP Comment: The Navy paid about $27 per gallon for the last batch of biofuel.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
The zero-emission vehicle myth
By Henry Payn, Detroit News, May 21, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130521/OPINION03/305210002
California Dreaming
California’s anti-coal agenda is adverse to human health and welfare
By Frank Clemente, Energy Facts Weekly, May 20, 2013
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=29bc7d5d85828d574f86c157a&id=5e772f3a6c&e=
Health, Energy, and Climate
The consequences of misunderstanding risk
By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, May 24, 2013
http://scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/consequences-misunderstanding-risk
[SEPP Comment: The fear of MMR vaccine, based on a discredited study, is having negative health effects in the UK.]
Environmental Industry
‘Deep Ecology’ versus Energy (McKibben’s virus understood)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, May 23, 2013
http://www.masterresource.org/2013/05/deep-ecology-versus-energy/#more-25670
Other Scientific News
GPS solution provides three-minute tsunami alerts
By Staff Writers, Potsdam, Germany (SPX), May 23, 2013
http://www.gpsdaily.com/reports/GPS_solution_provides_three_minute_tsunami_alerts_999.html
Link to article: Instant tsunami early warning based on real-time GPS – Tohoku 2011 case study
By Hoechner, et al., Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, May 17, 2013
http://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/13/1285/2013/nhess-13-1285-2013.html
Comprehensive Analysis of Impact Spherules Supports Theory of Cosmic Impact 12,800 Years Ago
Press Release UC Santa Barbara, May 21, 2013 [H/t WUWT]
http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=3019
Link to paper: Evidence for deposition of 10 million tonnes of impact spherules across four continents 12,800 y ago
By Wittke, et al., PNAS, May 20, 2013
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/05/17/1301760110
Frog once imported for pregnancy testing brought deadly amphibian disease to US
By Staff Writers, San Francisco CA (SPX), May 20, 2013
Link to paper: Prevalence of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis in Xenopus Collected in Africa (1871–2000) and in California (2001–2010)
By Vredenburg, et al., Plos One, May 15, 2013
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0063791
World’s largest undersea methane seep harbors variety of life
By Staff Writers, Washington (UPI), May 22, 2013
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
WaPo commits photo fraud for global warming column
By Steve Milloy, Junk Science, May 24, 2013 [H/t WUWT]
http://junkscience.com/2013/05/24/wapo-commits-photo-fraud-for-global-warming-column/#more-40384
[SEPP Comment: Fraud may be too strong a term, but a photo of black smoke coming from chimneys (taken under special lighting or using filters) accompanying an article on invisible CO2 is certainly black propaganda.]
$19.5 Mil to Study Effect of Climate Change on Cows
By Staff Writer, Judicial Watch, May 15, 2013 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2013/05/19-5-mil-to-study-effect-of-climate-change-on-cows/
Great moments in activist climate science – NRDC’s Dr. Laurie Johnson: ‘CO2 makes your car hot’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 23, 2013
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Such UN bodies never ‘die ‘ they just become zombies losing funded and attention bit by bit, but hanging on in some way . Once the train man jumps ship and his replaced with a ‘nobody’ that will be the sign that the IPCC is on its way to be the living dead .
It can’t come soon enough , but there are many people with strong personal and professional investments , for example Mann has nothing if his not got AGW , in keeping it goign no matter what reality or facts.
I am looking forward to this new film. If anyone has a chance to see it please add a comment.
http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/pandoras-promise-wins-nuclear-converts/
P.S. I believe nuclear is too expensive however the film debunks the green scams which will completely change the climate war. As the green parties truly irrationally hate nuclear, if they and the public realize that soft energy has zero chance of replacing carbon based fuels, they relook at the science of AGW and the AGW question: Lukewarm or Dangerous warming? . Ironically if there is no dangerous increase in temperature due to AGW, CO2 is the best friend of ‘green’ parties. It is a crazy world we live in.
This is very interesting. Some group is bring facts to the climate discussion. It appears that ignoring reality/facts does not change reality/facts. The following facts (After spending $100 billion on solar power, solar power only provides 5% of the electrical power for Germany.) which explains why the cost of power in Germany if 40% higher than the US and would explain why Germany is constructing coal fired power plants.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323716304578482663491426312.html
Going Green? Then Go Nuclear
We’re environmentalists, but pretending that solar power is ready for prime time is delusional.
….The cost of building and operating the Finnish nuclear plant over the next 20 years will be $15 billion. Over that time period, the plant will generate 225 terawatt-hours (twh) of electricity at a cost of 7 cents per kilowatt hour. …. …. Since 2000, Germany has heavily subsidized electricity production from solar panels—offering long-term contracts to producers to purchase electricity at prices substantially above wholesale rates. The resulting solar installations are expected to generate 400 twh electricity over the 20 years that the panels will receive the subsidy, at a total cost to German ratepayers of $130 billion, or 32 cents per kwh.
In short, solar electricity in Germany will cost almost five times more for every kilowatt hour of electricity it provides than Finland’s new nuclear plant.
Over its 60-year lifetime—which can be extended by relicensing—the Finnish plant likely will generate more electricity than Germany’s solar panels ever will. That’s because solar panels only have an expected lifetime of 25 to 30 years and lose about a half a percent of their efficiency every year. Compared over their full lifetimes, the Finnish plant will produce power at a cost of about 4 cents per kwh, while Germany’s solar panels will produce electricity at a cost of 16 cents per kwh.
Does that mean we should give up on solar? Of course not. Thanks to several decades of public support, solar panels have gotten better and cheaper. Continuing efforts to develop better panels deserve our support. But the insistence that solar is ready to play a major role in meeting our energy needs today is both delusional and irresponsible.
Messrs. McKibben and Kennedy, for instance, have boasted that on one day in 2012 half of Germany’s electricity came from solar. They neglect to mention that it was a cool and sunny day over a weekend, when demand was unusually low. The real story is much more sobering. In 2012, solar generated less than 5% of Germany’s electricity despite a decade and over $100 billion spent in subsidies.
W. Astley, there are places on this planet where solar is probably going to be a reasonable power source in some form. Germany, half of which is farther north than I am in Canada, is not one of those places. I know from personal experience that we simply do not have enough hours of sunlight in a day during the times we most need power, and what hours we do get the sun is very low, diminished further by passing through more atmosphere.
It boggles me that people are STILL trying to make commercial scale solar power using the same solar cell technology that failed so miserably in the 70s, with only minor updates. Same deal with bird slicing windmills. The only “natural” power source that has been in any way reliable is hydro, and that’s completely off the table for the greens. Then again, even that has been screwed up on an epic scale in China.
The scary part is that nuclear is a proven, reliable, safe power source… once they stop building 1940’s type reactors. It’s not like we need the output from the reactors for weapons anymore, and the ban on reprocessing simply HAS to be re-thought.
As always, SEPP, thanks for posting this summary. It may not get a lot of comments but is an extremely valuable encapsulation of current events.
CodeTech says:
May 27, 2013 at 3:04 am
“It boggles me that people are STILL trying to make commercial scale solar power using the same solar cell technology that failed so miserably in the 70s, with only minor updates. ”
Cost is key. Independent of subsidation, technology and process advances halfed cost of a Wattpeak once per decade. Lately experience curve effects have accelerated that a little.
I am republishing this comment from an article concerning the miserable cold conditions being complained about in a Drudge linked article;
Polyphemos • 11 hours ago
“In one billion years, it will be ten degrees warmer on Earth, on average, assuming that solar hydrogen to helium conversion remains relatively constant, but then, that’s a guess, too. Then, there’s that pesky CO2 spill-off from the atmosphere that nobody accounted for and the oceanic cleansing of CO2. It’s also possible that another 1,000 mile long vent could open up in Russia and cloud the air with sulfuric acid and 109° evenings for a couple of hundred years. Or the Yellowstone Park caldera could give it up and we could have ten thousand years of glaciers and -50° evenings. There are also real questions about WHO are gathering the CO2 information and how their statistical methodology is structured. The historical time lapse satellite video shows CO2 growing and ebbing each year rather than growing year by year.
The one thing that cannot happen, is that humans can cause enough pollution to match the natural pollution from the planet more than 1% per year.
Of course there is climate change. We’ve had it since 4.3 Billion YA. And we will have it until the sun eats the Earth in another few billion years, or until Andromeda collides with the Milky way in a Billion and a half years.
What won’t change is that there will always be desperate students kissing the butts of kingly professors whose tenures are hanging by threads, themselves, and who need to defend their ridiculous climate theories to questioning peers.”
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/05/25/a-wet-and-miserable-start-to-memorial-day-weekend/#respond
Regarding commercial scale solar power, DirkH says “Cost is key.”
I respectfully differ:
Getting the sun to shine at night is key.
As the IPCC is a propaganda department for the UN, it’s future and utility as a means of furthering their Agenda 21 goals needs to be assessed. As most people outside the UN do not want Agenda 21 as soon as they find out what it entails, then we seriously need to push for defunding and killing this department. As long as the member countries fund the UN, they can kill programs and departments—they just have to unite against the UN bureaucracy
PMHinSC says:
May 27, 2013 at 6:33 am
That’s just plain stupid! If they got the sun to shine at night, when would NASA be able to land there? Duhhh!
I am continually perplexed by the claim of alarmists that it is easier and cheaper to address temperature change early when all the laws of thermodynamics say the greater the differential the more efficient the process. If they were truly all about the science they should be advocating until the last possible moment. Where’s the science?
Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects.
Can you image the floodgates that signing up to actual take “action” would open ? Just like not being a little bit pregnant, once they signon, they would be no end to the demands.
They should have used the appropriate acronym here: German Federal Office of Environment (German FOE). Just sayin’