The Week That Was: 2024 04-20 (April 20, 2024)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Without liberty, law loses its nature and its name, and becomes oppression. Without law, liberty also loses its nature and its name, and becomes licentiousness.” — James Wilson (1790)
Number of the Week: 5.6 billion gallons of water
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: Professors Lindzen, Happer, and Koonin have an essay asserting, with evidence, that carbon dioxide is essential for complex life on Earth and limiting emissions of greenhouse gases can result in mass starvation. Professor Howard Hayden discusses the failure of “climate scientists” to speak up when politicians make huge errors in presenting science. Independently, Jim Steele had a discussion showing the difference between the energy emitted by the surface of Earth and that going to space. Ron Clutz brings up a perceptive essay by Richard Lindzen on how academic and politicized science are deteriorating. Mark Mills discusses the “magical thinking” required to believe that the claimed energy transition will be easy or cheap.
**********************
Essential for Life: The CO2 Coalition published a paper by Professors Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and Steven Koonin on the importance of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) for life on Earth. Amazingly, the UN, Washington, and the EPA rail against CO2 claiming imaginary harms it is causing including extreme weather events that have existed since the beginning of time. Such organizations demand that CO2 emissions be limited or eliminated for heating, cooking, lighting, and transportation. Yet they fail to recognize that without CO2 complex life will cease to exist.
Having created great false fears of nuclear power and with hydropower limited, these organizations offer no viable alternative for CO2 emitting fossil fuels that has been demonstrated, particularly for providing reliable, affordable electricity, the great gift of modern civilization to humanity. Wind and solar are expensive add-ons that fail to provide electricity twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty-five days a year. The failure of these politicized organizations to understand what they lack, and the parroting by the once skeptical press are breathtaking.
The new paper, “Fossil Fuels and Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Climate Science” is divided into four sections, which are outlined on the first page (upper case is written)”
“I. THERE WILL BE DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES FOR THE POOR, PEOPLE WORLDWIDE, FUTURE GENERATIONS AND THE WEST IF FOSSIL FUELS, CO2 AND OTHER GHG EMISSIONS ARE REDUCED TO “NET ZERO”
A. CO2 is Essential to Our Food, and Thus to Life on Earth
B. More CO2, Including CO2 from Fossil Fuels, Produces More Food.
C. More CO2 Increases Food in Drought-Stricken Areas.
D. Greenhouse Gases Prevent Us from Freezing to Death
E. Enormous Social Benefits of Fossil Fuels
F. “Net Zeroing” Fossil Fuels Will Cause Massive Human Starvation by Eliminating Nitrogen Fertilizer
II. THE IPCC IS GOVERNMENT CONTROLLED AND THUS ONLY ISSUES GOVERNMENT OPINIONS, NOT SCIENCE
III. SCIENCE DEMONSTRATES FOSSIL FUELS, CO2 AND OTHER GHGs WILL NOT CAUSE CATASTROPHIC GLOBAL WARMING AND EXTREME WEATHER
A. Reliable Science is Based on Validating Theoretical Predictions With Observations, Not Consensus, Peer Review, Government Opinion or Cherry-Picked or Falsified Data
B. The Models Predicting Catastrophic Warming and Extreme Weather Fail the Key Scientific Test: They Do Not Work and Would Never Be Used in Science.
C. 600 Million Years of CO2 and Temperature Data Contradict the Theory That High Levels of CO2 Will Cause Catastrophic Global Warming.
D. Atmospheric CO2 Is Now “Heavily Saturated,” Which in Physics Means More CO2 Will Have Little Warming Effect.
E. The Theory Extreme Weather is Caused by Fossil Fuels, CO2 and Other GHGs is Contradicted by the Scientific Method and Thus is Scientifically Invalid
CONCLUSIONS”
The paper presents physical evidence of its assertions in graphs and citations that support the assertions. For example, the massive increase in cereal food production really began around 1950 with the widespread use of nitrogen fertilizer, which is being condemned by political officials and “environmental organizations” for producing nitrous oxide, a minor greenhouse gas. In effect, these individuals and organizations are promoting mass starvation.
The conclusions state:
“In our scientific opinion as career scientists:
1. CO2 is essential to life on earth. Without CO2, there would be no plant food and thus no human or animal life. And more CO2, results in more food for people worldwide and in drought-stricken areas.
2. There will be disastrous consequences for the poor, people worldwide, future generations and the West if fossil fuels, CO2 and other GHG emissions are reduced to “net zero,” including mass starvation and loss of reliable and inexpensive energy.
3. The IPCC is government controlled, and thus provides government opinions, not science.
4. Science demonstrates fossil fuels, CO2 and other GHG emissions will not cause catastrophic global warming and extreme weather.
5. There are enormous social benefits from fossil fuels, including cheap inexpensive energy and nitrogen fertilizer that feeds nearly half the world.”
Whether such a clearly written paper by accomplished physical scientists can penetrate through the fog of Washington is not known. It is doubtful the EPA cares that it is promoting mass starvation. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
**********************
Deliberate Omission and Ignorance: The past two TWTWs covered the work of Ed Calabrese who demonstrated that the accepted linear no threshold model (LNT) was based on ignoring contradicting physical evidence that demonstrated that humans naturally resist low doses of radiation and repair themselves. It is the dose rate that is important, not the total dose. For example, assume Mary and Jane are identical twins. Mary takes two weeks off, goes to a tropical island where she spends a half-hour each midday sunbathing and comes back with a gorgeous tan after a total exposure of 7 hours. Jane goes to the same island. To get her tan quickly, on the first day she spends 7 hours in the sun getting the same total dose Mary did. Jane comes back with third degree burns. Jane’s body did not have time to heal from the dose rate of exposure, though the total exposure was the same as Mary’s.
In climate science, omission of critical data is a common practice. Another common practice is ignoring data that is inconsistent with the pet theory – deliberate ignorance. In an essay published in The Energy Advocate AMO physicist Howard Hayden discusses a number of examples of deliberate ignorance by so called “climate scientists” who are popular in the press. He begins with the most glaring example – ignoring the satellite-based temperature data published monthly by the Earth Science Center team, University of Alabama, Huntsville. Hayden begins (Figure 1 omitted here but in the linked website):
“Look up the climate for a certain place you’d like to visit, and you’ll find long-term averages of temperature, rainfall, snowfall, humidity, and the like. Properly, ‘long-term’ implies at least 30 years.
When climatologists talk about ‘the climate,’ they refer to such data averaged all over the planet. Phenomena such as a hot spell in New England, a whole season of hotter weather than average in the Great Plains, or ‘atmospheric rivers’ causing unusual flooding in California are local weather events, not changes in local climate, and certainly not changes in planetary climate.
Figure 1 shows the worldwide temperature anomaly as measured by satellite. There is an abrupt rise in mid-2023, coincident with the El Niño; the surface temperature of the tropical Pacific (120º west to 165º west) rose 3ºC between October 2022 and December 2023. La Niña conditions are expected to return by July or August.
Have a close look at Figure 1. In 30 years, there are 360 monthly data points. About 7 of them are in the current peak. How much effect on the 30-year average do they have? They raise the average by about 0.015ºC.
There is another way of looking at Figure 1. From December 1979 until December 2009 is 30 years. From then until December 2039 will be another 30 years. That is, by the end of 2039, there will be a total of two (count them: 2) climate data points in the satellite record.”
Brief History
Given the amount of sunlight reaching the surface of the earth and the approximately known average temperature, scientists in the late 1800s were able to deduce that the surface was warmer than it ‘should be,’ so they correctly concluded that the atmosphere played an important role. With crude measurements of IR intensities, they concluded that absorption by H2O and CO2 contributed to the surface heat.
Historical climatology has many sources of information, such as records of crop failures and abundances, cave writings in China, and depictions on walls in pyramids. Paleontology tells of large mammals living in the Arctic. Fossils of huge ferns and dinosaur bones also tell about climate. More modern measurements of oxygen and hydrogen isotopes in ice cores present a history of climate temperature. Carbon dating, combined with tree-ring dating, provides us with a history of the solar wind. In the words of the late Canadian climatologist Tim Ball, ‘Climate is a generalist subject.’
All of the above was just a scientific endeavor, an academic pursuit. For many people, awareness of the climate began with Al Gore’s 2006 movie An Inconvenient Truth, so we’ll begin our story there. One of the iconic pictures showed Mr. Gore parading in front of a huge screen that showed a graph of the temperature of the earth and the atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration going up and down together for the better part of a million years. He implied that even a fool could see that changes in CO2 caused the temperature to change. The messages for the public were that (A) the world is rapidly becoming hotter and (B) that CO2 from human activities is the cause of the climate disaster.
It requires no special knowledge of climate, but curious scientists would surely ask these questions:
- Where did the CO2 come from to cause the temperature to rise?
- Where did the CO2 go to cause the temperature to fall?
- What caused the CO2 changes in the first place?
Where were the ‘climate scientists?’
Were these simple questions raised by James Hansen, Michael Mann, Gavin Schmidt, Kevin Trenberth, Katherine Hayhoe, Phil Jones, or any other notable ‘climate scientist’ known to the news media?
Not a chance.
Historical climatologists have long known the history behind the temperature graph. A Serbian mathematician and astronomer named Milutin Milankovitch (1879-1958) studied the graph and concluded that it was composed of several different cycles. The prominent one lasted 100,000 years. Second in importance was a cycle of 43,000 years, and the third was one of 24,000 years.”
As Milankovitch knew, these were the periodicities of some important aspects of the earth. The shape of our orbit around the sun varies from almost circular to a more elliptical shape, characterized by a number called the eccentricity, with a period of 100,000 years. The earth’s axis of spin (the line running through the south and north poles) is presently tilted about 23.5º but that angle changes by about a degree each way with a period of 43,000 years. The angle is called the obliquity. Finally, that axis sweeps around a huge circle, rather like that done by a spinning top, with a period of 24,000 years. The process is called precession.
We will leave the details to astronomers. What is important is that Milankovitch, along with later scientists, succeeded in matching the historical swings in temperature with the Milankovitch cycles, concentrating on how much sunlight there was at 65º north latitude. All of this was known to climatologists at the time Mr. Gore produced An Inconvenient Truth. We heard not a peep from the “climate scientists.” Where were the “climate scientists”?
When one sees a correlation between A and B, the natural question to ask is, “Does A cause B, does B cause A, does something else cause A and B, or is the correlation accidental?” In the case of CO2 and climate in the ice record, that answer is partially answered by a close look at the data. In this case, the CO2 changes occurred after the temperature changes; therefore, the CO2 changes cannot be the cause of the temperature changes.
Hayden cites the physical evidence supporting his assertion that Mr. Gore’s claims are erroneous and his movie is terribly misleading. Yet, the climate scientists popular in the press remain silent and often vilify those who speak out.
Hayden continues by giving a commonly accepted description of temperature levels and carbon dioxide levels over 600 million years, showing there is no correlation between them. There have been misleading efforts made to claim a correlation by showing specific points in the record of, say 65 million years, but over time there is no correlation in the entire 65-million-year record.
Hayden concludes by discussing the greenhouse effect as shown by the difference between the radiation (infrared radiation (IR)) emitted by the surface and that going to space. He writes (Figure 3 omitted here but in the linked website):
“In brief, the essence of the greenhouse effect is that the IR leaving the surface follows the blackbody curve, a smooth graph of intensity versus wavelength, but the spectrum of IR going to space is a jagged curve with bites of the blackbody spectrum taken out at the wavelength bands of H2O, CO2, O3, and two even more minor gases NO2 and CH4. In a simple drawing, the question is how the atmosphere changes the spectrum, as shown in Figure 3.
The details of the spectral change need not concern us here but let us ask what scientific courses in college or graduate school would be required to learn how to analyze that spectral change. A course in atmospheric spectroscopy answers part of the question: what GHGs absorb how much IR in what wavelength bands?
Knowing the spectral details of the GHGs is not enough, however. There is also IR emission by the GHGs to contend with, and both absorption and emission are temperature- and pressure-dependent. These matters are to be found in a course in Statistical Mechanics, a high-level thermodynamics course.
It is a rare university Department of Climatology or Meteorology that offers either subject listed. Expertise in Spectroscopy and in Statistical Mechanics is far more likely to be found in the departments of Physics and Chemistry.
When we hear of the ‘97% consensus’ about climate, and ‘everybody agrees,’ the reference is to ‘climate scientists’ who have been properly trained in departments of Climatology or Meteorology, especially if they publish articles. Actual experts in the subjects relevant to the infrared spectrum (such as, but not limited to, William Happer and William van Wijngaarden) are not considered ‘climate scientists,’ even if their list of scientific publications is as long as your arm.”
Climate science as broadcast by the press and repeated by government officials at the UN and in Washington is full of deliberate omissions and ignorance. There is no climate crisis, climate emergency or threat to life. Government energy policies are based on ignorance, not knowledge. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and under Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer for “The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth’s Atmosphere.”
**********************
Trust the Science: In his low-key style, Jim Steele presents a clear summary of the importance of understanding the difference between the radiation energy emitted by the surface of Earth (and other bodies in space that are not undergoing fusion such as the sun) and the radiation going to space from Earth. That radiation has passed through the atmosphere. The difference between the two sets of radiation energy keeps Earth warm enough at night to support life. When reading his work, it is important to remember that when Steele is discussing science, he is referring to physical science not climate science which omits critical parts of physical science. Steele writes (emphasis in original, graphs omitted here):
“Satellite data proves the greenhouse effect is real. The heat absorbed from the sun must be balanced by infrared heat escaping back to space. However, some wavelengths of infrared heat are absorbed by greenhouse gases and redirected back towards the earth. That has slowed the earth’s rate of cooling and enables the habitable temperatures of today.
But most scientists also believe the lower atmosphere is now saturated with CO2. [The physica evidence of saturation is very strong.] Adding more CO2 will have little to no further warming effect. Furthermore, greenhouse gases have a cooling effect in the upper atmosphere. The climate crisis narrative pushed by some scientists argues that increasing levels of CO2 from burning of fossil fuels will continue to warm the earth by trapping more (Outgoing Longwave Radiation – OLR) infrared heat. Based on the greenhouse effect, that theory is plausible. But the scientific evidence refutes it.
Satellites can now measure how much OLR is escaping to space. If the climate crisis narrative is true, more CO2 would trap more OLR, so less OLR escaping to space should be detected.
But since 1985, satellites have detected that OLR had increased by about 2 W/m2 by 2018. (Watts per meter squared, W/m2, a Watt is a measure of energy per second) [a Watt is a unit of heat (energy) flux, one joule per second]. That observed increasing OLR either means [either] heat is more easily escaping, or the earth is heating via another dynamic.
Since 1980, CO2 concentrations have increased from 338 parts per million to 410 ppm. That means rising CO2 should have theoretically trapped and REDUCED OLR adding 1.02 W/m2 of heat [retained by the atmosphere]. Instead, we observe increasing OLR and that refutes the crisis narratives.
Satellites have also measured a decrease in global cloud cover by over 7%. That allows greater solar heating (graphic B). Fewer clouds better correlates with a warming of the earth and an increase in OLR.”
Simply, most of the warming that the UN, NOAA, NASA-GISS, EPA, etc. claim to be caused by increasing CO2 is coming from other sources. For the entire essay with its clear graphs see the link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
Perceptive Essay: Ron Clutz brings attention to a perceptive essay that Richard Lindzen wrote in 2009, “Climate Science: Is it Currently Designed to Answer Questions?” The question still applies today. the answer was and is – No! The abstract of the lengthy paper states:
For a variety of inter-related cultural, organizational, and political reasons, progress in climate science and the actual solution of scientific problems in this field have moved at a much slower rate than would normally be possible.
Not all these factors are unique to climate science, but the heavy influence of politics has served to amplify the role of the other factors. By cultural factors, I primarily refer to the change in the scientific paradigm from a dialectic opposition between theory and observation to an emphasis on simulation and observational programs. The latter serves to almost eliminate the dialectical focus of the former.
Whereas the former had the potential for convergence, the latter is much less effective. The institutional factor has many components. One is the inordinate growth of administration in universities and the consequent increase in importance of grant overhead. This leads to an emphasis on large programs that never end. Another is the hierarchical nature of formal scientific organizations whereby a small executive council can speak on behalf of thousands of scientists as well as govern the distribution of ‘carrots and sticks’ whereby reputations are made and broken. The above factors are all amplified by the need for government funding.
When an issue becomes a vital part of a political agenda, as is the case with climate, then the politically desired position becomes a goal rather than a consequence of scientific research. This paper will deal with the origin of the cultural changes and with specific examples of the operation and interaction of these factors. In particular, we will show how political bodies act to control scientific institutions, how scientists adjust both data and even theory to accommodate politically correct positions, and how opposition to these positions is disposed of.
There is no “dialectic opposition between theory and observation” in climate science that allows for convergence of ideas. Thanks to political emphasis and billions of dollars, climate thinking has become more divorced from observational evidence than ever before. The physical science that resolved the issues of an earth-centered universe or a solar centered planetary system is lost in today’s politics and western academic institutions.
This lack a dialectic opposition is demonstrated by the claims in “The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness” released by New York University. It states:
“Which animals have the capacity for conscious experience? While much uncertainty remains, some points of wide agreement have emerged.
First, there is strong scientific support for attributions of conscious experience to other mammals and to birds.
Second, the empirical evidence indicates at least a realistic possibility of conscious experience in all vertebrates (including reptiles, amphibians, and fishes) and many invertebrates (including, at minimum, cephalopod mollusks, decapod crustaceans, and insects).
Third, when there is a realistic possibility of conscious experience in an animal, it is irresponsible to ignore that possibility in decisions affecting that animal. We should consider welfare risks and use the evidence to inform our responses to these risks.”
The leading the list authors of the Declaration is a Professor of Philosophy, York Research Chair in Animal Minds, York University. In addressing “climate change,” humans are to take into consideration the welfare of insects? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Below the Bottom Line.
**********************
Beyond Washington: Mark Mills has a realistic essay of the enormous costs of energy transition, “When Politics and Physics Collide: The belief that mandates and massive subsidies can summon a world without fossil fuels is magical thinking.” Mills applies critical thinking not magical thinking and writes about Net Zero advocates:
“They imagine the ‘market’ will rapidly produce new and better technologies that conquer lithium batteries’ aversion to cold, the limits of photovoltaic efficiencies, or the staggering energy-intensity of fabricating solar silicon, which requires about 100 times more energy per pound than steel. The last fact matters because of China’s 90 percent market share in producing solar silicon on its coal-fired grids.” [Boldface added]
Further, the earth-moving requirements in mining and processing the needed elements are enormous. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
**********************
Number of the Week: 5.6 billion gallons of water. The requirements for the fast growing high-tech, “clean tech” data centers are being reported by few in the media. The Epoch Times has an unusual article, “How Big Tech Is Consuming America’s Electricity and Water: Cloud computing’s demand for electricity strains a grid that is already predicted to feature power shortages and routine rolling blackouts in the coming years.”
According to the article:
“Data warehouses consumed 17 gigawatts of electricity in 2022, or about 4 percent of total U.S. consumption. This is projected to double to 35 gigawatts by 2030.”
“Google, for example, reported that it consumed 5.6 billion gallons of water in 2022, primarily to cool its data centers. This was a 20 percent increase over what it used in 2021.” The discharge of the water is not mentioned.
TWTW has been aware of the enormous requirements of data centers for clean (variation free), reliable power but not the water for cooling. No wonder some developers are looking at establishing data centers under the sea. See links under Energy Issues – US.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Science: Is the Sun Rising?
How we know that the sun changes the Climate. Part I: The past
By Javier Vinós, Climate Etc., Apr 18, 2024
“The Sun provides 99.9% of the energy that the climate system receives. So, there have always been scientists who thought that variations in the Sun were the cause of climate change. The problem is that they never had enough evidence to prove it. Until now.”
Censorship
Facebook Censorship due to a Science Feedback “Fact Check”
By Andy May, WUWT, Apr 14, 2024
Ever More Audacious Efforts To Suppress Mainstream Conservative Speech
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Apr 18, 2024
The rational of one of three mayors of Brussels that tried to shut down a conference featuring international speakers: “…but also focused on the defense of ‘national sovereignty’, which implies, amongst other things, a ‘Eurosceptic’ attitude…. He also said that some of the speakers ‘are reputed to be traditionalists’ and that the conference must be banned ‘to avoid foreseeable attacks on public order and peace’.”
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-fossil-fuels/
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming/
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer
The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth’s Atmosphere
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, Mar 3, 2023
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Fossil Fuels and Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) Climate Science
By Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and Steven Koonin, CO2 Coalition.org, April 2024
Why So Obsessed with Decarbonizing?
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Apr 18, 2024
Link to report: Climate Science: Is it Currently Designed to Answer Questions?
By Richard Lindzen, 2009, Via Global Research, Nov 8, 2021
Where Were the “Climate Scientists?”
By Howard Hayden, The Energy Advocate, April 2024
(Link may not work using google chrome)
Net Zero CO2 Emissions: A Damaging and Totally Unnecessary Goal
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Apr 18, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Spencer uses data from Mauna Loa (including other locations) to calculate a CO2 “sink rate” from nature absorbing CO2 for photosynthesis. Then develops a model showing that the sink rate greatly slows CO2 accumulation.]
When Satellites Refute the Climate Crisis Narratives, Trust the Science!
By Jim Steele, WUWT, Apr 18, 2024
When Politics and Physics Collide
The belief that mandates and massive subsidies can summon a world without fossil fuels is magical thinking.
By Mark P. Mills, City Journal, Apr 17, 2024
Microplastics, Global Greening, & the Dangers of Radical Alarmism
By Patrick Moore, WUWT, Apr 17, 2024
Video
Twisted Tree Heartrot Hill Revisited
By Stephen McIntyre, Climate Audit, Apr 18, 2024
“In any event, PAGES2K did not use the Melvin signal-free version – which went to 1999 and incorporated a decline after 1975. As noted above, PAGES2K reverted to the measurement data version already obsolete in Mann et al 1998, but in a novel version. At present time, the provenance and exact methodology of the PAGES2K calculation is unknown.”
[SEPP Comment: With the climate community, poor science never dies.]
Defending the Orthodoxy
Down to two
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
“It’s the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, one Simon Emmanuel Kervin Stiell. And he’s not the sort to yell that we only have ten years to fix the problem. Heavens no. Instead, Reuters tells us: ‘U.N. climate chief says two years to save the planet’. And it is characteristic of climate journalism, or what now passes for it, that in reporting these remarks it did not occur to Reuters to ask even a sympathetic fellow alarmist whether this plan seemed practical.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Paradox of extreme cold events in a warming world
Warm Arctic-Cold Continent events are expected to intensify until the 2020s but decline post-2030s, impacting the global weather dynamics
Press release: GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology) , Apr 17, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kesphire]
Link to paper: From peak to plummet: impending decline of the warm Arctic-cold continents phenomenon.
By Yungi Hong, et al., Nature, NPJ Climate and Atmospheric Science, Mar 11, 2024
[Comment by Richard Courtney: “The Summary of the article says, ‘The Warm Arctic-Cold Continent (WACC) phenomenon is the puzzling combination of Arctic warming and extreme coldness in specific mid-latitude regions. However, the progression of WACC events remains unclear amidst global warming.’
and
‘Scientists have now predicted a sharp decline in the WACC phenomenon post-2030s, affecting extreme weather events.’
How is it possible for any scientist(s) to predict a phenomenon will decline decades in the future when the ‘progression’ of the phenomenon ‘remains unclear’?” [Boldface added]
38 trillion dollars in damages each year: World economy already committed to income reduction of 19 % due to climate change
Press release: Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Apr 17, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: The economic commitment of climate change
By Maximilian Kotz, Anders Levermann & Leonie Wenz, Nature, Apr 17, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Begin with the false assumption that climate models make accurate projections of future temperatures, then pile it on. Exaggerations upon exaggerations.]
CO2 worsens wildfires by helping plants grow
The greenhouse gas is a floating fertilizer
Press release, University of California – Riverside, Apr 16, 2024 [H/t Apr 16, 2024
Link to paper: Enhanced future vegetation growth with elevated carbon dioxide concentrations could increase fire activity
By Robert J. Allen, et al., Nature, Communications: Earth & Environment, Jan 27, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Impeccable logic. Without CO2, no photosynthesis; without photosynthesis, no combustible material; thus, no wildfires.]
Plastics industry heats world 4 times as much as air travel, report finds
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, Apr 14, 2024
“The industry releases about four times as many planet-warming chemicals as the airline industry, according to the paper from scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.”
[SEPP Comment: No report from the laboratory or the federal government.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
New Study Unveils Global Warming’s 65-Year-Old ‘Evaporation Paradox’ Problem
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Apr 18, 2024
Link to paper: Observed decreasing trend in pan evaporation in a tropical rainforest region during 1959–2021
By Yan Jin, et al., Journal of Plant Ecology, Feb 1, 2024
From the abstract: “In order to identify the main meteorological factors influencing Epan, complete data from the D20 pan monitoring period, namely, 1979–2008, were selected for attribution calculations. The variations in the net radiation and saturated vapor pressure deficit are the main triggers that explain the ‘evaporation paradox’ phenomenon in Xishuangbanna.”
From Wikipedia: “Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), founded in 1959, is located in Mengla County, Xishuangbanna at 21º55′ N, 101º15’E, covering an area of 1125 ha. Over 13,000 species of tropical plants are preserved in its 35 living collections, including over 301 families and 2110 genera”
Climate purity
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
“See it’s not about what works. It’s about a moment of visionary bliss…”
Let’s talk backlash
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
But also, that this [climate] “consensus” was always more imaginary than real. Ordinary people may have been bullied into silence, or lulled into it, by a complacent and economically ignorant ruling class, but it’s not the same as buying into the concept.
The Spectator is Right, Climate Alarmist Messaging is Harming People
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, Apr 12, 2024
#GettingWorse: Global GHG emission trends
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
“Emission trends in the real world are not getting worse, and they don’t provide any support for more and more costly climate policy.”
Mandating social changes to achieve net zero emissions is a fool’s game!
By Ronald Stein, America Out Loud, Mar 15, 2024
Energy & Environmental Review: April 15, 2024
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, Apr 15, 2024
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Why ‘the dam would break’ if Shell quit the FTSE
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 15, 2024
FTSE is the London Financial Times Stock Exchange
Falling weather delays undermine rail chief’s climate warning
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 13, 2024
Seeking a Common Ground
Grid Reliability Crisis Collides With Rising Power Demand
By Staff, National Mining Association, Apr 10, 2024
The Politics and Policy of a National Climate Emergency Declaration
By Roger Pielke Jr., AEI, April 18, 2024
Science, Policy, and Evidence
UK Crippled by Own Climate Policy (Darwall)
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Apr 14, 2024
Video of Rupert Darwall, Keynotes:
“Britain is in a deep in a growth trap and we’ll remain in this growth trap. You know someone says if you’re in a hole stop digging. What we’re doing with Net Zero, we’re just digging harder and harder.”
Measurement Issues — Surface
ClimateTV – U.S. Surface Temperature Measurements Redux: Still Not Fit for Purpose
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 19, 2024
Video
More Ocean Temperature Data, and Explanations – One Tree Island
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Apr 18, 2024
Changing Weather
The 2023 Hurricane Season
By Paul Homewood, The Global Warming Policy Foundation, 2024
How Global Cooling Threatened The World’s Food Supply
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 19, 2024
A Drier Than Normal Spring over the Pacific Northwest
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Apr 13, 2024
Sahel Monsoon Rains
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 19, 2024
Changing Climate
Warm and wet vs cold and dry South African historic responses
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
From the CO2Science Archive
Coldest, Wettest & Stormiest – The Good Old Days Before Global Warming
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 18, 2024
“By the 1970’s, the Earth had experienced three decades of declining temperatures, which Hubert Lamb described as “longest-continued downward trend since temperature records began”.
Many will be aware that the coldest winter on record in the US was that of 1978/79, more than 1F colder than any other year.”
ClimateMovie Fact Check: the Holocene
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
Comprehensive Russian Temperature Reconstruction Shows Warmer Temperatures 1000 Years Ago!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 14, 2024
Global Cooling wipes out Elephant Seals and Penguin colonies from warmer Antarctica, 1,000 years ago
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 17, 2024
Link to paper: Widespread southern elephant seal occupation of the Victoria land coast implies a warmer-than-present Ross Sea in the mid-to-late Holocene
By Brenda L. Hall, et al., Quaternary Science Reviews, Mar 1, 2024
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
In hot ancient Rome, it’s not the heat but the cold times that align with plagues
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 19, 2024
Link to paper: Climate change, society, and pandemic disease in Roman Italy between 200 BCE and 600 CE.
By Karen Zonneveld, et al, AAAS Science Advances, Jan 26, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Another paper with data that perhaps slipped past the editors? To speculate, perhaps cold periods were times of food shortages, weakening the population, making them more susceptible to diseases.]
Changing Seas
Global Warming Causes “Deadly Marine Cold Spells”
By David Middleton, WUWT, Apr 17, 2024
Link to paper: Climate change-driven cooling can kill marine megafauna at their distributional limits
By Nicolas Lubitz, et al, Nature Climate Change, Apr 15, 2024
From the abstract: “Increasing upwelling could result in ‘bait and switch’ situations, where climate change expands subtropical species’ distribution, while simultaneously exposing climate migrants to an increased risk of cold-mortality events at poleward distributional limits.”
Stark White – Fields of Bleached Acropora, Great Keppel Island
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Apr 20, 2024
“According to Alison Jones’s book about the Keppel Island reefs:
In the shallow waters of Keppel Bay, coral bleaching on a mass scale has been infrequent and reef recovery has usually been fast.
‘Mass bleaching was recorded in Keppel Bay in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2020, with minor bleaching in between. There are also earlier unofficial reports by local fishermen of bleaching in 1983 and 1987.’
She also writes that:
‘Keppel Bay’s reefs can recover rapidly from bleaching because of the excellent growth rates of this branching species. After the catastrophic 2002 bleaching episode, coral cover increased rapidly, reaching 81 percent in 2004, the highest coral cover ever documented.’
Of course, bleaching has occurred over the millennia. It is just that scuba, and more specifically underwater photography, is a recent technology and the politicization of corals even more recent.”
Wrong Algae & Friendly Fishes, Shelving Beach Reef
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Apr 20, 2024
“I was rather alarmed at all the algae. Not the good micro algae, the zooxanthellae, that live in the polyps of healthy corals. Rather, much of this reef was being lost to the macro algae that come after coral bleaching, smothering the corals.”
Water Temperatures, Central Great Barrier Reef & Aren’t the Oceans Warming
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, Apr 14, 2024
“I was at John Brewer reef earlier in the month, and so I checked the AIMS (Australian Institute of Marine Science) water temperature data for this location. The most up-to-date information is to February 7, 2024, and has been measured at 9 metres. It begins February 1, 2016, thus giving us some information on the last 8-9 summers.”
“I am not holding up this data as evidence the entire world is cooling, or that our cities are cooling, but this data is certainly inconsistent with what the Climate Council and others are claiming…”
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Still Surplus Arctic Ice Mid April 2024
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Apr 16, 2024
Antarctica Is Colder, Icier Now Than Any Time In 5000 Years. The Last Warm Period Was 1000 Years Ago.
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Apr 15, 2024
Link to latest paper: Prokaryotic richness and diversity increased during Holocene glacier retreat and onset of an Antarctic Lake
C. Piccini, et al., Nature, Communications Earth & Environment, Feb 21, 2024
From abstract: “Finally, from 2650 to 1070 years before the present, we inferred the onset of a genuine lacustrine environment holding stable Carbon/Nitrogen ratios and the highest prokaryotic diversity, with known aquatic bacterial taxa. Our study unveils for the first time the evolution from a glacier-covered to a freshwater lake through a millennial scale.”
Lowering Standards
A Huge DEI Establishment is Undermining the University of Washington
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Apr 15, 2024
“UW admissions must make decisions based on merit and achievement, such as the SAT and GRE and grades, and not on race or ethnicity. The UW must return to the core American principles of equality and individual worth.”
Man Made Global Warming
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 14, 2024
Is Washington State REALLY In a Drought Emergency?
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Apr 18, 2024
“On Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Ecology declared a DROUGHT EMERGENCY for nearly the entire state.
As I will describe below, this really doesn’t make sense. Facts on the ground, meteorological observations, and common sense suggest that this declaration is simply wrong.
But you decide after reviewing the facts.”
We’ll all be weathered in our beds
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
“Speaking of venerable publications that have lost their balance on climate, and there are so many to choose from, what about The Economist, whose arch skepticism of yore seems to have succumbed to what Canadian commentator Jonathan Kay in a different context called a takeover by ‘the lib-art-college they/thems’ and ceased to engage with or even acknowledge diverse viewpoints or potentially uncomfortable hard logic?”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
A Generation Lost to Climate Anxiety
By David Zaruk, Real Clear Wire, Apr 11, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
The essay begins: “In a far-reaching new essay in The New Atlantis, the environmental researcher Ted Nordhaus makes a damning and authoritative case that while the basic science of CO2 and climate is solid…”
[SEPP Comment: The basic case is a hyperbole. Hyperboles are not solid evidence.]
L A Times Cherry Picks & Misrepresents NOAA Climate Data to Exaggerate March 2024 U.S. and Global Temperature Outcomes
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, Apr 18, 2024
What Heatwave?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 14, 2024
BBC’s Coral Propaganda
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 16, 2024
Claim: Climate Change is Driving Impoverished Californians to use “Predatory” Payday Loans to Pay Energy Bills
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 16, 2024
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
Wrong, ProPublica, Climate Change Is Not Causing Hurricanes, Wildfires, or Migration
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 17, 2024
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Telegraph’s Fake Whale Story
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 14, 2024
They Never Used To Have Heatwaves in Mali!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 18, 2024
Why Worry About Facts, Sky?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 18, 2024
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
AEP Away With The Fairies Again
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 19, 2024
Scientists Warn of Massive Ocean Problem: ‘We’re In the Disaster Movie’
By Anna Skinner, Newsweek, Apr 16, 2024
Questioning European Green
Net Zero Watch applauds Humza Yousaf’s climate leadership
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Apr 18, 2024
“Campaign group Net Zero Watch has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to abandon its decarbonisation targets.”
Rees Mogg On UN Climate Alarm
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 12, 2024
Video
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Exit Stage Right: Investors Are Bailing On Green Funds
By Nick Pope, Daily Caller, Via WUWT, Apr 15, 2024
Mike Lee Leaves Biden’s Energy Sec Flummoxed With Simple Question About Climate Agenda
By Nick Pope, Daily Caller, Apr 16, 2024
“[Senator] Lee asked [Energy Secretary Jennifer] Granholm how much the administration’s ‘net-zero’ agenda will bring down global temperatures over time if realized in full, but Granholm could only manage to describe the broader purpose of the ‘net-zero’ agenda rather than specific projections for changes in global temperatures.”
Green Jobs
New York Shows Off Its Expertise In Central Planning: The Buffalo Billion
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Apr 15, 2024
[SEPP Comment: How many politically promoted “high paying green jobs” after great government expense turn into few actual low paying jobs.]
Non-Green Jobs
Rise And Fall Of The German Economy… Energy Debacle Leading To Economic Meltdown
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 16, 2024
“The number of Germany’s corporate insolvencies in March reached the highest level on record, new data reveal. It’s the Great Green Energies economic debacle.”
“Analysts say the main driver behind the dire trend are Germany’s exorbitantly high energy costs, mostly due to the country’s mismanaged foray into green energies – like wind and solar – and the transition away from affordable and stable conventional energy sources like natural gas, coal and nuclear power.”
Eco-Loons War on Productive Working Class
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Apr 12, 2024
Litigation Issues
Court jesters
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 17, 2024
Link to decision: CASE OF VEREIN KLIMASENIORINNEN SCHWEIZ AND OTHERS v. SWITZERLAND
European Court of Human Rights, Apr 9, 2024
“…is also 260 brain-numbing pages long. If you can find anywhere in it an actual remedy ordered by the court, let us know.”
“Besides, what’s Switzerland meant to do? Invade China, burn down its coal plants, and capture and bury the resulting emissions?”
“As it turns out, the so-called European Court of Human Rights is part of the ‘Council of Europe’. Which is not the ‘European Council’ and has nothing to do with the ‘European Commission’ or any of that rhubarb but is instead ‘an international organization with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe’.”
ECHR Climate Verdict: the Court vs. the Swiss People
By Michel de Rougemont, Real Clear Energy, April 18, 2024
See link immediately above.
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
The heat pumps scandal has gone on for too long. End subsidies now
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 15, 2024
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Multi-Pollutant Emissions Standards for Model Years 2027 and Later Light-Duty and Medium-Duty Vehicles
A Rule by the Environmental Protection Agency on 04/18/2024
Th Federal Register, Effective June 17, 2024
EPA declares 2 forever chemicals are ‘hazardous,’ putting polluters on the hook for cleanup
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Apr 19, 2024
[SEPP Comment: No evidence, just we don’t like it from an authoritarian government agency.]
Here’s what new LED lightbulb standards mean for American households
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 16, 2024
“The Department of Energy (DOE) has projected the rule will result in about $27 billion in total savings and prevent the release of 70 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over a 30-year period.”
[SEPP Comment: How much more do the new lightbulbs cost and can they be used in all fixtures?]
EPA issues waiver allowing higher-ethanol gas to be sold this summer
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 19, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Who pays for the additional damage corrosive high ethanol gasoline may cause?]
Energy Issues – Non-US
EU To Spend Trillions On Net Zero Grid Expansion
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 12, 2024
Surge Pricing For Power On The Way
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 17, 2024
“And be under no illusions. When surge pricing still fails to reduce demand by enough, the sledgehammer will come out, and appliances will be turned off without us having any choice in the matter.”
Smart meters could soon cost you a whole lot more
Surge pricing is a desperate policy
By Ross Clark, The Spectator, Apr 17, 2024
“I see the name of the UK’s Department of Energy has been changed to Department of Energy Security and Net Zero. No one seems to have noticed that those two goals are antithetical.”
AI & Data Center Load Growth: On-Site Generation, Not Government Planning
By Mark Krebs and Tom Tanton, Master Resource, Apr 17, 2024
How Big Tech Is Consuming America’s Electricity and Water
Cloud computing’s demand for electricity strains a grid that is already predicted to feature power shortages and routine rolling blackouts in the coming years.
By Kevin Stocklin, The Epoch Times, Apr 18, 2024
Link to report: Virginia’s Data Centers and Economic Development
The state’s fast-growing data center industry continues to build on its early advantages
By John Mullin, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Econ Focus, Second Quarter 2023
TVA to Replace Iconic Kingston Coal Plant With 1.5-GW Modern Complex
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, apr 3, 2024
“The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has moved to retire its iconic 1.3-GW Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee in 2027 and replace it—with notable urgency—with a 1.5-GW modern complex featuring a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, aero-derivative turbines, 100 MW of battery storage, and up to 4 MW of solar generation.”
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden administration bars drilling on millions of acres in Alaska
By Rachel Frazin and Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 19, 2024
Report: Biden has taken over 200 actions against US oil
By Bethany Blankley, The Center Square, Apr 15, 2024
Link to report: 200 Ways the Biden Administration and Democrats Have Made it Harder to Produce Oil & Gas
By Thomas Pyle, IER, Mar 7, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Suppressing the bright part of the economy that does not require subsidies which increase the Federal deficit.]
The Incredible Dumbness of Biden’s War on LNG, Part Deux
By David Middleton, WUWT, Apr 18, 2024
New Electric Truck Regulation Just as Bad as EV Mandate
By Kristen Walker, Real Clear Energy, April 15, 2024
Nuclear Energy and Fears
The Connecticut Nuclear Data Center Controversy Exposes Tech Giant Renewable Hypocrisy
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 19, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Green power v. more power.]
Goofy Greens and Regulators Threaten Nuclear Revival
By Duggan Flanakin, Real Clear Energy, April 16, 2024
[SEPP Comment: From Beyond Coal, to Beyond Natural Gas, now Beyond Nuclear. Is Beyond Energy next?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
2023 was record year for wind installations: Research
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 16, 2024
“Meanwhile, last week the Interior Department announced a final rule that will cut costs to develop wind and solar power on public lands, with the department estimating the rule will cut fees about 80 percent.”
[SEPP Comment: Why are subsides, tax credits, needed?]
Clearing the air: Wind farms more land efficient than previously thought
Press release by Katherine Gombay, McGill University TechXplore, Apr 7, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: Land Resources for Wind Energy Development Requires Regionalized Characterizations
By Tao Dai, et al., Environ. Sci. Technol. Mar 4, 2024
Opening sentence of press release: “Wind power is a source of energy that is both affordable and renewable.”
[SEPP Comment: If wind power is affordable, why does it need huge subsides and preferential treatment? Because it is unreliable?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Aerospace experts design liquid hydrogen-powered jet that can travel halfway around world with no layover: ‘A pivotal moment’
The largest of the crafts designed by the project would be twice the size of a Boeing 737.
By Rick Kazmer, TCD, Mar 15, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
The U.K. Government reported in 2021 that the project had £15 million (about $19 million) of funding to research the FlyZero craft, and more money will be needed to bring the vision to fruition. The project summary concluded that an experimental hydrogen-powered, transatlantic aircraft is “feasible” by 2030, when other hydrogen projects are also expected to be near completion.
[SEPP Comment: The Hindenburg II?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Is a BAN on Home Batteries in Lofts Coming?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 15, 2024
Video: New guidance stating that home storage batteries should be outdoors and not in any locations such as lofts, attics and require a fire resistance barrier.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
China’s dangerous battery monopoly
By David Wojick, CFACT, Apr 15, 2024
How Green Energy, EVs Actually Endanger America
By Larry Bell, Newsmax, Apr 5, 2024
EVs Head for Junkyard as Mechanic Shortage Inflates Repair Costs
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 16, 2024
Electric car demand plunges across Europe
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 18, 2024
Germany Electric Car Sales Plummet 30% As Country Floats Idea Of Weekend Driving Ban!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 13, 2024
California Dreaming
Glut in Californian home-solar causes bubble to pop: sales down 75%
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 16, 2024
“California was the Land of Solar Panels at the top of the Magic Subsidy Tree but that boom went bust.”
California’s Unprecedented Mega-Permadrought
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Apr 14, 2024
California water regulators put major farming area on ‘probation’
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Apr 17, 2024
“Citing multiple deficiencies in the Tulare Lake basin’s groundwater sustainability plans, the State Water Resources Control Board made the decision to toughen usage restrictions and reporting requirements in this southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley.”
California water regulators adopt nation’s first standard for ‘Erin Brockovich’ compound
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, Apr 18, 2024
Link to: California’s MCL for Hexavalent Chromium Is Based on a Flawed Process and Outdated Science that Will Undermine State and Local Water Affordability Initiatives
By Staff, American Chemistry Council, Apr 18, 2024
From ACC: “The State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for hexavalent chromium was not developed in the manner intended, and required, by the California Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Among the fundamental requirements of the SDWA is that a drinking water standard be adopted through a transparent, multi-step process that starts with a risk assessment based on the best available science, includes external peer review of the scientific portions of the proposed standard, meaningfully engages the public, and results in a drinking water standard that is protective of public health without imposing unnecessary costs on water system operators or rate payers.
[SEPP Comment: No physical evidence, but the movie says…!]
Other Scientific News
The 2024 Solar Eclipse: What’s All the Fuss About?
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Apr 17, 2024
“At that point, it is (in my opinion) possible with the naked eye to perceive a dynamic range greater than any other scene in nature: from direct sunlight of the tiny “diamond” to the adjacent night sky with stars.”
Other News that May Be of Interest
Biden administration finalizes long-delayed rule on silica dust exposure
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 16, 2024
“Under the final rule, the exposure limit will be lowered to 50 micrograms per cubic foot (50 μg/m3) of air over the course of an eight-hour shift. It also requires metal and nonmetal mine operators to create medical surveillance programs similar to those in place for coal miners.”
Specious Species: Coywolves & Coydogs
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, Apr 17, 2024
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
It’s ‘irresponsible’ to ignore widespread consciousness across animal world, dozens of scientists argue
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, Apr 19, 2024
Link to: The New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness
Press release by New York University, Apr 19, 2024
The @billmckibben Integrity Test
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 17, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Cloud seeding gone bad?]
Climate Change to cost $38 gazillion dollars every ten minutes, right after I retire say all The Experts
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 18, 2024
ARTICLES
Biden Piles Sanctions on Alaska
As the election nears, he’s blocking oil drilling and mining in the state.
By The Editorial Board, April 19, 2024
TWTW Summary: The editorial illustrates how clueless Washington is with the energy and mineral needs of the energy transition it is promoting; It begins with:
“Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan likes to quip that the Biden Administration has imposed more sanctions on Alaska than he has on Iran. He has a point. On Friday the Administration further restricted oil, gas and critical mineral development in the Last Frontier State.
The Interior Department blocked new oil and gas leasing on 13.3 million acres in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve. Congress expressly set aside the region in 1923 for oil and gas development, but the Administration ignores this and says drilling would disturb the Arctic’s ‘natural wonders.’ Yet energy development and environmental protection aren’t mutually exclusive.
President Biden issued a statement saying he is honoring the ‘culture, history, and enduring wisdom of Alaska Natives.’ That’s also false. His restrictions are opposed by local indigenous leaders.
Interior on Friday also denied a permit for a 211-mile road necessary to develop the Ambler Mining District, which is one of the world’s richest deposits of copper, cobalt, gallium, germanium and other critical minerals. The Trump Administration granted the permit, but Biden officials used a lawsuit by green groups to reconsider and veto the project.
The Administration’s policy contradictions are dizzying. Critical minerals are key to its climate agenda and national defense. The Inflation Reduction Act subsidizes critical mineral development to reduce U.S. reliance on the Chinese. Last year, amid escalating tensions, China cut off exports to the U.S. of gallium, which is critical to computer chip-making.
The Administration is heavily subsidizing chip-making factories, supposedly to bolster national security and U.S. manufacturing. Yet now Mr. Biden is effectively shutting down one of the country’s biggest critical mineral deposits that would do both.”
The article cites objections from on Democratic representative then concludes with:
All of this punishment for Alaska comes as the Administration eases sanctions on Venezuelan oil production and fails to enforce oil sanctions on Iran. Meantime, the Russians and Chinese are increasing investment in Arctic oil, gas and mineral development. If Alaska were a dictatorship hostile to U.S. interests, it would get better treatment. Alas, it’s merely a U.S. state that doesn’t vote for Joe Biden.
