Weekly Climate and Energy News Roundup

Quote of the Week:

Sherlock Holmes: “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts”. From: “Scandal in Bohemia” A. Conan Doyle. [H/t Jim Johnson]

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Number of the Week: 14,570

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THIS WEEK:

By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

COP-17: Early Sunday morning news reports (eastern US) state that the attendees of 17th Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) reached an agreement to agree to another international agreement controlling carbon dioxide emissions by 2015 with the controls starting in 2020. The agreement angered the representatives of less developed nations who expected to start receiving massive payments from more industrialized nations for past and future carbon dioxide emissions. Yet, they retain hope for such payments as a separate agreement was concluded to fund a guide for such payments in the future.

Given that carbon dioxide is essential for green plants and most other forms of life, and that enhanced atmospheric carbon dioxide is a boon to agriculture, perhaps the lesser developed nations should be paying the industrial nations for the service they are providing rather than trying to extort money from the service providers when they are receiving the service.

No doubt the agreement is welcome news to the oligarchy (borrowing a term from Roger Pielke, Sr.) that controls the reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which attempt to prove, unsuccessfully, that carbon dioxide emissions are the principal cause of global warming. Now that global warming is no longer occurring the term has morphed into climate change. How increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide causes a cooling is still a mystery.

The agreement to agree gives hope to the bureaucrats of the UN who desperately desire an independent source of funds for which they are not accountable. International bureaucrats believe it is simply not dignified to be forced to justify expenditures to political bodies such as Congress, which are accountable to the public they represent.

The agreement gives hope to promoters of unreliable and expensive wind and solar generated electricity. As the subsidies in the US are reaching termination, the promoters will no doubt argue that their inferior products are needed in the future when controls of carbon dioxide emissions may or may not be subject to international control.

Citizens of the West should be thankful for the representatives from China and India who are very concerned about the economic future of their citizens and insisted on vague terms in the enforceability of any agreements. Clearly, they are more responsive to the needs of their citizens than representatives of many developed nations, such as, those of the European Union. Please see Article # 1 and links under COP-17.

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Argumentum ad hominem: No international conference of global warming advocates, such as COP-17, is complete without personal attacks on global warming skeptics who Senator Barbara Boxer declared endanger humanity. Often the work of the skeptics is labeled as “cherry-picking” or “disinformation” without specifics and even though such activities frequently appear in the work of the global warming oligarchy.

Emphasizing facts that contradict sweeping generalizations is not cherry-picking. Tim Ball gives a classic example of cherry-picking by Ben Santer of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in an effort to defend his revision of the text of the IPCC Second Assessment Report (AR-2) after peer review to include the claim that global climate is being influenced by humans. Subsequently, Nature magazine published an article by Santer with a graph indicating increasing atmospheric temperatures. However, the graph only showed a segment of the atmospheric data and when all the data was included there was no indication of increasing temperatures.

Students of propaganda recognize that disinformation comes from a Russian term describing the activities of Soviet agents in spreading intentionally misleading information. It is also called black propaganda. Michael Mann’s hockey-stick, so prominent in the Summary for Policymakers of the Third Assessment Report (AR-3) of the IPCC, can be so identified. What was not clear at the time was that tree-ring proxy data for temperatures were clipped when they were joined with instrument data. As revealed in the Climategate emails, ably presented by Steve McIntyre, the proxy data diverge from the instrument data, thus making the tree-ring data unsuitable as a proxy for instrument data.

Interestingly, in his defense of the hockey-stick at the fall conference of the American Geophysical Society (AGU) Mann continued a program of disinformation. His abstract states: I attempt to use the Hockey Stick to cut through the fog of disinformation that has been generated by the campaign to deny the reality of climate change. This clearly misstates the position of most global warming skeptics who recognize that climate change is normal and natural. Please see links to comments by Tim Ball and Judith Curry under “Climategate Continued,” and “Seeking a Common Ground.”

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AGU: Roger Pielke Sr. points out that, at the fall conference under its new leadership, the AGU is apparently politicizing science.

Also, Pielke has a link to a conference in India that included global warming skeptics. Please see links under “Defending the Orthodoxy,” and “Questioning the Orthodoxy.”

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FERC: The mission statement of the US Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) declares: “Mission: Reliable, Efficient and Sustainable Energy for Customers. Assist consumers in obtaining reliable, efficient and sustainable energy services at a reasonable cost through appropriate regulatory and market means.” FERC has apparently abandoned this mission in favor of expensive, unreliable electricity from wind power. It ordered the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in the Pacific Northwest, to take power from wind farms even though BPA has an excess of reliable hydroelectric power at far lower costs to its customers.

FERC is also ignoring its responsibilities of protecting regional grids from possible disruption and power outages that may come about as EPA regulations force the shut-down of coal fired power plants. Giving some cover to the irresponsibility of FERC, the Department of Energy (DOE) issued a study that can be politely described as a “puff-piece.” It looked at the issue of grid reliability from the standpoint of the nation as a whole rather than by the various regions. That is, a shortage of electricity in the Southeast can be counter-balanced by an excess in the Pacific Northwest – as if the transmission of this electricity over some 2500 miles using power lines that do not exist is not an issue. Under questioning by members of Congress, a DOE official admitted that a more detailed study is needed. Please see Article # 4 and links under “EPA and other Regulators on the March”

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Number of the Week: 14,570. According to an estimate by Willis Eschenbach posted on the Anthony Watts web site, that is the number of attendees at COP-17. Approximately 40% represented nongovernment organizations (NGOs), mostly environmental groups, not counting the environmentalists included as government representatives. Please see the link under “Environmental Industry.”

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ARTICLES:

For the numbered articles below please see this week’s TWTW at:

http://www.sepp.org…

The articles are at the end of the pdf.

1. Nations Chart New Course Toward Climate Pact

By Patrick McGroarty, WSJ, Dec 11, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…

2. Subsidizing Wall Street to Buy Chinese Solar Panels

By T.J. Rodgers, WSJ, Dec 8, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…

3. Exxon Declares Gas King

Abundant Fuel Expected to Dethrone Coal as Top U.S. Power Generator by 2025

By Tom Fowler, WSJ, Dec 8, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…

4. If the Lights Go Out

Regulators are letting EPA compromise U.S. electric reliability.

Editorial, WSJ, Dec 6, 2011 [H/t Tim Wise]

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB1000142…

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NEWS YOU CAN USE:

Climategate Continued

Climategate (Part II)

A sequel as ugly as the original.

By Steven Hayward, The Weekly Standard, Dec 12, 2011

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/climat…

Early Signs of CRU/IPCC Corruption and Cover-up

By Tim Ball, His Blog, Dec 6, 2011

http://drtimball.com/2011/early-signs-of-crui…

“Not Unusual”: AR5 and Climategate 2.0

By Steve McIntyre, Climate Audit, Dec 6, 2011

http://climateaudit.org/2011/12/06/climategat…

Comments On The Global Warming Policy Foundation Report “The BBC and Climate Change: A Triple Betrayal”

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

UN seeks to undermine FOI

By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Dec 6, 2011

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/1…

[SEPP Comment: According to the email, some NOAA and NASA employees want UN protection from Freedom of Information requests.]

UEA’s latest wheeze

By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Dec 7, 2011

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/1…

Suppression of climate debate is a disaster for science

By Margaret Wente, Global and Mail, CA, Dec 1, 2011

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/…

Cicerone on Climategate

By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Dec 4, 2011

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/1…

Leaked emails confirm climate change questions

By Staff Writers, ABC Newcastle, AU, Dec 5, 2011 [H/t ICECAP]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-12-05/leaked-…

Suppressing Scientific Inquiry

Blocked Sea-Level Research Probed

By Imre Saluszinsky, The Australian, Dec 4, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.thegwpf.org/science-news/4488-bloc…

Challenging the Orthodoxy

Global temperature evolution 1979-2010

By David Whitehouse, The Observatory, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/the-observatory/4502-g…

[SEPP Comment: See link immediately below.]

Global temperature evolution 1979-2010

Grant Foster and Stefan Rahmstorf, Environmental Research Letters, Dec 6, 2011

http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/6/4/04402…

[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]

Defending the Orthodoxy

Advocacy of a Particular Climate Science Perspective by a Panel Sponsored By The American Geophysical Union

By Roger Pielke Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Dec 6, 2011

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

The four individuals who have been selected to “communicate” the AGU view of climate science are certainly welcome to express their individual views. However, they are presenting only one perspective of climate science. Any objective person who has knowledge of the climate system will immediately see this bias. However, those who are less familiar with the science issues will be misinformed by their perspectives. The AGU, by permitting this communication, is further losing its prestige as an objective framework to present scientific findings with respect to climate. This AGU panel is presenting the Democratic viewpoint which I discussed yesterday.

Chris Huhne: Britain should lead the world in cutting carbon emissions

Chris Huhne has called for Britain to lead the world in cutting carbon emissions, setting himself on a collision course with George Osborne, the Chancellor.

By Louise Gray, Telegraph, UK, Dec 5, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/…

Climate Change – Is David Attenborough Right?

By John Porritt & Nigel Lawson, Radio Times, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/the-climate-record/452…

… scientists observing real-time phenomena around the world point to one inescapable conclusion: the climate is changing faster than anyone imagined possible even a few years ago.

[SEPP Comment: Apparently Attenborough is not familiar with the historic record for the past 20,000 years such as from Greenland ice cores.]

Advocacy group’s extreme weather map brings climate change home

An interactive map produced by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows 2,941 record-breaking weather events recorded across the U.S. from January through October. Credit: Natural Resources Defense Council

By Dean Kuipers, LA Times, Dec 8, 2011

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/20…

[SEPP Comment: Extreme weather events are commonplace when considering the globe. Hurricane Irene was not a hurricane when it struck the US.]

COP-17 meeting in Durban

Durban: what the media are not telling you

By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, Dec 9, 2011

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/09/durban-…

[SEPP Comment: The goal is a brave new world.]

US senators urge ambitious climate deal

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 5, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/US_senators…

[SEPP Comment: Fifteen out of one hundred.]

Sen. Boxer to climate-change deniers: ‘You are endangering humankind’

By Andrew Restuccia, The Hill, Dec 7, 2011 [H/t Timothy Wise]

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/1978…

Waiting on climate is ‘escapism’: top UN scientist

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Waiting_on_…

[SEPP Comment: According to Pachauri, head of the IPCC, waiting for climate change is escapism? Has there been a time when it has not changed?]

Durban climate change talks: false text diverts race to reach deal

COP17 president issues official denial of fake negotiating text sent to delegates trying to seal last-minute agreement

By Fiona Harvey and John Vidal, Guardian, UK, Dec 10, 2011 [H/t Marc Morano, Climate Depot]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/de…

Questioning the Orthodoxy

Summary Report on International Conference on Climate Change: Shifting Science and Changing Policies

By Roger Pielke Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Dec 4, 2011

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

[SEPP Comment: A conference that emphasized issues that are largely ignored by the climate alarmists and attendees of COP-17.]

New Report: The BBC and Climate Change: A Triple Betrayal

By Staff Writer, GWPF, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/press-releases/4520-ne…

More U.N. Insanity Paid For By U.S. Taxpayers

By Larry Bell, Forbes, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.forbes.com/sites/larrybell/2011/12…

The Pathetic State Of Science Journalism

By David Whitehouse, GWPF, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/opinion-pros-a-cons/45…

Climate of corruption

By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, AU, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-plane…

When Your Paycheque Depends on a Climate Crisis

By Donna Laframboise, NFC, Dec 8, 2011

http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2011/12/08/whe…

U.S. Rejection of CO2 Emission Cuts: Just Do the Math (16% and falling ….)

By Chip Knappenberger, Master Resource, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.masterresource.org/2011/12/us-co2-…

Time for some Kyoto honesty

By Tom Harris, Winnipeg Free Press, Dec 5, 2011

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/west…

Alfred Wegener Institute Deputy Director, Veteran Polar Scientist: “We Have A Light Cooling Trend”

By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec, 4, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://notrickszone.com/2011/12/04/antarctic-…

Questioning European Green

Soaring Cost of Green Policies to Reach £11BN

By Dean Herbert, Scotland Express, Dec 8, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/288609…

Climate Change Policies Put Fuel Poor In Jeopardy

By Staff Writers, Renewable Energy Foundation, Dec 2, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.ref.org.uk/press-releases/243-clim…

UN-backed coal power station linked to deforestation and land grabbing

By Luke Starr, Ecologist, Nov 29, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysi…

The Polar Bear Affair (Part 1001)

By Ben Pile, Climate Resistance, Dec 9, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/best-of-blogs/4523-ben…

Expanding the Orthodoxy

World must learn to ‘manage the planet’: UNEP chief

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/World_must_…

[SEPP Comment: What hubris! Perhaps the UN should start by managing volcanoes rather than controlling people.]

Seeking a Common Ground

Climate change uncertainties

By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.scientific-alliance.org/scientific…

Whatever the case, the fact that we are no more certain about how the climate operates now than when the IPCC first started surely means that lack of a strong agreement in Durban is no immediate cause for concern.

Science communication

By Judith Curry, Climate, Etc. Dec 9, 2011

http://judithcurry.com/2011/12/09/science-com…

Why the decision to tackle global warming isn’t simple

By Judith Curry, Climate Etc, Dec 5, 2011

http://judithcurry.com/2011/12/05/why-the-dec…

Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?

World heading for 3.5 C warming, climate talks told

By Staff Writers, AFP Dec 6, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/World_headi…

Three-quarters of climate change is man-made

Independent study quantifies human influence on global warming.

By Quirin Schiemeier, Nature, Dec 4, 2011

http://www.nature.com/news/three-quarters-of-…

[SEPP Comment: The article is accompanied by a typical propaganda photo of invisible carbon dioxide darkening the skies.]

Comments On The Nature Article “Three-Quarters Of Climate Change Is Man-Made” By Quirin Schiermeier

By Roger Pielke, Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Dec 9, 2011

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]

Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.

Paleoclimate Record Points Toward Potential Rapid Climate Changes

By Patrick Lynch, NASA, Dec 8, 2011 [H/t Anthony Watts, WUWT]

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/rap…

[SEPP Comment: Even during the melting of the great ice sheets at the end of the last ice age sea levels did not rise at the rate Hansen is projecting.]

An Ethical Analysis of the Climate Change Disinformation Campaign: Is This A New Kind of Assault on Humanity?

By Donald Brown, Climate Ethics, Penn State, Dec 2, 2011

http://rockblogs.psu.edu/climate/2011/12/an-e…

[SEPP Comment: Is it ethical for an ethics professor to judge the ethics of others when he obviously knows little about their scientific or ethical views?]

Models v. Observations

Upper Ocean Heat Content Change By Bob Tisdale

By Roger Pielke Sr, Pielke Climate Science

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

1. The latest analyzed heat anomaly is the highest in the period of record since the Argo Network obtained robust global coverage.

2. The current heat anomaly is still well below that predicted by the GISS model.

3. The current muted heating presumably still falls within the envelope of model realiziations.

4. In order to return to being in close agreement with the GISS results and the ensemble mean of the Katsman and van Oldenborgh study, there must be a significant heating in the coming several years.

Misleading Climate Science – An Example Of Multi-Decadal Regional Climate Predictions With No Demonstrated Skill On That Time Scale

By Roger Pielke, Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Dec 9, 2011

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

[SEPP Comment: The US Department of Interior wasting money by funding misleading studies.]

Measurement Issues

November Global Temperature Update Delayed

By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Dec 9, 2011

http://www.drroyspencer.com/2011/12/november-…

The Impact of Urbanization on Land Temperature Trends

By Zeke Hausfather, et al, WUWT, Dec 5, 2011

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/05/the-imp…

[SEPP Comment: The post includes a map of urban and rural stations.]

Changing Weather

All-Time Weather Record to be Broken

By Joe D’Aleo, WeatherBell Analytics, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.weatherbell.com/weather-news/all-t…

[SEPP Comment: Probably will not make it in the new map of extreme weather events by the global warming alarmists of NRDC.]

Blocking the way

Predicting the atmospheric detours that lead to weather trouble

By Bob Henson, UCAR, Sep 8, 2011 [H/t Roger Pielke Sr.]

https://www2.ucar.edu/magazine/features/block…

Candid Admission By UCAR – “Blocking The Way – Predicting The Atmospheric Detours That Lead To Weather Troubles”

By Roger Pielke, Sr, Pielke Climate Science, Dec 8, 2011

http://pielkeclimatesci.wordpress.com/2011/12…

[SEPP Comment: See above linked article.]

Global Winds Could Explain Record Rains, Tornadoes

By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Dec 5, 2011

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/…

[SEPP Comment: Joe D’Aleo suggested a similar relationship, prior to the tornado outbreak in April.]

Scotland lashed by monster storm

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Scotland_la…

A wind turbine in Ayrshire, southwest Scotland, was destroyed after bursting into flames.

For photo of the wind turbine see: Windy days, Bishop Hill, Dec 8, 2011

http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2011/1…

Changing Climate

Simultaneous ice melt in Antarctic and Arctic

By Staff Writers, SPX, Dec 06, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Simultaneou…

[SEPP Comment: 19,000 years ago.]

Chinese 2,485 year tree ring study shows natural cycles control climate, temps may cool til 2068

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 9, 2011

http://joannenova.com.au/2011/12/chinese-2485…

[SEPP Comment: It is speculative to make predictions of temperatures from historic tree rings.]

Ancient Dry Spells Offer Clues About the Future of Drought

By Adam Voiland and Maria Jose-Vinas for Goddard Space Flight Center, SPX, Dec 09, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Ancient_Dry…

[SEPP Comment: Historic regional rain fall may be used to understand regional trends, but historic temperatures are ignored by the global warming alarmists.]

This Science Is All At Sea

By Doug Hoffman, The Resilient Earth, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.thegwpf.org/science-news/4507-this…

[SEPP Comment: Atmospheric blockings influence regional climate.]

Changing Seas

Rising credulity

The truth about sea levels? They’re always fluctuating

By Nils-Axel M?rner, Spectator, UK, Dec 3, 2011

http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/7438683/ris…

Australian sea level rises exaggerated by 8 fold (or maybe ten)

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 6, 2011

http://joannenova.com.au/2011/12/australian-s…

Changing Sea Ice

Tropical sea temperatures influence melting in Antarctica

By Staff Writers, SPX, Dec 08, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Tropical_se…

[SEPP Comment: Overall the ice in Antarctica is expanding.]

Changing Earth

Research Study Show Link Between Earthquakes and Tropical Cyclones

New study can help scientists identify regions at high risk for earthquakes

Press Release, Univ. of Miami, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.rsmas.miami.edu/news-events/press-…

[SEPP Comment: San Francisco may be an exception.]

Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine

What is the Contribution of Fossil Fuels to Feeding Humanity?

NIPCC Reports, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/…

[SEPP Comment: A critical question totally ignored by climate alarmists.]

Climate Smart Agriculture

By Judith Curry, Climate Etc, Dec 4, 2011

http://judithcurry.com/2011/12/04/climate-sma…

Litigation Issues

Washington doesn’t need to regulate rain

Supreme Court has a chance to stop judicial folly

By Jim Petersen, Washington Times, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/…

[SEPP Comment: Another inane decision by the courts favoring the environmental industry over common sense.]

Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes

Carbon Credits Turning ‘Junk’ as Ban Shuts Door: Energy Markets

By Dinakar Sethuraman and Natalie Obiko Pearso, Bloomberg, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/…

Subsidies and Mandates Forever

Democrats push extension of expiring green energy grants

By Ben Geman, The Hill, Dec 8, 2011

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/1980…

Clean-energy policies create jobs, and Congress should take note

Editorial, Boston Globe, Dec 5, 2011

http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/201…

[SEPP Comment: Raising electricity rates and lowering the disposable income of the general public may create jobs for a few, but lowers the level of prosperity for the general public.]

EPA and other Regulators on the March

EPA says ‘fracking’ probably contaminated well water in Wyoming

The agency’s new draft report finds dangerous amounts of benzene in a well near the town of Pavillion. The finding is sure to roil the debate over the controversial natural gas drilling process known as hydraulic fracturing.

By Neela Banerjee, LA Times, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/natio…

The Pavillion wells are shallower than ones in the mid-Atlantic states, and the fracking is done vertically. [SEPP Comment: These wells were drilled before the adaption of the new techniques of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing far below the water table.]

EPA Puts Forth Reconsidered Boiler MACT Rule

By Staff Writers, POWERnews, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4214.html?h…

U.S. Agency Is Ordered to Change Wind Rules

By Matthew Wald, NYT, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/business/en…

[SEPP Comment: A FERC special: the Bonneville Power Administration must accept unneeded wind power that raises electricity costs to the consumers.]

Republican asks EPA to prove it isn’t exaggerating greenhouse gas figures [from natural gas systems]

By Ben Geman, The Hill, Dec 7, 2011

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/1977…

[SEPP Comment: A more correct headline would have been: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Issa asked EPA to substantiate a doubling of estimates of methane emissions from natural gas systems.]

DOE Reliability Report: EPA Rules Will Create No Resource Adequacy Issues

By Staff Writers, POWERnews, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4215.html?h…

Energy Department plans new grid reliability effort as EPA rules loom

By Ben Geman, The Hill, Dec 8, 2011

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/1981…

The Lizard or Your Livelihood

By Marita Noon, Townhall, Dec 4, 2011

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/marita…

Councils become climate experts too. (Now big-government insanity comes from small councils)

By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 10, 2011

http://joannenova.com.au/2011/12/councils-bec…

Among the options Port Macquarie Hastings Council is considering to combat dire predictions of sea level rises in the suburb over the next 50 to 100 years is a “planned retreat” – the forced eviction of waterfront residents as a pre-emptive measure.

[SEPP Comment: In the name of public health and safety, governments justify terrifying power.]

Energy Issues

Inside America’s Energy-Export Boom: 10 Key Insights

By Bob Evans, Forbes, Dec 4, 2011 [H/t GWPF]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2011/12/04/in…

Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?

Oil industry says crude far from depleted

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Oil_indus…

The New North Dakota: Shale Oil Takes Off in Colorado

By Staff Writers, IER, Dec 1, 2011 [H/t Warren Wetmore]

http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/201…

Tapping our energy potential

New domestic energy discoveries and extraction techniques promise prosperity

By Ed Feulner, Washington Times, Nov 5, 2011 [H/t Warren Wetmore]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/…

Energy Revolution In Oil, Gas May Create Economic Boom

By Victor Davis Hanson, IBD, Dec 8, 2011

http://news.investors.com/Article.aspx?id=594…

Shale-Gas Drilling to Add 870,000 U.S. Jobs by 2015, Report Says

By Jim Efstathiou Jr, Bloomberg, Dec 6, 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-06/shal…

[SEPP Comment: The study was commissioned by America’s Natural Gas Alliance.]

Canada approves major oil sands expansion

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 8, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Canada_ap…

China Hits It Big With Shale Gas

By Walter Russell Mead, American Interest, Dec 8, 2011 [H/t Timothy Wise]

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/20…

Oil Spills & Consequences

US hits BP with five Gulf spill violation charges

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/US_hits_B…

Brazil orders Chevron to shut down production well

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 1, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Brazil_or…

[SEPP Comment: A precaution with the discovery of hydrogen sulfide.]

Nuclear Energy and Fears

Earthquake not a factor in Fukushima accident [direct factor]

By Staff Writers, WNN, Dec 2, 2011

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Earthqua…

Within an hour of the earthquake, however, almost the entire site was submerged to a depth of up to nine metres by a series of tsunami waves.

Let the People of Fukushima Go Home and Get Back to Work

The science does not support the panic.

By Theodore Rockwell, American Spectator, Dec 6, 2011

http://spectator.org/archives/2011/12/06/let-…

Nuclear Agency Moving to Tighten Plant Safety

By Deborah Solomon, WSJ, Dec 6, 2011

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…

Mr. Jaczko also said budget constraints may force the agency to slow down license renewals and requests by plants to make changes, such as operating at higher power levels.

[SEPP Comment: Realistic improvements for safety are understandable, slowing down permitting is not.]

Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy

European offshore wind installed capacity to grow 17-fold

By Staff Writers, Wind Energy Update, Dec 5, 2011

http://social.windenergyupdate.com/uncategori…

[SEPP Comment: More trouble for the Euro.]

The dark side of green energy

When governments dream, taxpayers pay

By Terence Corcoran, Financial Post, Dec 5, 2011

http://opinion.financialpost.com/2011/12/05/t…

Solar power much cheaper to produce than most analysts realize

By Staff Writers, Study from Queens College, Kingston, Canada (SPX), Dec 09, 2011

http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Solar_power…

[SEPP Comment: More important than the cost of the panel is the total cost of reliable production of electricity.]

Spain: Bungled wind policy backfires

An attempt to pass a crippling wind energy law in the run-up elections in Spain has the hallmarks of a bungled government shot at shoring up the interests of big utilities.

By Jason Deign, Wind Energy Update, Dec 2, 2011

http://social.windenergyupdate.com/

[SEPP Comment: The bungled wind policy was instituting a wind policy in the first place.]

Power Scarcity Renews Concerns about Electric Reliability in Texas

By Staff Writers, POWERnews, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/4219.html?h…

US Navy in big biofuel purchase

By Staff Writers, AFP, Dec 5, 2011

http://www.biofueldaily.com/reports/US_Navy_i…

[SEPP Comment: Perhaps the Navy will demand that the next generation of jet aircraft burn corn or algae directly.]

UK PM confirms support for offshore wind

By Staff Writers, Wind Energy Update, Dec 5, 2011

http://social.windenergyupdate.com/uncategori…

According to Department of Energy & Climate Change, the UK needs around £200bn of investment in new energy infrastructure to help reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and boost our energy security.

$36 billion in loans to renewable energy technologies

Summary of loans

Washington Post, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/renewa…

For Obama’s green-car revolution, fits and starts

By Carol Leonnig and Joe Stephens, Washington Post, Dec 7, 2011

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-ob…

Obama’s Electric Car Dream Short-Circuits

Editorial, IBD, Dec 8, 2011

http://news.investors.com/Article/594198/2011…

Carbon Schemes

Stanford scientists subject rocks to hellish conditions to combat global warming

By Mark Shwartz for Stanford University, SPX, Dec 07, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Stanford_…

“About 60 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from power plants, refineries and other industries,” said Sally Benson, professor (research) of energy resources engineering at Stanford.

[SEPP Comment: Less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions are caused by humans.]

California Dreaming

At $100 billion, Californians have 2d thoughts about high-cost, high-speed rail

By Andrew Malcolm, IBD, Dec 7, 2011

http://news.investors.com/Article/593972/2011…

[SEPP Comment: A slight miscalculation by the political promoters.]

Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC

For a full list of articles see

http://www.NIPCCreport.org…

Global Groundwater Depletion and Global Sea Level Rise

Reference: Konikow, L.F. 2011. Contribution of global groundwater depletion since 1900 to sea-level rise. Geophysical Research Letters 38: 10.1029/2011GL048604.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/…

Extreme Weather: Record-breaking Cold Winter of 2009/10 in the Northern Hemisphere

Reference: Wang, C., Liu, H. and Lee, S.-K. 2010. The record-breaking cold temperatures during the winter of 2009/2010 in the Northern Hemisphere. Atmospheric Science letters 11: 161-168.

Cattiaux, J., Vautard, R., Cassou, C., Yiou, P., Masson-Delmotte, V. and Codron, F. 2010. Winter 2010 in Europe; A cold extreme in a warming climate. Geophysical Research Letters 37: L20704 doi:10.1029/2010GL044613.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/…

Late Pleistocene Musk Ox Populations Contracted and Expanded Naturally Without Going Extinct

Reference: Campos, P.F., Willerslev, E., Sher, A., Orlando, L., Axelsson, E., Tikhonov, A., Aaris-Sørensen, K., Greenwood, A.D., Kahlke, R.-D., Kosintsev, P., Krakhmalnaya, T., Kuznetsova, T., Lemey, P., Macphee, R., Norris, C.A., Shepherd, K., Suchard, M.A., Zazula, G.D., Shapiro, B. and Gilbert, M.T.P. 2010. Ancient DNA analyses exclude humans as the driving force behind late Pleistocene musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) population dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107: 5675-5680.

Biological Productivity in the Coastal Arctic Ocean

Reference: Tremblay, J.-E., Belanger, S., Barber, D.G., Asplin, M., Martin, J., Darnis, G.;, Fortier, L., Gratton, Y., Link, H., Archambault, P., Sallon, A., Michel, C., Williams, W.J., Philippe, B. and Gosselin, M. 2011. Climate forcing multiplies biological productivity in the coastal Arctic Ocean. Geophysical Research Letters 38: 10.1029/2011GL048825.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/…

Extreme Low-Temperature Events During Northeast China’s Warm Season

Reference: Fengjin, X. and Lianchun, S. 2011. Analysis of extreme low-temperature events during the warm season in Northeast China. Natural Hazards 58: 1333-1344.

http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2011/dec/…

With ever fewer extreme minimum temperature events occurring in response to the warmer temperatures of the past few decades, farmers in Northeast China have been able to harvest greater amounts of rice, sorghum, corn, soybeans and other major crops than would otherwise have been possible, thanks to the warming experienced in that particular part of the world.

Oh Mann!

Climate Contrarians Ignore Overwhelming Evidence

By Michael Mann, Letter, WSJ, Dec 5, 2011 [H/t Roger Cohen]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297…

[SEPP Comment: May be behind a pay wall. The responses are amusing.]

NO-SO-MANLY MANN

By Steven Hayward, PowerLine, Dec 5, 2011

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2011/12…

Environmental Industry

NGOs: It’s Worse Than We Thought

By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, Dec 7, 2011

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/12/07/ngos-it…

Other Scientific News

NASA Satellite Confirms Sharp Decline in Pollution from US Coal Power Plants

By Rani Gran for Goddard Space Flight Center, SPX, Dec 02, 2011

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_Satell…

Rise of atmospheric oxygen more complicated than previously thought

By Staff Writers, SPX, Dec 06, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Rise_of_atm…

2012 Update: Magnetic Pole Reversal Happens All The Geologic Time

By Patrick Lynch for Goddard Space Flight Center, SPX, Dec 02, 2011

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/2012_Update…

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:

Study debunks 6 myths about electricity in the South

By Staff Writers, SPX, Dec 06, 2011

http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Study_deb…

[SEPP Comment: Solving physical problems with untested models.]

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

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