Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
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Quote of the Week: “It is in the admission of ignorance and the admission of uncertainty that there is a hope for the continuous motion of human beings in some direction that doesn’t get confined, permanently blocked, as it has so many times before in various periods in the history of man.” Richard Feynman [H/t Roger Cohen]
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Number of the Week: 70%
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
APS: In 2007 the American Physical Society (APS) issued an absolutist statement on Climate Change that greatly disturbed a number of its senior fellows. In 2009, about 300 physicists petitioned the APS petitioned to modify the statement. The statement was not modified, but augmented with a lengthy addition. The turmoil continues. Roger Cohen, a Fellow of the Society has posted on the web site of Anthony Watts his expression of dissatisfaction with the APS. This has led to an exchange with Warren S. Warren. The exchange is an excellent read on what is wrong when a few in a science society take an absolutist position concerning a subject that requires open investigation and debate. Please see links under APS Frontline.
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PBS Frontline: The Public Broadcasting System aired a special on its “Frontline” series titled “Climate of Doubt.” The first part consisted of interviews and clips of those who express skepticism to the view that human emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), especially carbon dioxide (CO2), are causing unprecedented and dangerous global warming. This was followed by interviews with alarmists who were presented as the mainstream scientists. Certainly the alarmists are mainstream in that they are the ones who receive extensive government support. Later, in private comments, Fred Singer thought his interview was well presented, especially when compared with presentations in the past. The views of others varied. Roy Spencer was disturbed because part of his head and comments were used in the trailer, but he was not interviewed for the program.
Perhaps more revealing of the entire episode was a Live Chat on Thursday afternoon with those who organized the program. They were the film’s producer, Catherine Upin, the correspondent, John Hockenberry, and the “resident expert”, Elizabeth Kolbert, of the New Yorker. Prior to the chat, SEPP submitted three questions on topics covered. One was the frequently cited 97 to 98% percent of climate scientists “consensus” claims, which are based on extensively manipulated of opinion polls, making the results trivial. The second was on the recent statement from HadCRU that there has been no appreciable increase in temperatures for 16 years, a period in which the models project an increase of about 0.3 deg C (over 0.5 deg F). What would it take for journalists to realize there are major problems with the climate models and the 90 to 99% certainty is based on opinion not rigorous science? The third question focused on the constant, largely unsubstantiated claims that oil companies are funding skeptics and the failure of journalists to report the extent of government funding of the alarmists.
During the Live Chat, SEPP submitted four comments. One on the burden of proof – climate alarmists have not performed adequate testing of a hypothesis on CO2 caused global warming. A second challenging a statement that the poll appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science was peer reviewed, but it is trivial nonetheless. The third comment challenged the “resident expert” Elizabeth Kolbert who stated: “A very interesting look at the connections between the tobacco industry and the climate “skeptic” industry can be found in the book Merchants of Doubt.” The response challenged Ms. Kolbert to read and comment on Fred Singer’s rebuttal to this book’s ad hominem attacks.
But most revealing was a comment by correspondent John Hockenberry:
“The saddest thing about this story is that we heard mostly absolute certainty and dismissive confidence among our skeptic friends while it was our scientist friends were quick to say that doubt is how science is conducted, people questioning each other’s work all the time. The doubt of the scientists was always real but was always about how much we know about the planet and need to know not about the trend of global warming.
Their search for truth and quest to challenge each other’s findings was exploited as “debate” and “uncertainty” by people in the political world. In some ways the scientists didn’t have a chance in this battle… but that is my personal opinion and some of our scientists would not have agreed with me.”
To which SEPP inquired: did you ever ask the climate establishment scientists why the IPCC declared a 90 to 99% certainty in the models and their findings? The 90 to 99% certainty was in the EPA endangerment finding and was accepted by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
Given the slow pace, and the long pauses in the program, it was obvious tough questions of these global warming / climate change expert journalists would not be aired. Also, it was apparent the opinion polls weigh heavily on these expert journalists.
The saddest thing about this story is the blatant irresponsibility of PBS to understand the story. Please see links under PBS Frontline.
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ADDENDUM: Months ago Patrick Michaels announced he and a few collogues are preparing a point by point rebuttal to the report by the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP): Global Climate Change Impacts in the US (2009). Along with the 2007 report be the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a report by National Research Council, the USGCRP report provide the foundation for the EPA questionable finding that GHG, particularly CO2, emissions endanger human life and welfare. Now alarmists are outraged that the advance copies of the new report, ADDENDUM: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States looks like the previous report. The CATO imprint on the back cover is apparently overlooked by the alarmists. Please see link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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US Overtaking Saudi Arabia in Oil? Some analysts are projecting that the US will overtake Saudi Arabia in oil production in the near future – around 2020. Others object to these statements stating they are based on statistical sleights of hand. Whether or not the US (or North America) overtakes Saudi Arabia is not that important. What is important is that thanks to modern hydraulic fracturing of dense shale and offshore drilling (whenever permitted), oil production in the US is expanding greatly. Since production costs in the US remain high, there is doubt if the era of “cheap oil” will return in the near future. Oil is traded on the global market, and US production influences that market but does not determine it. The lower cost producers that have significant capability of expanding are more influential determinants, such as Saudi Arabia.
Some economists are questioning the belief that affordable energy is vital for economic growth. Certainly, affordable energy is not a sufficient condition for economic growth. That is, other conditions, or components, are needed. For example, oil is heavily subsidized in Egypt and Iran, but they are not experiencing significant growth. But under proper conditions, affordable energy can promote growth. For example, affordable energy is vital to modern agriculture. Modern fertilizers need oil or natural gas feedstock. Areas of the US where natural gas is low cost and appears to be affordable for a long term are experiencing significant growth, which the country as a whole is not.
External costs are other complications added by economists to the issue. Sometimes these are real, such as in cities in the US in the 20s. But, economic growth allowed the country to devote significant resources to clean up these external costs. Now, in the US external costs are largely exaggerated, such as by the EPA. Please see links Energy Issues – US and Articles # 2 and # 3.
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EPA on the Verge: A number of commentators, including Fred Singer, are expressing concern about the plans of EPA immediately after the election on November 6. It is clear that EPA has held back proposed regulations that are highly controversial. Please see Article #1, #3 and #5, and links under EPA and other Regulators on the March
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Oh’ Mann: Michael Mann has sued the National Review Online and the Competitive Enterprise Institute for defamation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress.” (from the Washington Post.). The complaint states that: “… Mr. Man and his colleagues were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.” and “… personal defamation of a Nobel prize recipient.”
The award was given to the IPCC, not personally to Mr. Mann, who was a participant in the IPCC. Some may consider the distinction to be just a technicality, just as some consider the body of research on climate history that was buried Mr. Mann’s hockey-stick as just a technicality. Mr. Mann may find that he will face questions that are a bit more strident than asked by the Penn State officials who he claims exonerated his research. Please see links under Oh Mann!
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Storm’s A’coming: According to forecasts, the Mid-Atlantic States are about to be hit by a large storm with low category 1 hurricane winds. (Category 1 wind speed 75–95 mph (65–82 kts, 33–42 m/s), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffir%E2%80%93Simpson_Hurricane_Scale). The moon is almost full, so tidal areas may experience a strong storm surge on top of spring (flood) tides which could result in significant coastal erosion and flooding. Already some alarmists are associating the storm with global warming / climate change. Please see links under Changing Weather and Below the Bottoms Line.
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Amplifications and Corrections: Tom Sheahen correctly stated that the conversion for PgC/yr to Billions of tonnes of CO2 per year is by multiplying by 3.67. TWTW left out the Billions.
Clyde Spencer correctly suggested that TWTW should not use the term ocean acidity unless the pH is actually below 7. This will be followed to the extent possible.
Norman Kalmanovitch pointed out that the period of no warming in the HadCRU data, as stated in the article by David Rose, started in the year the Kyoto Protocol became effective, 1997. The goal of the Protocol was to stop global warming and it did! If one jumps to causal relationships, one could state the Kyoto Protocol was the most effective international agreement ever.
TWTW incorrectly quoted Angeline Purdy of the Department of Justice as stating: “The models have been validated.” The quote came from imperfect personal notes. A subsequent check of the transcript (which is not available on the web) failed to reveal such a direct statement. Ms. Purdy argued that the models have been validated, at length, but did not make such as simple statement. TWTW will endeavor not to make such a mistake in the future.
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Number of the Week: 70%. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, in the US the cost of natural gas is about 70% of the cost of manufacturing nitrogen fertilizer. As the cost of this component comes down, its percentage share will come down as well.
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ARTICLES:
For the numbered articles below please see this week’s TWTW at: www.sepp.org. The articles are at the end of the pdf.
1. Obama’s EPA Plans for 2013
By S. Fred Singer, American Thinker, Oct 25, 2012
http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/10/obamas_epa_plans_for_2013.html
2. Cheap Natural Gas Gives New Hope to the Rust Belt
By Ben Casselman and Russell Gold, WSJ, Oct 24, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444549204578020602281237088.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0
3. The Real Stimulus: Low-Cost Natural Gas
The impact of the U.S. energy revolution is only beginning. It is already providing a foundation for a domestic renaissance in manufacturing.
By Daniel Yergin, WSJ, Oct 22, 2012
4. The Obama Storm Tax
The EPA turns its unsubtle charms on cities. Get ready to pay.
Editorial, WSJ, Oct 22, 2012
5.EPA, Water and Value for Tax Money
By Grant Weaver, Letter, WSJ, Oct 24, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204425904578074911131525782.html?mod=ITP_opinion_1
[SEPP Comment: All too often, in its edicts, EPA has no concept of cost.]
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Science: Is the Sun Rising?
NASA Study Using Cluster Reveals New Insights Into Solar Wind
By Karen C. Fox for Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2012
Climategate Continued
Hiding the Decline
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Oct 26, 2012]
http://www.bishop-hill.net/hiding-the-decline/
[SEPP Comment: Announcing Montford’s new book on the Climategate affair.]
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Review of Cato’s ADDENDUM: Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 26, 2012
No Underlying Global Warming in Recent Years
By David Whitehouse, GWPF, Oct 23, 2012
http://www.thegwpf.org/no-underlying-global-warming-in-recent-years/
Defending the Orthodoxy
EU on track for Kyoto and 2020 emissions targets
By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), Oct 24, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/EU_on_track_for_Kyoto_and_2020_emissions_targets_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Longer recessions result in fewer emissions.]
From Discovery, To Solution, To Evolution: Observing Earth’s Ozone Layer
By Laura Betz for Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt MD (SPX), Oct 26, 2012
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Polar Bear Propaganda in Context: A Useful Tool for the Promotion of Environmental Hysteria and Politicized Science
By Tim Ball, A Different Perspective, Oct 26, 2012
“It occurred to me ….. ” Global warming is another undelivered government promise.
[SEPP Comment: Exposing some of the fears instilled by the global warming alarmists.]
A scientist’s open mind snaps shut
By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Oct 22, 2012
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/a-scientist-s-open-mind-snaps-shut
Climate and State High Temperature Records—Where’s the Beef?
By Steve Goreham, Weissman Report, Oct 24, 2012
IPCC Author Becomes Green Party Apparatchik
A lead author of the IPCC’s ‘hard science’ section is a Green Party candidate and deputy leader.
By Donna Laframboise, NFC, Oct 26, 2012
http://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2012/10/26/ipcc-author-becomes-green-party-apparatchik/
Overrated: Nicholas Stern
By Myron Ebell, Standpoint, Nov 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]
[SEPP Comment: A poor economic analysis continues to distort the current economic picture – a classic example of what is wrong with the logical fallacy of the appeal to authority.]
Questioning European Green
Lies, Damn Lies And Green Statistics
By Daniel Wetzel, Die Welt, Oct 25, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.thegwpf.org/lies-damn-lies-and-green-statistics/
Almost all predictions about the expansion and cost of German wind turbines and solar panels have turned out to be wrong – at least by a factor of two, sometimes by a factor of five.
What Germany can learn from the Nordic Energiewende
By Paul Hockenos, European Energy Review, Oct 23, 2012
[SEPP Comment: The integration of the electricity production and transmission is not easy and requires flexibility.]
Another cost of shale gas denial
By Nick Grealy, No Hot Air, Oct 23, 2012
Cost of CO2 rules risk more UK energy price hikes
UK carbon costs could top 2 bln pounds in 2013
* Environmental costs to make up bigger portion of bills
By Susanna Twidale, Reuters, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/britian-power-carbon-idUSL5E8LQANM20121026
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Time to embrace climate heresy?
By Des Moore, Quadrant, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.quadrant.org.au/blogs/doomed-planet/2012/10/time-to-embrace-climate-heresy
“Sustainability”: Politics Above Both Science and Economics
By Marita Noon, Energy Tribune, Oct 26, 2012
http://www.energytribune.com/64049/sustainability-politics-above-both-science-and-economics
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Climate change threatens marine environment in the Baltic Sea
By Staff Writers, Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX), Oct 23, 2012
[SEPP Comment: More research needed.]
Helping North America’s marine protected areas adapt to a changing climate
By Staff Writers, Tampa FL (SPX), Oct 26, 2012
[SEPP Comment: They have been adapting to changing climate for millions of years.]
Problems in the Orthodoxy
EU fails to agree Kyoto negotiating position
By Dave Keating, European Voice, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
Seeking a Common Ground
What is Wrong with Embellishing Science?
By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 26, 2012
http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/what-is-wrong-with-embellishing-science.html
[SEPP Comment: It is becoming more obvious that constant exaggeration is not working.]
Italian seismologists: guilty(?)
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc, Oct 23, 2012
http://judithcurry.com/2012/10/23/italian-seismologists-guilty/#more-10268
Italian scientists sentenced to jail in quake trial
By Staff Writers, L’Aquila, Italy (AFP), Oct 22, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Italy_scientists_sentenced_to_jail_in_quake_trial_999.html
APS Frontline
More turmoil at the American Physical Society over their statement on the global warming issues
By Roger Cohen, posted by Anthony Watts, Oct 22, 2012
The APS Topical Group on the Physics of Climate: reply to Roger Cohen
By Warren S. Warren, WUWT, Oct 24, 2012
Reply to Warren Warren
By Roger Cohen, WUWT, Oct 25, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/25/reply-to-warren-warren/
PBS Frontline
Climate of Doubt about PBS’s Objectivity
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/10/climate-of-doubt-about-pbss-objectivity/
Heartland comments on FRONTLINE ‘Climate of Doubt’
By Joe Bast, WUWT, Oct 24, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/24/heartland-comments-on-frontline-climate-of-doubt/
The ‘Media Academic Complex’ on display at PBS tonight
By Christopher Horner, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/the-media-academic-complex-on-display-at-pbs-tonight/
PBS Frontline: Climate of Doubt
By Lubos Motl, Reference Frame, Oct 25, 2012
http://motls.blogspot.com/2012/10/pbs-frontline-climate-of-doubt.html#more
Climate of Doubt
Live Chat, Oct 25, 2012,
Why did PBS FRONTLINE electronically alter the signature of one of the world’s most distinguished Physicists in their report “Climate of Doubt’?
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 25, 2012
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Scientists Denounce Dubious Climate Study by Insurer
By Axel Bojanowski, Spiegel, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t ICECAP]
Americans use more efficient and renewable energy technologies
Anne M Stark for LLNL News, Livermore CA (SPX), Oct 26, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Higher gasoline prices and the prolonged recession also contribute to less energy use. Compared to that, the increase in renewable use is almost insignificant.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Oysters’ future imperiled as oceans turn more acidic
‘Going to be winners and losers … We’ll have to adapt what we’re eating’
By Katharine Gammon, MSNBC, Oct 11, 2012 [H/t Gordon Fulks]
[SEPP Comment: The upwelling mentioned in the article is a natural process. The oceans are not turning acidic.]
Climate linked to conflict in East Africa, study finds
By Jon Bardin, LA Times, Oct 22, 2012
Contrary To What You Hear, Global Warming Has Been Good To Africa
By James Taylor, Forbes, Oct 25, 2012
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above. It was during a period of cooling that the Sahara began expanding about 8000 to 5000 years ago.]
Changing Weather
Frankenstorm Sandy Approaches
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Oct 26, 2012
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2012/10/frankenstorm-sandy-approaches/
Hurricane Sandy (Atlantic Ocean)
NASA Sees Hurricane Sandy as the “Bride of Frankenstorm” Approaching U.S. East Coast
By Rob Gutro, Hal Pierce, & Marshall Shepherd, Press Release, NASA, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t WUWT]
http://www1.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Sandy.html
Monster Halloween Storm in the cards – second year in a row
By Joseph D’Aleo, ICECAP, Oct 25, 2012
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/monster_halloween_storm_in_the_cards_second_year_in_a_row1/
Where did that El Nino go? Wiped out by unprecedented cool shift?
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 25, 2012
UK experiences ‘weirdest’ weather
By Roger Harrabin, BBC, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Rob Sheldon]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19995084
[SEPP Comment: Could it be that new schemes for flood defenses generate more demands for these defenses?]
Heatwave kills thousands of birds — this was climate change in 1932
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 23, 2012
Changing Sea Ice
Opposite Behaviors? Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks, Antarctic Grows
By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t Anne Debeil]
[SEPP Comment: Lack of uniformity is not a sufficient reason to dismiss global warming. But the lack of uniformity was one reason the IPCC dismissed the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age.]
Antarctic weight loss seems to be in the eye of the beholder
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 22, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/22/antarctica-weight-loss-program-seems-to-be-slowing/
New understanding of Antarctic’s weight-loss
By Staff Writers, Newcastle UK (SPX), Oct 23, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/New_understanding_of_Antarctics_weight_loss_999.html
Changing Earth
2012 Antarctic Ozone Hole Second Smallest in 20 Years
By Staff Writers, Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 25, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/2012_Antarctic_Ozone_Hole_Second_Smallest_in_20_Years_999.html
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Rice agriculture accelerates global warming
By Staff Writers, Davis CA (SPX), Oct 25, 2012
http://www.seeddaily.com/reports/Rice_agriculture_accelerates_global_warming_999.html
Overall, the rice paddy experiments revealed that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere boosted rice yields by 24.5 percent and methane emissions by 42.2 percent, increasing the amount of methane emitted per kilo of rice.
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
How Earth’s Coral Reefs Respond to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment
Reference: Hughes, T.P., Baird, A.H., Dinsdale, E.A., Moltschaniwskyj, N.A., Pratchett, M.S., Tanner, J.E. and Willis, B.L. 2012. Assembly rules of reef corals are flexible along a steep climatic gradient. Current Biology 22: 736-741.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/23oct2012a2.html
[SEPP Comment: Life is flexible, not fixed.]
2000 Years of Extra-Tropical Northern Hemispheric Temperatures
Reference: Christiansen, B. and Ljungqvist, F.C. 2012. The extra-tropical Northern Hemisphere temperature in the last two millennia: reconstructions of low-frequency variability. Climate of the Past 8: 765-786.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/23oct2012a3.html
Environmental Change and Potential Trophic Mismatches
Reference: Appelhans, Y.S., Thomsen, J., Pansch, C., Melzner, F. and Wahl, M. 2012. Sour times: seawater acidification effects on growth, feeding behavior and acid-base status of Asterias rubens and Carcinus maenas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 459: 85-97.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/24oct2012a1.html
The Impact of Atmospheric Aerosols on North Atlantic Climate
Reference: Booth, B.B.B., Dunstone, N.J., Halloran, P.R., Andrews, T. and Bellouin, N. 2012. Aerosols implicated as a prime driver of twentieth-century North Atlantic climate variability. Nature 484: 228-232.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/oct/24oct2012a2.html
[SEPP Comment: Questioning the certainty of IPPC’s 90 to 99 % certainty.]
The Political Games Continue
US presidential debates’ great unmentionable: climate change
No mention of global warming for the first time since Congress was briefed on the threat in 1988
By Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian, UK, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/23/us-president-debates-climate-change
Presidential candidates right to ignore climate change
By Tom Harris, Canada Free Press, Oct 23, 2012
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50497
Obama energy team circulates memo to greens on climate
By Ben Geman, The Hill, Oct 23, 2012
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/263339-memo-to-activists-were-talking-about-climate-
Will The Election Continue To Give Our Fossil Energy Industries A Big Bird?
By Larry Bell, Forbes, Oct 23, 2012
Litigation Issues
Legal Liability for Bad Scientific Forecasts in the United States
By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 24, 2012
http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/legal-liability-for-bad-scientific.html
Mischaracterizations of the L’Aquila Lawsuit Verdict
By Roger Pielke Jr, His Blog, Oct 22, 2012
http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2012/10/mischaracterizations-of-laquila-lawsuit.html
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Pollution tax stokes Australian inflation
By Staff Writers, Sydney (AFP), Oct 24, 2012
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Pollution_tax_stokes_Australian_inflation_999.html
Carbon Tax: Will Tweedle Dum Snatch Defeat From the Jaws of Victory?
By Marlo Lewis, Forbes, Oct 25, 2012
EPA and other Regulators on the March
The EPA Is Moving The Goalposts, Even After The Game Has Started
By Merrill Matthews, Forbes, Oct 18, 2012
Political, legal problems for next president piling up at the EPA
By Mark Tapscott, Washington Examiner, Oct 25, 2012, [H/t Cooler Heads]
Levin Legal Group Sues EPA For Records Of Controversial Regs Delayed Until After Election
By David James, CNS News, Oct 23, 2012 [H/t Timothy Wise]
The EPA’s Planned Destruction of the U.S. Economy
By Alan Caruba, Warning Signs, Oct 23, 2012
http://factsnotfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-epas-planned-destruction-of-us.html
EPA grapples with climate effects of palm oil in fuel
By Ben Geman, The Hill, Oct 24, 2012
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/263867-epa-grapples-with-climate-effects-of-palm-oil
[SEPP Comment: To meet US greenhouse standards, EPA will determine permitted palm oil standards!]
EPA anti-energy regulations killing jobs
Bogus green schemes harm Americans
By Paul Driessen, Washington Times, Oct 23, 2012
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/oct/23/epa-anti-energy-regulations-killing-jobs/
Energy Issues – Non-US
Alberta to monitor oil sands
By Staff Writers, Edmonton, Alberta, (UPI) Oct 19, 2012
http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Alberta_to_monitor_oil_sands_999.html
The Green Pipeline: U.S. donors pump hundreds of millions into Canadian groups opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline
By Brian Seasholes, Capital Research, Oct, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]
Perverse environmentalist oil sands ethics
By Paul Driessen, Canada Free Press, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/50548
China rare earths giant halts output for a month
By Staff Writers, Shanghai (AFP), Oct 24, 2012
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/China_rare_earths_giant_halts_output_for_a_month_999.html
Energy Is Everywhere
By Kenneth P. Green, The American, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.american.com/archive/2012/october/energy-is-everywhere
Energy Issues — US
US may soon become world’s top oil producer
By Jonathan Fahey, AP, Oct 23, 2012
US to Overtake Saudi Arabia? Skewing the Oil Stats
By Jen Alic, Oil Pirce, Oct 25, 2012
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/US-to-Overtake-Saudi-Arabia-Skewing-the-Oil-Stats.html
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]
America at Energy Crossroads, Part 2
By Donn Dears, Power for USA, Oct 26, 2012
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/america-at-energy-crossroads-part-2/
IHS report: Unconventional oil & gas to be economic driver
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Fuel Fix, Oct 23, 2012
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/10/23/ihs-report-unconventional-oil-gas-to-be-economic-driver/
[SEPP Comment: IHS is a global consulting firm.]
The Myth of Affordable Energy – Interview with Ed Dolan
By James Stafford, Oil Price, Oct 16, 2012
http://oilprice.com/Interviews/The-Myth-of-Affordable-Energy-Interview-with-Ed-Dolan.html
Return of King Coal?
Powering Buildings — A Tale of Two Paradigms
By Mark Mills, Energy Facts Weekly, Oct 22, 2012
http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=29bc7d5d85828d574f86c157a&id=254db64c81&e=
[SEPP Comment: Trying to save energy consumption in a data center is vastly different than trying to save energy in a commercial office building.]
Oil Spills, Gas Leaks & Consequences
Microbes and Nature
American Academy of Microbiology, 2011 [H/t Dennis Ambler]
FAQ: Microbes and Oil Spills, 2011
[SEPP Comment: Is it not time to develop this natural resource to be available for any future oil spills?]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Radiation and risk
By Martin Livermore, Scientific Alliance, Oct 26, 2012
http://www.scientific-alliance.org/scientific-alliance-newsletter/radiation-and-risk
[SEPP Comment: To many, the actual deaths from the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami are insignificant compared with the suggested deaths from radiation from the nuclear power plants.]
China to resume nuclear power construction
By Staff Writers, Beijing (UPI), Oct 25, 2012
http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/China_to_resume_nuclear_power_construction_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Construction of plants, already started, never stopped. Now new construction will begin.]
Fuel loading at Ningde 1
The first core of nuclear fuel is being loaded at China’s newest power reactor, Ningde 1 in Fujian province. Construction on the unit began less than four years ago.
By Staff Writers, WNN, Oct 19, 2012
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Fuel_loading_at_Ningde_1_1910121.html
[SEPP Comment: From start of construction to operation in less that four years is quite an achievement.]
Queensland lifts uranium mining ban
Uranium mining will be allowed in the Australian state of Queensland after the state government overturned 23 years of prohibition. The state has not produced uranium since 1982.
By Staff Writers, WNN, Oct 22, 2012
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Queensland_lifts_uranium_mining_ban-2210127.html
Virginia can mine uranium safely, responsibly
By Jack Spencer and Katie Tubb, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Oct 15, 2012 [H/t Randy Randol]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
After Federal Jolt, Clean Energy Seeks New Spark
By John Border, NYT, Oct 23, 2012
[SEPP Comment: $90 Billion over 3 years is not enough?]
U.S. Wind Industry Continues to Expand
By Staff, Department of Energy, Oct 23, 2012
http://energy.gov/articles/us-wind-industry-continues-expand
[SEPP Comment: A government agency shamelessly promoting an industry using information from the industry’s lobbying group.]
Study: Wind Generates Electricity When We Need It Least
By Jack Thorlin, Institute for Energy Research, Oct 24, 2012 [H/t Randy Randol]
[SEPP Comment: The weaknesses of wind power uncovered in Europe and elsewhere applies to the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio Valley as well.]
NRG Gets DOI Lease for Wind Farm Offshore Delaware Coast
By Sonal Patel, Power News, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.powermag.com/POWERnews/5080.html?hq_e=el&hq_m=2548950&hq_l=5&hq_v=5e660500d0
[SEPP Comment: Would they deliver the goods in the current forecast of a Frankenstorm?]
Layoffs, failures test Colorado’s “new energy economy”
By Steve Raabe, Denver Post, Oct 22, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_21825181/layoffs-failures-test-colorados-new-energy-economy
Twenty Bad Things About Wind Energy, and Three Reasons Why
By John Droz, Jr, Master Resource, Oct 24, 2012
http://www.masterresource.org/2012/10/20-bad-things-wind-3-reasons-why/
[SEPP Comment: An update on the slogans used to sell wind power. Some of the language is imaginative if not accurate, such as “component liberation” as a term for a blade flying off.]
Solar Industry Meltdown – Intersolar China 2012 Tradeshow CANCELLED Due To “Difficult Market Conditions”!
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Oct 24, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Oops!]
Solar power said viable in snowy regions
By Staff Writers, Houghton, Mich, (UPI) Oct 25, 2012
http://www.solardaily.com/reports/Solar_power_said_viable_in_snowy_regions_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Technically viable is significantly different than economically viable.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Biodiesel back from the dead as EU drops ILUC factors
By Sonja van Renssen, European Energy Review, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Anne Debeil]
Commissioners Hedegaard and Oettinger admitted the proposals were “not perfect” but emphasised the 5% cap on food-based biofuels that did make it into the final proposal. This is supposed to cap conventional biofuel production at current levels. The problem is that this cap is not really a cap, at least not on the production of these biofuels. It is a reporting cap under the EU’s renewable energy directive: member states will only be able to use (and subsidise) food-based biofuels to meet half of a 10% target for renewable energy in transport by 2020.
[SEPP Comment: The clarity of bureaucracy.]
Large-scale production of biofuels made from algae poses sustainability concerns
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX), Oct 25, 2012
Health and Science
Bad ‘science’ from Harvard
By Staff Writer, ACSH, Oct 25, 2012
http://www.acsh.org/bad-science-from-harvard/
[SEPP Comment: Admirable courage to pull back the study immediately before the press conference.]
Replication, Replication, Replication
By Staff Writers, ACSH, Oct 25, 2012
http://www.acsh.org/replication-replication-replication/
Malaria study challenges warmer world predictions
By Shaoni Bhattacharya, New Scientist, Oct 24, 2012 [H/t Climate Change Weekly]
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22419-malaria-study-challenges-warmer-world-predictions.html
Oh Mann!
Penn State climate professor sues think tank, National Review
By Keith L. Alexander, Washington Post, Oct 23, 2012
Professor Mann claims to win Nobel Prize; Nobel Committee says he has not
By Thomas Richard, Washington Examiner, Oct 26, 2012 [H/t Cooler Heads]
Breaking: Mann has filed suit against NRO (now the laughing begins)
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/breaking-mann-has-filed-suit-against-nro/
Michael Mann – never fully investigated, thus never exonerated
By Christopher Horner, WUWT, Oct 23, 2012
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/10/23/michael-mann-never-fully-investigated-thus-never-exonerated/
Environmental Industry
Ocean-fertilization project off Canada sparks furore
Bid to boost salmon stocks relied on hotly debated science and dubious carbon credits.
By Jeff Tollefson, Nature, Oct 23, 2012
http://www.nature.com/news/ocean-fertilization-project-off-canada-sparks-furore-1.11631
A Rogue Climate Experiment Outrages Scientists
By Henry Fountain, NYT, Oct 18, 2012 [H/t Timothy Wise]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Water extraction helped trigger deadly quake in Spain: scientists
By Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), Oct 21, 2012
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Media bozos buy ‘cancer bra’ hype
By Staff Writers, ACSH, Oct 22, 2012
http://www.acsh.org/media-bozos-buy-cancer-bra-hype/
Speed limits on cargo ships could reduce their pollutants by more than half
By Staff Writers, Washington DC (SPX) Oct 26, 2012
[SEPP Comment: Sailing ships could pollute less.]
Frankenstorm: God’s Latest Warning?
By Ted Glick, Grist, Oct 26, 2012
http://grist.org/article/frankenstorm-gods-latest-warning/
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“Microbes and Nature
American Academy of Microbiology, 2011 [H/t Dennis Ambler]
FAQ: Microbes and Oil Spills, 2011
[SEPP Comment: Is it not time to develop this natural resource to be available for any future oil spills?]”
Let’s not be too eager to transfer living organisms around the planet. The bugs in the Gulf of Mexico have always been there and are part of the ecosystem. Adding them to the Arctic or North Sea may have unknowable consequences.
Here’s a new (?) critique of the 97% figure that I hope you will validate and publicize:
I speculate that the majority of the alarmed “climate scientists” in those 97% surveys are not specialists in the CAUSES of climate change (attribution), but in the impacts of and remedies for such change. Their opinion that the cause of global warming is CO2 carries no more weight than that of any other non-climate scientist. It a was slick equivocation, highly successful until now, for the pollsters to use “climate scientist” in two senses to impute expertise in climate-change causation to a group of “climate scientists” that lack it. It was unethical to have kept this sample-bias in the background or under the rug. The “consensus” might be mostly an artefact, the product of CON-CENSUSes.
The surveys showing a high consensus on an anthropogenic cause of global warming restricted their sample to scientists with the highest number of publication on the topic (one survey set the bar at 20 articles with the word “climate” in each). Who won’t usually fit this profile? Scientists who study the causes of global warming, primarily chemists, physicists, and atmospheric specialists. (Modelers are a borderline case.) Their findings and cogitations are based on hard (difficult) science, which ought to reduce their publication rate to far below that of biologists and environmentalists who write about possible impacts or remedies.
This is powerful ammo. Its force, if true, is amplified by the fact that the truth has been twisted and concealed for so long by so many warmists. And by the way no critical thinking was applied to the claim by journalists–or by the supposed champions of critical thinking, the capital-S “Skeptics” of the CSICOP sect.
Please add the classic “Continue reading” link somewhere at the beginning… this article is huge and it is being presented entirely in the main page, forcing a big scroll if you want to reach the other topics.
Exploitation of scientific uncertainty is far from the adulteration of data to achieve political ends. Altering temperature data to produce warming, making adjustments the reverse of those called for by the urban heat island effect, and cobbling up data to show false past temperatures do NOT constitute uncertainty but, instead, a corruption of the scientists themselves. The greenhouse effect as they tout it does NOT exist; it goes against the solidly established laws of thermodynamics. A cool gas simply cannot warm the surface, no matter how much they need it to for their political goals and no matter what the gas.
Strongly agree with Nylo.
This article as presented is hogging way too much space.
It should be curtailed with a ‘Continue reading’ link included.
Nylo says:
October 30, 2012 at 2:30 am
Please add the classic “Continue reading” link somewhere at the beginning… this article is huge and it is being presented entirely in the main page, forcing a big scroll if you want to reach the other topics.
I agree.
The third comment challenged the “resident expert” Elizabeth Kolbert who stated: “A very interesting look at the connections between the tobacco industry and the climate “skeptic” industry can be found in the book Merchants of Doubt.” The response challenged Ms. Kolbert to read and comment on Fred Singer’s rebuttal to this book’s ad hominem attacks.
I noticed several years ago the striking similarity between the tactics of the proponents of Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming and the movement for Gun Control. After the gun control groups overstepped their mandate with The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban), they have proceeded to receive regular and ongoing beat-downs. With the Supreme Court case of District of Columbia v. Heller in 2008, gun control has passed from most main stream attention.
The tactics of the gun control groups included:
Political agenda trumps public interests
Cherry picking data
Formatting selected data for desired effect
Challenging credentials of opposition experts
Emotional appeal over reason
References to documents with known flaws
And the list goes on. History has shown this methodology to fail in the long run for gun control; it will do the same for CAGW.
2,500 al-Qaeda have set up five training camps in Iraq, just as their oil production was forecast to triple by 2020. They are being forced into backpedaling from new optimism for their future. They just moved way up.
http://mobile.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-30/iraq-violence-surges-amid-corruption-u-dot-s-dot-report-finds