Earth Hour This Saturday Is a Colossal Waste of Time and Energy.
Bjorn Lomborg
-No Lights to Turn Off-
On the evening of March 23, 1.3 billion people will go without light for the rest of the night—just like every other night of the year. With no access to electricity, darkness after sunset is a constant reality for these people.
See Copenhagen Consensus Center’s YouTube video http://youtu.be/9SVVADAX_cU with a different message for Earth Hour.
Earth Hour teaches us that tackling global warming is easy. Yet, by switching off the lights, all we are doing is making it harder to see.
Electricity has been a boon for humanity. And the cozy candles that many participants will light, which seem so natural and environmentally friendly, are still fossil fuels—and almost 100 times less efficient than incandescent light bulbs.
Read the full commentary on Slate . Translations in 6 languages are distributed worldwide and available at Project Syndicate http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/earth-hour-s-counterproductive-symbolism-by-bj-rn-lomborg
-Electric Cars Have A Dirty Little Secret-
Is the electric car green? Not really.
It easily emits more CO2 than a gasoline car, because its production (especially the battery) is so energy-intensive.
Even in an optimistic scenario, the electric car barely differ from conventional cars as measured by their carbon emissions. Read the full op-ed in Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324128504578346913994914472.html
-“Zero emissions” vehicles-
Bjorn Lomborg shows how electric cars are anything but “zero emission”. Electric cars are hugely carbon intensive to manufacture. Their driving distance is extremely short, so most consumers have not been interested in purchasing them (even with a generous tax credits of up to $7500). Lomborg joined Jenna Lee at Happening now to elaborate on the WSJ piece, see the interview on Fox News here http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/happening-now/index.html?playlist_id=86919&intcmp=features http://video.foxnews.com/v/2223634871001/zero-emissions-not-so-fast/?playlist_id=86919
He also explained the environmental impacts of electric cars to Melissa Francis on FoxBusiness http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/money-with-melissa-francis/index.html #http://video.foxnews.com/v/2226612790001/the-dirty-little-secret-behind-electric-cars/?playlist_id=1671716501001
-Cost of Feel-Good Energy-
In 2012 Germans paid €20 billion for green energy that otherwise could have been produced for about €3 billion. The extra cost is because of green subsidies that will have almost no effect on Global Warming even a 100 years from now. If all that money was spent on energy research instead, Germany would actually help solve Global Warming.
Lomborg’s article is listed as “Most important this week” in “Der Spiegel” in Germany behind paywall https://magazin.spiegel.de/reader/index_SP.html#j=2013&h=12&a=91568151
Snow Shut Down Congress
Lomborg was scheduled to testify for the US Congress on “How we need to think about global warming and what we need to do”, along with Dr. Judith Curry from Georgia Tech and Dr. William Chameides of Duke University — but ironically Congress was shut down because of a snowstorm that failed to materialize.
It was a bit puzzling for a Scandinavian native – we’re used to dealing with a lot of snow! The hearing has been re-scheduled for April 25, and in the meantime you can read his summary here http://lomborg.com/sites/default/files/Congress%20testimony%20March%202013.pdf
-Propping EU permits?-
The European Union should not approve a proposal to boost the price of carbon permits.
“The carbon price is low because we have had a big economic crisis so actually we are doing what the EU has promised to do, which is cutting the carbon emissions by 20 percent,” Lomborg said. “Wanting a higher carbon price is wanting to cut more than 20 percent. It is just pushing the policy goal which seems a little bit arbitrary at best.”
Read the full Reuters interview where Lomborg points to smarter solutions. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/03/14/us-eu-carbon-lomborg-idUKBRE92D1DB20130314
-Australian Climate Damage-
When it comes to property damage in Australia, the climate has not produced an “angry summer”, but clearly this point is a thorn in the side of the Australian Climate Commission http://climatecommission.gov.au/media-releases/correction-misrepresentation-the-angry-summer you aren’t allowed to make that point.
A graph produced by two Australian commentators http://theconversation.edu.au/weighing-the-toll-of-our-angry-summer-against-climate-change-12793 shows this is clearly not the case. The graph uses peer-reviewed data that reflects changes in dwelling numbers and value, and an adjustment in the building code.
Follow Bjorn on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/bjornlomborg and read this and other commentary.
E.M.Smith says:
March 21, 2013 at 11:23 pm
It all starts to make sense, once you realise that we are ruled by psychopaths.
The politicians are another matter. They just do as they’re told.
By the way, a few years ago a hurricane came through our area and we were without power for 5 days (and some neighborhoods were out for 2 weeks!). There had been heavy rains before, so when the rains and WIND from the (cat. 3? 2?) hurricane came through, trees went down all over the area. And this was in a fairly warm month.
The goddam greenies are welcome to live without power all they want; they can have my electricity when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
(‘course, mine might not the hands that end up cold and dead. Just sayin’)
I almost all LED’s because of the cost of power, but in honor of my plant friends I burn my paper docs due for the shredder on this day to liberate carbon into the atmosphere.
Here’s something from Viv Forbes – not sure its on his website yet [http://carbon-sense.com/] so I’ll post it here:
Quote >>
Please Spread this around.
For Immediate Release
23rd March 2013
Energy Roulette Week
(The antithesis of Earth Hour)
A Reality Game for those Concerned about the Future for their Families
Media Statement by Viv Forbes
Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition.
Any quotes taken directly from this statement may be attributed to Mr Forbes
The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on electricity consumers to boycott
Earth Hour grandstanding by pampered people too silly to recognise the
realities and benefits of reliable electricity.
The Chairman of Carbon Sense, Mr Viv Forbes, is supporting an alternative
proposal that “Earth Hour” be replaced by “Energy Roulette Week”.
Quote:
The Earth Hour people turn off a few lights on a balmy night for a romantic
hour in candle-light (incidentally generating twice as much CO2 as light
bulbs for the same amount of light.) This is unrealistic green tokenism.
The tokenism of Earth Hour is further illustrated by holding it on the
autumn equinox, a day half-way between the temperature extremes of
mid-summer and mid-winter. This is the day least likely to be uncomfortable
for the beautiful people who give up their electric lights, TV and
air-conditioners for just one hour, while they have a pleasant hour sipping
champagne (and releasing its carbon dioxide) on candle-lit balconies.
“Energy Roulette Week” is a reality game designed to illustrate what the
future holds if green governments continue to undermine 24/7 power
(generated by coal, gas, hydro or nuclear), by increasing our dependence on
fickle winds, the peek-a-boo-sun or smart-meter rationing.
“Energy Roulette Week” will give all players a real insight into what life
without reliable electricity would be like. The lack of power can be due to
insufficient generating capacity or merely the inability to pay the power
bill. The result is the same.
Everyone will be encouraged to play this game. It is only a game, but
because of its realism, most players will chicken out after the first “black
day”.
To maximise the learning potential of the game, “Energy Roulette Week” is
best started on the summer solstice (21st December) or the winter solstice
(21st June). Or if you are too weak for a real test, join the greens on a
balmy equinox.
To prepare for the game, take a well shuffled pack of cards and deal out 7
cards, face down, and place them in seven separate identical envelopes.
These are the rules for playing:
On the start day at 5:00 pm select one envelope and take out the card.
If it is a red card, just continue living as normal.
If it contains a black card (soon renamed by the kids as a “black-out
card”), go out to your power box and turn off all power and continue living
your life to the best of your ability. At 8:00 am next morning turn your
power back on.
If the card is the Joker, leave the power off until 12 noon the next day.
At 5:00 pm that evening take out another card, and continue this process
until all seven envelopes have been opened.
Because black-outs are usually unexpected, the rules do not permit premature
preparation of the evening meal, early showering or taping favourite TV
shows. And because those trying to cripple carbon energy oppose the
production of carbon dioxide, the rules also prohibit the use of kerosene,
bottled gas, candles, petrol generators or motor cars.
Hopefully you won’t get seven black cards!
If you had a real-life “black-card” day, it would be due to local load
shedding, or widespread problems with the generation network.
If you have real-life load-shedding, so does everybody else in the
neighbourhood; so the rules prohibit slipping next door for a cuppa on your
black-day!
And if in real life it was due to insufficient generating capacity across
the whole city, the blackout would probably last for days, not hours, and
your experience would be magnified 100 fold. (So no visits to shops, no
food, no refrigeration, no petrol pumps or traffic lights, no public
transport, schools or hospitals, no security, no TV, no recharging iPods and
iPhones! Even worse would be to live at the bottom of a hill and there is no
power to pump the sewerage away, it may come gushing up out of your toilet.)
You may appeal: “But I can’t play – I have a family member on a life-support
device.” All the more reason for you to play, to ensure you always have a
charged battery back-up to keep your loved one alive. If not, they could end
up dead in the real energy roulette being imposed on us.
Of course this will never be a popular game because it is not pleasant being
without reliable electricity.
But there are thousands of people who are already playing the game in real
life, every day. They can no longer afford the cost of both green power and
food so they turn the power off; or the power companies turn it off for
them; or the wind drops or a cloud covers the sun, and green energy fails;
or its rapid fluctuations cause a collapse in the electricity grid. For them
it’s not just a few hours of inconvenience – it’s Perpetual Power Purgatory.
If this is what you want for your children and grand-children that’s OK. If
you don’t, start waving placards that say “Stop the War on Carbon – 24/7
reliable, economical power forever”.
The idea of Energy Roulette Week was inspired by a proposal from John
Ibbotson from Gulmarrad, Northern NSW and published in “The Daily Examiner”.
<<End of quotable quote
8 o’clock has just struck here on the south coast of Oz, and I’ve celebrated by turning on all my outside lights plus all those inside that can be seen from the street. (Well, I’m not gonna run up power bills if there’s no public point to be made, am I?)
Does make me feel good to see ’em blazing away. Hi Big Al! Hi there, Our Tim!
If I followed this rubbish I would have to turn off the only lights that are on at the time of Earth Hour. That would be two 11w fluro’s. 22wats saved over 1 hour, on 1 day each year would save me how much at 47c kw/h? Stupid is not the word.