The Week That Was: 2014-01-04 (January 4, 2014) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
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Quote of the Week: • “Victory awaits him, who has everything in order – luck we call it. Defeat is definitely due for him, who has neglected to take the necessary precautions – bad luck we call it” – Roald Amundsen, led the expedition to first reach the South Pole (Dec, 1911) and captained the Gjøa, which was the first vessel to sail through the entire Northwest Passage (1903-06)
Number of the Week: 12
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Re-Format: Starting this week, the order of topics in TWTW have been re-formatted somewhat. In general, the topics follow this order: science issues, policy issues, then energy issues. As a result, topics such as Questioning European Green are further down in order of presentation than in the past.
It is becoming obvious to most but not all (such as the US Navy) that smart drilling has changed the oil and natural gas future for the US, without any assistance from Washington. Thus, articles on oil and natural gas will be fewer. [Smart drilling can be defined as precision horizontal drilling of dense shale, multi-port hydraulic fracturing using sand or ceramics and limited chemicals to keep the fractures open.] Well-life, extraction costs, etc. remain open and articles on such issues will be continued, as well as any sound environmental issues. Based on current reports, extraction costs of oil are above $50 per barrel, significantly above the about $20 per barrel for Saudi Arabia.
Developments in offshore drilling, and any (unlikely for now) expansion of drilling on Federal lands will be linked. Transportation remains a major issue; the need for new pipelines is clear.
Reports place the estimated transportation costs [including compression and regasification] of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) of about $5 to $6 per 1000 cubic feet, making the feasibility of export from the US to Europe questionable, but export to Asia economically feasible – at least on paper. Developments in these areas will be linked as they occur.
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UnScience or Non-Science? It is becoming increasingly evident that the climate models relied on by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and its followers, have failed to predict the current stoppage in global warming, and greatly overestimate warming of areas such as the tropics. We are seeing an increase in studies on the results of these models, even though they have not been validated, and their projections are failing. The question is how to classify these studies. They are certainly not empirical science, because they impart no empirical knowledge, except to the models themselves.
Over 60 years ago, Bertrand Russell had a book published entitled “Unpopular Essays.” He described how he came about the title. In a preface to a prior work, he said that the work should be of interest to the general educated public. Critics took him to task and complained that certain passages were difficult to understand, implying he misled purchasers. He did not wish to be charged with this again. He fully admitted that certain passages in the new work may be difficult for some to understand. Thus, he cannot claim the essays are popular. If not popular, they must be unpopular.
Following a similar logic, if the often elaborate computer model exercises do not convey empirical knowledge, they are not science [in the traditional sense]. Thus, they are not science, and they must be UnScience or Non-Science.
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Strong Positive Feedback? This week Nature magazine published an article claiming that of the models the authors examined, those that project very high increases temperatures from a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) (a strong positive feedback) described the behavior of clouds better than those models that project moderate increases in temperatures from a doubling CO2. The paper was trumpeted to support the usual claims of dire world consequences from the burning of fossil fuels. Upon initial review, it appears that the paper suffers from several inadequacies, including highly selective use of data. But, these will be discussed in the future.
What is of particular interest is the logic used. If a climate model describes some phenomena well, it should be preferred to a model that does not. Under ordinary circumstances this would be the choice. But the issue is future temperatures, and there is no reason to assume a model that explains current temperature trends poorly will describe future temperature well. All the models which project high future temperatures are performing poorly against observations.
As discussed by Richard Lindzen (TWTW Dec 21, 2013 and elsewhere), climate models and the IPCC procedures are not ordinary circumstances. The concept of falsification is sidestepped and there is no rigorous chain of logical reasoning and experimentation. Simply, because a climate model gets one thing right that does not mean it will get anything else right.
As climate modelers have claimed, because the models failed to project the current stoppage in warming and many greatly overestimate current temperature trends, this is not evidence that the climate models have been falsified. Fair enough. Correspondingly, one thing done correctly is not validation. The IPCC and the modelers have created a morass, and they need to find their way out. See links under UnScience or Non-Science?
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Solar Race: According to reports, China’s “Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has announced a list of 134 producers of silicon materials, solar panels and other components of photovoltaic systems as meeting certain conditions, as measured by 2012 production, capacity utilization and technical standards.” The remaining 500 plus companies are being abandoned. They will not be able to get credit lines from financial institutions or any government support. Built largely for the export market, the PV solar industry in China has been facing significant oversupply and financial losses.
Citizens in Western countries that did not join the race with China for 21st century energy can be thankful. Those who plan to install solar panels in the future may be facing higher prices, and questionable economics. As it is, photovoltaic solar is a mature industry and needs no subsidies. Is the DOE aware of this? See link under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
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Bio-Navy: For some in Washington news travels very slowly. The US Navy and the Department of Agriculture have announced their Farm to Fleet program to “make biofuel blends part of regular, operational fuel purchase and use by the military.” The claimed ultimate goal is to have “a secure, stable fuel source, guarding against oil price spikes.” The Secretary of Agriculture stated that “rural America stands ready to provide clean, homegrown energy that increases our military’s energy independence and puts Americans to work.”
According to the program’s promoters, biofuels will be available at less than $4 per gallon by 2016. This price remains to be seen.
The entire scheme seems to be based on out-of-date concepts. The threat of unprecedented and dangerous global warming is no longer occurring, except in unvalidated climate models. And even the White House recognizes that the dependence on oil from unstable regions in the world is declining. In October, US oil production exceeded imports and some members of Congress are considering introducing legislation removing the ban on oil exports.
One can only speculate what will happen to food prices if Middle America were hit with natural disasters such as the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 or the repeated droughts of the 1930s that turned much of the farmland into the Great Dust Bowl. The public will demand more than just ending such wasteful programs, implemented a time when US oil and natural gas production is increasing dramatically. See link under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy – Other.
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Climate Comedy: It’s summer in Antarctic and global warming is happening, so it must be balmy. A group of eco-tourists, journalists, and others, headed by a climate scientist ventured to cruise the Antarctic, following the route of explorer Douglas Mawson in 1911-1914 and to conduct the same experiments his team did. No doubt, the underlying purpose was a publicity opportunity to highlight the dangers of global warming. There was only one slight glitch for this wonderful venture, Antarctic sea ice is not melting according to the approved global warming script.
There is more than adequate reporting of the venture. However, the resources that were required to save this “Ship of Fools” would have better served the interest of science elsewhere. The venture, in modern fossil fuel driven vessels, using helicopters, trivializes the planning, fortitude and dangers faced by early polar explorers. See Quote of the Week and links under Climate Comedy?
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Number of the Week: 12. Writing in ICECAP, Joseph D’Aleo introduces us to the Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS), which, since the 1950s, has been used to categorize severe snow storms hitting the Northeast. According to D’Aleo, the worst decade for severe snowstorms was the 1960s with 11 storms so categorized. If the storm that just passed is categorized as severe, which it was in many parts of the Northeast, the total for this decade is now 12. And this is only the beginning of the fourth year of the decade. Readers may recall that the 1960s brought many climate alarmists to claim that a new Ice Age is upon us.
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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. It Isn’t Climate Change
We long for the days when the weather wasn’t politicized.
Editorial, WSJ, Jan 2, 2014
2. Political Science at the EPA
The agency peer reviews itself on its own coal ban.
Editorial, WSJ, Dec 23, 2013
[SEPP Comment: Letter responses included.]
3. Schiff and MacDonald:The Endangered Species Act Turns 40—Hold the Applause
The badly administered law has had a limited effect on wildlife while inflicting great social and economic costs.
By Damien Schiff and Julie MacDonald, WSJ, Dec 27, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303497804579240682942455964?mod=ITP_opinion_0
4. The EPA’s Golden Rule: No Good Neighbor Goes Unpunished
Why the agency’s 2011 Cross-State Air Pollution Rule should be struck down.
By Brian Potts, WSJ, Dec 20, 2013
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303932504579258291708181228?mod=ITP_opinion_0
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
The Changing Sun
Video: Sun has ‘flipped upside down’ as new magnetic cycle begins
By Tomas Jivanda, Independent, UK, Dec 29, 2013
Challenging the Orthodoxy
What Catastrophe?
MIT’s Richard Lindzen, the unalarmed climate scientist
By Ethan Epstein, Weekly Standard, Jan 13, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/what-catastrophe_773268.html#
Many Climate Reconstructions Incorrectly Attributed to Temperature Change.
By Tim Ball, A Different Perspective, Dec 31, 2013
http://drtimball.com/2013/many-climate-reconstructions-incorrectly-attributed-to-temperature-change/
[SEPP Comment: A lengthy essay discussing a number of issues the IPCC generally ignores, including the importance of the water cycle.]
Leading Expert Modeler Tells Why Climate Models Hardly Better Than Hocus Pocus: “Welcome To Wonderland”! –
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec 30, 2013
[SEPP Comment: Earlier video of presentation by Christopher Essex on climate models in which he shows an ample sense of humor.]
Questions Policymakers Should Be Asking Climate Scientists Who Receive Government Funding
By Bob Tisdale, WUWT, Jan 2, 2014
Severe Limitations of IPCC Understanding And Explanation Of Monsoons As Mechanisms Of Massive Energy Transfer.
By Tim Ball, WUWT, Jan 2, 2014
Defending the Orthodoxy
The weather: be prepared
The stories of typhoon Haiyan and cyclone Phailin illustrate the argument that there is no such thing as a ‘natural’ disaster
Editorial, Guardian, UK, Dec 29, 2013
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/29/weather-natural-disaster-climate
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Climate change: our ‘greatest challenge’?
By Rob Lyons, Spiked, Dec 30, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
Climate change is cyclical, not man-made
Climate change experts no more likely to be right than dart throwing monkeys
By Stephen Murgatroyd, Beacon News, Dec 31, 2013 [H/t ICECAP]
German Public Television Stuns Its Readers, Concedes Medieval Warm Period May Have Been 0.5°C Warmer Than Today!
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec 28, 2013
Lack of accountability clouding the climate change debate
The world’s so-called authority on climate change engages in exaggerated science and has become a political tool
By John McLean, The Age, Jan 3, 2014 [H/t Climate Etc.]
Of meteorology and morality
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, Dec 24, 2013
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/24/monckton-of-meteorology-and-morality/
Skeptical view makes Australian front page: climate madness, dishonesty, fraud, deception, lies and exploitation says Maurice Newman
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 31, 2013
Maurice Newman is chairman of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council, was Chairman of the ABC, and of the board of the Australian Stock Exchange. He was Chancellor of Macquarie University until 2008.
Peer Review; Last Refuge of the (Uninformed) Troll
By David Hoffer, WUWT, Dec 29, 20113
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/29/peer-review-last-refuge-of-the-uninformed-troll/
No longer is the debate in regard to if the models are wrong. The debate is now about why the models are wrong. The models having fallen, the peer reviewed science they purport to represent falls with them.
Problems in the Orthodoxy
IPCC silently slashes its global warming predictions in the AR5 final draft
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, Jan 1, 2013
16-Year Global Warming Pause, Scramble For An Explanation Among Spiegel’s Top 10 Science Stories of 2013!
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec 26, 2013
Seeking a Common Ground
Pretense of knowledge
Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Dec 25, 2013
http://judithcurry.com/2013/12/25/pretense-of-knowledge/
Putting headlines ahead of science
By Patrick Michaels, Orange County Register, Jan 2, 2014
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/science-595696-research-journals.html
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Boreal Wildfires in a Warming World
Reference: Girardin, M.P., Ali, A.A., Carcaillet, C., Blarquez, O., Hely, C., Terrier, A., Genries, A. and Bergeron, Y. 2013. Vegetation limits the impact of a warm climate on boreal wildfires. New Phytologist 199: 1001-1011.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/dec/24dec2013a2.html
Reconstructing the Increasing “Breath” of Earth’s Biosphere
Reference: Long, M.C., Lindsay, K., Peacock, S., Moore, J.K. and Doney, S.C. 2013. Twentieth-century oceanic carbon uptake and storage in CESM1(BGC). Journal of Climate 26: 6775-6800.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/dec/25dec2013a2.html
Freezing to Death on a Subtropical Island: Report from Tiawan
Reference: Lin, Y.-K., Wang, Y.-C., Lin, P.-L., Li, M.-H., and Ho, T.-J. 2013. Relationships between cold-temperature indices and all causes and cardiopulmonary morbidity and mortality in a subtropical island. Science of the Total Environment 461-462: 627-635.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2013/dec/31dec2013a3.html
[SEPP Comment: Freezing is the wrong word, but cold weather kills.]
Effects of Elevated pCO2 on a Tidal Pool Coralline Alga
Reference: Egilsdottir, H., Noisette, F., Noel, L.M.-L.J., Olafson, J. and Martin, S. 2013. Effects of pCO2 on physiology and skeletal mineralogy in a tidal pool coralline alga Corallina elongata. Marine Biology 160: 2103-2112.
http://nipccreport.org/articles/2014/jan/1jan2014a3.html
Measurement Issues
Potential Inaccuracies of Assessing Temperature Trends
By Staff Writers, SPPI & CO2 Science, Jan 3, 2014
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/potential_inaccuracies.html
Link to paper: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. “Potential Inaccuracies of Assessing Temperature Trends.” Last modified January 1, 2014.
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/potential_inaccuracies.pdf
Historical Global Temperature Trends
By Staff Writers, SPPI & CO2 Science, Dec 29, 2013
http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/originals/historical_global_temperature_trends.html
Link to paper: Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. “Historical Global Temperature Trends.” Last modified December 25, 2013.
http://www.co2science.org/subject/g/summaries/globaltrends.php
Global warming advocates should take out their earplugs
Editorial, Washington Examiner, Dec 26, 2013
Changing Weather
Latest storm likely to make the 2010s the snowiest decade in the east in the NOAA record
By Joseph D’Aleo, ICECAP, Jan 4, 2014
First time in 20 years – more daily record lows than daily highs that were either tied or set in 2013
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Dec 31, 2013
[SEPP Comment: The 1993 cooling is attributed to the June 15, 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and subsequent emissions of aerosols and dust into the stratosphere.]
German Scientists: NOAA 2013 Hurricane Prediction Completely Missed The Barn…Not A Single Major Hurricane!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec 23, 2013
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
December 31 Global Sea Ice Area Was The Largest Ever Recorded
By Steven Goddard, Real Science, Jan 2, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Since satellite measurements began in 1979.]
Changing Earth
Disaster warning systems could prevent another Tsunami devastation event
By Staff Writers, London, UK (SPX), Dec 24, 2013
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
The GMO Stigma
By Henry Miller, Project Syndicate, Jan 3, 2014
Labeling foods derived from GMOs, as some have proposed, thus implies a meaningful difference where none exists – an issue that even regulators have acknowledged.
UNL Research Raises Concerns About Future Global Crop Yield Projections
By Staff Writers, Lincoln NB (SPX), Dec 23, 2013
[SEPP Comment: In a number of countries, yields are not increasing as past trends indicated they would. Further augment for GAO crops and against bio-fuels.]
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Climate Change Vastly Worse Than Previously Thought
By Mark Joseph Stern, Slate, Dec 31, 2013
Link to paper: Spread in model climate sensitivity traced to atmospheric convective mixing
By Sherwood, et al, Nature, Jan 2, 2014
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v505/n7481/full/nature12829.html
[SEPP Comment: Warming causes a reduction in cloud cover resulting in more warming – a strong positive feedback. How could the earth have survived such a poorly designed system?]
Climate Craziness of the Week: only the ‘cooler’ models are wrong – the rest say 4ºC of warming by 2100
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Dec 31, 2013
[SEPP Comment: See link immediately above.]
Sherwood Forest
By Clive Best, His Blog, Jan 4, 2014
http://clivebest.com/blog/?p=5425
[SEPP Comment: Early criticism of the Sherwood paper linked above.]
Major reductions in seafloor marine life from climate change by 2100
By Staff Writers, Southampton, UK (SPX), Jan 01, 2014
Lowering Standards
Unqualified evidence
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Dec 21, 2013
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2013/12/21/unqualified-evidence.html
So even if Doug’s position is “the models are not yet falsified”, we have to ask where is the communication of the known problems with the models[?] Why has the Royal Meterological Society not explained the situation to politicians?
Brian Hoskins, then and now
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Dec 22, 2013
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2013/12/22/brian-hoskins-then-and-now.html
The similarity in approach to the Royal Meteorological Society is striking: there is exactly the same ambiguity, allowing the authors insinuate that the scientific community has confidence that the models are suitable for quantitative prediction while giving them plausible deniability in future.
You are ill! By definition.
By John Brignell, Number Watch, Jan 3, 2014
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/2014_january.htm#Ill!
Britain’s costliest mistake? Lord Stern defends his climate maths
Pass Go and Collect Peerage
By Andrew Orlowski, The Register, Dec 30, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/30/britains_costliest_mistake_stern_defends_climate_maths/
Climate Comedy?
A cruise that will cost the climate campaign dear
By Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times, Jan 3, 2014
French Le Monde Follows Revkin…Blasts Turney’s Antarctic Joy Ride For Disrupting Real Antarctic Science!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 3, 2014
An Icy Blast of Scepticism
By Graham Lloyd, The Australian, Via GWPF, Jan 1, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/icy-blast-scepticism/
Australian taxpayers will pay $400,000 cost for climate scientist’s ship stuck in ice. Total cost “millions”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Jan 4, 2014
Antarctic sea ice saga
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Jan 1, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/01/01/antarctic-sea-ice-saga/
Antarctic rescue ship now stuck in ice
The Chinese icebreaker which helped transport passengers away from a stranded Antarctic ship has itself become stuck in ice
By Harriet Alexander, Telegraph, UK, Jan 3, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Expedition Communication Director Alvin Stone: “Climate Warming Led To The Vessel’s Awkward Predicament”!
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Jan 3, 2014
Saving the Antarctic scientists, er media, er, activists, er tourists trapped by sea ice
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Dec 29, 2013
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Rethinking climate advocacy
By Judith Curry, Dec 22, 2013
http://judithcurry.com/2013/12/22/rethinking-climate-advocacy/
[SEPP Comment: The public is beginning to question the reliability of those who have exaggerated global warming.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Biggest PBS stories of 2013 involved polar bear experts fudging data
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Dec 31, 2013
Another Conservation Success Story Hijacked by Climate Alarmists
By Jim Steele, WUWT, Jan 1, 2014
Link to paper: Poleward expansion of mangroves is a threshold response to decreased frequency of extreme cold events
By Cavanaugh, et al, PNAS, Dec 26, 2013
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/12/26/1315800111.abstract
Claim: Dark Money Conspiracy – star “deniers” are scripted performers
Prof. Brulle (Drexel Uni, Phil) claims IRS helped track secret donations
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Dec 23, 2013
Link to paper: Institutionalizing delay: foundation funding and the creation of U.S. climate change counter-movement organizations
By Robert Brulle, Drexel University, Dec 21, 2013
http://www.drexel.edu/~/media/Files/now/pdfs/Institutionalizing%20Delay%20-%20Climatic%20Change.ashx
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Blame game
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Jan 2, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/01/02/blame-game/#more-14233
[SEPP Comment: Decades of global warming propaganda may take their toll with lawsuits against western governments and corporations.]
Efforts to curb climate change require greater emphasis on livestock
By Staff Writers, Corvallis OR (SPX), Dec 23, 2013
Questioning European Green
New British plan will pay people to be “ready to do nothing” to help with energy crisis
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Dec 24, 2013
Millions Of Trees Felled For Wind Farms
By Lindsay McIntosh, The Times, Via GWPF, Jan 3, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/millions-trees-felled-wind-farms/
[SEPP Comment: Scotland’s new environmentalism.]
£30million for wind turbines that don’t work when it’s windy: Cost is £25million higher than last year and paid for by household bills
By Tamara Cohen, Daily Mail, UK, Dec 25, 2013
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529297/Title-goes-here.html
Funding Issues
EU Funding £90m Green Lobbying Con
By Robert Mendick and Edward Malnick, The Sunday Telegraph, Via GWPF, Dec 22, 2013
http://www.thegwpf.org/eu-funding-90m-green-lobbying-con/
[SEPP Comment: At least Greenpeace refuses to participate in this government fraud.]
The Political Games Continue
Climate change debate ready to heat up
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, Dec 28, 2013
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/194082-climate-change-debate-to-dominate-agenda-in-2014
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
The Rest of the Story Part 4: Kreutzer Discusses Impact of Carbon Tax
By Robert Murphy, IER, Dec 20, 2013
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Europe wants to block UK wind farm subsidies
European climate action commissioners say state aid for renewable technologies should be phased out by the end of the decade
By James Kirkup, and Bruno Waterfield, Telegraph, UK, Jan 2, 2014
Congress allows wind tax subsidies to fizzle out
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, Jan 2, 2014
http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/02/congress-allows-wind-tax-subsidies-to-fizzle-out/
Ethanol loses friends and influence as reform movement grows
By Javier David, CNBC, Dec 29, 2013
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101297359
Texas wind industry might face a future without incentives
By Bill Hanna, Star Telegram, Dec. 28, 2013
http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/12/28/5445804/texas-wind-industry-might-face.html?rh=1
EPA and other Regulators on the March
EPA publishes carbon capture regs
By Ben Goad, The Hill, Jan 2, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energy-environment/194276-epa-publishes-carbon-capture-regs
[SEPP Comment: Yet to be demonstrated on a commercial scale.]
Crooked Labs, Agencies and Prosecutors
By Paul Driessen, Townhall, Dec 27, 2103
Social Cost of Carbon: DOE Rejects Petition to Reconsider Microwave Rule
By Marlo Lewis, Cooler Heads, Jan 2, 2013
The bureaucracy’s media defenders
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, Jan 3, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/1/3/the-bureaucracys-media-defenders.html
EPA unveils new furnace, boiler standards
By Ben Goad, The Hill, Jan 3, 2014
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energy-environment/194362-epa-unveils-new-furnace-boiler-standards
[SEPP Comment: The health benefits are highly questionable.]
Interior Department denies road through Alaska wildlife refuge
By Zack Colman, Washington Examiner, Dec 23, 2013
Energy Issues – Non-US
From Sail to Hybrids Part 2
By Donn Dears, Power for USA, Jan 3, 2013
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/from-sail-to-hybrids-part-2/
[SEPP Comment: Two-part series on the changes in propulsion systems on naval craft.]
Energy Issues — US
Spreading disarray
Why the price of crude in America is out of whack with the rest of the world
The Economist, Dec 14, 2013
http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21591630-why-price-crude-america-out-whack-rest
Electricity Prices Soar As Government Regulation Surges
Editorial, IBD, Dec 26, 2013
U.S. Energy Policy: A National Money Hole?
By Jared Meyer, Real Clear Energy, Dec 11, 2013
Breitling CEO Faulkner discusses EIA outlook, challenges to moving oil and gas
Transcript by Staff Writers, EETV, Dec 17, 2013
http://www.eenews.net/tv/videos/1760/transcript
[SEPP Comment: Realities in the US oil and gas market. Extracting oil and gas from shale requires sustained drilling and costs significantly more than extracting oil in Saudi Arabia.]
Train Carrying Oil in North Dakota Ablaze After Derailing
By Lynn Doan, Konstantin Rozhnov and Barbara Powell, Bloomberg, Dec 31, 2013
Officials warn Bakken crude may pose greater flammability risk
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, Jan 3, 2014
[SEPP Comment: The oil is of such high quality that it burns at lower temperatures than regular crude. More reason to build pipelines such as the Keystone.]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
2013 oil boom is biggest ever, data show
By Simone Sebastian, Fuel Fix, Dec 26, 2013
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2013/12/26/2013-oil-boom-is-biggest-ever-data-shows/?cmpid=hpts
The Secret Danger Liberals Don’t Want You to Know: Fracking is Safe
By Marita Noon, Townhall, Dec 29, 2013
Is Methane Hydrate The Energy Source Of The Future?
By Clare Foran, National Journal, Dec 24, 2013
http://www.nationaljournal.com/energy/is-methane-hydrate-the-energy-source-of-the-future-20131224
Nuclear Energy and Fears
James Hansen In Spiegel Interview: Environmental Groups Against Nuclear Power “For Fear Of Losing Funding”
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Dec 23, 2013
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
China hands ‘death sentence’ to 75% of solar cell makers
By Toru Sugawara, Nikkei, Dec 24, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/China-hands-death-sentence-to-75-of-solar-cell-makers
[SEPP Comment: Solar is a mature industry, no need to subsidize it anymore.]
The Impact of Federal Wind Energy Subsidies on States
By Staff Writers, NCPA, Jan 2, 2014
Link to study: “Estimating the State-Level Impact of Federal Wind Energy Subsidies”
By Staff Writers, Institute for Energy Research, December 2013
[SEPP Comment: Federal government wind expenditures and subsidies benefit a few at the expense of the many.]
Renewables Fiasco: Doldrums And Clouds Bring Green Electricity Production To A Halt
By Daniel Wetzel, Die Welt, Via GWPF, Dec 25, 2013
http://www.thegwpf.org/renewables-fiasco-doldrums-clouds-bring-green-electricity-production-halt/
Germany’s wind and solar power production came to an almost complete standstill in early December. More than 23,000 wind turbines stood still. One million photovoltaic systems stopped work nearly completely. For a whole week coal, nuclear and gas power plants had to generate an estimated 95 percent of Germany’s electricity supply.
The Solar Swindle
By Norman Rogers, American Thinker, Dec 30, 2013
http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/12/the_solar_swindle.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Navy Sees ‘Farm to Fleet’ Biofuel Blends at Low Prices
By Pete Danko, Earth Techling, Dec 12, 2013
http://www.earthtechling.com/2013/12/navy-sees-farm-to-fleet-biofuel-blends-at-competitive-prices/
Announcement of program: Farm to Fleet Program Initiative
Washington DC, January 30, 2013 hosted by the U.S. Dept. of Navy and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture
By Staff Writers, Dec 18, 2013
http://bayplanningcoalition.org/2013/12/farm-to-fleet-program-initiative/
Health, Energy, and Climate
Cancer deaths continue slow decline, despite persistent alarms of “cancer epidemic” from scaremongers
By Staff Writers, ACSH, Dec 20, 2013
Other Scientific News
The Closing of the Scientific Mind
By David Gelemter, Commentary, Jan 1, 2014 [H/t Climate Etc.]
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/the-closing-of-the-scientific-mind/
That science should face crises in the early 21st century is inevitable. Power corrupts, and science today is the Catholic Church around the start of the 16th century: used to having its own way and dealing with heretics by excommunication, not argument.
[SEPP Comment: A long, provocative essay.]
Lush Life, Deep Down
Thriving biodiversity discovered under the seafloor
By Cherie Winner, Oceanus, Dec 30, 2013
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/feature/lush-life-deep-down
Scientific data lost at alarming rate
By Staff Writers, Vancouver, Canada (SPX), Dec 23, 2013
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/Scientific_data_lost_at_alarming_rate_999.html
Other News that May Be of Interest
New book dives deep into Severn Tsunami disaster of 1607 which devastated Gloucestershire communities
By Staff Writers, The Citizen, UK, Dec 18, 2013 [H/t GWPF]
The Pretence of Knowledge
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 1974
By Gunnar Myrdal, Friedrich August von Hayek, 1974 [H/t Climate Etc.]
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1974/hayek-lecture.html
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
The “Fatal Conceit” in One Letter (‘carbon-negative’ power plants ready to go!)
By Robert Bradley Jr, Master Resource, Jan 3, 2013
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/01/fatal-conceit-nyt-letter-carbon-capture/#more-29080
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At least one courageous politician in Calgary Alberta, Canada: Councillor Sean Chu!
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/politics/Calgary+city+councillor+Sean+under+fire+after+chiding/9351203/story.html
LINKED AT DRUDGE!
No section for Agenda 21 issues which is the parent of AGW as well as global web of UN non benign issues?
I cover some of them in my posts at http://www.thedemiseofchristchurch.com but the issue is larger than that and miles larger than AGW which is only one of many side shows.
Cheers
Roger
A few months reader, first time poster. I’d be interested to see any of you that are up to speed on the science of Solar engage with Michael Sankowski at Monetary Realism. p.s., I highly recommend the ‘Recommended Readings’ section for some perspectives on economics that you might not be familiar with.
Great blog ya got here!
The Solar Power Death Spiral For Utilities Begins – In Hawaii
Michael Sankowski
http://monetaryrealism.com/the-solar-powered-death-spiral-for-utilities-begins-in-hawaii/
Have any of you read this new spin piece? Stacked with inaccuracies. Written by none other than Stephan Lewandowsky.
https://theconversation.com/an-icebreaker-gets-stuck-in-the-ice-photos-are-used-to-mislead-21736
rogerthesurf says:
Jan 5, 2014 at 8.25pm
Quite agree roger. Can’t leave it all to Christopher Monckton.
Too many people want to argue minutiae, while ignoring the bigger picture.
Fair play to Anthony, he has published some of my rants re UN Agenda 21 on WUWT.
And he’s just published an article on overpopulation, the fallacy behind the fallacy of global warming, so he’s getting there, in his steady scientific way.
Go to youtube & put in: Agenda 21 The Depopulation Agenda For a New World Order
1 hr 28 mins. An excellent expose of the diabolic plot.
Happy New Year to all, & here’s to a return to sanity in 2014.
JD.
[snip wildly off topic -mod]
Obviously the HUGE news is the extreme cold USA. Finally ALL the MSM (BBC, CNN, Aljazerra ect) are reporting it as main news item, Now they HAVE to, no choice. Will knock another 15% off the AGW believers in the USA.
What the hell is this?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/what-catastrophe_773268.html?page=3
Richard Lindzen presents a problem for those who say that the science behind climate change is “settled.” So many “alarmists” prefer to ignore him and instead highlight straw men: less credible skeptics, such as climatologist Roy Spencer of the University of Alabama (signatory to a declaration that “Earth and its ecosystems—created by God’s intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence—are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting”), the Heartland Institute (which likened climate “alarmists” to the Unabomber), and Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma (a major energy-producing state). The idea is to make it seem as though the choice is between accepting the view of, say, journalist James Delingpole (B.A., English literature), who says global warming is a hoax, and that of, say, James Hansen (Ph.D., physics, former head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies), who says that we are moving toward “an ice-free Antarctica and a desolate planet without human inhabitants.”
Re: Saudi,
The important number is nit the $20 a bbl extraction costs. It is the $70 a bbl required to keep their system running. Iran is worse at $80 to $90 a bbl. And Iran is not investing to keep production up. Collapse expected in the 2015 to 2020 time frame.
The Hayek Nobel lecture is a must read.
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/1974/hayek-lecture.html
Mods, please we don’t need to read off topic conspiracy rants by jdseanjd.
I’d be interested to see any of you that are up to speed on the science of Solar engage with Michael Sankowski at Monetary Realism.
Looks like you have to sign up to comment.
Solar is not viable without subsidy. In addition passing clouds wreak havoc with grid stability. Solar is not a steady source of power – unless you hold a fraction in reserve – i.e. the reserve is generating but not delivering power. Waste. The alternative is keeping “burners” on hot standby. Waste.
How about storage? Too expensive at this time. The cost has to be reduced 4X to 6X to make solar viable.
And then there is the dark energy problem. – No solar at night.
Number of the year: In 1999, 97% of climate scientists predicted significant global warming over the following 15 years….and were wrong.
That’s billboard-worthy–so long as the start-year is changed to 1998.
Re: “Strong Positive Feedback”…Many (most, all?) climate models incorporate positive feedback algorithms which are at the very root of their excessive temperature projections and all the dire consequences that follow. But one necessary consequence of the positive feedback assumptions is the existence of a tropical hotspot. The tropical hotspot, however, has never been detected. Thus, given that the feedback assumptions represent the very ‘soul’ of the models, it seems to me that the models have clearly been falsified.
I really hate how these link to pay-walled wsj articles.
Ken posts a link to one of my posts under “Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up,” for which I am very grateful.
But he missed this one, which needs a slightly modified category ‘Communicating Better to the Public – Make them wait for critical information.”
http://polarbearscience.com/2014/01/01/new-polar-bear-population-status-documents-completed-but-have-been-withheld/
In short, a new population and status assessment was agreed upon by the IUCN Polar Bear Specialist Group on December 1, prior to the International polar bear forum in early December (in Moscow).
It involves major changes, as suggested by an announcement posted without fanfare on their website December 16.
But we have to wait until “Feb. 1 2014” at the latest to find out what it is because they figure it will take them that long to get the documents “in web format.”
That’s effective communication for you!
All the best for the New Year, one and all
Susan
Regarding Bio-Navy
In case of short of food, they could start making food of the oil, which is possible.
Somehow i think it could happen. You never knows with bureaucracy.