The Week That Was: 2014-05-03 (May 3, 2014) Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org) The Science and Environmental Policy Project
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Quote of the Week: On what principle is it that, when we see nothing but improvement behind us, we are to expect nothing but deterioration before us? Thomas Macaulay 1830 [H/t Steven Hayward.] Number of the Week: 100 Times
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9th International Conference on Climate Change
July 7 – 9 — Las Vegas, Nevada
Includes the Findings of the New Report by the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC) Climate Change Reconsidered II, Volumes 1, 2, and 3
http://climateconference.heartland.org/
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SEPP’S APRIL FOOLS AWARD
THE JACKSON
SEPP is conducting its annual vote for the recipient of the coveted trophy, a piece of coal, The Jackson. Readers are asked to nominate and vote for who they thinks is most deserving following these criteria:
· The nominee has advanced, or proposes to advance, significant expansion of governmental power, regulation, or control over the public or significant sections of the general economy.
· The nominee does so by declaring such measures are necessary to protect public health, welfare, or the environment.
· The nominee declares that physical science supports such measures.
· The physical science supporting the measures is flimsy at best, and possibly non-existent.
The first two recipients, Lisa Jackson and Barack Obama, are not candidates. Due to the late announcement, the voting will close on May 16. Please send your nominee and a brief reason why the person is qualified for the honor to Ken@Haapala.com. Thank you.
At the suggestion of Sonja A. Boehmer-Christiansen, Editor of Energy & Environment, nominees can include leaders of big banks and other financial institutions who are advocating global warming/climate change and profiting from the fear created by financing renewables, which are increasing the cost of electricity to the general public.
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THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, Executive Vice President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Hemispheric asymmetry: On her web site, Climate Etc., Judith Curry discusses a recent paper published in Nature Climate Change. The paper presents differences in findings of temperature trends between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres for the past 1000 years. The paper states that models built on data largely from Northern Hemisphere may have low predictive ability.
The paper claims that there was no Medieval Warm Period in the ocean-dominated Southern Hemisphere. However, as previously discussed in Climate Audit and Watts Up With That, the paper may suffer from what Curry calls ‘post hoc proxy selection’, otherwise known as ‘cherry picking’. Certainly, the 2013 report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change shows that Medieval Warm Period was Global, but most of it occurred prior to the artificial cut-off date in the article of 1000 A.D. The global warm period was most pronounced between about 800 and 1000 A.D.
Although the paper suffers from selective reporting, it is somewhat encouraging to see a publication in a climate establishment journal that calls into question the data sets used to establish climate models and the procedures used by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Curry’s use of the term “cheery picking” refers to the exclusion of data that contradicts the hypothesis. All too frequently, those engaged in hypothesis testing are accused of “cherry picking” because they may exclude the data that support hypothesis. Exclusion of data that supports the hypothesis is irrelevant. This reversal in emphasis reflects a misunderstanding of hypothesis testing. A hypothesis must withstand all relevant data sets. If it does not, the hypothesis must be rejected or changed. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2a/pdf/Chapter-4-Temperature.pdf, particularly Figure 4.2.2.4
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IPCC Synthesis Report: On October 31, 2014, the IPCC is scheduled to produce report synthesizing the 2013 – 2014 main reports of Working Group I, The Physical Science Basis; Working Group II, Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability; and Working Group III, Mitigation of Climate Change. These documents along with the Synthesis Report (SYR) are called the Fifth Assessment Report (AR5). According the SYR Scoping document, the proposed SYR will be in two parts, a Summary for Policymakers (SPM) and a longer report. The former will be up to 8 page of text, excluding tables, maps, boxes, and figures. The latter will be up to 30 pages, excluding tables, maps, boxes, and figures. The Core Writing Team will be led by IPCC Chairman, Rajendra Pachauri.
The entire process should be interesting, and, as Judith Curry writes, much needed. In her assessment: Upon reflecting on the 3 IPCC reports, a picture is emerging of a very complex climate system linked to complex environmental issues and socioeconomic problems. True to its classic wicked messiness, there is no unambiguous way to separate natural from anthropogenic climate change, or to separate climate change impacts from other confounding factors, or to separate the solutions from the broader issues of population increase, underdevelopment, mismanagement, and corrupt governments.
Of the three WGs, I would say that WG2 and WG3 showed maturity in attempting to deal with these issues, whereas WG1 dropped the ball with its ‘extremely likely’ and ‘don’t mention the pause’.
Apart from the obvious politics that polluted the SPM process, I am even more dismayed by public statements from the IPCC leadership that has spun the AR5 message into the usual alarmist meme.
What is now needed is sober assessment and interpretation of the assessments. Given the complexity, ambiguity and incompleteness of the evidence and understanding, multiple perspectives are not only to be expected but are desired.
Also, Curry asserts that the key findings in the Technical Summaries and the individual chapter Executive Summaries should be emphasized over the heavily politically influenced Summaries for Policymakers. I
Increasingly, the press is reporting the falling-out of key authors over the political influences on the reports. The once vaunted, false consensus is no more. Richard Tol, who resigned as a Convening Lead Author of one of the chapters of WG III report wrote: In the earlier drafts of the SPM, there was a key message that was new, snappy and relevant: Many of the more worrying impacts of climate change really are symptoms of mismanagement and underdevelopment.
This message does not support the political agenda for greenhouse gas emission reduction. Later drafts put more and more emphasis on the reasons for concern about climate change, a concept I had helped to develop for AR3. Raising the alarm about climate change has been tried before, many times in fact, but it has not had an appreciable effect on greenhouse gas emissions.
The international climate negotiations of 2013 in Warsaw concluded that poor countries might be entitled to compensation for the impacts of climate change. It stands to reason that the IPCC would be asked to assess the size of those impacts and hence the compensation package. This led to an undignified bidding war among delegations – my country is more vulnerable than yours – that descended into farce when landlocked countries vigorously protested that they too would suffer from sea level rise.
The SPM omits that better cultivars and improved irrigation increase crop yields. It shows the impact of sea level rise on the most vulnerable country, but does not mention the average. It emphasize the impacts of increased heat stress but downplays reduced cold stress. It warns about poverty traps, violent conflict and mass migration without much support in the literature. The media, of course, exaggerated further.
Alarmism feeds polarization. Climate zealots want to burn heretics of global warming on a stick. Others only see incompetence and conspiracy in climate research, and nepotism in climate policy. A polarized debate is not conducive to enlightened policy in an area as complex as climate change. The IPCC missed an opportunity to restore itself as a sober authority, accepted (perhaps only grudgingly) by most.
The IPCC does not guard itself against selection bias and group think. Academics who worry about climate change are more likely to publish about it, and more likely to get into the IPCC. Groups of like-minded people reinforce their beliefs. The environment agencies that comment on the draft IPCC report will not argue that their department is obsolete. The IPCC should therefore be taken out of the hands of the climate bureaucracy and transferred to the academic authorities.
The last sentence may be hopelessly optimistic. Academic institutions have demonstrated to be subject to the group-think, as the failures to properly investigate Climategate assertions and acceptance of Mr. Mann’s “hockey-stick” demonstrate.
Further, Curry is probably too optimistic about the SYR becoming an objective report. The political entities that fund what Tol calls the climate bureaucracy are far too committed to allow an objective report that permits skeptics, and others, to question to purpose of spending hundreds of billions of dollars for programs designed to fight global warming/climate change, even when global warming is no longer occurring. Further, the industries and banks that benefit for the unnecessary fight would be outraged to see their sources of profits disappear. See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy and Problems in the Orthodoxy.
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Tough Questions: To compliment his post of Top Ten bad global warming arguments, Roy Spencer posted a list of questions to ask those who are advocating catastrophic anthropogenic (human caused) global warming (AGW).
These questions may be particularly fitting for those, including US Senators, who are repeating the slogan “If you don’t believe in climate change look out the window.” In a matter of a few weeks, Washington suddenly transformed from cold and snow to warmth and a bursting of flowers and green. The climate change was obvious. In the past it was called changing seasons. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Fossil Fuel Subsidies: Of the arguments used in developed Western countries to justify subsidies to unreliable wind and solar power, probably the most bluntly illogical one is current subsidies to the fossil fuel industries. BBC reported the 2012 ranking of the top ten countries subsidizing fossil fuels are stated by the International Energy Agency (IEA). The countries were, in order, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, Venezuela, China, Indonesia, Egypt, UAE, and Iraq. Governments of these countries subsiding fuel, or demanding state-owned companies sell to the public at below market prices has no bearing on the energy policies of countries not subsidizing fossil fuels.
Also, such articles often fail to make the distinctions between subsidies to consumers and tax deductions for production of fuels such as depreciation of equipment, which is an accounting concept to calculate the cost of production.
Similarly, in the US, and some other countries, depletion is an accounting concept used most often in mining, timber, petroleum, etc. The depletion deduction allows a company to account for the reduction of a product’s reserves. Contrary to many reports in the US the depletion deduction is not permitted for the major (integrated) oil companies.
The strangest graph in the BBC report shows that, in the US, the fossil fuel subsidies amount to about 3.5% of the GDP. TWTW was unable to confirm the source of the graph although it was attributed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Assuming a GDP of $16.5 Trillion, this works out to be about $577 Billion, or about 100 times the highest monetary estimates from various sources reviewed. See link under Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
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Number of the Week: 100 times or more. As explained above, the BBC overestimated the broadly defined US fossil fuel subsidies by about 100 times.
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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. The EPA Unchained
The Supreme Court reinstates a cross-state pollution rule.
Editorial, WSJ, Apr 29, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303939404579531814034036286?mg=reno64-wsj
2. Partners in Ethanol Crime
The corn-fuel mandate has been an invitation to mass fraud.
Editorial, WSJ, Apr 25, 2014
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304512504579491750362682742?mg=reno64-wsj
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Top Ten Good Skeptical Arguments
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, May 1, 2014
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/05/top-ten-good-skeptical-arguments/
The inconvenient Southern Hemisphere
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. May 1, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/05/01/the-inconvenient-southern-hemisphere/
Link to paper: Palaeoclimate: A southern misfit
By Kim M. Cobb, Nature Climate Change, Apr 25, 2014
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n5/full/nclimate2219.html
Adaptation to Extreme Heat
By Paul C. “Chip” Knappenberger and Patrick J. Michaels, Cato, Apr 30, 2014
http://www.cato.org/blog/adaptation-extreme-heat
Link to paper: Adaptation to extreme heat in Stockholm County, Sweden
By Paul Knappenberger, Patrick Michaels & Anthony Watts, Nature Climate Change, Apr 25, 2014
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v4/n5/full/nclimate2201.html
An alternative metric to assess global warming
By Roger A. Pielke Sr., Richard T. McNider, and John Christy, Climate Etc. Apr 28, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/28/an-alternative-metric-to-assess-global-warming/
David Kear, former Director-General of NZ Scientific Research, says global warming is a non-existent threat
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, May 3, 2014
Link to paper: GLOBAL WARMING alias CLIMATE CHANGE [the NON-EXISTENT, incredibly expensive, THREAT TO US ALL, including to our GRANDCHILDREN]
http://www.nzcpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Global-Warming-Dr-David-Kear.pdf
Former NASA Scientist: Global Warming Is Nonsense
By Nick Hallett, Breitbart, Apr 26, 2014
New skeptic publication in Nature Climate Change rebuts Åström et al. claims of increased deaths due to heat waves
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 30, 2014
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Cool It
By Nigel Lawson, Standpoint, May 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/5541/full
In The End, Their Credibility Will Melt Away Quite Suddenly
By Steven Goddard, Real Science, Apr 29, 2014
IPCC CO2 Reductions
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, May 2, 2014
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/ipcc-co2-reductions/
Lennart Bengtsson: “The whole concept behind IPCC is basically wrong”
By Marcel Crok, His Blog, May 1, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Why most resources don’t run out
Economists versus ecologists and the limits to growth
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, Apr 30, 2014
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/why-most-resources-don’t-run-out.aspx
We can’t wreck the climate unless we get rich, but if we get rich, we won’t wreck the climate
By Matt Ridley, Rational Optimist, Apr 26, 2014
Problems in the Orthodoxy
IPCC Again
By Richard Tol, His Blog, Apr 25, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://richardtol.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/ipcc-again.html
Stavins and Tol on IPCC WG3
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Apr 26, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/26/stavins-and-tol-on-ipcc-wg3/#more-15358
Many of the more worrying impacts of climate change really are symptoms of mismanagement and underdevelopment. – Richard Tol
Two scathing reviews by scholars working with the IPCC show why the organization is hopelessly corrupted by politics
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 26, 2014
Lead author claims U.N. climate change report was rewritten for political reasons
By John Hayward, Breitbart, Apr 27, 2014
Africa: Climate Adaptation Advice for Cities in Global South
By Jaspreet Kndra, All Africa, Apr 28, 2014
http://allafrica.com/stories/201404282177.html?viewall=1
Hell Freezes Over! Germany’s Ultra-Green ‘Die Zeit’ Concedes Climate Movement Has Been Too Alarmist
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 28, 2014
IPCC Report Was Watered Down By Government Officials, Lead Author Confirms
By Pilita Clark, Financial Times, Via GWPF, Apr 26, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/ipcc-report-was-watered-down-by-government-officials-lead-author-confirms/
[SEPP Comment: The scientific integrity was lost years ago.]
Poland Says EU 2030 Carbon Goal Compromise Viable in October
By Ewa Krukowska and Marek Strzeleckim Bloomberg, Apr 29, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Seeking a Common Ground
Pushing the boundaries
By Martin Livermore, Science Alliance, May 2, 2014
http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f1e3eeb023e7d88eff0dda8a2&id=477b240a55&e=f98840f454
[SEPP Comment: Questions the need to accept any paradigm if the data contradicts it.]
IPCC TAR and the hockey stick
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Apr 29, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/29/ipcc-tar-and-the-hockey-stick/
[SEPP Comment: Presenting John Christy’s testimony on how the hockey-stick got in the IPCC Third Assessment Report and Mr. Mann became a lead author.]
The Curry factor: 30 to 1
By Judith Curry, Apr 27, 2014
http://judithcurry.com/2014/04/27/the-curry-factor-30-to-1/
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by NIPCC
For a full list of articles see www.NIPCCreport.org
Long-Term Responses of Emiliania huxleyi to Ocean Acidification
Reference: Benner, I., Diner, R.E., Lefebvre, S.C., Li, D., Komada, T., Carpenter, E.J. and Stillman, J.H. 2014. Emiliania huxleyi increases calcification but not expression of calcification-related genes in long-term exposure to elevated temperature and pCO2. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 368: 10.1098/rstb.2013.0049.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2014/apr/29apr2014a1.html
Three Centuries of New Climate Change Data for West Antarctica
Reference: Thomas, E.R., Bracegirdle, T.J., Turner, J. and Wolff, E.W. 2013. A 308-year record of climate variability in West Antarctica. Geophysical Research Letters 40: 5492-5496.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2014/apr/29apr2014a3.html
Evolution to the Rescue!
Reference: Baily, J.K. 2014. Incorporating eco-evolutionary dynamics into global change research. Functional Ecology 28: 3-4.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2014/apr/29apr2014a4.html
The European-Wide and Holocene-Long Growth Rates of Fir Trees
Reference: Buntgen, U., Tegel, W., Kaplan, J.O., Schaub, M., Hagedorn, F., Burgi, M., Brazdil, R., Helle, G., Carrer, M., Heussner, K.-U., Hofmann, J., Kontic, R., Kyncl, T., Kyncl, J., Camarero, J.J., Tinner, W., Esper, J. and Liebhold, A. 2014. Placing unprecedented recent fir growth in a European-wide and Holocene-long context. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 12: 100-106.
http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2014/apr/30apr2014a2.html
Measurement Issues
German Weather Service Employs Manipulative Statistical Sleights Of Hand To Craft Warming From Cooling
The German Weather Service has a problem with the climate
By D.E. Koelle, Translated by and edited P. Gosselin, Apr 29, 2014
Climate Outsider Finds Missing Global Warming
By Eli Kintisch, Science, Apr 25, 2014
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6182/348.summary
One way adjustments: The Latest Alteration to the U.S. Climate Record
By Dan Travers, WUWT, Apr 29, 2014
Changing Weather
Study: ‘worst drought of this century barely makes the top 10 ‘
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 2, 2014
Link to paper: A 576-Year Weber River Streamflow Reconstruction from Tree Rings for Water Resource Risk Assessment in the Wasatch Front, Utah†
By Matthew Bekker, JAWRA, Apr 30, 2014
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jawr.12191/abstract
100 percent of California currently in a drought, first time in 15 years
By Brooks Hays, Sacramento (UPI), Apr 25, 2013
Arkansas Ravaged By Tornadoes
By Doug Hoffman, Resilient Earth, Apr 28, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://theresilientearth.com/?q=content/arkansas-ravaged-tornadoes
Multiple consecutive days of tornado activity spawn worst events
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 30, 2014
Climate change causes severe weather? 2014 tornado count about half of normal
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 2, 2014
Great Lakes Ice Coverage 1000% Of Normal, More Than Double The Previous Record
By Staff Writer, GWPF, Apr 25, 2104
http://www.thegwpf.org/great-lakes-ice-coverage-1000-of-normal-more-than-double-the-previous-record/
Lake Superior Freeze/Thaw Time Lapse: Ice Until June?
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Apr 29, 2014
http://www.drroyspencer.com/2014/04/lake-superior-freezethaw-time-lapse-ice-until-june/
Changing Climate
Claim: climate change targeting wine grapes
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 1, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/01/claim-climate-change-targeting-wine-grapes/
Changing Seas
Forget global warming and melting polar caps – groundwater extraction is causing cities to SINK beneath sea level
By Sarah Griffiths, Mail, UK, Apr 30, 2014
In some coastal cities, subsidence now exceeds absolute sea level rise up to a factor of ten
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, May 1, 2014
How Productive are the Ore Factories in the Deep Sea?
By Staff Writers, Kiel, Germany (SPX), Apr 28, 2014
http://www.spacemart.com/reports/How_Productive_are_the_Ore_Factories_in_the_Deep_Sea_999.html
Link to paper: Hybrid shallow on-axis and deep off-axis hydrothermal circulation at fast-spreading ridges
By Jörg Hasenclever, et al. Apr 23, 2014
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v508/n7497/full/nature13174.html
Un-Science or Non-Science?
Climate change accelerating, dirt blamed
By Anthony Watts. WIWT. Apr 26, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/26/climate-change-accelerating-dirt-blamed/
Claim: ‘health facilities are too vulnerable to weather and climate events’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 29, 2014
Smithsonian Magazine Claim: ‘ up to 1 billion climate refugees by 2050′
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 30, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/30/smithsonian-magazine-claim-1-billion-climate-refugees-by-2050/
Link to the Article: The Reality of a Hotter World is Already Here
As global warming makes sizzling temperatures more common, will human beings be able to keep their cool? New research suggests not
By Jerry Adler, Smithsonian Magazine, May 2014
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/reality-hotter-world-already-here-180951172/?no-ist
[SEPP Comment: So much for the standards of the Smithsonian.]
Top 12 ways the world can eliminate agriculture’s climate footprint
By Staff Writers, San Francisco CA (SPX) Apr 28, 2014
[SEPP Comment: Eliminate?]
Lowering Standards
The U.S. Slips to Fourth Place in Global Weather Prediction, While a New Weather Service Supercomputer Has Not Been Ordered
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Apr 30, 2014
http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-us-slips-to-fourth-place-in-global.html
[SEPP Comment: In his May 3, 2014 forecast Joe Bastardi of WeatherBELL Analytics stated the problem with the US models may be systemic. If so, a new supercomputer will not solve the issues.]
Lord Stern FRS
By Andrew Montford, Bishop Hill, May 1, 2014
http://bishophill.squarespace.com/blog/2014/5/1/lord-stern-frs.html
Holding Slingo To Account
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 25, 2014
http://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/slingo-wrong-on-all-counts/
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Study: It Is “Very Likely” That Scientists Are Confusing Us About Global Warming
The United Nations’ blockbuster climate reports are full of language that makes people doubt climate change.
By Chris Mooney, Mother Jones, Apr 29, 2014
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/04/ipcc-global-warming-doubt-psychology
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Test-Driving the EPA’s Carbon Models
By David W. Kreutzer & Kevin Dayaratna, Real Clear Policy, Apr 30, 2014
http://www.realclearpolicy.com/blog/2014/04/30/test-driving_the_epas_carbon_models_927.html
Fossil fuel subsidies growing despite concerns
By Richard Anderson, BBC, Apr 29, 2014
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27142377
New study shows power prices will be lower with Renewable Energy Target
By Staff Writers, Canberra, Australia (SPX), Apr 30, 2014
“This study shows that the Renewable Energy Target is holding electricity prices lower over the long term by minimising the use of increasingly costly gas for electricity generation.
[SEPP Comment: Playing with numbers!]
The Guardian tries to claim global warming sank the Titanic – research says the exact opposite
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 28, 2014
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Exeter University Prof: ‘Debating skeptics is like mud wrestling with pigs’
By Paul Burtwistle, WUWT, Apr 28, 2014
Questioning European Green
Angela Merkel’s Vice Chancellor Stuns, Declares Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ To Be On ‘The Verge Of Failure’!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 27, 2014
Christopher Booker: Why Does Ed Davey Want To Keep Us In The Dark?
By Christopher Booker, Sunday Telegraph, Via GWPF, Apr 27, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/christopher-booker-why-does-ed-davey-want-to-keep-us-in-the-dark/
Germany’s CO2 and energy policy – about to falter?
By Fred Mueller, WUWT, Apr 27, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/27/germanys-co2-and-energy-policy-about-to-falter/
Germans fitting far fewer solar panels
By Anneli Palmen and Vara Eckert, Reuters, Apr 30, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/30/solar-germany-idUSL6N0NM3ZZ20140430
German Consumer Agency Issues Open Letter, Warns Deutsche Bank Of “Dubious Renewable Energy…Burdens Of Over 1 Trillion Euros Feared”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 30, 2014
Gone with the wind: England’s most important coastline
By Christopher Monckton, WUWT, Apr 28, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/28/gone-with-the-wind-englands-most-important-coastline/
Litigation Issues
Supreme Court Revives CSAPR
By Tomas Overton, Power News, Apr 20, 2014
http://www.powermag.com/supreme-court-revives-csapr/
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
UN agency brokering carbon credits spends millions on staff despite massive drop in projects
By Susanna Twidale and Ben Garside, Reuters, Apr 28, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Cash cut for solar farms that blight countryside: Energy minister set to announce review of subsidies
By Ben Spencer, Mail, UK, Apr 29, 2014
AWEA’s Bold Push for More Wind Welfare
By Travis Fisher, IER, Apr 23, 2014
http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2014/04/23/aweas-bold-push-for-more-wind-welfare/
New York Wind falls short… again
By Lisa Linowes, Wind Action, Apr 28, 2014
http://www.windaction.org/posts/40358-new-york-wind-falls-short-again#.U1-7m_ldV-6
[SEPP Comment: Cash payments to wind farms instead of the production tax credit are a further rip-off of the taxpayer.]
Energy Companies ‘To Reap £2bn Windfall’ From Green Levies Deal
By Emily Gosden, Daily Telegraph, Via GWPF, Apr 28, 2014
http://www.thegwpf.org/energy-companies-to-reap-2bn-windfall-from-green-levies-deal/
German Solar Stutters Once Subsidies Dry Up
By Walter Russell Mead & Staff, American Interest, May 2, 2014
http://www.the-american-interest.com/blog/2014/05/02/german-solar-stutters-once-subsidies-dry-up/
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Introduction to EPA’s Stormwater Calculator – Incorporating Low Impact Development and Climate Science Tools
By Staff Writers, EPA, Apr 26, 2014 [H/t Conrad Potemra]
http://cfpub.epa.gov/si/si_public_record_Report.cfm?dirEntryId=274652
EPA chief slams ‘secret science’ claims
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill, Apr 28, 2014
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/e2-wire/204535-epa-chief-slams-secret-science-claims
EPA Chief Promises To Go After Republicans Who Question Agency Science
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, Apr 28, 2014 [H/t Bud Bromley]
Energy Issues – Non-US
China seeks clean, sustainable energy for growth
By Staff Writers, WNN, Apr 22, 2014
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-China-seeks-clean-sustainable-energy-for-growth-22204144.html
UNEP says fossil fuel subsidies undermining green economy
By Staff Writers, African News, Apr 28, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/africa/2014-04/28/c_133296166.htm
[SEPP Comment: Expensive, unreliable electricity is the path to prosperity to these former colonies?]
Energy Issues — US
Despite Green Energy Gains, U.S. Reliance On Coal And Gas Set To Continue
By Daniel Graeber, Oil Price.com, Apr 29, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Shale gas development: Getting the best bang for your buck
By Staff Writers, ASCH, Apr 30, 2014
http://acsh.org/2014/04/shale-gas-development-getting-best-bang-buck/
Link to Op-Ed: The Right Way to Develop Shale Gas
By Michael Bloomberg and Fred Krupp, NYT, Apr 29, 2014
[SEPP Comment: The Op-Ed is fairly well-balanced.]
Stressing the Grid: From Interventionism to Blackouts
By Steve Gorham, Master Resource, Apr 14, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/04/30334/#more-30334
US Energy Renaissance Brings Important Foreign Policy Choices
By Roman Kilisek, Breaking Energy, Apr 28, 2014
http://breakingenergy.com/2014/04/28/us-energy-renaissance-brings-important-foreign-policy-choices/
Washington’s Control of Energy
Carter-Obama Energy Policy: From Gasoline Lines to Pipeline Obstructionism
By Marlo Lewis, Master Resource, Apr 25, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/04/carter-no-to-keystone-xl/
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Dream Energy Source
Methane Hydrate May Ignite New Energy War in Asia
By Staff Writer, Business Korea, May 2, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
Return of King Coal?
Coal Increasingly Seen As Option For European Energy Security
By Nick Cunningham, Oil Price.com, Apr 27, 2014 [H/t GWPF]
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Coal-Increasingly-Seen-As-Option-For-European-Energy-Security.html
Oil Spills, Gas Leaks & Consequences
Oil train derails in Lynchburg, Va.
By Blake Neff, The Hill, Apr 30, 2014
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/204840-oil-train-derails-in-lynchburg-va
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Faster nuclear, coal power plant retirements would affect emissions
By Zack Colman, Washington Examiner, Apr 28, 2014
Regulators fight third-time ‘tax’ on nuclear
By Staff Writers, WNN, Apr 23, 2014
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Regulators-fight-third-time-tax-on-nuclear-2304141.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Sacrifice 40,000 jobs for seven? Put wind farm on hold
By E. J. Monheiser, Baltimore Sun, Apr 28, 2014 [H/t Wind Action]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Energy Department finds 65 GW of hydropower available
By Daniel J. Graeber, Washington (UPI), Apr 30, 2013
http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Energy_Department_finds_65_GW_of_hydropower_available_999.html
Experimental Efforts to Harvest the Ocean’s Power Face Cost Setbacks
By Joshua Hunt and Diane Cardwell, NYT, Apr 27, 2014 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
Ozone levels drop 20 percent with switch from ethanol to gasoline
By Press Release, Northwestern U. Apr 30, 2014
Link to paper: Reduction in local ozone levels in urban São Paulo due to a shift from ethanol to gasoline use
By Alberto Salvo & Franz M. Geiger, Nature Geoscience, Apr 28, 2014
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo2144.html
Carbon Schemes
Duke Energy’s Clean Coal Plant Coughed, Wheezed in Feb.
By Paul Chesser, NLPC, Apr 29, 2014
http://nlpc.org/stories/2014/04/29/duke-energys-clean-coal-plant-coughed-wheezed-feb
California Dreaming
California Energy Policy: Elitist, Import-dependent, and a Tax on the Rest of Us
By Paul Driessen, Master Resource, May 1, 2014
http://www.masterresource.org/2014/05/california-energy-elitism/
Should California dictate US energy policies?
By Paul Driessen, WUWT, Apr 27, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/27/should-california-dictate-us-energy-policies/
Oh Mann!
The Climate Inquisitor
By Charles C.W. Cooke, National Review Online, May 5, 2014
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376574/climate-inquisitor-charles-c-w-cooke
Environmental Industry
U.S. Foundations Support Canadian Anti-Oil Groups
By Larry Bell, Newsmax, Apr 28, 2014
http://www.newsmax.com/LarryBell/Canadian-Keystone-tar-sands-Tides-USA/2014/04/28/id/568129/
Other Scientific News
X-37B Gets Stranger
By Morris Jones, Sydney, Australia (SPX), Apr 28, 2014
http://www.spacewar.com/reports/X_37B_Gets_Stranger_999.html
Other News that May Be of Interest
Excessive regulations turning scientists into bureaucrats
By Staff Writers, NSF, May 1, 2014
http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=131273&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
Link to the report: Reducing Investigators’ Administrative Workload For Federally Funded Research
By Arnold Stancell, et al, To the National Science Board, Mar 10, 2014
http://nsf.gov/pubs/2014/nsb1418/nsb1418.pdf
The Amazing LED
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Apr 29, 2014
http://dddusmma.wordpress.com/2014/04/29/the-amazing-led-2/
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
Climate Craziness of the Week – UN: Climate change to affect computers, communications, prepare now!
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 29, 2014
Climate mitigation via Ergonomics ???
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 29, 2014
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/04/29/climate-mitigation-via-ergonomics/
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What a great quotation. From at least the time of Augustus Caesar, people have always thought our best days are behind us, and maintain we are always in decline. W.J. Humphrey noted these same tendencies of belief with regard to climate, and attributed them, possibly, to the inherited ills of the flesh.
Read Doug Hoffman’s informative post about the tornado in Arkansas.
Found something else of interest. Kudzu causes global warming… and how to kill kudzu with buttermilk of all things! I used Dow Agrosciences’ Redeem R&P herbicide on a thick patch of kudzu and it devastated the stuff. But a few of the roots didn’t quite die off. So a couple of us dug them out as best we could. Wow, a little buttermilk would have done the trick and saved a lot of work, will have to try that idea if ever needed in the future.
http://theresilientearth.com/?q=content/kudzu-causes-global-warming
Been reading the news (I know, big mistake.)
The PIK in Germany, the “Potsdam-Instituts für Klimafolgenforschung” (Potsdam Institute for Climate Research) has made an announcement that there is the chance of a “mega melt” in east Antarctica.
If this happens, the sea level will rise by 3-4 meters. Over the next several thousand years. The PIK, which is known to be very obedient to the IPCC, has also said “even if we could stop the climate change, the risk would remain”.
No really? Sea level changes would still be risky and will happen over the course of several thousand years?
Certain German and Austrian media outlets have picked it up and paint disaster scenarios of cities like New York and Tokyo getting flooded.
Historically speaking… Thousand of years ago the sea level was low enough to allow land bridges from the Asian mainland into Japan. Several times. Those dry land connections were vital for the settlement of Japan by humans. Since then those connections have disappeared. The sea level has risen quite a lot in those past thousands of years.
Oh my god… IN SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS WE’RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!!!
You can’t make this stuff up.
Climategate Email 3759.txt
http://eric.worrall.name/Climategate/FOIA/3759.txt
Here is the Oroko Swamp RCS chronology plot in an attached Word 98 file and actual data values below. It certainly looks pretty spooky to me with strong “Medieval Warm Period” and “Little Ice Age” signals in it. It’s based on substantially more replication than the series in the paper you have to review (hint, hint!).
Oroko Swamp is in New Zealand