The Week That Was: 2017-08-19 (August 19, 2017)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week. Physics has a history of synthesizing many phenomena into a few theories – Richard Feynman
Number of the Week: $4 Trillion
THIS WEEK: By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Blackwaters: Blackwater rivers and bogs belie the claims that ocean carbonization, foolishly called “ocean acidification”, will eliminate life. Blackwater rivers are common to the Amazon and the Southeast US, and found in Europe, Africa, Australia, Indonesia, and elsewhere. A blackwater river is a slow-moving current running through forested or highly vegetated swamps or wetlands. Decaying vegetation, particularly leaves, release tannins into the water, making a comparatively transparent, acidic water into one darkly stained, resembling tea or black coffee.
Blackwater rivers are somewhat similar to clearwater rivers in that they do have low levels of sediment. However, clearwater rivers have a pH of about 7 or slightly less. The pH of blackwater rivers can range from 6 to below 4. Microscopic life varies somewhat between the types of rivers. Blackwater supports rotifers, a common prey to many aquatic animals; but but fewer types of crustaceans and mites, another common prey to many aquatic animals.
At 685 square miles (1775 square km), the Okefenokee Swamp is the largest blackwater swamp in the US. Generally, a swamp supports forests while a marsh supports only grasses. Located in southern Georgia and extending into Florida, in 1937, the a major portion of the Okefenokee was sold to the US government and declared a national wildlife refuge. There are no unique, endangered species found there, but the richness of the ecosystem justified such a designation. Near universities and with easy access, the Okefenokee is one on the most intensely studied. The swamp receives an average of 50 to 60 inches (125 to 150 cm) of rain per year. Other inflow of water is considered insignificant. The swamp provides the headwaters for the slow-moving Suwannee and St. Mary’s rivers.
At an elevation of about 120 feet (37 m), the swamp is an inundated peak bog. Core studies show that the peat began forming about 6500 years ago and plant communities were much the same as today. The base of the swamp is sand, left over past warm periods, when sea levels were much higher. Below that is marine clays, which slowly seeped below the sand, forming an impervious layer. The pH averages about 3.6, averaging from 3.2 to 4.2. It is truly acidic.
Yet, the swamp has a great diversity of life. Many forms are common to the area, few are specialized for blackwater. Of particular note are the amphibians and fish that lay their eggs in the acidic waters. There are 21 species of frogs and toads and 16 species of salamanders thriving in the acidic swamp. The larger ones eat the abundant crayfish, frogs, snakes, fish, etc., a diet similar to that of wading birds. Crayfish, are freshwater crustaceans, similar to lobster.
There are 39 species of fish in these waters, including Chain Pickerel, often considered a northern fish. A large variety of sunfish is found, including bass, that migrate to less acidic waters in the rivers when the pH drops too low.
On a day in mid-August at the Okefenokee, the air temperature ranged from the mid-70s to the mid-90s. The surface water temperature was in the mid-80s. Other than birds and some frogs, few animals could be seen. Many birds fly north for the summer, others pass through in the spring and fall The alligators were in deep water. Even the herons and egrets seemed to move slowly, having adjusted to the heat.
After several years of low rainfall, the pH measured 3.4 earlier this year. Then, heavy spring and summer rains raised the water levels by about 2 feet, raising the pH to about 3.6. The increased water level flooded some alligator nests, destroying the egg clutches they contained. Alligators build nests in decaying vegetation, which provides the heat needed to incubate the eggs. As with many other forms of life in the blackwater, they are plentiful, but are most easily observed in the spring and fall. Those politicians who raise fears of “ocean acidification” would benefit from a trip to a blackwater swamp. See link under Acidic Waters.
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Antarctic Ice Melt: A study published by the Geological Society of London draws into question any claims that carbon dioxide (CO2) is primarily responsible for melting the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, which is the major focus of NASA, NOAA, and others supporting claims by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the world will experience an increase in sea level rise far beyond the six to seven inches (18 cm) per century calculated from tidal gages.
As discussed in prior TWTWs, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet overlies the West Antarctic Rift System about which we have only limited and sporadic knowledge of volcanic activity and its extent. The area is covered by ice. As stated in the abstract of the paper: enhanced knowledge of this area is needed to better understand “how volcanism and rifting may have influenced ice-sheet growth and decay over previous glacial cycles, and in light of concerns over whether enhanced geothermal heat fluxes and subglacial melting may contribute to instability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.”
The researchers: “use ice-sheet bed-elevation data to locate individual conical edifices protruding upwards into the ice across West Antarctica, and we propose that these edifices represent subglacial volcanoes. We used aeromagnetic, aerogravity, satellite imagery and databases of confirmed volcanoes to support this interpretation. The overall result presented here constitutes a first inventory of West Antarctica’s subglacial volcanism. We identified 138 volcanoes, 91 of which have not previously been identified, and which are widely distributed throughout the deep basins of West Antarctica, but are especially concentrated and orientated along the >3000 km central axis of the West Antarctic Rift System.
If the techniques of the researchers, and their assumptions, prove correct, then they found 91 previously unknown volcanoes, bringing the total to 138 identified volcanoes under the ice sheet. The new 91 glaciers range in height from 340 feet to 13,000 feet (100 to 3850 meters). The peaks are concentrated in the West Antarctic Rift System, spanning 2200 miles (3,500 kilometers) from Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf to the Antarctic Peninsula.
The geothermal activity from the Antarctic fault / rift system may explain most if not all of the sea level rise attributed to melting of the Antarctic glaciers. It is important to note that the far larger East Antarctica is gaining snow and ice. The articles on this important finding range from moderate to silly. For example, Phys.org stated:
“Their results do not indicate whether the volcanoes are active, but should inform ongoing research into seismic monitoring in the area. Volcanic activity may increase if Antarctica’s ice thins, which is likely in a warming climate, scientists say.”
While the headline in the Washington Post stated: “Another climate-change nightmare: 91 new volcanoes beneath Antarctica’s ice.” Why is geophysical activity a climate-change nightmare?
It is doubtful that those in NASA, NOAA, etc. who are promoting the idea of increasing sea level rise will state: Most if not all sea level rise attributed to Antarctica comes from geothermal activity, not increasing CO2. See links under: Changing Earth and Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
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Bigger Wind? U.S. Department of Energy released a new report prepared by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) which states:
“Bigger turbines are enhancing wind project performance. The average generating capacity of newly installed wind turbines in the United States in 2016 was 2.15 MW, up 11% from the average over the previous 5 years. The average rotor diameter in 2016 was 108 meters, a 13% increase over the previous 5-year average, while the average hub height in 2016 was 83 meters, up 1% over the previous 5-year average. Moreover, turbines originally designed for lower wind speeds are now regularly deployed in higher wind speed sites, boosting project performance. Increased rotor diameters, in particular, have begun to dramatically increase wind project capacity factors. For example, the average 2016 capacity factor among projects built in 2014 and 2015 was 42.6%, compared to an average of 32.1% among projects built from 2004 to 2011 and 25.4% among projects built from 1998 to 2001.”
No doubt, many wind promoters greet this news with pride. However, one must remember that wind turbines are reaching their theoretical limits in efficiency. In 1919, physicist Albert Betz established a hypothetical limit to the energy that a wind machine can extract – only about 59% of the kinetic energy of the wind passing through it.
Further in his 2015 book, “Energy: A Textbook”, physicist Howard Hayden calculated that the torque, force, generated by a large turning turbine is similar to a school bus turning at the end of a plank the length of a football field. Thus, the base must be very strong and thick. The base may contain more than 550 tons of concrete and 45 tons of reinforcing steel.
Additionally, when the blades pass the shaft, they set up low frequency soundwaves. Low frequency sound travels great distances and can be very disturbing to a small percentage of people, affecting their sense of balance.
No doubt, larger on-shore wind turbines will face increasing opposition. Off-shore wind power has yet to be demonstrated as effective for replacing fossil fuels. What will such wind turbines do with plans by architects to incorporate wind turbines in high-rise building? See links under Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind.
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Perplexed Insurer: Munich RE is the world’s largest re-insurance company, essentially an insurer of insurance companies. According to reports the company is perplexed about the relatively few natural disasters thus far in 2017. Could it be a benefit of global warming? See links under Changing Weather.
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Winner of the April Fools Award! The winner of SEPP’s annual April Fools award, a lump of coal, was announced on August 13 at the annual meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness. The unsuccessful nominees included Donald Trump for anti-science; RI Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, whose motto is — Censor the Skeptics; NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, whose motto is — Sue the Skeptics; Arizona Congressman Raul Grijalva, Drive Skeptic Out – Get them fired; and California Governor Jerry Brown, Ignore the Skeptics – Build Solar Power from panels which produce 60% of capacity about 20% of the time on cloudless Summer days in southern California. Less the rest of the time.
But the clear winner was former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Christiana Figueres who stated: “This is the first time in the history of mankind that we are setting ourselves the task of intentionally, within a defined period of time, to change the economic development model that has been reigning for at least 150 years, since the Industrial Revolution.” (Investors Business Daily, February 10, 2015)
As spoken during the presentation: translated the above statement means: “We will destroy the economic system that raised billions of people out of dire poverty, and allows them to live healthier, longer lives. We will force them to return to a hand to mouth existence of squalor and disease.”
As Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC, Ms. Figueres claims responsibility for the signing of the Paris Agreement. But who knows what it is?
Is it binding or non-binding? If it is binding on the US, then submit it to the Senate for approval by 2/3 of the Senate as required by the Constitution. Let them decide.
To avoid the US Constitution, the Agreement was changed at the last second to give it the appearance of an executive agreement. Avoiding the Constitution is not American Law.
This last-second change demonstrates that the UNFCCC and the UN-IPCC which provides the semi-science supporting it, are little more than Smoke and Mirrors – providing only an illusion of responsibility.
Flushed with great success, in April, Ms. Figueres became head of Mission 2020, stating it needs One Trillion Dollars a year to prevent dangerous global warming. How much is One Trillion? That is more than the average annual deficit of 8 years of the Obama Administration.
Ms. Figueres well earned her lump of coal! See link under Defending the Orthodoxy.
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Number of the Week: $4 Trillion. Using several sources, Roger Andrews of Energy Matters estimates that world-wide, governments and companies have spent $4 Trillion on renewable energy sources. Three trillion for direct outlay on generating facilities, and $1 Trillion for upgrades required by renewables. The exact numbers are contestable. But, determining if it is a successful “investment” is not – are the expenditures producing a positive return? See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, 2013
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
Summary: http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2a/pdf/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, 2014
http://www.nipccreport.org/reports/ccr2b/pdf/Full-Report.pdf
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, NIPCC, Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Distinguished Belgian Scientist, Leading European Critic Of Climate Alarmism, Dies Suddenly
By P. Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Aug 8, 2017
Heat has been declining for decades despite government reports
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, AMS Fellow, ICECAP, Aug 15, 2017
Why Revoking the EPA GHG Endangerment Finding Is the Most Urgent Climate Action Needed
By Alan Carlin, Carlin Economics and Science, Aug 17, 2017
http://www.carlineconomics.com/archives/3816
Here’s How to Avoid Climate Panics
By Dennis Avery, Townhall, Aug 7, 2017
https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisavery/2017/08/07/heres-how-to-avoid-climate-panics-n2365479
Russian Scientists Find ‘Appreciable Contribution’ From Natural Variability, Solar Forcing To Recent Warming
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Aug 17, 2017
Worldwide investment in renewable energy reaches US$ 4 trillion – with little to show for it
By Roger Andrews, Energy Matters, Aug 16, 2017
Why Climate Alarmist Reports Should Be Ignored Where They Use Bad Methodology and Data
By Alan Carlin, Carlin Economics and Science, Aug 9, 2017
http://www.carlineconomics.com/archives/3793
Defending the Orthodoxy
Mission 2020: The Climate Turning Point
By Independent Policy Analyst and Writer: Chloe Revill and Victoria Harris, preface, Stefan Rahmstorf and Anders Levermann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
http://www.mission2020.global/2020%20The%20Climate%20Turning%20Point.pdf
The Axis of Climate Evil
By Paul Krugman, NYT, Aug 11, 2017
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/opinion/climate-science-denial.html?emc=eta1
“The risks of faster-than-expected climate change.”
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Leading Heat Transfer Physicists/Geologists Assert The Impact Of CO2 Emissions On Climate Is ‘Negligible’
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Aug 10, 2017 [H/t John Dunn]
Zero CO2 Emissions. A Dangerous Absurdity
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Aug 8, 2017
http://www.powerforusa.com/2017/08/08/zero-co2-emissions-a-dangerous-absurdity/
Al Gore’s Poor Track Record
By Joe Bastardi, WeatherBELL Analytics. Via GWPF, Aug 9, 2017
http://www.thegwpf.com/al-gores-poor-track-record/
Gore: The Gift That Keeps On Giving
By Steven Hayward, Power Line, Aug 17,2017
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/08/gore-the-gift-that-keeps-on-giving.php
After Paris!
Pakistan needs access to global funds to cope with climate change
By Awais Umar, Express Tribune, Aug 14, 2017 [H/t WUWT]
https://tribune.com.pk/story/1480833/pakistan-needs-access-global-funds-cope-climate-change/
‘Dodgy’ greenhouse gas data threatens Paris accord
By Matt McGrath, BBC, Aug 8, 2017
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40669449
“Levels of some emissions from India and China are so uncertain that experts say their records are plus or minus 100%.”
Ozone treaty taking a bite out of US greenhouse gas emissions
Press Release, AGU, Aug 14, 2017 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-08/agu-ott081417.php
Link to paper: Considerable contribution of the Montreal Protocol to declining greenhouse gas emissions from the United States
By Lei Hu1, et al. Geophysical Research Letters, Accepted July 20, 2017
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017GL074388/pdf
UNEP chief urges China to do more on climate
By Staff Writers, AFP, Physics.org. Aug 9, 2017 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-unep-chief-urges-china-climate.html
Orlando Becomes 40th City to Commit to 100% Renewable Energy
By Staff Writers, EcoWatch, Aug 8, 2017
https://www.ecowatch.com/orlando-renewable-energy-2470947578.html
[SEPP: Comment: Will the politicians “feel good” when the voters discover the cost of 100% clean energy?]
Change in US Administrations
Pruitt: EPA will review ‘politicized’ climate science report
By Emily Holden, Politico, Aug 11, 2017
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/pruitt-climate-report-epa-241546
Top Electric Grid Regulator Will Make Keeping Coal Plants Online One Of His Main Goals
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, Aug 14, 2017 [H/t WUWT]
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Arvind Subramanian slams carbon imperialism, calls for global coal alliance
Arvind Subramanian says coal will remain the primary source of energy for India in the short to medium term as it remains the cheapest energy source for development needs
By Gireesh Chandra Prasad, Live Mint, Aug 18, 2017 [H/t GWPF]
Review of Recent Scientific Articles by CO2 Science
The Combined Effects of Temperature and CO2 on Two Crop Pathogens
Gilardi, G., Gisi, U., Garibaldi, A. and Gullino, M.L. 2017. Effect of elevated atmospheric CO2 and temperature on the chemical and biological control of powdery mildew of zucchini and the Phoma leaf spot of leaf beet. European Journal of Plant Pathology 148: 229-236. Aug 18, 2017
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V20/aug/a12.php
The Response of the Grass Shrimp to Ocean Acidification [Carbonation] and Warming
Lowder, K.B., Allen, M.C., Day, J.M.D., Deheyn, D.D. and Taylor, J.R.A. 2017. Assessment of ocean acidification and warming on the growth, calcification, and biophotonics of a California grass shrimp. ICES Journal of Marine Science 74: 1150-1158. Aug 17, 2017
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V20/aug/a11.php
The Positive Impact of Ocean Acidification [Carbonation] on the Anti-predator Behavior of European Sea Bass
Poulton, D.A., Porteus, C.S. and Simpson, S.D. 2017. Combined impacts of elevated CO2 and anthropogenic noise on European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). ICES Journal of Marine Science 74: 1230-1236. Aug 10, 2017
http://www.co2science.org/articles/V20/aug/a7.php
Measurement Issues — Surface
Temperatures Plunge After Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology Orders Fix
By Graham Lloyd, The Australian, Via GWPF, Aug 4, 2017
http://www.thegwpf.com/temperatures-plunge-after-bureau-of-meteorology-orders-fix/
Changing Weather
2016 Record Warm Surface Temperatures: The Party’s Over!
By Patrick Michaels, CATO, Aug 10, 2017
https://www.cato.org/blog/2016-record-warm-surface-temperatures-partys-over
[SEPP Comment: May be premature as calling last year’s temperatures as evidence of CO2 warming.]
2017 First Half Global Natural Catastrophe Damage Drops More Than 63%!
Munich Re stumped: wonders why damages from natural catastrophes have fallen dramatically
By Dr. Sebastian Lüning and Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt (translated/edited by P Gosselin), No Tricks Zone, Aug 18, 2017
Tropics Lead Ocean Cooling
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Aug 10, 2017 [H/t GWPF]
https://rclutz.wordpress.com/2017/08/10/tropics-lead-ocean-cooling/
[SEPP Comment: Decline in temperatures with the decline in El Niño.]
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
What do we know about Arctic sea ice trends?
By Dr. Ronan Connolly & Dr. Michael Connolly, Climate Etc. Aug 16, 2017
https://judithcurry.com/2017/08/16/what-do-we-know-about-arctic-sea-ice-trends/
Some Of The World’s Largest Non-Polar Glaciers Are Expanding, Despite Global Warming
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, Aug 11, 2017
Changing Earth
World’s largest volcanic range may lurk beneath Antarctic ice
West Antarctica’s vast ice sheet conceals what may be the largest volcanic region on Earth, new research has revealed.
By Staff Writers, Science Daily, Aug 14, 2017
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170814092735.htm
Link to paper: A new volcanic province: an inventory of subglacial volcanoes in West Antarctica
By Maximillian van Wyk de Vries, et al. Geological Society of London, May 26, 2017
http://sp.lyellcollection.org/content/early/2017/05/26/SP461.7
Antarctica – 91 volcanoes coincidentally found under glaciers warming “due to climate change”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Aug 15, 2017
Geologists warn us about dangerous volcanoes. Will we spend pennies for warnings?
By Larry Kummer, WUWT, Aug 15, 2017
Acidic Waters
A Naturalist’s Guide to the Okefenokee Swamp
By Taylor Schoettle, Sea to Sea Printing, 2002
Library of Congress Number 2002093593
https://www.amazon.com/Naturalists-Guide-Okefenokee-Swamp/dp/0964103826
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Foodgrain Output Up 5-Fold In 60 Years, Hides India’s Farm Distress
By Chaitanya MallapInur, India Spend, Aug 1, 2017
Lowering Standards
US Climate Report Edits Out Highly Embarrassing Section
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Aug 9, 2017
Lamar Smith Slams NYT ‘False Allegations,’ ‘Fake News’ of ‘Leaked’ Climate Report
By Craig Bannister, CNS, Aug 9f, 2017
NYT Caught Switching Out Documents To Fix Botched Climate Change Article
By Michael Bastasch, Daily Caller, Aug 8, 2017 [H/t WUWT]
You Mean There’s a Climate Debate
By Andrew Montford, GWPF, Aug 10, 2017
http://www.thegwpf.com/you-mean-theres-a-climate-debate/
[SEPP Comment: Has BBC made a new discovery?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Another climate-change nightmare: 91 new volcanoes beneath Antarctica’s ice
By Avi Selk, Washington Post, Aug 15, 2017
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Planet marks new highs for heat, pollutants, sea level in 2016: report
By Kerry Sheridan, Phys.org, Aug 10, 2017 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-planet-highs-pollutants-sea.html
Link to study: Record temperature streak bears anthropogenic fingerprint
By M. Mann, Miller, Rahmstorf, Steinman & Tingley, Aug 12, 2017
From the abstract: “The likelihood of observing the specific level of record warmth recorded during 2016 is no more than ~one-in-a-million neglecting anthropogenic warming, but as high as 27%, i.e., a nearly one-in-three chance of occurrence taking anthropogenic warming into account.”
[SEPP Comment: The statement is a stunning display of statistical absurdity!]
Subsidies to Fossil Fuels [UK]
By John Constable, GWPF, Aug 15, 2017
https://www.thegwpf.com/subsidies-to-fossil-fuels/
“The Overseas Development Institute approach to fossil fuel subsidy is childish and tendentious, not to say plain silly. Neither the Health and Environment Alliance, nor Mr Tulloch and Aviva, should have touched it with a barge pole.”
Follow Up To Air Pollution Scare Story
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Aug 17, 2017
[SEPP Comment: Origin of 40,000 per year deaths in the UK: “from a 2009 report by Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP)” based on the US Pope Study – rubber numbers from the EPA.]
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Roger Boyes [Times UK] on Military Planning
By Andrew Montford, GWPF, Aug 9, 2017
https://www.thegwpf.com/39442-2/
Questioning European Green
UK Energy Cost Review Turns Into Farce Before It Has Even Started
By Staff Writer, Sunday Telegraph, UK, Via GWPF, Aug 8, 2017
http://www.thegwpf.com/uk-energy-cost-review-turns-into-farce-even-before-its-start/
[SEPP Comment: Don’t question green taxes?]
Green energy taxes to treble in five years
By Steven Swinford, Telegraph, UK, Aug 2, 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/02/green-energy-taxes-treble-five-years/
Litigation Issues
The blame game
By Judith Curry, Climate Etc. Aug 14, 2017
https://judithcurry.com/2017/08/14/the-blame-game/#more-23277
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
New study shows renewable fuel standard helps—not ‘harms’—the US economy
By Bob Dinneen, The Hill, Aug 18, 2017
[SEPP Comment; The President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association misses the key point – why should the government mandate ethanol and other biofuels?]
Energy Issues – Non-US
Australia, Denmark, Germany vie to win Highest Global Electricity Cost! (It’s the Nobel Price Prize?)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Aug 18, 2017
“It’s not even close: If South Australia seceded it would have the highest electricity price of any nation on Earth.”
Germans Just Love Paying Sky-High Prices for Green Energy
By David Meyer, Fortune, Aug 8, 2017
http://fortune.com/2017/08/08/germans-renewable-energy-energiewende-subsidies/
The Kaiser Has No Clothes
By Staff Writers, The American Interest, Aug 4, 2017
https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/08/04/kaiser-no-clothes/
[SEPP Comment: On Germany’s energy plan.]
Green Energy Lobby Attacks Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
By Staff Writers, The Times, Via GWPF, Aug 16, 2017
https://www.thegwpf.com/green-energy-lobby-attacks-royal-society-for-the-protection-of-birds/
Regulator readies power line charges for ‘energy revolution’
By Jillian Ambrose, Telegraph, UK, Aug 4, 2017
“Ofgem has kickstarted a long-awaited review of how it recovers the cost of maintaining the country’s electricity networks ahead of a boom in small-scale power units, such as solar panels and batteries.”
[SEPP Comment: Efficient solar in cloudy, high latitude UK?]
Energy Issues – Australia
The Australian Energy Conundrum
Euan Mearns, Energy Matters, Aug 14, 2017
http://euanmearns.com/the-australian-energy-conundrum/#more-19229
“The Continent of Australia is one of the most energy rich countries in the world. And yet the state of South Australia has become blackout capital of the OECD. Nine coal-fired power stations have been closed and some renewable energy deployed in its place. Electricity prices are soaring to the extent that Energy Matters’ readers are alarmed. Is there a connection between these events?”
SA Premier hailed “leader”: govt buys twenty years electricity at twice the price for solar
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Aug 14, 2017
[SEPP Comment: Sometimes it is not cheap to be fashionable.]
SA Solar Thermal plant is a copy of US plant that was out of action for one third of its life so far
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Aug 16, 2017
South Australia okays giant solar thermal plant from SolarReserve
The 150MW plant will be completed by 2020, SA government says.
By Megan Geuss, Ars Technica, Aug 14, 2017
[SEPP Comment: The actual performance and costs should be interesting.]
Energy Issues — US
Energy: A Textbook
By Howard C. Hayden, Vales Lake Publishing, 2015
Politicians Can’t Get Enough Energy Cronyism
From solar to coal, politicians love to subsidize power production.
By Veronique de Rugy, Reason, Aug 17, 2017 [H/t GWPF]
http://reason.com/archives/2017/08/17/politicians-cant-get-enough-energy-crony
“But it doesn’t just represent government cronyism in the Russian energy market; it also represents interference in our own. Unfortunately, U.S. politicians have given up the moral high ground needed to credibly criticize Putin by so often meddling in their own energy market.”
Pullback in U.S. fracking sand use pressures producers
By Arathy S Nair and Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Reuters, Aug 16, 2017
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-sand-idUSKCN1AW07F
[SEPP Comment: Not discussed is the growing replacement of sand with nanoparticles.]
The Tide Is High – An Update Of Sabine Pass LNG Exports
By Sheetal Nasta, RBN Energy, Aug 14, 2017
https://rbnenergy.com/the-tide-is-high-an-update-of-sabine-pass-lng-exports
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Peak Oil And Peak Demand Have Entirely Different Outcomes
By Robert Rapier, Forbes, Aug 15, 2017
[SEPP Comment: Before the advent of peak oil demand, peak oil had separate beliefs: one, peak oil production, where production would no longer expand, but continue; and two, production would peak and quickly decline with exhaustion of the resources. The Club of Rome advocated the latter.]
BP Unlocks a New Shale Gusher in New Mexico
By Ryan Collins, Bloomberg, Aug 7, 2017
Gilmer: We Should View The Permian Basin As A Permanent Resource
By David Blackmon, Forbes, Aug 17, 2017 [H/t GWPF]
“If Gilmer’s estimate of the real scope of Permian Basin oil is on target, it would represent a prize of somewhere between $25 – $100 trillion at current prices.”
Louisiana port project could define ceiling for shale oil demand
By Jordan Blum, Houston Chronicle, Aug 9, 2017
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/LOOP-11745098.php
[SEPP Comment: US exporting oil.]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
There’s Hope for Nuclear Power…
By Donn Dears, Power For USA, Aug 11, 2017
http://www.powerforusa.com/2017/08/11/theres-hope-for-nuclear-power/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
The Solar Energy Fraud
By Norman Rogers, American Thinker, Aug 14, 2017 [H/t Timothy Wise]
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2017/08/the_solar_energy_fraud.html
Annual wind report confirms tech advancements, improved performance, low wind prices
By Staff Writers, Phys.Org, Aug 8, 2017 [H/t Toshio Fujita]
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-annual-tech-advancements-prices.html
Links to report: 2016 Distributed Wind Market Report
By Orrell, Foster, Morris, and Homer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
and DOE, August 2017
https://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2017/08/f35/2016-Distributed-Wind-Market-Report.pdf
The Scottish wind-power racket
By John Constable and Matt Ridley, CapX, Aug 10, 2017 [H/t GWPF]
https://capx.co/the-scottish-wind-power-racket/
Energy & Environmental Newsletter: August 14, 2017
By John Droz, Master Resource, Aug 14, 2017
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Electric Vehicles: “A New Technology”?
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Aug 7, 2017
https://www.masterresource.org/electric-vehicles/ev-not-new-technology/
[SEPP Comment: A bit of history.]
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BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE:
North Korea Aside, Guam Faces Anther Threat: Climate Change
By Mike Ives, NYT, Aug 11, 2017 [H/t Howard Hayden]
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/world/asia/guam-north-korea-climate-change.html?emc=eta1
Link to report: What Climate Change Means for Guam
By Staff Writers, EPA, Aug 2016
https://19january2017snapshot.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/climate-change-gu.pdf
“The Pacific Ocean has become about 25 percent more acidic in the past three centuries, and acidity is likely to increase another 40 to 50 percent by 2100.”
[SEPP Comment: The ocean remains alkaline. How does it become more acidic by a given percent? Are the oceans 25% less alkaline?]
Global catastrophe!
By Staff Writers, Climate Change Predictions.org, Aug 18, 2017
http://climatechangepredictions.org/uncategorized/8826
“Climate change over the next 20 years could result in a global catastrophe costing millions of lives in wars and natural disasters.
“A secret report, suppressed by US defence chiefs and obtained by The Observer, warns that major European cities will be sunk beneath rising seas as Britain is plunged into a ‘Siberian’ climate by 2020. Nuclear conflict, mega-droughts, famine and widespread rioting will erupt across the world.
“The document predicts that abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies.
“The threat to global stability vastly eclipses that of terrorism, say the few experts privy to its contents. An imminent scenario of catastrophic climate change is ‘plausible and would challenge United States national security in ways that should be considered immediately’, they conclude.
“As early as next year widespread flooding by a rise in sea levels will create major upheaval for millions.” [Boldface added]
The Guardian, 22 Feb 2004
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1. EPA Resignation Facts
The rest of the story behind those loud civil-servant protests.
Editorial, WSJ, Aug 7, 2017
https://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-resignation-facts-1502146629
The editorial states:
“The media and federal unions are making a cause celebre out of federal scientists who have resigned and then denounced Trump Administration policies on the way out. We’re all for shrinking the government workforce, but the political melodrama could use a few leavening facts.
“The latest splash is from Elizabeth Southerland, until recently the director of science and technology in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water. Ms. Southerland ended a 30-year EPA career last week with an internal memo decrying Donald Trump’s ‘draconian’ budget cuts, and his ‘industry deregulation.’ She said her ‘civic duty’ required that she warn that ‘our children and grandchildren’ face ‘increased public health and safety risks and a degraded environment.’
“This follows the much-publicized April departure of Michael Cox, who quit the EPA in Washington state after 25 years, complaining in a letter to Administrator Scott Pruitt about ‘indefensible budget cuts’ and efforts to ‘dismantle EPA and its staff as quickly as possible.’
“Both EPA employees are of retirement age, and they are right to bow out if they can’t in good faith work for Mr. Pruitt. Their letters nonetheless reveal an entrenched and liberal federal bureaucracy. Though career civil servants who are supposed to serve political appointees of any party, they have clearly become progressive ideological partisans.
“Their exits also explain why so much of the EPA workforce is misrepresenting or missing the point of Mr. Pruitt’s policy changes. Ms. Southerland raps the Administrator’s call to rebalance power between the feds and states, as she claims the EPA ‘has always followed a cooperative federalism approach.’
“Really? During the combined presidencies of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, the EPA imposed five federal air-quality implementation plans on states. Barack Obama’s EPA imposed 56.
“The Obama EPA also stripped states of their statutory development authority, whether with its pre-emptive veto of Alaska’s Pebble Mine, or its Waters of the United States rule that gave the feds de facto sway over tens of millions of acres of private land. EPA employees embraced these new powers, but they violate the Constitution and hurt the environment.
After citing the Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado and Flint Michigan lead disaster, where the EPA failed to alert the public, and failures of Fish and Wildlife Service, the editorial continues:
“Mr. Trump has proposed a 30% cut in EPA funding, but Congress won’t cut anything close. Mr. Pruitt’s decision to refocus on core jobs like Superfund cleanups means a shift in EPA spending in any event. The goal should be an EPA that is more efficient and effective—rather than one measured by employee numbers.
“Ms. Southerland’s exit may also free up some dollars. Federal records show she earned $249,000 last year in combined salary and bonus—$1,000 less than a Supreme Court Justice and about $200,000 more than the average taxpayer. She’ll receive an annual lifetime pension worth about 75% of the average of the last three years of her career. With that sinecure, she should forgive taxpayers for thinking a little fiscal discipline at EPA might be in order.”
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2. Studies Are Usually Bunk, Study Shows
If a conclusion sounds wrong to you, you’re probably not a hung-over grad student.
By Andy Kessler, WSJ, Aug 13, 2017
https://www.wsj.com/articles/studies-are-usually-bunk-study-shows-1502660991
The op-ed comments on a “best seller”, “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, the author of “The Tipping Point.” The op-ed cites earlier comments by Andrew Ferguson then states:
“Many of the studies quoted in newspaper articles and pop-psychology books are one-offs anyway. In August 2015, the Center for Open Science published a study in which 270 researchers spent four years trying to reproduce 100 leading psychology experiments. They successfully replicated only 39. Yes, I see the irony of a study debunking a study, but add to this a Nature survey of 1,576 scientists published last year. ‘More than 70% of researchers have tried and failed to reproduce another scientist’s experiments,’ the survey report concludes. ‘And more than half have failed to reproduce their own experiments.’
“Bunk medical studies are worrisome, but who really cares about pop behavioral science? It’s easy to write this off as trivial, except millions take these studies and their conclusions seriously. The 2008 book ‘Nudge,’ from academics Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, called for ‘libertarian paternalism’ to push people in the right direction. But who decides what’s the right direction? Turns out the answer is Mr. Sunstein. He was hired by the Obama administration in 2009 to run the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Call it psychobabble authoritarianism.
“In his best seller ‘Blink,’ Mr. Gladwell finds studies suggesting we are all unconsciously biased sexists, racists, genderists, ableists, and a litany of other ‘ists’—victimhood’s origin story. Newer research has deflated this theory, but the serious conclusions, and boring training seminars they inevitably lead to, remain. In her first debate against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton channeled her inner Malcolm Gladwell and declared: ‘Implicit bias is a problem for everyone, not just police.’ Everyone? Speak for yourself. It’s as if she called an entire slice of society deplorable.
“Psych labs are being replaced. In the past decade, companies have built vast platforms to probe, test and study humans every time they search, like or snap. Google runs what are called Split A/B tests, dividing users into groups and testing usability and other features to see what works best. In 2014, Facebook caused a bit of a stir after altering 689,000 users’ newsfeeds to see if the company could manipulate their emotions. It could. Good or bad, this is the future of studies.
“The world is not binary, but conclusions drawn from studies always are. These studies show whatever someone wants them to. So stay skeptical and remember: Correlation doesn’t equal causation. If only I could find a study that shows this.”
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Under “Antarctic Ice Melt”, fourth paragraph, second sentence, “new 91 glaciers” should be “new 91 volcanoes”.
Typo: “… the swamp is an inundated peak bog.”
Should be “peat.”
“Yet, the swamp has a great diversity of life. Many forms are common to the area, few are specialized for blackwater.”
“Pogo” and entourage lives there.
Sorry to have to ask again. Why wind now?
Good question, needs to be properly explained….I can wait.
In his article “The Axis of Climate Evil” Paul Krugman says:
“But the U.S. government is, of course, now controlled by a party within which climate denial — rejecting not just scientific evidence but also obvious lived experience, and fiercely opposing any effort to slow the trend — has become a defining marker of tribal identity.”
Krugman is putting forward a strawman where he interprets the facts in order to make an argument. He should know better (and I’m sure he does). The U.S. government’s position on this issue has been explained.
When EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said carbon dioxide emitted by human activity is not the primary driver of climate change, he clarified the issue with this explanation he gave on CNBC.
“I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degree of impact, So, no, I would not agree that it’s a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.”
He also called for continued study of the issue.
‘There are 39 species of fish in these waters, including Chain Pickerel, often considered a northern fish.’
By whom? The Eastern chain pickeral, Esox niger, is well known in the southeast. We don’t confuse it with Esox lucius, northern pike. Few of us have actually ever seen a northern pike.
Gamecock, I’m from Ontario and I used to fish (no more, horrible thing to do to a creature). Up here the folks who fish call the walleye a “pickerel” which is wrong of course, the walleye is a perch and the pickerel is a pike.
I tell them there exists the grass, the red fin and the chain pickerel right here in Ontario. I also tell them the evidence for Anthropogenic climate change does not exist. In both cases I’m greeted with blank stares…so what?
Scientific names take all the fun out of it.
Just an energy note for the group. Chinese diesel consumption was flat 2013-2015, then dropped 5% in 2016. Per this new (to me) article, LNG fueled trucks are part of the reason:
http://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2017/03/24/diesel-demand-china-falling-petroleum-exports/
From what I can tell there are now over 300,000 LNG trucks on the road in China. That’s a bunch of diesel that isn’t being burned.
I forgot to mention that LNG imports to China have been way up so far in 2017. About 45%:
https://in.reuters.com/article/china-economy-trade-lng-idINL4N1L92A1
Given China was the number 3 importer of LNG in the world in 2016, a 45% jump is pretty incredible, but the story is consistent in the various sources I read. LNG is a small part of China’s overall natural gas sourcing, so a 45% jump is definitely not inconceivable and LNG is in surplus around the world this year. That means the spot price has been low and China is taking advantage of that.
Surely most of that is simply being regasified and pushed into the national natural gas pipeline system, but as I understand it, they’ve pretty much maxed out their regasification capacity. So a significant amount of the imported LNG is being loaded on trucks and delivered to truck stops and inland marine fuel bunkers. Further increases in imports depend on either more direct LNG consumption, or increased regasification capacity.