CREDIT Patrick Mansell, Penn State
Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The part I don’t get – why is it important to greens not to “fall behind”?
Climate Change Impacts ‘No Longer Subtle,’ Scientist Says
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Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson talks with Michael Mann (@MichaelEMann), distinguished professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at Penn State University.
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“What we’re seeing right now across the Northern Hemisphere is extreme weather in the form of unprecedented heat waves, droughts, floods, wildfires. In isolation, it might seem like any one of these things could be dismissed as an anomaly, but it’s the interconnectedness of all these events and their extreme nature that tells us that we are now seeing the face of climate change. The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle.
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“That’s a huge lost opportunity when the media does not connect those dots for the people, because this is the face of climate change, and we have to understand it’s not just about polar bears up in the Arctic. It’s about extreme damaging weather events that we’re experiencing now in real time.”
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“So the world is moving on, and the question now is, simply, is the United States going to join the rest of the world in what is the great economic revolution of this century, the green energy revolution, or are we going to fall behind the rest of the world? That’s the decision that we have to make, and if we don’t like the path that we’re on right now with the Trump administration and Republican leadership in Congress, we’ve got a midterm election in less than 100 days, where we can speak out and say, ‘We want a different path. We want to join the rest of the world, rather than be the last holdout towards progress.’ ”
Read more: http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/08/02/summer-weather-climate-change
Why is it so important to greens for the USA not to “fall behind” the alleged renewable energy revolution?
Back in 2014, an engineering team working for Google discovered to their horror that there is no economically viable path to 100% renewable energy. No matter what they tried, the cost of building all the green energy infrastructure which would be required to get anywhere close to 100% renewable energy was an insurmountable barrier.
Spending money on green energy R&D – I don’t have a problem with that. But spending money on green energy infrastructure is a high risk investment in an unready technology which currently has no chance of delivering. Even Google’s engineers couldn’t crack the problem.
My question – instead of risking national economic ruin by trying to jump to the front of the pack, why not continue with the status quo? Encourage US entrepreneurs servicing the technology needs of green states and other countries to solve the problems, without risking the national economy.
That way countries or states which are enthusiastic about solar and wind take the risks, while states which are less enthusiastic about green energy provide an economic safety net in case the green energy revolution doesn’t work out.
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Mann is an AGW evangelist.
If the inventor of the hokey Shtick wants the media to “connect those dots”, why doesn’t he help them by providing the data that he must have somewhere showing all those events he lists are in actual fact anomalies or unprecedented or a deviation from normal weather. I could list all of the demented psychopathic eco wing-nuts in published climate journals and claim they were signs of the decay of the human race but it would mean nothing without statistics.
By the way what sort of PhD thesis made this Mann an expert on connecting the dots. Last time I did that I was in grade three.
Looking at that photo….What an arrogant, smug, pompous ass.
O.K., now to answer the question, “Why are they afraid to fall behind?”
A. Because somehow, they think that their campfire histrionics and 1KiloWatt solar installs are going to save our nation from some global catastrophe. The truth, as most of us on this thread know, is that it is adherence to their maxims and mandates that will doom our futures and those of our children and grandchildren. They just will not admit how wrong they are and how pitifully lacking in capacity their foolish schemes are and how they will condemn the world to a darker and less prosperous future that they, being dead, will not have to suffer….either the effects or the blame.
it’s those straggling eloi holding up lunch again. can’t have that.
Leave the SunWorshipers and WindWonks behind. Why on continue on research into the cheapest and move advanced energy source — advanced Thorium reactors. Whilst they tilt at windmills and whine,.. new natural nuclear may give us the edge for a millennium more. Hanson might even become the PR man for the Energy Department in a hilarious twist of technical advanced. Back to the future – nuclear powered cars (probably fuel cells some day as storage in H2,..) {must be careful,.. China is doing some good basic research and may surprise all — just without the panels}
Sparky says: “cheapest and move advanced energy source — advanced Thorium reactors.” However there is not a single Thorium reactor in commercial operation, so we have no idea if it is the “cheapest”
I was suggesting R&D for advanced 3rd Ten Nuclear. Reduced and competitive Cost is a result of research and development and the implementation of commercial architectures viable to be competitive. Nuclear’s proven cost competitiveness has been shown for years (unless you conflate excessive regulatory burdens and false assessments of ‘storage’ of waste.). Thorium is in early stages of development but with much promise of reduced costs, risk mitigation and eventual broad commercial success.
“I was suggesting R&D for …”
GOVERNMENT money? Why? Let Apple take a stab at it for a change …
The Suncell will leave the Thorium boys as just another footnote in the history books …
He says it like it’s a bad thing.
I don’t have any problem with green energy, but unfortunately, it is not up to the task. The reason is fundamental. It’s not a lack of research, it is the low energy density and non dispatchability of green energy that is the root problem.
We are in danger of falling behind the leading edge of power production and thus being unable to compete in the global market place, but it’s not in the way the left and the main stream media think. The future is high efficiency coal, not green energy:
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/bucking-global-trends-japan-again-embraces-coal-power
https://www.powermag.com/who-has-the-worlds-most-efficient-coal-power-plant-fleet/
http://joannenova.com.au/2017/02/japan-building-45-hele-coal-plants-australia-1-maybe/
“ The future is high efficiency coal,”
Can we revisit this prediction, in, oh, say just three years? I think one Dr. Randell L. Mills will have operating field units of his inaptly named “SunCell” working at that time …
I suggest that we use the favored Obama position and lead from behind.
If he’s soooooooo interested in reducing CO2, why does he focus so much on “green” energy instead of nuclear? His politics, of course.
Well, even Whackopedia contradicts the “unprecedented heat waves” claim:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heat_waves
also, floods:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_floods
As for droughts:
https://www.ranker.com/list/the-worst-droughts-and-famines-in-history/drake-bird
and, concerning wildfires, again, even Whackopedia contradicts the “unprecedented” claim by Dr. Doom (I mean, “Mann”):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wildfires
Even COLLECTIVELY, all these things CAN be dismissed as an anomaly. None of them, either standing alone or in view of all the others, is an anomaly. Their extreme nature today is no more extreme than their extreme nature yesterday or yesteryear or yestercentury.
What IS extreme is the NUMBER of people now observing these weather events, the NUMBER of news media reporting all this, the NUMBER of people now witnessing, talking about, hyping, misassociating, conflating, and confusing all this to create a popular lie.
Furthermore, attributing all this to “climate change”, in and of itself, would not be unusual, even if the “unprecedented” claim WERE true (which it is NOT). But what Dr. Doom (I mean, “Mann”) subtly tries to sneak into favor is the hidden premise that “climate change” means ONLY changes to climate caused by humans, and he trusts that this insidious hijacking of the general word meaning has successfully overtaken the minds of the masses, but this writer here (Robert K) is NOT one of those masses who has fallen for this verbal hijacking.
So, Dr. Doom (I mean, “Mann”), I call total bullshit on your ego-inflated, uneducated claims that support your completely ignorant faith in “Green energy” replacing the current fossil-fuel-energized civilization.
Can Dr Doom (oops! Mann) guarantee that there will be no more extreme weather events when fossil fuels are no longer used and we are all using electricity in intermittent stages?
When he puts his nuts on the block to demonstrate his commitment to his beliefs, then I might believe he is serious. The first heat wave, drought or flood after his green energy revolution is in place causes forfeit of his family jewels.
There will be no shortage of applicants willing to swing the hammer.
What Green Energy Revolution is Mann talking about when the world’s leading polluters like China, India, and Russia are continuing to build coal plants and/or aren’t showing any great enthusiasm for cutting emissions until they find it convenient. And when all forecasts show fossil fuel use continuing to rise until 2040 at least, who’s really making such a great shift toward renewable energy besides countries with small populations and areas? Mann had better take a closer look at the facts.
So right off the bat he is speaking with forked tongue.
He is wrong on heatwaves, floods, fires, storms and droughts.
None of those weather related events are unprecedented in size, degree, or scope.
When will ethical scientists prove they are reputable and stand up to his less than accurate claims?
Many continue to believe that this all has something to do with climate. It does not, it is about power, control and destroying capitalism and freedom but especially the USA.
People like Mann love the accolades and fame they have gendered. It gives their sad little lives meaning, more than they ever dreamed. Sadly there are those seeking power that use just such people to get what they want. Mann and his ilk would be the first in re-education camps. Just ask yourself why have the socialists, social justice crowd, Antifa, radical feminists, animal rights folks, Islamists, etc, etc allied themselves with the CAGW orthodoxy, priests and priestesses?
Who in their right mind would want to pay forty and fifty something cents a KWH for unreliable electricity that most people couldn’t even afford. Like they do in Europe and Australia and in Ontario, where Doug Ford has started to throw it all out.
Ooo! Ooo! Pick me! Pick me!
Is “the great economic revolution” going to be upward or downward? As for extreme weather and unprecedented heat waves, how many thousands of years back do his usable information and well written observations go? The way I look at it, going back for only about 233 years is talking about weather and not climate. As for wild fires, how much “credit” is he giving to human caused excessive density of trees and lower story vegetation and accumulation of debris from stopping natural fire activity and other forms of mismanagement?
That’s what lemming always say.
Mann 2018:
“…join the rest of the world in what is the great economic revolution of this century, the green energy revolution, or are we going to fall behind the rest of the world…”.
Lenin 1918 (paraphrased):
“…join the comrads of the World in what is the Great Economic Revolution of this century, the Red Communist Economic Revolution, or are we going to fall behind the rest of the World…”.
My question. If Michael Mann is a scientist, why doesn’t he just stick to doing science?
Climate action is a form of superstition
https://chaamjamal.wordpress.com/2018/08/03/the-sorcery-killings-of-melanesia/
When is his court case with Mark Steyn going to start? I am waiting to see this goose squirm as he is publicly humiliated in like fashion to the way he has denigrated others.
China has a 2025 plan to dominate world trade while at the same time doubling coal electrical production. So Mann is saying he is smarter than all the planners and engineers of China put together as they are going to get behind.
Mann wrote
Because science cant do it. If science could connect the dots, then media could report that with confidence.