The Week That Was: 2026-07-11 (July 11, 2026)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “The formulation of a problem is often more essential than its solution, which may be merely a matter of mathematical or experimental skill. To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle requires creative imagination and marks real advances in science.” — Albert Einstein
Number of the Week: 33.5%; 28%; 25% totaling 86%.
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: This TWTW begins with a discussion of a chart presented by Lindzen and Happer which illustrates the logarithmic relationship between CO2 and its influence on temperatures. TWTW presents several different points of view on the latest Statistical Review of World Energy. TWTW then discusses two different suggested outcomes from increasing atmospheric CO2 – increased heat in Europe or increased cold. TWTW discusses part of a post on the NASA-GISS website that illustrates that some members of the organization were acutely aware of the inadequacies of its global climate models. TWTW closes with part of a discussion by Tilak Doshi that projections from the discredited extreme scenarios of the IPCC will continue.
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Diminishing Returns: The CO2 Coalition published a graph from Richard Lindzen and William Happer showing how quickly the influence of carbon dioxide on temperatures declines as the carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere increases (below).
The bar graph shows the increase in carbon dioxide warming effect in units of 20 parts per million in volume (ppmv) of carbon dioxide. The first unit of 20 ppmv of CO2 has a warming influence of 3.08 degrees Celsius (3.08℃ (5.54℉)). The second unit of 20 ppmv of CO2 has a warming influence of only 0.53℃ (0.95℉). This brings the total CO2 to 40 ppmv Though not shown as calculated, the third unit 20 ppmv of CO2 has a warming influence of about 0.3℃ (0.5℉) bringing the total CO2 to 60 ppmv. At this point the total warming effect is about 3.91℃ (7.04℉).
We see that by 200 ppmv, the warming influence of CO2 becomes, roughly, a slightly declining straight line with little warming influence for each incremental increase of 20 ppmv of CO2. For convenience, the estimate ppmv in 1750 (the beginning of the Industrial Age) and for today are shown by arrows.
From this graph, we can see that adding carbon dioxide to today’s atmosphere has little influence on increasing temperatures. Any increase in global temperatures comes largely from natural changes or other human influences such as increasing Urban Heat Island Effect. Inappropriately, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and its followers largely ignore natural changes and falsely attribute warming since 1750 to carbon dioxide.
Unfortunately, the CO2 Coalition did not carefully explain the graph, nor did it explain the sources (other than Richard Lindzen and William Happer) and the graph was misinterpreted by several commentors. The colored graph is based on calculations by William A. van Wijngaarden and William Happer in their work titled “Saturation Graphics.” The calculations show how CO2 absorbs spectral lines (specific wavelengths (or frequencies)) in the infrared spectrum emitted by the surface, as the concentration of CO2 increases from zero to present concentration and beyond.
The greenhouse effect reduces Earth’s emissions to space, with water vapor by far the dominant greenhouse gas as reported by John Tyndall in 1863. Around 1915 Karl Schwarzchild proposed a way of calculating the radiative transfer (how gaseous molecules interfere with electromagnetic energy (for example infrared radiation)) occurring in an atmosphere. Using the well-tested HITRAN database and the work of Planck and Schwarzschild, van Wijngaarden and Happer calculated how the five major greenhouse gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane, and nitrous oxide) interfere with the transmission of infrared radiation to space. Thus, the gases prevent Earth from cooling rapidly at night.
From their calculations van Wijngaarden and Happer presented a simplified version of the warming influence of CO2 (interfering with the nighttime cooling of Earth). A simplified version of it is presented in Figure 2 of “Saturation Graphics.” The figure shows the change in radiation to space in Watts per meter squared with increasing CO2 in units of ppmv-of CO2. By 100 ppmv of CO2 the radiation to space does not decline appreciably with increasing CO2. The decline in the radiation to space becomes almost horizontal by 400 ppmv. The formulas for these calculations are given but are not discussed here.
The current work will not stop the UN IPCC and its followers from making unsubstantiated comments about the increasing warming influence of carbon dioxide with additional emissions and adding numbers together as if the influence were linear, which it is not. The graph that Lindzen and Happer present is an effective tool for showing that adding CO2 to today’s atmosphere is not causing dangerous global warming. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Statistical Review of World Energy: The 75th annual Statistical Review of World Energy is out. Formerly produced by the oil company BP, it is now produced by the Energy Institute in partnership with EMBER a UK based organization whose vision statement is:
“A clean, electrified energy system for all: Ember envisions a future global energy system that is cheaper, cleaner, more efficient and more secure, bringing affordable energy to all.”
As can be expected, the review contained a lot of wind and solar fluff. Paul Homewood cut through the fluff by succinctly stating:
“The increase in renewables each year is not enough even to meet increasing energy demand, never mind eat into the share of oil, coal and gas.
And there is a very good reason for this. Despite the delusion of the West, the rest of the world knows that you cannot run modern economies on intermittent renewable energy.”
In “Renewables still provided only 6% of global primary energy in 2025” Robert Lyman of Friends of Science Society (Canada) wrote:
“Oil continued to be the largest source, providing 201 EJ [exajoule], or one third of the world’s needs, followed by coal, which provided 166 EJ. Natural gas provided almost 151 EJ. Thus, the three fossil fuels provided 518 EJ, or 86% of the world’s primary energy supply. Nuclear energy provided 31 EJ, Hydroelectricity 16 EJ and Renewables 35.45 EJ. The highly touted renewables thus provided only 6% of the world’s primary energy supply. [1 exajoule equals 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 joules. 1 British Thermal Unit (BTU) equals 1,055 joules]
Global oil production in 2025 was 100.6 million barrels per day. The OECD countries produced one third of that production (33.237 million barrels per day) and the non-OECD countries produced 67.352 million barrels per day. In 2025, total liquids consumption was 106.5 million barrels per day, an increase of 1.4 million barrels per day from 2024.” [(The heat content of crude oil is about 5.7 million BTU per barrel, or 6.013 billion J/bbl.]
In “2026 Update: Fossil Fuels ≠ Global Warming” posted on is blog, Ron Clutz wrote:
“The climate alarmist/activist claim is straight forward: Burning fossil fuels makes measured temperatures warmer. The Paris Accord further asserts that by reducing human use of fossil fuels, further warming can be prevented. Those claims do not bear up under scrutiny.
It is enough for simple minds to see that two time series are both rising and to think that one must be causing the other. But both scientific and legal methods assert causation only when the two variables are both strongly and consistently aligned. The above shows a weak and inconsistent linkage between WFFC [World Fossil Fuel Consumption] and GMT [Global Mean Temperature].
Going further back in history shows even weaker correlation between fossil fuels consumption and global temperature estimates:…”
Writing for the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Roger Pielke, Jr., posted some interesting graphs from the report including one showing Change in Carbon Intensity of GDP, 2015-2025. For every country of the 19 listed except Indonesia, the CO2 emissions divided by the gross domestic product fell. The UK (37.7%) and Germany (31.4%) declined the most. Their economies are stagnant, at best. Interestingly, the decline for China (28.6%) and the decline for France (28.2%) were roughly comparable. The decline for the US (26.8%) and the decline for Australia (26.8%) were the same. Yet the Australian economy is suffering, and the US economy is not. Further, CO2 emissions divided by the gross domestic product of the US is increased in 2025, while the same calculation for Australia fell.
From the above it appears that the use of hydrocarbons (fossil fuels) is becoming more efficient. But the economies of most of those countries that significantly cut back are suffering. See links under Energy Issues – General.
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Blaming Heat on Climate Change: Europe suffered through a heat wave where a high-pressure system stagnated due to an Omega Block, a form of a Rossby Wave. Of course, global warming was the claim. Rossby waves are planetary waves that occur in rotating fluids such as the atmosphere of the rotating Earth. Claiming that these waves are caused by global warming (climate change) is claiming that the rotation of Earth is caused by climate change.
In Europe, such as France and the UK, governments block the use of air conditioning through regulations. John Robson writes:
“What’s remarkable in his cataloguing of the stats is not so much that Europe has less AC than the US, predictable given that it’s poorer and that it doesn’t have sweltering tropical places like Mississippi. It’s that it has far less even than chilly old Canada (from Heatmap):
‘Only about 19% of European homes have air conditioning. That’s less than the United States, of course. But it’s also less than Canada, which has a more comparable climate. Nearly 70% of Canadian homes have air conditioning or equivalent equipment.’
The world leader, it seems, is Japan at 91%. And while it is logical that the rate is higher in southern than northern Europe, and rising, it’s weird that Italy with its Mediterranean climate would have less AC than Canada or Japan with their temperate ones. Or not weird since Britain, whose climate is notorious for being cold and wet, is with Europe on this odd business Brexit or no Brexit:”
The website “Brilliant Maps” confirmed these data. According to its ranking Japan leads the world with 91% of its dwelling units with air conditioning; USA 90%; South Korea 86%; China 60%; Mexico 16%; Brazil 16%; Indonesia 9%; India 5%. China has more than twice as many units installed (905 million) as the USA (422 million). [Note this does not mean that the entire dwelling unit is air conditioned but at least part of the unit is.]
See links under Changing Weather for information on the lack of air conditioning in some countries, links under Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism? for blaming heat waves on climate failure and https://brilliantmaps.com/air-conditioning-by-country/ for Brillant Maps presentation.
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Claiming Future Freezing from Climate Change: The Gulf Stream is a well-known feature of ocean circulation (Benjaman Franklin studied it.). It keeps western Europe far warmer than it would be otherwise. According to estimates, a collapse of the Gulf Stream could make London 10℃ or 18℉ colder. Up to 20℃ colder in some places in Europe. Alarmists frequently claim that global warming is causing a collapse of the Gulf Stream, or more broadly the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). The AMO has long term fluctuations in sea surface temperatures which have a cycle of roughly every 60 to 80 years. These influence hemispheric climate patterns. It was in a cold phase in the early 20th century and between 1964 to 1995. Since then, it has been in a warm phase.
The AMO pertains to the sea surface temperatures of the larger Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) which, in turn, is part of the global ocean conveyer belt. Some short-term measurements showed that the AMOC was slowing down. Writing in The Daily Sceptic, Chris Morrison reports on a 20-year study of the AMOC. He writes:
“For 20 years the RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS Array has measured the movements along the Atlantic Ocean at 26°N. A number of submerged stations have collected large amounts of data on the currents that bring warm waters from the Gulf up to the Arctic and return them cooled, heavier and saltier back to the south. Alarmists and Net Zero fantasists have long argued that humans interfere with this process. In unison they wail (perhaps next year!) that a ‘tipping point’ could be reached where the currents reverse and bring ice age weather to countries in the northern hemisphere.
But findings from computer models that have produced countless The Day After Tomorrow headlines are being rendered increasingly worthless by the actual RAPID data. In fact, there has been a largely unannounced pause in any weakening of the Gulf Stream – also known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – since the early 2010s. Before that and going right back to the start of measurements in 2004, the strength was generally relatively high, but there was a substantial weakening between 2009-2010. Such was the scale of this temporary weakening that the 20-year record has been skewed to show a 6% decadal decline. But RAPID has shown that sharp changes on a daily to inter-decadal period are the norm rather than exceptional. All of this is likely to be due to natural variation – what is often referred to as ‘noise’ – rather than any human cause.
Many of the fluctuations appear to be driven by changing air currents rather than deeper water formulations alone. These findings are starting to fundamentally change the way scientists understand the operation of the AMOC and mean that single or short-period snapshots are inadequate in measuring long-term strength. Needless to say, computer models are simply not up to the task of separating out any noise arising from the natural variability.
The scale of the natural variation can be truly astonishing. The RAPID observations from 2004-25 show a weakening of 1 Sv per decade in the AMOC. This is oceanographic-speak for a volume of water transported per second – 1 Sverdrup (Sv) equals one million cubic meters of water. The AMOC has an average strength of around 16-18 Sv, so the 20-year 6% average decadal decline is measurable but not necessarily significant given the enormous outlier recorded around 2010. In fact, RAPID has found that the AMOC can vary by several Sverdrups over months to years. The decline in 2009-2010 saw a 30% weakening which, since that time, has been restored. Some idea of the enormous changes discovered can be seen by comparing the 2009 Sv figure of 14.6 with the 18 Sv flowing in 2018. The one cause behind this huge change we can confidently rule out is humans using hydrocarbons.”
Natural variation is not a long-term trend from increasing CO2. For the paper and Morrison’s article see links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Margin of Error: Writing in No Tricks Zone, Kenneth Richard discusses a paper demonstrating that the global climate models greatly underestimate the role of clouds in altering solar radiation hitting Earth. In his post Richard links to study by member of the now defunct NASA-GISS on the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project. The section on Cloud Climatology: Computer Climate Models states:
“Unfortunately, such a margin of error is much too large for making a reliable forecast about climate changes, such as the global warming will result from increasing abundances of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. A doubling in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), predicted to take place in the next 50 to 100 years, is expected to change the radiation balance at the surface by only about 2 percent. Yet according to current climate models, such a small change could raise global mean surface temperatures by between 2-5°C (4-9°F), with potentially dramatic consequences. If a 2 percent change is that important, then a climate model to be useful must be accurate to something like 0.25%. Thus, today’s models must be improved by about a hundredfold in accuracy, a very challenging task. To develop a much better understanding of clouds, radiation and precipitation, as well as many other climate processes, we need much better observations.”. [Boldface added]
Former leaders of NASA-GISS participated in papers claiming that carbon dioxide was the control knob of climate change, yet even their own models contained errors so large that the models were useless for forecasting. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Still Alive? Long time commentator Tilak Doshi writes that “The Death of Climate Alarmism Has Been Greatly Exaggerated.” Doshi uses a paper in Foreign Policy by Bordoff and Kaufman from Columbia University to buttress his claim. Doshi writes [boldface added]:
“Having issued these concessions, Bordoff and Kaufman spend the remainder of their article arguing, with remarkable facility, that nothing has really changed. The doomsday scenario is gone, but alarm must be maintained to avoid complacency. The logic is worth examining carefully, since it represents the most sophisticated version of a move now being executed across the climate establishment as the ground shifts beneath its feet: the pivot from overt apocalypticism to what might be called ‘non-alarmist alarmism’ — a posture that formally disowns the discredited scenario while preserving every policy conclusion that scenario was used to support.
Bordoff and Kaufman’s treatment of the Paris Agreement temperature targets reveals the same sleight of hand. They acknowledge that the 1.5°C and 2°C thresholds ‘were never the output of a neat optimization model’ but ‘appropriately, socially negotiated markers of tolerable risk’. This is a candid admission that the targets which have driven trillions of dollars of policy, reshaped the energy economies of entire continents and been used to justify the suppression of domestic fossil fuel production are, at root, political constructs. They have no rigorous scientific derivation. They are, as climate economist Richard Tol has long argued, arbitrary round numbers that crystallized through a process of diplomatic negotiation rather than empirical analysis. Once this is admitted, the question that must follow — and which Bordoff and Kaufman do not ask — is why policies of such vast economic consequence should be built on foundations of such admitted arbitrariness.” [Boldface added]
There is another, perhaps more important reason that the death of climate alarmism has been greatly exaggerated. The abandoned RCP8.5 scenario was a highly exaggerated estimate of CO2 emissions. Throwing it out, however, does not discard (or correct) the models that have uniformly overestimated temperature increases due to CO2 increases.
See links under Problems in the Orthodoxy
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Number of the Week: 33.5%; 28%; 25% totaling 86%. In his analysis of the sources of primary energy Robert Lyman expresses the totals as EJ [exajoules]. Expressed as percentages of the total of 600 EJ, the contributions of the three fossil fuels are oil 33.5%; coal 28%; natural gas 25%; or 86% of the world’s primary energy supply.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Closer to the Fire – Increasing Tropical Sunlight
By Richard Willoughby, WUWT, July 3, 2026
The purpose of this analysis is to examine whether changes in tropical solar exposure are consistent with observed changes in atmospheric moisture and heat redistribution.
Censorship
Infamy, Infamy
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they haven’t got it in for you
By John Ridgway, Climate Scepticism, July 6, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-fossil-fuels/
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/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
Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer
The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth’s Atmosphere
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, Mar 3, 2023
Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, December 22, 2020
Net Zero Averted Temperature Increase
By Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and William A. van Wijngaarden, CO2 Coalition, June 2024
Radiation Transport in Clouds
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Klimarealistene, Science of Climate Change, January 2025
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Advancing Freedom With Data: Debunking Catastrophic Greenhouse Warming
By Staff, CLINTEL, July 6, 2026
Link to graph: Happer/Lindzen Graph: CO2 and Fossil Fuel Emissions From 1750 to Today Caused No Extreme Heat, Weather or Damages
By Richard Lindzen and William Happer, CO2 Coalition, July 1, 2026
Saturation Graphics
By William A. van Wijngaarden and William Happer, CO2 Coalition, Oct 8, 2025
Fears of Gulf Stream Collapse Fade as Hard Data Reveal Major Role of Natural Variation
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, July 9, 2026
Link to: Atlantic meridional overturning circulation observed by the RAPID-MOCHA-WBTS array at 26N from 2004 to 2024 (v2024.1a)
By Ben Moat, et al., National Oceanography Centre and British Oceanographic Data Centre, Jan 27, 2026
New Study: NASA’s Models Wildly Underestimate The Capacity Of Clouds To Alter Solar Radiation
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 8, 2026
Link to paper: Is the cloud absorption of solar radiation still underestimated notably by current model-based reanalyses?
By You-Jing Fu, et al., Advances in Climate Change Research, Oct 23, 2025
Link to NASA-GISS post no long maintained: International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project
By Staff, NASA-GISS, accessed July 10, 2026
Can solar and wind + batteries really provide 24/7/365 electricity?
Examining the realities of a solar and wind + battery system
By Lars Schernikau, The Unpopular Truth, Accessed June 30, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to report: 24/7 renewables: The economics of firm solar and wind
By Staff, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), 2026
120 Years Of Shortwave And Longwave Flux Analysis Show Ocean Heat Changes Are Unrelated To CO2
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 3, 2026
Link to paper: Twentieth century variability of radiative fluxes over global oceans from homogenized visually observed cloud cover
By M Aleksandrova and S Gule, 2025 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci., 2025
Roger Pielke, Jr – Climate Correction – RCP8.5 is retired – Now what?
Video posted by Climate & Energy Realists of Australia, ICSF & Clintel, June 24, 2026
Projected: 7,500 new coal fired power plants; population of 13.5 billion, now about 10.2 billion
Defending the Orthodoxy
Meet the Climate Activist Shortlist of Candidates to be Next UN Secretary General
By Eric Warrall, WUWT, July 3, 2026
The New York Climate Exchange
By Staff, Website, Accessed July 1, 2026 [H/t John Robson]
In April 2023, following a two-year global competition—seeking an anchor academic and research institution for the Center for Climate Solutions—The Trust for Governors Island and the New York City Mayor’s Office announced that The New York Climate Exchange, a new non-profit consortium led by Stony Brook University, would develop a Climate Campus—on the island—for research, education, and jobs.
The Exchange unlocks climate solutions at speed and scale by activating a broad, multi-stakeholder model. Our physical campus is coming to Governors Island in 2029!
New construction, renovation, and operational costs for The Exchange are expected to by $700 million. About $150 million in funding will come from previously allocated city capital funding. Another $100 million will be donated by the Simons Foundation. Bloomberg Philanthropies has committed to an additional $50 million toward the project. The Exchange and its partners will raise another ~ $400 million and cover operational costs of The Exchange. There will be no additional costs to New Yorkers.
Climate scientist who “proved” humanity is warming Earth says government report got it wrong
Press Release by University of East Anglia, July 2, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: Modeled and Observed Stratospheric Temperature Changes: Implications for Fingerprint Studies
By Benjamin D. Santer, Susan Solomon, David W. J. Thompson, Qiang Fu, AGU Advances, Jeb 24, 2026
Green War on Air Conditioning is Heating Up
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 7, 2026
Link to paper: Passive cooling for the built environment
By Matthaios Santamouris & Konstantina Vasilakopoulou, Nature Reviews Clean Technology, July 2, 2026
Recent Heatwave Proves Electric Grid Is Resilient and Needs Continued Investment
By David Phelps, Real Clear Energy, July 09, 2026
For starters, Democrats need to support the continued use of natural gas alongside clean energy resources like wind, solar, and nuclear. Republicans, in turn, should embrace an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that prioritizes reliability, affordability, and domestic energy production. Meeting America’s growing electricity needs will require every available resource. The goal should not be picking winners and losers, but ensuring we build enough generation to keep the lights on and electricity affordable.
[SEPP Comment: The former Democratic Congressman avoids a key issue: What is affordable about unreliable wind and solar?]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
BREAKING: Trump Admin Hires Skeptic to Run National Climate Assessment…Mann Clutches Pearls
By Charles Rotter and Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 9, 2026
Renewable Energy Will Impoverish Humanity
By John Constable, The Daily Sceptic, July 1, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
The modern world and the rich, free lives it brought are both dying in Britain. Energy consumption has fallen by about 30% since 2005 and electricity consumption by about 23%, both due to climate policy costs, and particularly that of renewable energy, subsidies to which amount to £25 billion a year, 40% of the total cost of electricity supply.
Our whole societal structure will move back towards the pre-coal past, when the energy sector and its owners were socio-politically dominant. Such a society will be internally miserable and externally vulnerable to enemies who have not neglected thermodynamic realities. Could any sane person want such a future for their descendants?
Even Einstein Admitted He Was Wrong. We Apparently Can’t Expect as Much From Al Gore.
By Gary Abernathy, WUWT, June 28, 2026
And when scientists, including Edwin Hubble in 1929, demonstrated that the universe is expanding rather than remaining static, as Albert Einstein had theorized, even the revered Einstein readily admitted he was wrong, calling it “my biggest blunder.”
Remove the crude oil, and you do not merely dim the lights. You dismantle society!
By Ronald Stein and Yoshihiro Muronaka, America Outloud News, June 29, 2026
#Canary in a Climate World: The Awakening
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
And we begin where they did, with the first chapter called “A Personal Awakening: from Covid to Climate” by Dr. Angus Dalgleish, Professor of Oncology at University of London. What’s an expert in cancer research doing writing about climate? Well, he doesn’t claim to be a climate scientist in the narrow sense (though he certainly understands statistics). Instead, he writes about how his experience as a medical expert during Covid opened his eyes to the way science can be politicized and hijacked to serve an agenda. Once he saw the same pattern in climate, he realized it was essentially the same story, with many of the same characters, just being played out on a much slower time scale.
#Canary in a Climate World: Greenpeace guru wises up
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
Summing up, he [Patrick Moore] says that “stewardship must be grounded in science rather than fear… There is no climate emergency and carbon Net Zero is a ridiculous solution to an imaginary problem.” And summing up, we say the key lesson from Moore’s chapter is not the specifics, important as they are, but the abandonment of reasoning among so many climate activists of the same sort that drove him out of Greenpeace decades ago, suggesting an enduring problem.
Has Climate Change Stolen Scientific Curiosity?
By Andrew Sibley, The Daily Sceptic, July 6, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to paper: Reduced aerosol pollution diminished cloud reflectivity over the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific
By Knut von Salzen, et al., Nature Communications, Jov 5, 2025
A paper in Nature Communications, published in the autumn of last year (November 5th 2025), found that over a 20-year period from 2003 to 2022 the reflectivity of clouds decreased by about 5.6% (2.8% ± 1.2% per decade). The scientific press at the time noted that cleaner air may have accelerated warming. Computer modelling suggests the majority influence for this change has been the reduction in the content of Sulphur dioxide and other aerosol precursors in fossil fuels.
Sulphur pollutants act as condensation nuclei for cloud droplets to form, so given more pollution, clouds will increase their liquid water content with more numerous but smaller droplets. Clouds modified in this way reflect more sunlight, thus having a cooling effect on the planet. Estimates suggest that this effect cooled the lower atmosphere by half a degree Celsius. This was the case for decades.
It’s Not CO2
Webinar, John Robson, Qing Ben-Lu, Climate Discussion Nexus, June 19, 20226
Industrial Sovereignty Is a Choice
By Mark Widmar, Real Clear Energy, July 01, 2026
Letter to the Editor: Enough of ‘climate doom’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, June 30, 2026
Every once in a while, a letter like this makes what I do all worth it – Anthony
Lucky us, The UN deigns to not list the Great Barrier Reef as ‘in danger’ (yet again)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 8, 2026
Who Needs World Heritage Listing Anyway?
The UN threatens us with the dreaded sticker of reef sin nearly every year. They do a song and dance performance and so do we, and then we are granted mercy “with conditions” that usually involve spending millions of dollars on bureaucrats or “friends of the Blob”.
Earth and Americans: Amazingly Resilient
By Gary Abernathy, Real Clear Energy, July 03, 2026
Europe’s “Soaring Climate Damage” Narrative Runs Into an Inconvenient Dataset
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 3, 2026
Link to: Europe’s Weather Losses Keep Climbing
But a new loss normalization finds no trend after accounting for economic growth
By Roger Pielke Jr. His Blog, July 2, 2026
Catastrophism is in Retreat Across Science
By Benny Peiser, The Daily Sceptic, June 24, 2026
The UK’s material footprint
Out of sight, out of mind
By Jit, Climate Scepticism, June 27, 2026
Climate Fact-Check June 2026
By Guest Contributor, The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow, The Heartland Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Energy & Environmental Legal Institute, and the International Climate Science Coalition, and Truth in Energy and Climate, Climate Realism, July 6, 2026
A consensus of one
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
Right, Fortune, Europe’s Heat Crisis Is of Its Own Making
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, July 7, 2026
Energy & Environmental Review: July 6, 2026
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 6, 2026
Problems in the Orthodoxy
The Death of Climate Alarmism Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
By Tilak Doshi, Tilak’s Substack, July 3, 2026
Link to: Doomsday Climate Scenarios Were Wrong. That Doesn’t Help Europe.
Recent scientific reassessments strengthen the case for rapid climate action rather than weaken it.
By Jason Bordoff and Noah Kaufman, Foreign Policy, June 30, 2026
Another Pillar of Climate Advocacy Collapses
The 2004 “stabilization wedges” paper wrongly told the world that we had all the technology we needed to solve climate change. We just learned it was ghost-written by BP. Here is the bigger picture.
By Roger Pielke, Jr., His Blog, June 28, 2026
G7 Climate Realism Signals Policy Progress
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, July 8, 2026
The Real Costs of Implausible Scenarios
The New Zealand climate minister tells every council to stop planning around RCP8.5
By Roger Pielke Jr., His Blog, July 9, 2026
Heresy breaking out all over
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
Indeed, we shouldn’t be too harsh. If there’s a characteristically human statement we have all sometimes felt, it’s “I’m a fool!” So soon old, so late smart and all that. Plus, in addition to being deeply convinced of the power of repentance and forgiveness, from a practical point of view we want to make it easier not harder for people to admit error and continue to contribute. Not that it could ever happen to us, you understand. But still.
Flawless – Hyperscalers Taking Steps to Mitigate the Impacts of Their Skyrocketing Use of Natural Gas
By Housley Carr, RBN Energy, July 6, 2026
[SEPP Comment: Dilemma: How to supply data centers with reliable, “green” electricity to meet the egotistical “green goals” of Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.]
After Paris!
Bonn doggle
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
The effect of CO2 on Yellow Indian Grass
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
From the CO2Science.org archive.
The effect of CO2 on Ipomoea cairica [Morning Glory]
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
From the CO2Science Archive: Our friends at CO2science.org refer to this plant as Mile-A-Minute vine…With more CO2 in the air we may soon have to call it two-miles-a-minute.
Seeking a Common Ground
An Imperfect World That Is Better Than Ever
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, July 6, 2026
For the past two decades, the media have reported a “climate crisis” with a conviction that presumed dissent to be insane if not immoral. Yet, the very atmospheric changes over which reporters hyperventilated about impending doom are in fact delivering measurable benefits.
Requiem for a Civilized Conversation about Climate Change and Politics
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 8, 2026
[SEPP Comment: To some civilized conversation occurs only when everyone agrees with “me.”]
Science, Policy, and Evidence
I Once Pushed for Strict Climate Targets as an MEP But I Changed My Mind: Here’s Why
By Eija-Riitta Korhola, The Daily Sceptic, July 8, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
When I entered politics roughly a quarter of a century ago, human-induced climate change was my primary reason for running in the 1999 European elections and, at that time, I considered it the greatest threat to humanity. I began my journey in the European Parliament Committee for Environment as an active climate legislator and attended most of the UN climate COP (Conference of the Parties) meetings as a member of the parliamentary delegation.
After witnessing our grandiose, expensive, yet ineffective policies, I even feel compelled to ask: which endangers our security more, climate change or current climate policy? Naturally, I must justify such an audacious question. I owe an explanation for what happened during my career as a legislator.
Fire Fighting in European Union: Don’t Forget The Decade of Policy Failures in California
By Stephen Heins, The Word Merchant, Via WUWT, June 27, 2026
If Europe continues to follow the California model—treating fire as a purely logistical problem to be solved with more government spending, rather than a land-management and regulatory problem to be solved with market-based incentives and rigorous infrastructure upkeep—they will inevitably face the same fiscal cliff we are currently navigating.
Measurement Issues — Surface
+25°C …It’s The Exploding Global Urbanization, Stupid! Why Heat Waves Are Setting Records
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 1, 2026
Lousy Station Siting: Swirling Controversy Surrounds Germany’s Latest “New All-time Record High” Temperature
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, June 27, 2026
Germany’s Saarbrücken all-time record high temperature measurement was recoded at a station located at a sewage treatment facility in the middle of a commercial district.
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
UAH v6.1 Global Temperature Update for June, 2026: +0.46 deg. C
By Roy Spencer, Hix Blog, July 2, 2026
Global Temperature Report
By Staff, The Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, June 2026
Map and Graph: https://www.uah.edu/aosc/data-products/global-temperature-report
Full Report: https://www.nsstc.uah.edu/data/aosc/Global_Temperature_Report/2026_Reports/GTR_202606.pdf
UAH June 2026 SH Leads Global Cooling
By Ron Clutz, July 7, 2026
Changing Weather
Le heat is on
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
In France, The Government Tries To Prevent The People From Getting Air Conditioning
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, June 29, 2026
A remarkable feature of governments in Europe is the extent to which they operate explicitly against the interest of their citizens and voters. They give an outward appearance of being democracies, and they hold regular elections, but somehow the people in power are a self-perpetuating political clique that, from all evidence, seems to hold the ordinary working people and voters in complete contempt.
Heat And Drought In Germany Are Nothing New, Archive Media Show
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, June 28, 2026
Another Heatwave? Don’t Blame Global Warming, Blame The Jet Stream!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2026
Take away the 2022 heatwave, which is a clear outlier, caused by an unusual plume of hot air from the Sahara, and there has been no marked increase in the highest temperatures each year since 1976.
Last month peaked at 32.8C, which was less than the 33.1C recorded on 3rd July 1976.
The Met Office can cherry pick all the junk sites it wants, in order to claim new “records”. But they prove nothing as far as long term trends are concerned, because they are comparing chalk and cheese.
For that, you need long term data from reliable sites, which the CET provides. The temperature record at the Class 1 site at Rothamsted produces very similar trends to CET.
They’ve Forgotten How Hot It Was in The Past!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 3, 2026
[SEPP Comment: US state high temperature records.]
Separating Weather from Hysteria: The ‘Double Heat Dome’ Story
My forecast calls for sensible precautions and a healthy dose of skepticism toward overheated rhetoric.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 6, 2026
Hell Niño
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Wind and Wildfire
By Clif Mass, Weather Blog, June 29, 2026
How Much Has Global Warming Changed July 4th Temperatures Over Washington State?
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 3, 2026
The North American Monsoon is About to Start: Part of the Northwest Will Get A Piece of It!
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 9, 2026
A comment from one reader: I’ve become quite amused at how the use of the word ‘Monsoon’ has spread so rapidly in recent years. Two inches of rain over a week or more in AZ? What about two inches a day for 3 months of the year? That’s the way it is with the ‘original monsoon’ in parts of South Asia, particularly up near the Himalaya.
Cooler Than Normal Water Off the Northwest Coast
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 7, 2026
One of the reasons Northwest weather is so temperate in summer is the cool coastal waters off our coast.
Changing Climate
Horse-drawn carriages must have caused a Megadrought in Europe in 1540, right?
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 30, 2026
Using United Nations Science TM — who can deny that the megadrought of 1540 was a man-made creation? Freakish weather was the new norm. The 1530s was described as one of the driest decades of the last 500 years. Bushfires raged, cattle starved, rivers dried up, and people died of dysentery. The hunger stones appeared on the bottom of the Elbe River (again). The Rhine dried up in parts so people could walk across.
Changing Climate – Cultures & Civilizations
Climate and Prehistoric Migration
By Peter Huybers, et al., Working paper, Harvard Business School, Accessed July 3, 2026 [H/t Charles Rotter]
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
2026 June Arctic Ice Extents Basically Normal
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, July 1, 2026
Polar Freezeover: Western Arctic Early July Sea Ice Exceeds 1980s Average
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 7, 2026
Greenland Summer Melt Is A Month Late
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2026
Meanwhile, while we in the UK have a blocking high, Greenland gets the other side of the coin, depressions and wet weather. Even in summer, that generally means snow.
So about that Arctic ice
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Changing Seas
ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions
By Staff, Climate Prediction Center / NCEP, NOAA, July 6, 2026
El Niño conditions are present.
El Niño conditions are expected to strengthen into the Northern Hemisphere winter 2026-27.
A propos of AMOC
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Among the many posts we’ve made about the AMOC, or Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, whose imminent demise with catastrophic climate consequences is predicted in the MSM weekly, one of our favorites concerns the Florida current, which runs between the Florida mainland and the Bahamas and which serves as one of the main inputs into the Gulf Stream. Its flow rate is cleverly measured by tracking minuscule magnetic fluctuations in a telecommunication cable running along the ocean floor from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas. For many years scientists thought they detected a downward trend in that rate, leading to all the usual hollering about the impending collapse of the Gulf Stream. But then other scientists cleverly detected a problem with the measurements, namely that the slow migration of the magnetic North pole was inducing a false trend in the cable data, and once it was corrected the data no longer showed a weakening AMOC.
WUWT Wins Again
By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, June 27, 2026
[SEPP Comment: Proposing a relationship between the growth of a certain plankton and cloudiness. Warmer oceans lead to more plankton, leading to more cloud forming nuclei, leading to more clouds, leading to cooler oceans.]
Technical Note on the Possible Variation in Sea Level Rise “Accelerations” over the Next 5 Years
By Alan Welch, WUWT, July 2, 2026
The next 5 years may be a good opportunity to judge how the “global” sea level rises are changing, especially with respect to the perceived “accelerations”. The terms “global” and “accelerations” are in quotes to infer that that these terms may not be totally appropriate. The satellite coverage is only 95% and the “accelerations” may be caused by the methodology used and not a true physical attribute. [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: The variation in rise is in hundredths of a millimeter per year or 0.0004 inches per year.]
Regional responses to oceanic variability constrain global drought synchrony
By Udit Bhatia, et al. Nature Communications Earth & Environment, Jan 6, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
From the abstract: Our results show that, contrary to claims that synchronized droughts could affect up to one sixth of the global land mass, the maximum synchronized area fluctuates between 1.84% and 6.5% of the total land mass. Although we observe a strong dependence between drought onset and local crop failures, global drought synchrony is shaped by a dichotomy: temperature trends exacerbate it, while precipitation variability, modulated by sea surface temperature oscillations, limits it.
Seas Not Quite as Cold as Usual!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 9, 2026
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
The EU’s Green War on Farmers Never Ends
By Tilak Doshi, Tilak’s Substack, June 26, 2026
‘Stikstof’ has become shorthand for this entire heated debate about nitrogen pollution from farming, EU nature rules and the clash between environmental protection and agricultural and economic interests.
Lowering Standards
Met Office Record Temperature Claims Are Fraudulent
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 30, 2026
UK Could See 45C By 2056–Met Office
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2026
It really is disgraceful that the Met Office continues to use discredited projections for political purposes.
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Wrong, Newsweek, Europe’s Heat Deaths Are a Policy Failure, not a Climate Failure
By Anthony Watts, Climate Realism, June 30, 2026
[SEPP Comment: Good graph of an Omega Block (a form of a Rossby Wave) from NOAA.]
It Ain’t Half Hot Mum!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 2, 2026
American summers are much more predictable than ours, which are affected by the vagaries of weather off the Atlantic. In the US, summers are long and dry and hot.
In a month-long World Cup, it is highly likely that a heatwave will come along at some stage.
Knowing all of this, the BBC resort to the fraudulent “heat index”, to make people believe something extraordinary is going on.
The heat index, of course, factors in humidity, but has no basis is science – it is simply a made-up index. Apparently we never had humidity before!
PBS News Is Wrong, Climate Change Is Not Causing Georgia’s Drought
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, July 1, 2026
No, New York Times, Climate Change Isn’t Causing Modern Heat Waves
By Anthony Watts, Climate Realism, July 9, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Hottest Ever? Really?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 3, 2026
Hottest ever since the last time it was this hot
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
How Much Disinformation Can A Person Pack Into A Talk About Disinformation?
By Russell Cook, GelbspanFiles.com, June 30, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Roger Pielke Jr.: Guilty as Charged (DeSmog backfires again)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, June 29, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda
Turning kids into crackpot crusaders
By Tony Thomas, Climate Scepticism, July 9, 2026
Questioning European Green
Europe’s Crisis Is Energy Poverty, Not a Heat Wave
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, July 2, 2026
European People’s Party Leader: “We cannot kill our industry due to climate change”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 1, 2026
UK Carbon Footprint
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July7, 2026
Link to: Carbon footprint for the UK and England to 2023
By Staff, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, July 7, 2026
What these latest figures show is that Net Zero is a mirage. No matter how many wind farms we build, we will never eliminate all emissions.
The only way it can be achieved is by a drastic reduction in consumption and a ban on all imports which cannot be certified as zero carbon – effectively an impossibility.
Given all of this, why on earth are we proposing to spend hundreds of billions on an impossible dream?
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Canada Admits Justin Trudeau’s Climate Agenda Was a Scam
By Andrew Moran, Liberty Nation.com, July 9, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Trillions of dollars worldwide have been invested in green energy. And yet, every crisis over the last several years has proven these vanity projects to be entirely unreliable. Countries keep turning to crude oil, natural gas, coal, and nuclear power to meet their energy needs. The United States realized it. Europe is starting to come around. Asia always knew it. Canada was the last nation to finally understand that oil and gas are the answer, not a windmill.
Green Hypocrisy. The Case of Baltimore’s Bresco Waste-to-Energy Incinerator
By Geoffrey Pohanka, Real Clear Energy, June 30, 2026
Maryland is a member of RGGI, the regional greenhouse gas initiative, that caps and taxes CO2 emissions from fossil fuel power plants. According to a Baltimore Sun article, RGGI is equivalent to a 44% tax on fossil fuel power plant revenues and has, at least indirectly, caused most of the State’s coal power plants to become uneconomic to operate and voluntarily close. …Though the plant does generate usable steam for heating and cooling of 255 downtown businesses and electricity for up to 40,000 homes, the Bresco incinerator emits roughly double the amount of greenhouse gases per megawatt hour of energy produced than each of the largest coal power plants that had operated in Maryland.
Funding Issues
Winning: Trump persuades The World Bank to drop its huge spending target on “climate”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 2, 2026
Each year the World Bank hands out about $120 billion dollars in grants and loans to poor and middle-income countries. But with 670 million people still without access to electricity, you’d think they’d have more important things to do than trying to slow storms in 100 years’ time.
However, The World Bank is a pure creature of The Blob — dependent on Big Government handouts, and comfortably one or two degrees of separation away from any voters or accountability which makes it free to waste money on vainglorious trivia.
Unfortunately for the apparatchik the US is the world’s biggest funder of The World Bank, and President Trump has been giving them a hard time. A few months ago, [Secretary of Treasury] Scott Bessent called on the World Bank to get back to their core mission — saying they’d lost their way trying to work in climate change, gender, and fashionable social issues. They do have a policy to end poverty by “accelerating gender equity” — if you can believe.
Funding Country Prosperity and Self-Reliance vs. Climate Mitigation
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, July 4, 2026
The Political Games Continue
One Nation are now the Party of the workers, and Labor the party of wealth and academics
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 4, 2026
Litigation Issues
Litigating Climate Change
Why the ICJ’s Climate Change Advisory Opinion matters and how the UK should respond
By Tom Grant, Yuan Yi Zhu, and Richard Ekins, Policy Exchange, July 7, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Full report: https://policyexchange.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/Litigating-Climate-Change.pdf
This report warns that Britain could be liable for climate change “reparations” running into the trillions of pounds, after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion that countries have binding legal duties to prevent climate harm – duties going well beyond the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – and can be sued for compensation if they fail.
The ICJ’s Advisory Opinion asserts that the UK is subject to many further climate change obligations – obligations which the UK has never accepted and should firmly reject. Despite this, the UK chose to vote to endorse the advisory opinion at the UN General Assembly this May, directly against our own national interests.
It’s Time to Ask Who Should Be Held Accountable for the Damages of the ‘Climate Crisis’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 5, 2026
Climate activists established an important principle: those who knowingly mislead the public can be held legally accountable for the harm that follows.
If that principle has merit, it cannot apply only to fossil fuel companies. It must apply equally to every institution that shaped public understanding and influenced public policy.
Climate Change Weekly # 583—Climate Lawfare Is Flawed, Legal Panel Finds
By Staff, The Heartland Institute, June 26, 2026
New York sues companies over ‘forever chemicals’
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 10, 2026
New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday sued five firms, alleging that they knew and hid information indicating these chemicals were toxic and persistent in the environment.
They are known as “forever chemicals” because they can persist for hundreds or even thousands of years in the environment instead of breaking down.
[SEPP Comment: Where is the physical evidence that they are toxic?]
MAHA feels betrayed after Supreme Court ruling on Monsanto, glyphosate
By Nathaniel Neisel and Rachel Frazin, The Hill, June 28, 2026
Prominent activists with the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement are raging and saying they feel betrayed after the Supreme Court sided with pesticide maker Monsanto on Thursday and said it did not need to put a warning label about a potential cancer risk associated with its Roundup weedkiller.
[SEPP Comment: Where is the physical evidence of the toxic dose rate?]
Green Robes, Red Strings: National Security Watchdog Flags ELI’s CCP Ties to Judicial Training
If our political leaders are serious about both national security and the integrity of our courts, they must treat this as a counterintelligence problem, not just another Washington “review.”
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 4, 2026
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
RGGI Investment Proceeds Report Implications
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, June 30, 2026
These results support my conclusion that RGGI [Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative] can only claim to raise money effectively. Claims that RGGI is a successful emission reduction program are inconsistent with the following observations.
[SEPP Comment: The government of Virginia willing joined the RGGI program after it was clearly nothing by a cap and tax program with no benefit to the citizens of Viriginia.]
CBAM: Market-based or Market Bust?
By Catherine McBride, GWPF, 2026
Press release: https://thegwpf.org/publications/cbam-market-based-or-market-bust/
Report: https://thegwpf.org/content/uploads/2026/07/CBAM-Market-based-or-Market-Bust.pdf
From press release: The report examines the likely impacts of the UK’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and predicts that it will not protect British industry as intended. It argues for an alternative approach which uses competitive market principles to drive efficiency alongside emissions reductions.
California’s Hidden Climate Tax on Everything You Buy
From Deep Background, Via Anthony Watts, WUWT, June 29, 2026
The 2020 At-Berth Regulation requires cargo ships, tankers, and container vessels docked at California ports to shut down their diesel engines and either plug into the state’s already strained electrical grid or use emission-reducing technology. Non-compliance carries up to a $50,000-per-day penalty.
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Solar Tax Credits: 1978–2026 (never enough)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 8, 2026
Link to: 5 questions answered as solar tax credits phase out
By Christa Marshall, E&E News, July 1, 2026
For the most part, yes. The majority of utility-scale projects — more than 200 gigawatts’ worth — are safe harbored ahead of July 4, said Michelle Davis, head of global solar at research firm Wood Mackenzie.
Wind Tax Credits: 1992–2026 (never enough)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 9, 2026
This repost is timely given the end of the Investment Tax Credit and the Production Tax Credit for unstarted wind and solar projects as of July 4, 2026, (One Big Beautiful Bill of 2025). For started (‘safe harbor’) projects, it is business-as-usual, which explains why the projects were started in the first place. If an unstarted project is completed by year-end (highly unlikely), it would also receive the ITC and PTC.
[SEPP Comment: Are 30 years of subsidies for new projects generating unreliable electricity finally over?]
Miliband Forces Wind Firms to Back Unions or Lose Subsidies
By Will Jones, WUWT, June 30, 2026
[SEPP Comment: Live by subsidies, obey rules by subsidy providers.]
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Trump EPA departs from Biden-era report detailing cancer risk from ‘forever chemical’ contaminated farms
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 2, 2026
Some farms have become contaminated with forever chemicals through the land application of sewage sludge containing PFAs — a byproduct that comes from treating wastewater produced by households and businesses.
[SEPP Comment: Human wastes have been used as a fertilizer for thousands of years. Where is the physical evidence that PFAs are harmful to human health?]
Energy Department proposes hurdles for future appliance efficiency standards
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 2, 2026
The proposal would require that any future effort to force appliances to be more efficient would have to meet strict criteria.
This includes requiring future regulations to inspire either a 10 percent reduction in energy use over a 30-year period or save a large quantity of energy — two quadrillion British thermal Units — over that period.
Energy Department issues emergency orders for mid-Atlantic power grid amid heat wave
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 1, 2026
Link to restricted PJM plants: https://www.energy.gov/documents/pjm-202c-application-exhibit-updated-jun-30-2026-431-pm-et-202-26-32
[SEPP Comment: In general, the restrictions include NOx, CO, and Ozone; in Illinois they include PM, VOM, and CO2; and the fuels include Natural Gas, Fuel Oil, and Diesel.]
Energy Issues – General
Energy Abundance and Human Flourishing: A Data-Driven Global Analysis
By Kevin Dayaratna and Kat Miller, Advancing American Freedom, May 28, 2026
For human health, energy doesn’t just correlate with progress — it physically delivers it. You can’t refrigerate a vaccine, run a hospital, or pump clean water without reliable energy, and as energy consumption has spread worldwide, global life expectancy more than doubled and child mortality fell from nearly 25 percent to under 4 percent.
2026 Update: Fossil Fuels ≠ Global Warming
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, July 2, 2026
Link to report: Statistical Review of World Energy, 2026, 75th edition
By Staff, The Energy Institute in partnership with Ember, 2026
Renewables still provided only 6% of global primary energy in 2025
By Robert Lyman, Friends of Science Society, Via CLINTEL, July 4, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Full report: The Statistical Review of World Energy: Decarbonization is a myth. Global emissions are increasing; fossil fuels remain essential for economic growth and energy security.
Energy Institute Review Of World Energy 2025
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 7, 2026
Energy Transition: Yes, No, Maybe?
By Roger Pielke Jr., AEI, July 7, 2026
Energy Issues – Europe
Governments’ Joint Statement on the launch of Electrify Now
By Staff, The European Commission, June 22, 2026
From press release:
Electrify Now will facilitate practical exchanges, showcase replicable national and regional initiatives, and help mobilise investment, particularly in emerging and developing economies, focusing on
- scaling clean power generation end resilient supply chains
- modernising grids and expanding storage
- accelerating the electrification of the industry, buildings and transport sectors
[SEPP Comment: The organization has no idea of how much it will cost.]
Liberté, egalité, stupidité
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 8, 2026
Nuclear, hydro and renewables (wind and solar) emit virtually no greenhouse gases (at least while operating; construction is another story) and add up to 95 percent of the total [electricity generation in France]. Coal and oil are near zero (less than 0.3 percent each) and natural gas is three percent. So increasing French electricity consumption to power AC units would generate virtually no additional GHG emissions. But it would make the lives of French citizens better and indeed prevent thousands of unnecessary deaths. Elite opposition is deranged.
The Times May Be A-Changin’
Will rising anger over energy, economic and immigration chaos prevent UK and EU suicide?
By Paul Driessen, WUWT, July 3, 2026
Air Conditioning vs. Climate Activism: UK/EU Face the Music
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 1, 2025
Bafflement?! Germany, a global leader in renewables but has one of the highest EU electricity prices
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 1, 2026
The stark truth: The system costs are awful
A wind and solar grid is really two grids for the price of … two grids. One grid helps impress your shallow academic friends at dinner, while the other grid (the reliable one) could run all the time, but has to sit around waiting for the first grid to fail, which it does often, and then it swings in to gear to save the day. Neither grid is running efficiently, the unreliable one forces the reliable one to stop and start. So we get the worst of all worlds and a big electricity bill.
Yet Another Electricity Margin Alert
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 9, 2026
How can “extreme temperatures” reduce the “availability of some generation”?
[SEPP Comment: No wind!]
UK facing devastating 36 degree heat (97F)— can’t decide whether to use air conditioners or rip them out
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, June 27, 2026
NESO Want Another £89 Billion for Grid Upgrades
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 1, 2026
Link to report: Beyond 2030 – Electricity Transmission Update
By NESO National Energy System Operator, Accessed July 3, 2026
There is plenty of waffle, lots of technical stuff and references to all sorts of economic benefits, such as growth, jobs and reduced balancing costs.
But you have to wait to page 33 to find out the only relevant information – how much it will all cost!
[SEPP Comment: “The first key message in the report is: Reconfirms the electricity transmission network needed to enable a reliable, clean and affordable system into the mid-2030s.”] [Boldface added.]
Grid operator accused of cover-up over blackout threat
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 8, 2026
From the Telegraph:
Bosses at the National Energy Systems Operator (Neso) allegedly ordered control-room staff to hide information that showed the grid was not being run securely, according to Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary.
From Homewood:
There was a reason why responsibility for the electricity system was hived off the National Grid and passed to the new state-owned NESO. The National Grid were not prepared to play fast and loose with the grid, unlike NESO who ultimately have to do what Ed Miliband tells them.
Miliband’s Favourite Net Zero Think Tank Funded by Foreign Cash
By Will Jones, The Daily Sceptic, July 3, 2026
A green energy think tank that Ed Miliband relied on to draw up policy is partly funded by overseas cash, leading to questions about the influence of “shady” green lobbyists and financiers in Britain’s Net Zero policies. The Telegraph has more.
Ember, which inspired the Energy Secretary’s pledge to lower bills by £300 by 2030, is funded by a number of overseas climate-focused donors including the Netherlands-based European Climate Foundation (ECF) and the Sequoia Climate Foundation, headquartered in California.
Energy Issues – Australia
Blackouts and maintenance problems hit farmers forced onto solar and batteries in Western Australia
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 7, 2026
It was supposed to be so ambitious, clean and green but turned out to be unreliable, noisy and hard to live with
The key question, of course, is “what does it cost”, and “who pays” and the answer is — “unknown” and “we all do”.
NSW Eco-Activists Horrified That Their New Industrial Park Needs a Power Plant
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, June 27, 2026
Consumer-first energy future?
What if Australia rejects the renewable energy transition…: A version of this article was published in Spectator Australia, June 2026
By Alan Moran, Regulatory Review, June 29, 2026
Unfortunately, government bodies fail to highlight the costs of renewable energy and often appear to. in my opinion, disguise it.
Energy Issues – Elsewhere non-US
Could Canada’s Energy Future Match the Majesty of Its Rockies?
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, July 9, 2026
South Korea plans to sharply increase imports of Canadian crude by as much as threefold this year to 16 million barrels, with the possibility of reaching 20 million annually. Seoul also is targeting more than 3 million metric tons of Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) each year through expanded investments in liquefaction facilities and export infrastructure.
[SEPP Comment: It will be interesting to see if Canadian politicians follow through on allowing oil and gas development, rather than empty promises.]
Low-Cost Chinese Coal Power is Driving a Decisive Advantage Over US AI Businesses
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 5, 2025
Energy Issues — US
The Real Grid Crisis Is a State Policy Problem Dressed Up as a Market Failure
By Todd Snitchler, Real Clear Energy, July 08, 2026
More than 46,000 MW of approved projects – over a quarter of PJM’s existing capacity – already hold the right to build but are unable to move forward. Some 37,000 MW of PJM-approved generation can’t even break ground at all because of state and local permitting fights. At the same time, state policy mandates have pushed working plants into early retirement, further tightening supply from the other end. The same governors demanding faster action are often the ones holding the permits and slow-walking the buildout of energy infrastructure while forcing closures of dispatchable power.
Utility Profit Tracker
By John D. Quackenbush, Real Clear Energy, July 08, 2026
While “profit margin” can offer some insight into utility bills, it does not tell the full story. There are two main ways to look at profits: accounting profits and economic profits. The Utility Profit Tracker focuses on accounting profits, so it’s helpful to understand what that means.
But utility companies aren’t like other businesses. They are complex organizations that require significant capital to operate, and they do so within a regulated monopoly structure designed to prevent duplication of infrastructure and keep costs more manageable for customers. [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: By their mandates requiring unreliable renewables, many politicians have mandated duplication of infrastructure causing the regulated monopoly structure to fail.]
Why States Should Reconsider Renewable Portfolio Standards
By David Kemp, Real Clear Energy, July 07, 2026
But studies of the long-run effects of RPS mandates have found retail prices in RPS states 11 to 17% higher than in comparable non-RPS states.
Hurricane Season’s Coming Storms Are a Lesson in Energy Realism
By David Holt, Real Clear Energy, June 29, 2026
Let’s look at 2024, even after great investment by utilities to enhance resiliency, U.S. consumers endured nearly double their average annual power outages and the highest level of them in a decade. The culprits were Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton, which alone accounted for 80% of the hours without electricity in 2024. Among the deaths during Hurricane Beryl in Texas, a third were caused by heat, when widespread outages put air conditioning out of commission during one of the hottest summers on record.
Net Zero anyone? USA bets big on coal and gas — overtakes China in spending.
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 3, 2026
Link to article: America Bets $50 Billion on Coal and Gas Power as Electricity Demand Soars
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, July 1, 2026
From Slav: U.S. companies are set to spend some $50 billion on power generation from coal and natural gas this year, the International Energy Agency has said, as quoted by the Financial Times.
According to the IEA, U.S. companies placed orders for some 20 GW in gas turbine generation capacity in just the first quarter of this year. Prices for gas turbines, meanwhile, have moved sharply higher on tight supply, contributing to the higher U.S. spending.
From Nova: As a commenter at Zero Hedge opined:
China spends $50B on coal plants and builds 50 new coal plants.
US spends $50B on coal plants and that pays for the permits, environmental studies and 10 years of litigation in the courts for one new coal plant.
The nine energy questions that could decide America’s future
By Ronald Stein and Mike Ariza, America Out Loud News, July 6, 2026
Question: Since wind and solar do different things than crude oil, why do you support the use of the word ENERGY from wind and solar when they only produce electricity, but make no products or transportation fuels for our materialistic society?
Electricity Affordability: States Need to Ditch Climate Policies
By Roger Donway, Master Resource, July 10, 2026
“BlueStatesHighRates.com, a new interactive index from Always On Energy Research and the Institute for Energy Research, shows that the steepest increases sit in the bluest states across the 50 states and Washington, D.C.”
Vote Left to get expensive electricity
50 States in the USA show that renewable policies push electricity prices up.
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 9, 2026
Link to study: Why Do Blue States Have High Rates?
By Institute for Energy Research, Accessed July 10, 2026
New York wisely guts “landmark” climate law
By David Wojick, CFACT, July 6, 2026
The original statutory requirement for a 40% statewide GHG reduction by 2030 is replaced by a vague mandate to achieve a 60% reduction by 2040 “to the maximum extent feasible and cost effective,” using 1990 as the baseline.
Since a 60% reduction is neither feasible nor cost effective, the new target is completely undefined.
Conflicts of interest beset Delaware energy tax plan
By Kevin Mooney, CFACT, July 7, 2026
During the most recent RGGI auction held on June 3, 2026, the auction price was $35.00 per CO2 allowance. This represents a 40 percent increase from the nearly $25.00 price set during the March 11, 2026, auction and a more than 78 percent increase from the auction price set one year ago. The next RGGI auction will be held Sep. 9, 2026. Current trendlines suggest that ratepayers should hold onto their wallets.
Washington’s Control of Energy
Arizona’s Hermosa Mine Clears Final Federal Hurdle Under FAST-41
Region is home to one of the world’s largest undeveloped zinc resources.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 9, 2026
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
How American engineers unlocked the impossible beneath the Gulf of America
American drillships now operate at 20,000 psi, unlocking tens of billions of barrels once deemed unreachable
By Erik Milito, Fox News, June 30, 2026
The Baltic Eagle Gas Hub (US-to-EU LNG to the Rescue)
By Robert Bradley Jr, Master Resource, June 30, 2026
Return of King Coal?
America Was Built on Coal, and We Celebrate the Hard Work
By Terry L. Headley, Real Clear Energy, July 03, 2026
Reliability is not a luxury. It is the first duty of an energy system.
Debunking The Myth of Expensive Coal Plants
America’s existing coal plants remain some of the cheapest generators on the grid.
By Mitch Rolling and Isaac Orr, Energy Bad Boys, June 27, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
If the goal is affordable, reliable electricity, then existing coal plants will remain essential to maintaining an affordable and reliable electric grid.
[SEPP Comment: If adequate supplies of fuel are stored on-site, coal plants are highly reliable over a long period of bad weather.]
A New Coal Plant in the U.S.? Once Unthinkable, Now a Strong Maybe
By Aaron Larson, Power mag. June 16, 2026
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Nuclear safety and Einstein’s truth
By Kelvin Kemm, CFACT, July 3, 2026
Science works on evidence, real evidence. Science truth is not an opinion or a majority vote. However, where some opinion can come into the process, to some degree, is right at the front end when a scientific hypothesis is proposed.
US moves to eliminate longtime radiation safety principle for nuclear power
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 2, 2026
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week proposed to get rid of the requirement for nuclear plants to ensure that radiation exposure is “as low as is reasonably achievable.”
[SEPP Comment: The article ignores the real issue which is dose rate. Areas in Iran, India and Europe have natural radiation exceeding 50 mSv/yr (50 millisieverts/year or 50 Rem). About 100mSv is considered the lower threshold for a measurable increase in cancer risk, about 4000mSv is considered a potentially lethal dose. Eighty years of exposure of 50 millisieverts/year is not the same as a one-time exposure of 4000millisieverts.]
NRC Proposes Landmark Reactor Licensing Overhaul, Bundling Decades of Modernization Into One Rule
By Sonal C. Patel, Power Mag. July 2, 2026
Link to proposed rule: Modernizing Reactor Licensing, Safety Oversight, and Siting Practices
By Staff, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Accessed July 5, 2026
Rather than advancing a single licensing reform, the NRC moved to bundle 17 distinct modernization measures into one package, targeting everything from the legal definition of “construction” to emergency preparedness, quality assurance, siting criteria, license renewal terms, advanced fuel deployment, and the use of risk-informed alternatives to long-standing prescriptive requirements.
Deployable Energy’s Unity Nuclear Reactor Achieves Criticality at INL, Third Under DOE Nuclear Push
By Sonal C. Patel, Power Mag., July 1, 2026
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind farm told to stop turbines after young sea eagles killed
By Staff, Dutch News, July 8, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
“Unbelievable Damage”: 131-Mph Windstorm Snaps Wind Turbines In Half Across South Dakota
By Tyler Durden, Zero Hedge, June 29, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
[SEPP Comment: Convincing photo.]
Doing The Opposite: Studies Show Gigantic Wind Farms Significantly Warm The Night
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 5, 2026
Also, deforestation is underway in Germany in order to clear the way for largescale windparks, severely damaging a natural ecosystem that acts to cool the local climate,
The Dismal Economics of Floating Offshore Wind
By Edward Ring, California Policy Center, July 8, 2026
In business school we were once presented with a hypothetical business plan. It was scrupulously researched. Every assertion was footnoted and backed by rigorous academic study and field testing. It proposed fitting contact lenses onto the eyes of chickens in order to blur their vision and make them more docile. This in turn would allow them to grow faster and yield more pounds of meat for the supermarket. It was a hoax, of course, designed to remind us to never let go of our common sense.
Solar Panel Fire Destroys New Home
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 10, 2026
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Alice in Hydrogen Land
By Kelvin Kemm, CFACT, July 10, 2026
So when you see excited chats about the glories of Hydrogen in the media, bear in mind that Hydrogen as a fuel was created as a political response to the politically induced problem of the huge variability of solar and wind. Solar and wind were thought up as a response to the political reaction to a perceived fear of global warming and climate change. The Hydrogen issue was never developed by scientists and engineers in response to a genuine engineering requirement.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Battery Storage For Grid Backup: Better Keep Working On It
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 8, 2026
The fact that a group of generators can produce the same number of MWhs of energy in a year as the average amount demanded means little unless the energy can be matched minute by minute to the demand. To meet that criterion, a storage system must be able to store the energy from summer to winter, or from spring one year all the way to spring the next year. Preferably, there should be an ample balance stored for the long term to guard against a worst-case wind/sun drought that may occur only once a decade.
Battery Energy Storage, Grid Investments Surge Across Europe
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag. July 1, 2026
Chinese Battery Exports Rise 45%
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 2, 2026
Net zero power station to be built on Loch Ness
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, June 28, 2026
From Homewood: Once again we see the trashing of the environment for no benefit at all.
This Lock Kemp scheme will store about 5 GWh, which will only be enough to keep the grid running for about 5 minutes. It’s half the size of Dinorwig, which plays a role in helping to meet demand at peak times.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
SMMT Wake Up To Damage Caused By EV Mandates
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 3, 2026
[SEPP Comment: SMMT stands for the trade association Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.]
California Dreaming
California Eco-Tyranny Destroyed By New EPA Rule
By Paris Apodaca, Daily Caller, July 9, 2026
The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced that manufacturers could sell car parts that defy California’s “green” regulations in the other 49 U.S. states.
Under the EPA’s advisory opinion, manufacturers can demonstrate compliance with the federal Clean Air Act through Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) emissions certificate program rather first obtaining approval from California regulators.
Choosing the Right Infrastructure Projects Can Deliver Affordable Abundance
By Edward Ring, California Policy Center, July 1, 2026
Whether or not they are ever completed, there are three megaprojects that California’s taxpayers are being asked to subsidize that will never deliver prosperity or affordability. They are High Speed Rail, the Delta Conveyance, and floating offshore wind. In each case, tens, if not hundreds of billions will be spent on their construction. The financing charges, stretched over decades, will far outweigh any operating benefits.
Health, Energy, and Climate
Don’t Regulate Away America’s Medical Device Sterilization Industry
By Sarah Wagoner , Jacob Twyford, Real Clear Energy, June 29, 2026
Environmental Industry
Empowering people across society to create a net-zero world
We are Europe’s largest grant-making foundation for climate. We work with hundreds of partners to catalyze climate action and build a secure, resilient and democratic Europe.
By Staff, European Climate Foundation, Accessed July 5, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
We work to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement through strategic grant-giving, strengthening Europe’s network of organizations working towards net zero, shaping narratives to show the wide-ranging impact of climate action on health, affordability and equity, and thought leadership that unites civil society, businesses, and policymakers behind shared strategies for progress.
[SEPP Comment: Based in Brussels, Total 2025 Expenditures €171 Million
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Fatal Snobbery: In France, It’s Better To Die From A Heatwave Than To Do As Americans
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 9, 2026
The Climast et Verité post points out that even though public health agencies acknowledge a major surge in heat-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations, many French buildings (which it calls “thermal kettles”) and even hospitals themselves remain without air conditioning.
Canada Winning from US Nuclear Subsidies
By Kennedy Maize, Master Resource, July 7, 2026
Westinghouse makes the only licensed reactor that matches DOE’s desires, the AP-1000
Unstated is that Westinghouse is a Canadian company. It is jointly owned by Cameco (49%) and Brookfield Renewable Partners (51%), both traded on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse has not been a U.S. company since 1998…
[SEPP Comment: The headquarters of Westinghouse Electric is in Pennsylvania.]
But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 1, 2026
Even in today’s ideologically and politically polarized landscape it’s very strange to read in Heatmap of “How China Saved the World From Trump’s Energy Crisis”.
Claim: Climate Change is Driving Child Marriages
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 9, 2026
ARTICLES
1. U.N. Staves Off Financial Collapse With Rule Change Around U.S. Nonpayment
The organization said it will save hundreds of millions of dollars by not refunding unspent dollars to countries that don’t pay
By James T. Areddy, WSJ, June 30, 2026
TWTW Summary: The article states:
“The United Nations said it will avoid imminent financial collapse by changing a budget rule that had forced it to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years, primarily because of nonpayment by the U.S. or late payments from China.
For 75 years, the U.N. has been required to refund states any unspent money it received from members, a rule designed to limit bloat at the sprawling institution. An unintended consequence of the rule in recent years was that countries that were late in paying, or didn’t pay at all, would get refunds.
The U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday agreed to limit refunds for four years to states that actually paid their obligations, meaning the change primarily affects the U.S. Washington owes the U.N. some $4 billion amid Trump administration displeasure with the U.N., while Beijing remains behind on obligations topping $400 million.
The organization has for now ‘avoided the imminent financial collapse,’ it said in a statement that tallied $900 million in savings for peacekeeping operations and $400 million for its general budget.”
Then the article quotes the Secretary-General who says the same.
