The Week That Was: 2026-07-18 (July 18, 2026)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance.” — Albert Einstein
Number of the Week: 1,153 acres for preservation vs. nearly 1,900,000 acres
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: This TWTW discusses Howard Hayden’s questioning of an interview of Al Gore discussing his twenty-year-old film. Then, TWTW discusses a new report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on attributing extreme weather events to human-caused global warming. TWTW concludes with a proposal to change the procedures for approving the electricity needed by data centers.
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A Puff Piece: ABC News celebrated the 20th anniversary of Al Gore’s move, “An Inconvenient Truth”, with a fawning interview of Mr. Gore titled “Scientists were dead right.” No tough questions such as why did you get causation backwards? According to the Antarctic ice cores which were used in Gore’s film, temperatures rose first followed by CO2 increases (from warming oceans) by an average of some 800 years. Thus, CO2 increases cannot cause these temperature rises, but the temperature rises can cause CO2 increases. (The oceans store 50 to 60 times as much CO2 as the atmosphere and cold water stores more CO2 than warm water.)
In his publication, The Energy Advocate, AMO physicist Howard Hayden addressed some of the problems with the interview. He wrote:
“ABCNews interviewed Al Gore on the 20th anniversary of his 2006 Inconvenient Truth Movie. The article begins [1]:
The scientists have been right about climate change all along, says former Vice President Al Gore on the 20th anniversary of the release of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the Oscar-winning documentary about Gore’s campaign to educate people about climate change.
When asked by ABC News chief meteorologist and chief climate correspondent Ginger Zee whether the film and its predictions on global warming hold up, Gore responded, “Unfortunately, yes.”
As noted before, the IPCC’s predictions were all over the map. When you predict everything, you predict nothing. Pick a date. Pick a temperature. They predicted it!
I wish I knew how to give credit for the graph below!
[1] ‘Scientists were dead right’: Al Gore says on 20th anniversary of ‘An Inconvenient Truth,’ https://abcnews.com/US/scientists-dead-al-gore-20th-anniversary-inconvenient-truth/story?id=133922490”
To TWTW the graph line of “Last 11000 years climate changes causalities by IPCC and climatologists” is consistent with GRIP2 ice cores taken at Summit Station, Greenland (elevation about 3,216 meters (10,551 feet) above sea level). But as with Hayden, TWTW was unable to discover who inserted the “Don’t know” arrows. Nor does Mr. Gore know what caused the previous increases and declines in temperatures. It was not CO2, which was roughly constant during the glacial period at 180 to 200 parts per million in volume (ppmv), then gradually rose to about 250 to 280 ppmv prior to the industrial age starting about 1750 with the development of the improved steam engine by James Watt (1769) with a separate condenser.
The above “Don’t know” graph applies to many organizations that are considered scientific but follow the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These organizations may use the tools of science but ignore natural variability, thus assuring their own ignorance. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Attribution Non-Science: As discussed in several TWTWs such as the ones on February 20, April 18, and April 25, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) participated in a biased, but important document prepared for use in Federal Courts – the US Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence. The document ignored the fact that in physical science, physical evidence is the ultimate and final judge. Human opinions are subordinate to physical evidence in physical sciences, though they may be important in behavioral and social sciences such as sociology and psychology. Although the co-publisher of the US Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence, the Federal Judicial Center, retracted the chapter on climate change, the dubious chapter “How Science Works” continues with sections such as “Science Is Carried Out by a Community that Holds Members to Norms” and “Science as a Human and Community Endeavor.”
On July 15, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a press release “The Science of Extreme Event Attribution — Which Analyzes Climate Change’s Influence on Specific Weather Events — Has Advanced, But Challenges Remain.” The press release states:
“A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine provides a comprehensive assessment of the current capabilities of extreme event attribution (EEA) — a scientific field that analyzes whether and to what extent human-caused climate change influenced an individual extreme weather event, such as a specific heat wave or hurricane.
The scientific tools, observational datasets, and methods developed and used for EEA have advanced considerably over the past decade and increased the confidence in EEA results for some types of weather events, says the report, which evaluates progress made since a 2016 National Academies report on the subject.
However, confidence in EEA study results varies significantly across different types of extremes, the report says. The highest confidence is associated with findings for extreme heat and cold events and others strongly influenced by a warming atmosphere, such as large-scale heavy rainfall events. Confidence is lowest for phenomena where observational records are limited and for phenomena that depend on small-scale dynamic processes that are inadequately reflected in global climate models, such as severe convective storms like thunderstorms and tornadoes.
‘Significant progress has been made over the last decade, with major advancements in methods and modeling that allow for more robust assessments of extreme events,’ said James Hurrell, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and Scott Presidential Chair of Environmental Science and Engineering at Colorado State University. ‘But the field still faces challenges, and addressing them is necessary to fully realize the value of attribution science. We hope our recommendations will guide those efforts.’ [Boldface added]
Advances in tools and methods
Decades of data and research indicate that human-caused climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of several types of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, record-breaking heat waves, and extreme rainfall.
EEA allows scientists to move beyond detecting broad trends and instead investigate how climate change influences individual extreme events — yielding information that can help communities and decision-makers better understand the role of climate change in local weather events and inform their planning and policy. The field has expanded into the nascent field of extreme event impact attribution (EEIA), which studies the extent to which human-caused climate change has influenced the impacts of an extreme event, such as human health impacts or economic losses.
EEA studies compare the observed event’s characteristics, such as its likelihood and intensity in the current climate, with a “counterfactual” world without human-caused emissions. Researchers use a combination of observational data, weather and climate models, and statistical models to make these comparisons and quantify the effect of climate change on the extreme event. [Boldface added]
Over the past decade, increased scientific understanding of the physical drivers of extreme events, expanded observational data, new statistical techniques, and improved models have together contributed to advances in EEA capability, the report says. For example, radar, satellite, and on-site observations have expanded in terms of area and length of time covered, resulting in additional data to support EEA analyses for many regions. And the use of larger ensembles of climate model simulations is enabling researchers to more effectively separate the human-caused climate signal from natural variability. [Boldface added]
The report claims significant advances but ignores the fact that attribution studies are not based on best, linear, unbiased (BLUE) modeling. It states:
Driving further advances in attribution science
The report urges a range of actions to further strengthen EEA and EEIA science and their usefulness, including:
- The global community of EEA and EEIA researchers should develop a common overarching framework with recommended best practices. Such a framework would help systematically advance the science, integrate the research communities, build public trust, and enhance the usability of results.
- Higher-resolution global climate models could be transformative for EEA — enabling a more accurate simulation of intense local storms and regional extremes. Developing and applying these models is a critical next step required to mature EEA into a more robust and regionally relevant science. [Boldface added]
- More studies are needed that apply multiple EEA approaches to the same event, in order to increase the robustness and reliability of the findings.
- Operational EEA programs — which produce routine, rapid EEA studies — should conduct periodic peer review to enhance confidence in attribution results and provide an opportunity to identify areas where developments might be needed, particularly of understudied event types.
- Researchers should continue to develop and improve the models and data underlying impact attribution, with particular emphasis on regions and hazards that lack reliable tools — especially the Global South and cascading and/or compounding events.
- Significant opportunities exist to expand the usefulness of EEA and EEIA through collaborations with stakeholders. For example, working with local experts to co-develop studies that meet their intended needs, including necessary quantification of uncertainties and targeted communication, will enhance the value of attribution results.
The study was undertaken by the Committee on Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts and sponsored by the Bezos Earth Fund, National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Heising-Simons Foundation, National Academy of Sciences Arthur L. Day Fund, and Robert Litterman.
The report is called the “Consensus Study Report: Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts 2026.”
Of the global climate models which ones in the graph “Newest IPCC Climate Models Vs. Climate Reality” (above) does NASEM approve? None of them has been validated and NASEM ignores that significant issue. If one accepts global climate models as proof, the right model can prove whatever one wishes. Accepting the work of the UN IPCC and the global climate models, the NASEM has no explanation for the climate changes shown in the GIPS2 graph above. The NASEM has abandoned geological evidence of past climate change and has adopted a view like that of the UN IPCC: that only humans cause climate change, natural variability is insignificant. This view is false and contradicted by millions of years of natural climate variability including periods when the deep oceans (below 2000 meters, 6600 feet) were 6 to 8 or more degrees C (11 to 15℉) warmer than today. The leadership of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has abandoned physical sciences for politics.
See links under Defending the Orthodoxy, and for past criticism of the National Academies see https://www.sepp.org/the-week-that-was.cfm with key words such as NASEM, how science works, and D-O Events.
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Proposed Large-Load Compact: For over a decade electricity generation in the US was roughly stable. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in 2010 Electricity Net Generation was about 4,125,000 million kilowatt-hours. It was not until 2022 that this amount was exceeded with 4,231,000 million kilowatt-hours. This stability misled green politicians to claim they could “build back better” by destroying reliable generation from coal, nuclear and hydro and replace it with unreliable generation from wind and solar.
High-tech industries became their darling example. Now, high-tech industries are demanding huge amounts of ultra-reliable electricity for their data centers. The prospect of huge increases in costs of electricity to consumers has resulted in protests (while returning to past reliable sources is ignored). New York State is a prime example: Indian Point Nuclear Power Station were closed even though they provided 25% of the electricity to New York City. Now, New York State has (temporarily) banned new major data centers while it explores sources of reliable power that are yet to be discovered.
Writing in Power Mag. Emeka Obikwelu, the director of Grid Systems at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity, suggests a revamping of the system of treating customers to the grid in “Why AI Data Centers Can No Longer Be Treated as Passive Customers.” He writes:
“For decades, even very large electric customers fit inside a familiar planning model. A factory, refinery, industrial campus, hospital complex, hospital system, or manufacturing facility requested service. The utility studied the load, identified required facilities, assigned costs, and folded the demand into its forecast and capital plan. That model treated the customer primarily as load: something to be forecast, connected, and served.
Artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are testing that assumption. Their power requirements are large, their commercial timelines are compressed, and their reliability expectations are unusually high. A developer may seek service in one or two years. A utility may need several years to complete studies, secure transformers, build substations, expand transmission, arrange generation, evaluate fuel requirements, and obtain permits or regulatory approvals.” [Boldface added]
Obikwelu suggests that for data centers Time to Power Has Become a System Constraint, and this requires planning reform:
“A 500-MW request from a customer with site control, financing, a phased energization plan, credit support, and a defined supply strategy is different from a 500-MW exploratory inquiry. A fully firm data-center load differs from one that can curtail during emergency conditions. A facility with observable, fuel-secure onsite generation differs from one with emergency generators permitted only for limited backup operation.
The old interconnection model asked whether the grid could serve the load. The new planning model must ask under what conditions the load can connect quickly without weakening reliability, affordability, or system visibility….
FERC [Federal Energy Regulatory Commission] supplies the regulatory anchor for this discussion, but the planning reforms required to operationalize that action extend beyond the tariff order itself. Drawing from FERC’s tariff concerns, Berkeley Lab’s speed-to-power framework, the Energy Systems Integration Group’s (ESIG’s) interconnection recommendations, and emerging large-load practice, five reform areas emerge: project maturity, cost responsibility, coordination, study design, and flexible service.”
The reform areas include project maturity; cost responsibility (existing customers should not be asked to absorb costs caused primarily by a new large customer unless there is a clear system benefit); coordination; study design; and flexible service. Onsite backup generation is a valuable component, but this will upset green politicians who have vowed to stop greenhouse gas emissions. The problem is complex and needs to be addressed maturely. Simply banning data centers is childish. As Obikwelu concludes:
“The answer is to define the conditions under which large loads can connect quickly, pay fairly, operate transparently, and support rather than destabilize the grid. Large loads should no longer be treated merely as passive customers at the end of the delivery system. At their current scale, they are becoming planning actors whose decisions affect everyone else connected to the grid.
The next grid-planning question is not simply how fast large loads can be connected. It is what obligations should come with connection at that scale.”
See link under Energy Issues – US, Article # 1, and https://www.eia.gov/totalenergy/data/monthly/pdf/sec7_5.pdf for US Electricity Net Generation.
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Number of the Week: 1,153 acres for preservation vs. nearly 1,900,000 acres. In 1906 Theodore Roosovelt used the National Monuments and the Antiquities Act to declare Devils Tower the first national monument without Congressional approval. It set aside 1,153 acres for preservation. In 1996, President Clinton declared Grand Staircase-Escalante with nearly 1,900,000 acres a national monument. In 2016 President Obama declared Bears Ears and 1,351,849 acres a national monument. Both actions were without Congressional approval. The Grand Staircase-Escalante designation locked up one of the largest known deposits of low sulfur coal which could be mined over a small area.
“While roughly half of the presidential monument proclamations involved fewer than 5,000 acres, they have ranged from less than 1 acre to about 283 million acres. The Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument was established by President George W. Bush in 2006 with 89.5 million acres; President Obama’s 2016 expansion of the monument adding approximately 283.4 million acres made the monument roughly 372.9 million acres.”
According to The White House:
“The Antiquities Act requires that objects protected by a monument be of historic or scientific interest, and that the area reserved for the monument to protect the objects be the smallest area compatible with their proper care and management.
The term ‘Objects of historic or scientific interest’ has been stretched to include landscape areas, biodiversity, ‘viewsheds,’ and ‘remoteness.’”
See link under Washington’s Control of Energy,
https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R41330/R41330.33.pdf, and
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
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
More on Gore
By Howard Hayden, Energy Advocate, Via SEPP, July 2026
#Canary in a Climate World: Advice from a top physicist
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
But mercifully what he [John Clauser] has to say in this chapter is not primarily focused on climate change. Rather, it’s an attempt to inspire young minds to appreciate the beauty of science which, in fairness to his rough tongue on climate, is a far cry from the ugliness of politicized science.
Experimental Lab Research: The Climate Sensitivity To A 400-Fold Increase In CO2 Is 0.1°C
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 12, 2026
Link to paper: Radiative and Convective Heat-Transfer in the Atmosphere: Some Basic Laboratory Studies
By Michael Schnell, Hermann Harde, Science of Climate Change, Vol 6.1, 2026
From conclusions: In both cases, the tank is filled with the GHGs HCG (hydrocarbon gas [a propane/isobutane mixture] and CO2, and for comparison argon, so that both, radiation effects of the gases and the influence of a temporarily formed gas layer (gas-lake) of the heavier gases, can be investigated.
[SEPP Comment: The experiment does not include the dominant greenhouse gas, water vapor. However, the important issue about this experimental study is that it simulated a 400 x increase in CO2, and still the temperature only rose by 0.1℃ — which demonstrates that it’s all over for an increasing greenhouse effect on Earth via CO2.]
Climate consensus research is the worst, most invalid research ever published in journals
And social “scientists” use it to mislead participants
By José Duarte, Via WUWT, July 14, 2026
Link to paper: Greater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature
By Mark Lynas, Benjamin Z Houlton and Simon Perry, Environmental Research Letters, Oct 19, 2021
Consider the captivating journal article “An alternative carrier solvent for fingermark enhancement reagents”, published in Forensic Science International.
It was counted as part of the purported 99% scientific consensus on human-caused climate change by Lynas, et al. (2021).
New Study Highlights The ‘Dominant Role’ Of Aerosol/Cloud Interactions In Shaping Climate
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 17, 2026
Link to paper: Assessing Aerosol Radiative Forcing and Atmospheric Absorption Over South Asia: A Multi-Model Intercomparison Study
By Amit Kumar Sharma, et al., JGR Atmospheres, Feb 17, 2026
Why Europe’s Heat Waves Are Getting Worse
Part 1, “Climate change” describes the outcome, not the causes. Here’s what’s actually behind Europe’s worsening heat waves.
By Roger Pieke Jr., His Blog, July 13, 2026
The image at the top of this post is real — not AI. It shows the Earth as a thermostat with the message: “You Control Climate Change.” The 2006 PR campaign was developed by the European Commission…
I am unaware of any robust quantification of how much of Europe’s heat wave trend comes from greenhouse gases versus aerosols versus soil moisture versus circulation changes versus modes of variability versus cities — much less the complex inter-relationships among these various factors. What I do know is that the simple story that climate change causes heat waves is unsatisfactory.
Science Over Climate Narrative: Dr. Matthew Wielicki to Lead America’s Climate Research
Dr. Matthew Wielicki’s appointment signals a course correction toward true scientific rigor and away from narrative-driven climate alarmism.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 13, 2026
I join Secretary of Energy Chris Wright in his sentiment: I welcome the new era where data, not rhetoric, is the arbiter of truth.
Matt Wielicki is an honest scientist who follows the data wherever it leads. That is what science is all about. He will lead our efforts to honestly present the empirical climate data to guide policy makers.
[SEPP Comment: Wielincki will lead the Congressionally mandated U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)]
Defending the Orthodoxy
The Science of Extreme Event Attribution — Which Analyzes Climate Change’s Influence on Specific Weather Events — Has Advanced, But Challenges Remain
Press Release: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, July 15, 2026 [H/t Anthony Watts]
Link to the Consensus Study Report: Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts 2026
Earth has a natural thermostat and scientists finally know how it works
Press Release, Syracuse University, July 16, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to one paper: Shelf-invading low-oxygen waters control Cenozoic organic carbon burial rates
By Rosalind E. M. Rickaby, et al., PNAS, Apr 21, 2026
Link to second paper: A reversed latitudinal ocean oxygen gradient in the Proterozoic Eon
By Ruliang He, et al., Nature Geoscience, Jan 13, 2026
Scientists have identified a hidden feedback loop that may explain how Earth has regulated its climate for tens of millions of years. As sea levels rose and fell, they changed how much phosphate reached the open ocean, affecting marine life and the amount of carbon buried beneath the seafloor. That burial removed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping cool the planet.
[SEPP Comment: Assumes no continental drift changing ocean currents. Contradicted by physical evidence from deep sea borings.]
The Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree
More climate change propaganda
By Mark Hodgson, Climate Scepticism, July 15, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to report: Children’s Climate Risk Report (2026)
By Staff, UNICEF, June 16, 2026
From the report: The report introduces new data from UNICEF’s Global Child Hazard Database, enabling analysis at a geographic scale relevant for policy and action. It presents updated data and models covering a broad range of hazards for most countries and territories, including the Small Island Developing States. In addition to counting children by country, the analysis maps where children live on a fine geographic grid, so it can estimate how many face several climate hazards in the same place. A newly developed Children’s Climate Risk Framework pairs hazard exposure with children’s vulnerability (their access to health, WASH, nutrition, education, protection and social protection). The report also provides concrete policy recommendations across different sectors.
From Hodgson: Unicef does a great deal of valuable work. For that we should all be grateful. But I believe it would do a better job still if it were to stick to the objectives set down for it by the UN in 1946 as part of its founding Charter as updated in 1953. Much the same could be said for the United Nations more generally. It’s such a pity that an organization (the UN) that was set up with the best of intentions following the Second World War, has spawned numerous offshoots that no longer prioritize the purposes for which they were established, but which all now prioritize proselytizing about climate change. Expect more of this sort of thing as COP31 approaches.
Claim: Climate Change Should be Depoliticised by Convincing Everyone to Support Climate Action
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 14, 2026
“Fossil fuel interests have politicized climate action and slowed the transition. A trusted, science-led expert group could help galvanize public demand for change.” [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: Like the UN IPCC which relies on models that cannot be validated?]
Groan…Science Tries to Legitimize ‘Weather control’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 13, 2026
Link to press release: Development of weather intervention methods supporting future disaster mitigation
By Hiroshima University, July 1, 2026
Link to paper: Development and evaluation of a black-box optimization framework for weather-intervention design☆
By Yuta Higuchi, et al., Journal of Computational Science, June 2026
Opening lines of abstract: As climate change intensifies, the growing risk of weather-related disasters has increased interest in weather intervention for disaster mitigation. In this paper, we consider a computational weather intervention problem based on numerical weather simulations, where interventions in the wind velocity field serve as control inputs and accumulated precipitation is treated as the system output. Due to the complexity of atmospheric dynamics and the high computational cost of numerical weather simulations, this optimization problem lacks reliable gradient information and involves expensive function evaluations, which pose challenges for optimization.
Why climate scientists need to talk more about the very worst‑case scenarios
By Peter Stott, The Conversation, July 13, 2026
In the worst-case scenarios, much of Greenland’s ice sheet could eventually slide into the ocean. (Photo caption)
With growing evidence that the risk of irreversible changes to the climate are mounting, a new assessment could show a much clearer picture of what is at stake. By presenting the best that could happen and the worst, side by side and as the years tick by, it would provide a roadmap for stubborn hope, an antidote to despair despite the stark realities.
[SEPP Comment: Does a cube of ice slide out of an upright bowl? Greenland is a ring of mountains with ice in the center. For the past million years the dominant climate state was ice ages, when the ice-free breadbaskets of the world today were largely cold, dusty and barren. Is this not a worst-case scenario?]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Japan Chooses Reliable Energy Over Climate Nonsense
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, July 14, 2026
Japan is among the world’s top five oil importers, importing more than 94% of its crude oil from the Middle East. When transit through the Strait of Hormuz was interrupted, the impact was immediate.
Critical Ignoring
What could possibly go wrong?
By John Ridgway, Climate Scpticism, July 14, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Basically, the problem is as follows: Although there may be a legitimate purpose behind critical ignoring (to provide a rationale for concentrating upon a manageable subset of the informational overload provided by the internet) it does so through acts of ‘intellectual excommunication’. These acts are designed to ensure that reliable sources are blessed whilst the unreliable receive their damnation to Room 101. How is this discrimination safely achieved? Well, as Gemini has just pointed out, it isn’t. This is because ‘dissent from the institutional consensus has been fully pathologized’. The logical difficulty should be obvious.
Regarding Energy, the Left Wants Us to Live Smaller Lives. Americans Don’t Do That.
By Gary Abernathy, WUWT, July 14, 2026
That’s why most Americans from coast to coast are likely celebrating the announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy last week that it intends to “permanently end home appliance and equipment mandates that raise costs and disrupt consumer choice,” according to a press release.
“In America, you should be able to choose a dryer that dries clothes on the first try rather than one that takes multiple cycles – unfortunately, past administrations thought otherwise,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said.
For too long, Americans have been treated like children, coerced into buying over-priced “energy efficient” appliances and technologies that don’t do the job, and shamed into adopting lifestyles that are uncomfortable and unnecessary.
Climate Alarmists Sweat “Aircon” (air conditioning)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 13, 2026
Cheap talk
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
But it is odd how many people who think there is a climate crisis automatically assume that the solutions are not only cheap but will make us better off. And they carry on with this belief no matter how many examples pile up showing it to be untrue.
Socialist Candidates Want To Resurrect Green New Deal Corpse
By David Blackmon, Daily Caller, July 10, 2026
This, of course, parrots the classic mantra of every generation of new socialists, who, when presented with the reality that socialism fails disastrously everywhere it is tried, invariably claim that it just hasn’t been done the right way, and they know better.
[SEPP Comment: Just like “No one has tried true communism before.”]
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
“Portlandia” phasing out diesel?
By Jeff Reynolds, CFACT, July 11, 2026
The problem? Oregon already has only a 3–5-day diesel supply at any given time — for the entire state. Reducing that by 20 percent puts the state at extreme risk of fuel shortages during periods of crisis, disaster, or heightened demand.
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Why Climate Politics Can’t Wait
“Climate hushing” is all the rage among Democrats. That’s a big mistake.
By Aaron Regunberg, Boston Review, July 6, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Though critics of climate activism like to position themselves as tellers of “tough truths,” the toughest truth is that decarbonizing our economy can’t be done obliquely.
[SEPP Comment: The Director of the Climate Accountability Project at Public Citizen gets the “toughest truth” wrong. The toughest truth is that CO2 has little to do with current climate change and curtailing emissions of CO2 will do little but create mass poverty.]
The Desperate Attempt to Save the Climate Alarm Narrative
By Tilak Doshi, His Substack, July 18, 2026
See link immediately above.
Google and Microsoft Set New Emissions High Scores in Another Net Zero Fail
Google and Microsoft now emit more than entire states
By Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling, Energy Bad Boys, July 11, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
In 2020, Microsoft declared it would be carbon-negative by 2030, and the 2020 Sustainability Report was rife with platitudes about the company removing all the carbon it has emitted, either directly or through electricity consumption, since it was founded (in 1975) by 20250.
Google’s pledges were even more aggressive. In September of 2020, the company announced it would use 24/7 carbon-free electricity by 2030. Instead, the company’s emissions have risen by 82 percent since 2019, when it emitted just 10.33 million metric tons.
Despite their climate pledges, Big Tech companies are on track to become the largest emitting states in the nation due to the insatiable demand for electricity to power data centers. However, Big Tech’s willingness to increase its emissions to build out AI raises real questions about the sincerity of those commitments in the first place.
No fury like an activist scorned
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
Heatmap leaps with a snarl on Microsoft, once a darling of the climate crowd for its ambitious Net-Zero-and-beyond plans and its deep green billionaire cofounder. “Microsoft’s Climate Pollution Surged 25% Last Year” Boo Microsoft! Boo “climate pollution”.
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
The effect of additional CO2 on sweet potato
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
From the CO2Science.org archive
Seeking a Common Ground
Speaking of Adam Smith
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
Since we subjected you to mercantilist sludge, let us take the liberty of quoting Smith’s passage at some length in the hopes of inspiring people to read old books and rediscover the joys of supple language in service of clear thought. It’s from The Wealth of Nations Chapter III, Part II:
“…The violence and injustice of the rulers of mankind is an ancient evil, for which, I am afraid, the nature of human affairs can scarce admit of a remedy: but the mean rapacity, the monopolizing spirit, of merchants and manufacturers, who neither are, nor ought to be, the rulers of mankind, though it cannot, perhaps, be corrected, may very easily be prevented from disturbing the tranquility of anybody but themselves. That it was the spirit of monopoly which originally both invented and propagated this doctrine, cannot be doubted and they who first taught it, were by no means such fools as they who believed it.”
New York Mandated “Climate Education.” Conservatives Should Be Cheering… Seriously.
By Chet Love, Real Clear Energy, July 13, 2026
New York’s mandate will run its course. So will Mississippi’s reading reforms and Florida’s school choice experiment. The beauty of the federal system isn’t that every state gets it right — it’s that no state gets to get it wrong for everyone. Conservatives have been winning that argument for a decade.
Thinking beyond climate
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Aussie PM Announces Plan to Force US AI Companies to Pay for Australia’s Net Zero Transition
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 15, 2026
From the Aussie PM’s speech:
The sunlight to power affordable, renewable, reliable energy.
We will create a legal obligation for the next generation of large-scale data centres to underwrite new power supply.
[SEPP Comment: The Sun never sets in Australia?]
Changing Weather
ENSO: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions
By: Climate Prediction Center / NCEP, NOAA, July 13, 2026
El Niño is present.
Equatorial sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are above average across the central and eastern Pacific Ocean.
The atmospheric circulation anomalies over the equatorial Pacific Ocean are consistent with El Niño.
El Niño will strengthen through the end of the year, with a 97% chance it will persist through early spring 2027.
Typhoon Bavi strikes solar parks in China giving a new meaning to “distributed energy”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 17, 2026
The price of low intensity energy is large vulnerable infrastructure.
[SEPP Comment: Could a typhoon damage an offshore solar project?]
Canadian Wildfire Smoke Spreads Across U.S., Triggering Air Quality Alerts
Recurring wildfire smoke raises questions about Canadian forest management.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 16, 2026
Changing Climate
Lake Powell could plunge near lows that threaten power production next year: Federal study
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 17, 2026
A 2024 federal study found that climate change turned an ordinary drought into an extraordinary drought in the region between 2020 and 2022.
[SEPP Comment: The NOAA study ignored the fact that the Southwest is prone to extended droughts and that the climate is at least 30 years of weather.]
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Arctic sea ice in the boiling summer of 2026
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
Meanwhile in the Western Arctic there hasn’t been any overall change and ice coverage is currently above the median since records began in 1981. So, there’s still no need to buy up oceanfront property in the Yukon any time soon.
2026 Mid-July Arctic Ice Extents Tracking Average
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, July 17, 2026
[SEPP Comment: No northern passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific yet.]
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
LA Times: Climate Change is NOT Taking Food Off Your Table
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 17, 2026
Lowering Standards
Met Office Class 1 Sites
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 12, 2026
[SEPP Comment: 19 out of about 300, 260 automatic and 140 manual.] https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/research/climate/maps-and-data/uk-synoptic-and-climate-stations
Met Office State of Climate Report–Just More Gaslighting
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 16, 2026
The report confuses “weather” with “climate”.
Yes, this summer has been hot. But it has been hot because of the predominance of sunny weather, driven by high pressure systems.
As for “extreme weather”, that the Met Office loves to talk about, tell that to people who have lived through the floods, storms, blizzards and droughts that litter English weather history.
To most of us, this has been a glorious summer so far.
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
No, There Weren’t “2,700 Heatwave Deaths Due to Climate Change”
By Ben Pile, The Daily Sceptic, July 16, 2026
Fortunately, the solution to the scourge of thousands of fake deaths is extremely simple: stop lying. We could close down these manifestly harmful fake academic research organizations, which have been colonized by political ideologies, and the fake deaths would stop instantly. Dr Clair Barns is, as one might expect, housed at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College, which is the beneficiary of more than £30 million in grants from its namesake founder, the Anglo-American hedge fund billionaire Jeremy. Her profile boasts – though the news reports that quote her do not admit – that she is part of “the World Weather Attribution (WWA) initiative, attributing changes in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events to climate change”.
BBC Peddle Fake Heatwave Deaths Claims
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 14, 2026
Climate Retreat Documented in the New York Times
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, July 15, 2026
Claim: The Iran War is Worsening the Climate Crisis
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 12, 2025
No, USA Today, 4th of July Heat Was NOT ‘Climate Change.
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, July 13, 2206
Wrong, USA Today, There’s No Evidence that Climate Change Will Cause Higher Water Bills
By Anthony Watts, Climate Realism, July 16, 2026
If water rates continue rising, the most immediate reasons will likely remain the same ones that utilities have been citing for years: the costs of replacing aging pipes, repairing reservoirs, modernizing treatment plants to meet stricter regulatory requirements, higher costs for updated parts, materials, and labor, in part due to inflation, all of this resulting from decades of deferred maintenance.
Those costs are real, as opposed to the speculative costs attributed to future climate change by models forecasts.
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Oxford scientists debunk claims ‘2,700 people died in heatwaves’ – ‘Where are these heat deaths?’
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 13, 2026
Yes, it’s more heatwave deaths fraud from the Imperial College!
Communicating Better to the Public – Do a Poll?
Better weather is Americans’ top reason for moving out of state
By Andrew Dorn, The Hill, July 17, 2026
[SEPP Comment: In general Americans are moving South. Are they climate refugees from the North?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Even When the Cap Doesn’t Fit
Why I can’t avoid the ‘new denial’ label
By John Ridgway, Climate Scepticism, July 12, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
On the contrary, I have repeatedly called for an approach that embraces the principles of Robust Decision Making (RDM). This is not a strategy designed to support the precautionary principle, nor does it argue for inaction. Instead, it is one that provides a practical alternative in the teeth of a deep uncertainty compounded by a double precautionary dilemma. It is a well-established approach within risk science in which robustness is achieved by sufficing with respect to a full range of possible futures rather than optimizing with respect to a single presupposed risk. It offers a mathematically sound epistemic humility that avoids the mainstream dichotomy of either demanding acceptance of an uncompromised rush to net zero or simply doing nothing. Applying RDM therefore necessarily requires that both problem domain and solution domain risks be identified and constantly re-evaluated as actions are taken. In this respect, it recognizes and addresses the deep uncertainties and extreme possibilities that may accompany both action and inaction.
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
AI Hyperscale Data Centers Are Going to Power the Next Tea Party Revolt
By Amy Kremer, Real Clear Energy, July 14, 2026
This is why we have decided to hold a National Day of AI Data Center Protests, to give the conservative grassroots an opportunity to be seen and heard.
“The ship may have sailed on nonviolence” – Meet the Human Extinction Radicals Fighting the Rise of Artificial Intelligence
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 13, 2026
Climate activism is so 2025.
Expanding the Orthodoxy
Tory Centrists Defy Badenoch’s Red Lines on Net Zero and ECHR
By Richard Eldred, The Daily Sceptic, July 12, 2026
Mrs Badenoch has rejected some former Conservative MPs as candidates at the next election for refusing to align with her rejection of the 2050 Net Zero target and her pledge to leave the ECHR.
[SEPP Comment: Members of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are claiming that climate change violates human rights, particularly the European Court of Human Rights.]
Munich’s First-Ever Green Party Mayor Declares First Ever City Water Use Restrictions… Fines Up to 50,000 €!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 15, 2026
At X, Thomas Woelfer shows that the water level from the city’s biggest source, the Mangfall, is at near normal levels — and is higher than it was last year at this time.
Questioning European Green
Is wind power partly to blame for near-blackouts? Experts say increasing reliance on Net Zero energy could leave UK’s energy security at risk
By Mark Duell, Daily Mail, July 17, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Britain has not suffered a major blackout since 2019 when the Little Barford gas-fired power station in Bedfordshire and the Hornsea windfarm in the North Sea failed at the same time, causing large parts of the grid to automatically shut down.
[SEPP Comment: How often does a gas-fired power plant fail compared to a windfarm?]
The Political Games Continue
The crisis in conservative politics: Half the voters are fed up with climate propaganda, and the Liberals ignore them
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 15, 2026
Litigation Issues
Connecticut v. Exxon — the Sher Edling connection
By Russel Cook, GelbspanFiles.com, July 8, 2026
New York Court Refuses To Block State’s Plan For A “Renewables” Program
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 15, 2026
However, I am not surprised that Justice Little was looking for an easy exit strategy. Implementation of the impossible Climate Act mandates is perhaps the biggest political hot potato in New York at the moment. Would one lonely trial court judge in Albany really stick his neck out to try to stop the vast climate juggernaut arrayed in our state against the boogeyman enemy of carbon emissions? Unlikely
[SEPP Comment: Allowing fantasy energy to proceed.]
Green groups sue over Trump rollback of habitat protections for endangered species
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 14, 2026
Last week, the Trump administration took away a key protection for endangered and threatened species. In particular, it removed explicit prohibitions against changing an endangered or threatened species’s habitat to the point that it “actually kills or injures wildlife” by preventing food, shelter or breeding. [Boldface added]
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Reining in U.S. EPA Abuse: A Legislative Opportunity
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, July 17, 2026
[SEPP Comment: Endorsed by SEPP.]
Trump exempts 20 more polluting plants from clean air regulation
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 16, 2026
Link to Proclamation: Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Chemical Manufacturing Security
By the White House, July 13, 2026
The United States relies on a strong chemical manufacturing sector to support industries like energy, national defense, agriculture, and health care. These facilities produce essential inputs for critical infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, medical sterilization, semiconductors, and national defense systems.
Energy Issues – General
From Oil Fields to Aircraft Carriers: How Energy Wins Wars
By Dave Bovee, Real Clear Energy, July 13, 2026
Energy Issues – Europe
Miliband Overrules His Inspectors to Approve Britain’s Second-Largest Solar Farm
By Will Jones, The Daily Sceptic, July 11, 2026
Ed Miliband has approved Britain’s second-largest solar farm on 4,000 acres of prime farmland after overruling opposition from his own inspectors.
Heat Pump Bungs Increased To £9000
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 15, 2026
Apparently the Government is so wealthy that it can afford to increase subsidies for heat pumps!
Meanwhile the Government has been lauding the “success” of the EV subsidy scheme, introduced last year with subsidies up to £3750. Apparently 100,000 electric car buyers have already availed themselves of this taxpayer largesse.
Poor taxpayers who have had to fork out for this nonsense, I suspect, won’t agree!
Energy Issues – Australia
The Bankers bullied Australia into Net Zero
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 14, 2026
PM will force Data Centers to use renewables (because he knows they would use gas or coal if they could)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 16, 2026
Our PM is so smart he’s going to force data centers to use renewable energy. All the experts (that Big Government can buy) tell us renewables are the cheapest most wonderful kind of electricity, but just in case the executives of these high-tech companies are a bit stupid and can’t figure this out, Anthony Albanese is going to make sure they don’t accidentally pick coal or gas. It’s so sweet of him.
Energy Issues — US
The New Large-Load Compact
By Emeka Obikwelu, Power Mag, July 14, 2025
FERC Orders Mandatory NERC Reliability Standards for Data Center and Other Computational Loads
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, July 16, 2026
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to file one or more new or modified mandatory reliability standards governing the integration of computational loads—a category defined broadly enough to cover generative-AI data centers, cryptocurrency mines, and other information-technology facilities—by Dec. 31, 2026.
AI Data Centers Are the Heroes, Not the Villains
By Gilbert Hyatt, Real Clear Energy, July 15, 2026
Fifty years ago, critics called the idea of a single integrated-circuit chip for a computer a fantasy. As the creator of that chip, I called it the future. I was right.
Data Center Worries Reflect Bad Policy, Not Overreliance on Hydrocarbons
By Sarah Wagoner, Camilla Cort, Real Clear Energy, July 16, 2026
Look at California’s electricity prices. With an average monthly utility bill of $304, California’s rates are 87% above the national average. Burdensome regulatory regimes and clean energy mandates keep prices high. The California Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that Renewable Portfolio Standards were responsible for a nearly 5% increase in overall retail electricity rates in California in 2020.
Following suit, Virginia is re-entering the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) on July 1, which will saddle its residents with higher electricity rates. Finally, New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s estimated net cost increase is $2,500 for upstate households.
Our Energy Grid Will Define America’s Next 50 Years
By Greg Walden, Real Clear Energy, July 13, 2026
The data show a stark contrast. Currently, 70% of American transmission lines are more than 25 years old, and there is now more energy capacity waiting to join the grid than there is total installed generating capacity online today.
By comparison, China generates twice as much electricity as the U.S. and outspends us on energy infrastructure by more than $300 billion annually. And their government is not hog-tied by overlapping and outdated permitting processes. That gap leaves America vulnerable to being outpaced in the defining technologies of our era.
The Wyoming Disturbance
By Kevin Kilty, WUWT, July 17, 2026
On November 13, 2025, a network outage occurred in central and northeastern Wyoming (the Northeast portion of the Western Intertie) that affected 250,000 customers, including many industrial customers. Some of these were without power for up to 10.5 hours
[SEPP Comment: Trying to discover the reasons for this outage.]
RGGI Cheerleaders and the Consumer Carbon Cash Grab
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, July 15, 2026
I have argued that the RGGI allowance costs operate as a regressive, opaque tax on electricity that raises bills, stresses the grid, and may not deliver the durable climate or affordability benefits advocates claim. RGGI cheerleaders’ arguments about higher RGGI allowance prices reflect a revenue‑first mindset that treat rising auction proceeds as a “big opportunity” to expand state‑controlled climate and rebate programs…. RGGI is an increasingly blunt, costly, and opaque instrument to pursue climate and affordability goals.
New York State Bans New Data Centers to Rescue their Underpowered Green Energy Grid
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 16, 2026
AI Won’t Run on Talking Points
By Patrick Ruffini, Real Clear Energy, July 15, 2026
Winter Is Coming: The Work to Keep Us Warm Is Underway
By Larry Behrens, Real Clear Energy, July 16, 2026
The Cost of Politics Is Showing Up on Your Electric Bill
By Carl Marrara, WUWT, July 16, 2026
Washington’s Control of Energy
Trump shrinks Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments in Utah
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 13, 2026
Trump rolls back protections for threatened species and habitat for endangered species
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 17, 2026
Under prior regulations, species that were considered “threatened” — at risk but a step below endangered — would still receive the same protections as those that are endangered.
Now, the Trump administration says it will instead evaluate protections for species newly designated as threatened on a case-by-case basis.
The Trump administration also said it would make it harder to designate areas as protected “critical habitat” for endangered species. This is expected to make it easier for industrial development in these areas.
[SEPP Comment: Wide-spread areas of “critical habitat” have been claimed to prevent access to energy resources.]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Trump’s Reactor Pilot Program Is On Schedule
By Duggan Flanakin, Real Clear Energy, July 14, 2026
Toward that end, the DOE created a pilot program with a goal of construction and operation of at least three reactors outside the National Laboratories (but under a DOE contract) to achieve “criticality” by July 4, 2026 – the nation’s 250th birthday.
Criticality is a technical milestone that establishes a reactor can sustain a chain reaction – but that alone does not mean the reactor can provide electricity. Zero-power criticality can be achieved without meaningful engineering progress on fuel or design.
So, what have these firms achieved – and how about the progress of the other eight grant recipients?
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind Farms and Solar Panels Will be the Monuments of Our Folly
By Michael Kelly, The Daily Sceptic, July 15, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Where the engineering profession and the professional bodies – including the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, of both of which I am a Fellow – have really let the public down is in not raising all these elementary and unavoidable engineering problems that show no sign of being solved so far, let alone by 2050, if ever. Worse still, academia, and the academies at the top, are in dereliction of their basic ethical codes of conduct.
Giant ‘Bond Villain’ Space Mirror Approved by Feds
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 15, 2026
Via Spaceweather.com:
Since SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019, astronomers have grown increasingly concerned. It’s almost impossible now to take a deep-sky image without satellite streaks in the background. The mega-constellation numbers nearly 11,000 functioning satellites, and SpaceX launched another 1,589 during the first half of 2026 alone.
The FCC itself acknowledged some of these concerns, but noted in its order that optical astronomy and the environment lie largely outside its jurisdiction. They can only regulate the project’s use of radio signals. For now, no US agency regulates how bright a satellite may shine.
False Optimism, Broken Promises of Wind and Solar Advocates
By Robert Bradley Jr. Master Resource, July 16, 2026
1983 – Booz, Allen & Hamilton did a study for the Solar Energy Industries Association, American Wind Energy Association, and Renewable Energy Institute. It stated: “The private sector can be expected to develop improved solar and wind technologies which will begin to become competitive and self-supporting on a national level by the end of the decade [i.e. by 1990] if assisted by tax credits and augmented by federally sponsored R&D.”(Renewable Energy Industry, Joint Hearing before the Subcommittees of the Committee on Energy and Commerce et al., House of Representatives, 98th Cong., 1st sess. 1983)
[SEPP Comment: Over 40 years of broken promises.]
China Wind & Solar: Output Lags Capacity
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 14, 2026
China, already losing money on its wind and solar buildout, evidently has a tiger by the tail with transmission capacity to get solar and wind from nowhere to somewhere.
LRE Celebrates $1.5-Billion Investment in 725-MW Oklahoma Solar Fleet
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, July 10, 2026
“Google is committed to growing in a way that supports our neighbors and strengthens the electricity grid,” said JT Tolliver, Google Data Center Operations Lead for Oklahoma and Missouri. “This new agreement with LRE will help bring more power generation online in Oklahoma, contributing to a more robust, affordable, and reliable energy system for all.”
[SEPP Comment: Will Google defer to the needs of its neighbors at night?]
Wyoming Wind Turbines Killed More Than 23,000 Birds and Bats Last Year
By Mark Heinz, Cowboy State Daily, July 16, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
In 2025, wind turbines killed 1,160 large birds, such as raptors and waterfowl, Wyoming Game and Fish habitat protection program supervisor Will Schultz told the state Game and Fish Commission on Wednesday.
Turbine blades also killed 9,152 small birds, such as meadowlarks, and 13,423 bats, Schultz said.
Vineyard Wind’s Troubles Mount Despite Political Victory Lap
Troubled windfarm is producing less than half the promised output, sensors are repeatedly tripping offline, and it’s engaged in a legal battle with its turbine manufacturer.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, July 8, 2026
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey declared victory last month, celebrating the completion of Vineyard Wind as a shining beacon of “energy independence” that would slash electricity costs.
Health, Energy, and Climate
Have Nurses Nothing Better to Do Than Discuss Climate Change?
By Roger Watson, The Daily Septic, July 16, 2026
Apparently, climate change is now “the biggest threat” to health. Not waiting lists, corridor care, the inability of patients to see a GP, the chronic shortage of Registered Nurses, the collapse of nursing education or emergency departments where patients spend days on trolleys.
Professor Roger Watson is Professor of Nursing at Saint Francis University, Hong Kong. He has a PhD in biochemistry.
Other News that May Be of Interest
EXCLUSIVE: This Little-Known Climate Report Card Casts A Dark Cloud Over Home Sales — And Major Investment Firms Are Involved
By Paris Apodaca, Daily Caller, July 14, 2026[[H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Molly Vogt, Senior Fellow at the American Energy Institute told the DCNF that First Street is an “unregulated private company” whose “scores routinely contradict official FEMA flood maps, undermine property values, and influence homebuyers without any transparent methodology or meaningful appeals process.”
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Buzz Lightyear versus the sun
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 15, 2026
The proposal, which comes from their modestly-named “The Future of Everything” newsletter and is written by, um, a reporter who “covers the music industry for The Wall Street Journal’s entertainment bureau in Los Angeles”, starts badly then goes downhill from there. The opener is:
“Scientists are cooking up a radical new plan to protect Earth from a dangerously stormy sun.”
Commercializing Hydrocarbon Production from Air and Water
By Edward Ring, California Policy Center, July 15, 2026
Phew What a Scorcher!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 11, 2026
Cartoon
ARTICLES
1. New York’s Data Center Self-Sabotage
Gov. Kathy Hochul finds another way to hurt economic development in the state.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, July 14, 2026
TWTW Summary: New York politicians created an energy problem by banning oil and gas development and existing nuclear power. After asserting that New York’s ban of fracking for oil and gas was self-sabotage, the editorial states the following:
“Now Gov. Kathy Hochul is making a similar blunder by imposing a one-year (yeah, right) pause on new large AI data centers. Why are Democrats so intent on blocking development that would benefit their citizens?
Ms. Hochul announced the moratorium Tuesday in an executive order that suspends permitting for data centers while her administration works on a ‘regulatory framework.’ ‘As data center development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,’ she said.
Translation: It’s an election year. Polls show voters turning against data centers, largely owing to misconceptions fueled by climate activists. Ms. Hochul is trying to get ahead of the backlash and shift blame for her state’s rising electricity rates caused by its climate policies.
Democrats in Albany have shoveled billions of dollars on projects to boost economic growth upstate. So, it’s strange that Ms. Hochul is spurning data centers, which could generate thousands of jobs and more tax revenue. Teachers in Louisiana’s Richland Parish recently received annual bonuses of up to $50,000 thanks to increased tax revenue from construction of Meta’s massive AI data center.
Data centers can also deliver a property tax windfall that can keep down homeowner bills. In 2025 property tax revenue from data centers in Loudoun County, Virginia—also known as Data Center Alley—accounted for 95% of the county’s operating budget. If data centers disappeared, homeowners would need to pay $5,800 more a year in property tax for the same government services, according to one analysis.
There’s also little evidence that data centers have driven up electric rates. A study last month by the Electric Power Research Institute found that data centers between 2015 and 2024 reduced residential rates by spreading out the grid’s fixed costs over a larger electric load.
The real problem is that New York’s electricity supply is constrained by climate regulations that force natural gas plants to shut down prematurely. Since 2019, 4.4 gigawatts of power have been deactivated, while 2.9 gigawatts have been added. Much of the latter is from renewables that don’t provide reliable power around the clock.
As the New York Independent System Operator, which oversees the state grid, warned last month, ‘the system is losing resources that historically supplied the full suite of dispatchable reliability services,’ yet renewables ‘do not yet provide comparable attributes at scale, especially for long duration or severe weather conditions.’
The report projected that electric vehicles and building electrification combined would increase peak winter power demand by more than twice as much as new data centers through 2040. If Ms. Hochul is concerned about power shortages driving up utility rates, she’d push to repeal the state’s anti-fossil-fuel policies.
Her data center ‘pause’ recalls the de facto fracking moratorium imposed in 2008. Six years later, then Gov. Andrew Cuomo formalized the ban. As a result, upstate New York has languished, while Pennsylvanians next door enjoy more jobs and much lower energy prices. Expect a tragic repeat with data centers.”
Is the Earth 5 million km farther from the Sun at the beginning of July? Is the Earth’s axial tilt half its maximum value? Will the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere be milder? Could weaker solar radiation at the poles during the summer and increased snowfall caused by ocean warming lead to a slow increase in ice cover an the Arctic Circle?
https://ocean.dmi.dk/arctic/meant80n.uk.php
Been a while since that GISP2 ice core chart has been wheeled out, but it still stops in 1855.
Gregory J says:
July 20, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Based on the latest Polar Portal data, it is entirely possible that Greenland may see the first year of net ice gain in 30 years. Here is a picture of the Surface Mass Balance as of July 20.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fBe_5uqj6sQ7rZSxPYXLaOTpbBt9rOs1/view?usp=drivesdk
The Surface Mass Balance (SMB) is snowfall minus melting. It always finishes the season hundreds of tons in the positive, but does not take into account ice flow into the sea and calving of icebergs. For this reason, the SMB must finish the season at 480 billion tons or higher to record a net gain of ice. Right now the SMB is at 600 billion tons. One month of melting to go before season ends. Looks to me like it will finish above 480.
The cool northwestern Atlantic and the tropical Atlantic.
