The Week That Was: 2026-09-05 (September 5, 2026)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “The truth of a theory can never be proven, for one never knows if future experience will contradict its conclusions.” — Albert Einstein
Number of the Week: 0.11 degrees Celsius by 2050 and 0.24 degrees Celsius by 2100 (0.2F° by 2050 and 0.43 F° by 2100)
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: This TWTW begins with a discussion of William Happer’s contribution to the book Canary In a Climate World. It continues with a discussion on how C4 plants are benefiting from increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide. TWTW addresses a question from a reader on the benefits and costs of data centers to consumers. TWTW briefly discusses the apparent cause of the devastating floods in Nepal and the UN’s announcement that its imaginary goal of preventing climate change has been exceeded. TWTW concludes with the presentation of this year’s April Fools Award.
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Imaginary Control Knob: Canary In a Climate World contains a chapter by AMO physicist William Happer who discusses “The Climate Cult.” Readers of TWTW are familiar with Happer who with his colleague William van Wijngaarden have used physical evidence gathered in laboratory experiments and the HITRAN high resolution database which combines the laboratory evidence and observations of what is occurring in the atmosphere. Using this database, van Wijngaarden and Happer calculated the influence that adding a specific greenhouse gas to the atmosphere will have on temperatures.
The AMO scientists and others have shown that the influence of additional amounts of both the dominant greenhouse gas, water vapor, and the secondary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, has fallen dramatically. Both are heavily into diminishing returns. Owing to saturation, adding additional amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere does very little to increase Earth’s atmospheric temperatures. Adding water vapor to the atmosphere (greater humidity) does more, because it promotes cloud formation, which reflects away sunlight in the daytime, and acts as a blanket at night.
Global climate modelers have failed to produce the physical evidence needed to justify their assumption that a one degree C increase in atmospheric global temperatures (from whatever the cause) will be doubled due to an increase in water vapor. The physical evidence shows that, at most, a one degree C increase in global temperatures may be amplified by positive water-vapor feedback to an additional 0.16℃. No other positive feedbacks have been substantiated with physical evidence.
The AMO scientists and others have shown that the influence of additional amounts of both the dominant greenhouse gas, water vapor, and the secondary greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, has fallen dramatically. Both are heavily into diminishing returns. Adding additional amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere does little to increase Earth’s atmospheric temperatures. Adding water vapor to the atmosphere can do more heating of less, depending upon how much H2O is added. Global climate modelers have failed to produce the physical evidence needed to justify their assumption that a one degree C increase in atmospheric global temperatures from whatever the cause will be doubled by an increase in water vapor. The physical evidence shows that, at most, that a one degree C increase in global temperatures may be amplified by a 0.16℃ increase from water vapor, the positive feedback. No other positive feedbacks have been substantiated with physical evidence.
There is no question that other physical events that result in ocean warming will cause an increase in atmospheric water vapor. Such events include the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) which is beginning now and forecasted to be a strong one. Other ocean warming events that increase atmospheric water vapor content are underseas volcanoes.
As to “The Climate Cult”, John Robson of Climate Discussion Nexus has a good summary of Happer’s chapter. Robson writes:
“Will was for many years a professor of physics at Princeton who also served as Director of Research at the US Department of Energy and later as an advisor on science issues to the White House. Like Richard Lindzen he has earned the right to speak his mind, and he doesn’t hold back. ‘Climate science’ (which he puts in quotes), spread through universities in response to lavish spending by governments and foundations. ‘Traditional, rigorous disciplines like atmospheric physics, atmospheric chemistry, meteorology or paleontology were quick to cash in by renaming themselves with some variant of ‘Center for Saving the Planet’’, he states. ‘They were generously rewarded with research grants, new laboratories, professorships, elections to learned societies, prizes and other tokens of gratitude.’ Many who saw through the dodge, a piece of short-run bureaucratic cleverness that turned into long-term sacrifice of integrity, kept their doubts to themselves, and the ones who spoke up paid a steep price. But Happer is convinced the truth will prevail eventually, and science will self-correct. We’d better hope.
Happer focuses on the notion that CO2 is a control knob for the Earth’s climate. It’s not a straw man argument: alarmists really do claim it and use models that embed the assumption. But it’s a testable theory and, when tested, it fails repeatedly.
Here Happer invokes Karl Popper’s vital criterion that the scientific status of a theory is determined less by its verifiability than its falsifiability. To be useful a theory must make predictions that are surprising and important and, critically, can be compared with data to see if they fail. Thus, a theory ceases to be scientific when its predictions cannot be put to the test. But of course it also ceases to be scientific if when put to the test those predictions keep turning out to be untrue, and on that basis Happer argues that climate alarmism is an unscientific failure.
He does not deny that CO2 is a greenhouse gas. Indeed, in his chapter he explains how the process works which is more than many dogmatic alarmists can do, especially those who natter about a blanket wrapped around the atmosphere on the edge of space. But, as many others have noted, that fact only implies a slight bit of warming, especially at current temperatures (it matters a lot if the Earth is close to the deadly cold of space) whereas alarmism is based on the idea that CO2 emissions can cause a catastrophic heating of the atmosphere at any temperature and especially the current one, a claim with no basis in reality. On the contrary, far from being verifiable, it is demonstrably false.
Happer believes that ‘Climate nonsense will eventually end and will be dumped onto the ash heap of history, where it belongs.’ But in the meantime, he laments, it is doing a lot of damage, hence ‘We should all do what we can to stop the madness as soon as possible.’ And though well past normal retirement age Happer, thankfully, continues to answer his own call to action.”
To this TWTW quotes a few paragraphs from the chapter. Happer writes:
“The dogma the CO2 is the control knob of Earth’s climate has a ring of plausibility. Similarly, an immobile Earth, with celestial spheres rotating around it seem obvious to Ptolemaic astronomers. CO2 is a greenhouse gas, that is, a gas that is nearly transparent to short-wave, visible and near-visible sunlight, but partially opaque to the long wave infrared radiation that dumps excess heat from the Earth into the cold darkness of outer space. Greenhouse gases do little to hinder the heating of the Earth by sunlight, but they readily absorb and re-emit thermal infrared radiation, making it harder for Earth to release thermal radiation directly from its surface to space, and requiring higher temperatures to get rid of the heat than would otherwise be needed, if there were no greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
But the most important greenhouse gas is water vapor, H2O, not CO2. When the effects of clouds are included, water in all of its phases, vapor, liquid, and solid, has a much bigger influence on radiative transfer of heat than CO2. And radiative transfer is only part of what controls Earth’s climate. Huge amounts of heat are transported by air and ocean currents from the tropics, where maximum sunlight is absorbed, to polar regions, where much more thermal radiation is released to space than is absorbed from the Sun.
In fact, the climate of the Earth has no single control knob, and all the theoretical and empirical evidence points to CO2 being a relatively unimportant factor. The most important influences on Earth’s climate are the Sun and cloud cover. Neither the Sun nor clouds are understood as well as they should be. What understanding we have has been set back at least 50 years by the manic [excessive] focus on greenhouse gases.
A particular irony of the demonization of CO2 is that increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are benefiting life on Earth. Satellite measurements show a clear greening of Earth, especially arid areas, due to the modest increases in CO2 that have already occurred.”
Happer continues to explain that CO2 is plant food, and the increasing concentration of CO2 is benefiting humanity by providing agricultural abundance. Happer concludes that the climate alarm establishment has evolved into being a protection racket.
See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy, for links to papers by van Wijngaarden and Happer see links under Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer.
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C4 Plants As Well: Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria use light energy to molecularly break down water and carbon dioxide and recombine the atoms into glucose (simple sugar) and oxygen. Photosynthesis emerged in cyanobacteria and algae perhaps some 3.5 billion years ago. Today, the process is used by about 85% of all plant species.
As the concentrations of atmospheric CO2 fell, another type of plant evolved about 30-35 million years ago using a process of photosynthesis that is more efficient in converting CO2 and water into glucose and oxygen. These plants are called C4 plants and are largely grasses found in tropical and warm-temperate regions. Today, the major C4 crops are maize (corn), sugarcane, sorghum, and millet. A trivial criticism of the greening of Earth from increased CO2 is that it does not include C4 plants.
Writing in Daily Sceptic, Andrew Sibley discusses a paper that demonstrates that the trivial criticism does not apply. The paper by Kimberley J. Simpson et al., published by Nature is titled “Increasing CO2 levels fertilize C4 grass production.” Part of the abstract states:
“In tropical forests, long-term monitoring indicates a substantial CO2-driven carbon sink4. C4-grass-dominated tropical and subtropical savannas contribute approximately 30% of terrestrial net primary production5, and yet equivalent long-term analyses of CO2 responses are lacking. Here we show a clear and consistent result across a meta-analysis of 70 CO2-addition experiments and 32 years of in situ field observations from southern Africa: CO2 fertilization of wild C4 grasses is widespread in dry conditions. In experiments, grasses reduced stomatal conductance under higher levels of CO2, limiting water loss while increasing carbon gain. In the field, improved water use efficiency translated into increased C4 grass biomass production across three decades of observations. Finally, simulations via the Community Land Model6 suggest that CO2 fertilization of C4 grass above ground productivity may continue to increase under future conditions. Together, these results challenge the view that C4 grasses are unresponsive to increasing levels of CO2, demonstrating instead that annual above ground production of grasses in the field in southern Africa has increased by 28% over three decades.” … [Boldface added]
Thus, the increase in atmospheric CO2 is beneficial to C4 plants as well as C3 plants. See links under Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide.
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Data Centers: A reader in Virginia asked if TWTW has discussed any positions on data centers. The response is as follows:
TWTW has not directly addressed data centers and primary users (such as hyperscale cloud providers) because they are a local issue. In Loudon County, VA., tax revenues from data centers have significantly reduced real estate taxes on homes, benefiting the residents of the county. There are hundreds of acres of data centers in appropriately zoned regions, which apparently do not burden the residents of the county. With appropriate setbacks and muffling, noise does not appear to be a problem. Any water use issue can be addressed by appropriate design. eliminating the need for water for cooling. For example, Phoenix area data centers use air cooling. Internal liquid cooling is another option with the heat dissipated into the atmosphere. Further, we see the benefits of data centers daily with Zoom meetings, Google searches, etc. Since 2018, electricity use in Virginia has grown faster than that of any other state except Texas, primarily from the expansion of data centers.
The sudden backlash against data centers may be a surprise. In part it may be the result of the deceitful posturing of data centers and hyperscale cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Meta, Google, etc. The companies strongly promoted “renewable energy” such as wind and solar. These sources of electricity generation are inherently unreliable and unstable. After a certain level of penetration, not well defined, wind and solar make the electrical grid unstable and subject to sudden blackouts as seen in the Iberian Peninsula blackout in April 2025. Wind and solar make a robust grid fragile.
Nuclear, coal, hydro, and combined cycle gas power have huge rotating machines that give the grid stability through inertia. Further they are synchronized to provide consistent power (stable frequency and voltage). The inertia of huge rotating machines smooths over brief disruptions, hiccups, in power giving operators the time to adjust to a brief disruption. Although wind turbines have significant rotating inertia, to be consistent with the grid and adjust for variations, the electricity is run through an inverter which results in the forfeiture of rotating inertia. Solar power has no inertia, is highly variable, and the current is incompatible with the grid. Consequently, the electricity must be run through an inverter as well. Thus, wind and solar do not contribute to the stability of the grid. They destabilize it by making it more fragile, susceptible to brief disruptions, which may lead to blackouts, as seen in the Iberian Peninsula on April 28, 2025.
Further, we have multiple examples that commitments to “clean” electricity sources such as wind and solar lead to huge increases in the costs of electricity. California’s massive “investment” in solar power has led to the highest electricity prices in the lower 48. In the UK and the European Union, the commitments to wind and solar are destroying the economies through high energy costs, and causing industries to leave.
For about 30 years the economies of Germany, the UK, and the US grew at comparable rates per capita. Then Germany and the UK adopted policies of closing power plants generating reliable electricity to rely on wind and solar. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, from the first of 2005 to the first of 2025, the constant dollar GDP per capita for Germany has increased by 23%. Since 2018 there has been no net increase. Since 2005 The constant dollar GDP per capita for the UK has increase by 12%. The constant dollar GDP per capita for the US has increased by 29%. High electricity costs are the primary reasons for the lagging growth in the UK and Germany. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/NYGDPPCAPKDUSA
Although various states such as California and those in the Northeast have adopted policies closing fossil fuel-fired power plants and relying on wind and solar, the nation has not. The consequences are beginning to show in the growth rates of the various states.
Data centers and the hyperscale cloud providers knew that they rely on ultra reliable electricity, yet they deceived the public and politicians by claiming they will use “green power” namely wind and solar. One tactic is buying “offsets,” which pretend that the intermittent “renewable power” goes to somebody else. For that, these operators should be recognized as deceitful.
Artificial intelligence is a valuable tool that will grow in value. Data centers and hyperscale cloud providers are necessary for our continued prosperity. But they require considerable increases in reliable electricity delivered 24-7, baseload power. In the US, baseload power is generated by four major sources: nuclear plants; large hydroelectric projects; coal-fired power plants; and natural gas combined cycle power plants. Renewables, such as wind, solar, plus backup do not provide reliable, affordable power anywhere in modern civilization.
In Virginia, it is unlikely that a new nuclear or a large hydroelectric plant will be built soon. Further, the government of Virginia has recently re-joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a rigged market program to tax and reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the power industry and use these funds for “clean” energy generation such as wind and solar. Since “clean” wind and solar cannot provide reliable electricity, the RGGI program is designed to drive up electricity costs to everyone.
Although the following conclusions apply to Virginia they apply to many other states as well.
Since a Virginia data center project will increase the demand for reliable baseload power, and since the Virginia government has determined that reliable baseload power will be restricted by ever increasing costs, any such project will drive up the reliable electricity costs for everyone in the state. Such a project should be denied for penalizing Virginia citizens by increasing the electricity costs for all for the heavy electricity use of a few.
May the developers of such a valuable project find a more hospitable political climate for their electricity needs elsewhere, such as Louisiana.
For issues regarding data centers see links under Seeking a Common Ground for issues regarding Virginia and RGGI see links under Energy Issues – US, for the benefits to Loudoun County and Louisiana see Article # 2
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Changing Earth: Although it is not yet a final determination, evidence is compiling that the devastating floods in Nepal were caused by a rock landslide. About 55 to 50 million years ago the Indian Plate began to collide with the Eurasian Plate. About 25 million years ago the collision became hard, closing the Tethys Ocean which changed the Equatorial current of the oceans, and pushing up the Himalayas Mountains. The Himalayas Mountains are geologically unstable, and one of the most active mountain systems on land. See link under Changing Earth. For speculation on other causes of the floods see links under Questioning the Orthodoxy, Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism? and Below the Bottom Line.
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Goal Exceeded? The UN IPCC and its followers believe the Earth’s climate is determined by a global temperature. The UN has declared its goal of keeping Earth’s temperatures below its calculated 1.5℃ above a preindustrial level. All this is imaginary and requires an enormous ignorance of the history of Earth. UN press releases assert:
- “Report puts best-case scenario peak temperature rise at 1.8°C; others suggest over 2°C
- Above 1.5°C, climate impacts and risks of tipping points intensify with every fraction of a degree
- ‘Overshoot, peak and decline’ pathway best remaining option to help vulnerable nations and communities cope and return to below 1.5°C.”
The tipping points are as real as ancient mariners sailing too far from land and falling off the edge of the Earth. Earth was warmer than today 10,000 years ago; how did it get back from over the tipping point? See links under Defending the Orthodoxy.
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SEPP’s April Fool’s Award: Many well-deserving individuals were nominated for the prestigious honor of receiving The Jackson, a lump of coal. One popular candidate was Ed Miliband, who was UK’s Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. A remarkable contradiction in terms. He is now UK’s Foreign Secretary.
Another deserving candidate was Kerry McCarthy, former Minister for Climate at the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). She oversaw the decision to dismantle the Joint European Torus (JET)—the world’s most successful magnetic fusion experiment—bringing an end to a unique scientific asset that many believed could have remained operational and productive for years. Apparently in the UK, Energy Security means no reliable energy.
But the winner was Vic Sher, of the law firm Sher Edling which is busily lining up city, county, and state governments to sue oil companies for huge amounts of money. Oil companies are guilty of providing the fuels needed for transportation and reliable electricity. According to the legal experts, oil companies are responsible for climate change. Apparently these legal experts and their clients never heard of Ice Ages, when glaciers went as far south as Central Park in Manhattan. No doubt the municipalities involved would like to return to the days of muscle power when horse manure soaked the city streets forcing all who could to abandon cities in the summer to get away from the smell and the flies.
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Number of the Week: 0.11 degrees Celsius by 2050 and 0.24 degrees Celsius by 2100 (0.2F° by 2050 and 0.43 F° by 2100) – Vijay Jayaraj discusses a report by statistician Kevin Dayaratna “Measuring Meaningless Climate Actions.” The abstract states:
“This paper asks a simple question: If the United States were to cut its carbon-dioxide emissions, how much would global temperatures actually change? Using the Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Induced Climate Change (MAGICC), we remove fossil-fuel carbon dioxide from a standard emissions scenario, first for the whole country and then one state at a time, under assumptions chosen to make the temperature savings as large as possible. Eliminating all U.S. energy-related fossil-fuel carbon dioxide lowers projected warming by about 0.24 degrees Celsius in 2100, and no individual state reaches even 0.031 degrees. The result does not depend on any contested piece of climate science; it follows from a single country’s small share of a global total. Because the climate benefit of unilateral carbon reduction is so small while its costs to energy affordability and reliability are real, policy should favor energy abundance over energy restriction.
See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy.
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
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
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
https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/12/WThermal-Radiationf.pdf?x45936
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
https://scienceofclimatechange.org/wp-content/uploads/SCC-2025-vWijngaarden-Happer.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy
#Canary in a Climate World: Will Happer on the climate cult
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Comer Demands National Academy of Sciences Turn Over Withheld Documents on Biased Climate Review
Documents obtained suggest the NAS intended to release a biased review to undermine the EPA and support radical climate activists
By Staff, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Aug 28, 2026
Colorado and Climate Change: Colorful Colorado Greener Than Ever
Press Release by CO2 Coalition, Sep 2, 2026
Link to report: Colorado and Climate Change: Colorful Colorado Greener Than Ever
By Staff, CO2 Coalition August 2026
News-Making Nepal Region Has Had As-Warm Or Warmer Periods Than The 2000s In The 1600s, 1700s, 1800s
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Aug 29, 2026
Latest of five papers: Tree-ring based reconstruction of pre-monsoon temperatures variability in Pakistan’s Western Himalayan since 1855 CE
By Zahid Rauf, Environmental Research Communications, June 8, 2026
Defending the Orthodoxy
Global warming will exceed limit, UN says in a report that maps path to get back below danger zone
By Seth Borenstein, AP, Via The Hill, Sep 2, 2026
Link to press release: UNEP: World set to cross 1.5°C global warming, but can still limit, adapt to and return from higher temperatures
By UN Environment Programme, Sep 2, 2026
Link to report: Limiting Overshoot – Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return
By UNEP, Sep 2, 2026
Questioning the Orthodoxy
New CFACT Report: ESA Implementation Is Severely Flawed
By Christina Norman, CFACT, Sep 2, 2026
Link to report: Endangered Species Act Implementation Is Severely Flawed
By David Wojick, CFACT, August 2026
Same link as above
Speaking of fires
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Measuring Meaningless Climate Actions
By Vijay Jayaraj, WUWT, Sep 2, 2026
Link to report: Fifty States, Virtually No Impact: The Negligible Effect of U.S. Carbon Reduction Policies on Global Temperatures
By Kevin Dayaratna, Advancing American Freedom, July 21, 2026
The Ghoulish Race to Turn Nepal’s Flood Victims Into a ‘Climate Crisis’ Talking Point
The political talking point ignores tens of millions of years of plate tectonics and its consequences and completely dismisses well-established mountain-weather dynamics.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, Sep 1, 2026
The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the regional scientific body actually based in Kathmandu, remarked that it’s simply “too early to determine what role climate change played in this specific event”. That’s the honest scientific position.
Climate Change Weekly # 589—National Academy Pulls Climate Chapter—for Now, at Least
By Staff, The Heartland Institute, Aug 28, 2026
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
The semi-mysterious deep
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Energy & Environmental Review: August 31, 2026
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, Aug 31, 2026
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
Supercharged’ Global Greening in African Savannah: CO2 Brings Huge Boost to Grass Growth
Global greening is being supercharged in the African savannah, new research published in Nature has found, with higher CO2 levels driving a 28% increase in plant growth in just 32 years, writes Andrew Sibley.
By Andrew Sibley, Daily Sceptic, Sep 1, 2026
Link to paper: Increasing CO2 levels fertilize C4 grass production
By Kimberley J. Simpson, et al., Nature, Aug 19, 2026
The effect of additional CO2 on Larix Kaempferi
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
From the CO2Science archive
Seeking a Common Ground
Why Opposition to Data Centers Is Perplexing
All industrial projects carry a mix of costs and benefits, but the massive IT facilities offer one of the better deals to be found.
By Judge Glock, City Journal, Sep 3, 2026
When Media on the Left and Right Agree That Data Center Attacks Are Unfair, Maybe We Should Listen
By Gary Abernathy, Real Clear Energy, Aug 31, 2026
Measurement Issues — Surface
Met Office Admit Kew Is A Class 5 Junk Site
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 3, 2026
As WMO rules make clear that Class 5 sites should not be used for climatological purposes, I look forward to the Met Office removing the spurious “record temperature” from their website.
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
UAH v6.1 Global Temperature Update for August 2026: +0.68 deg. C
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Sep 2, 2026
The Version 6.1 global area-averaged linear temperature trend (January 1979 through August 2026) remains at +0.16 deg/ C/decade (+0.22 C/decade over land, +0.13 C/decade over oceans).
Changing Weather
Summer is the time for heat waves
Heat waves come and go. But we, as a nation, need an occasional reminder that none has been as hot as the one in 1936.
By William D. Balgord, American Thinker, Sep 2, 2026
Unprecedented Summer Heat?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 3, 2026
Significantly, no monthly records were broken this summer. Even July, which was the hottest of the three months, was 0.7C cooler than in 2006.
June and August were also hotter in 1940 and 1947 respectively.
Tropical Storms Invade Hawaiian Waters: The Role of El Nino
Normally, tropical storms and hurricanes avoid the area of the Hawaiian Islands.
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Sep 3, 2026
Why? Because the nearby Pacific is usually too cool!
With Cool/Wet Weather Ahead, The Wildfire Threat Will Rapidly Decline over the Pacific Northwest
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Aug 30, 2026
California is having a very benign fire year, with roughly half the acreage of the five-year average.
The Fall Transition Has Begun
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Sep 1, 2026
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
New Study: Antarctic Ice Melt Has Contributed Less Than 1 Centimeter To Sea Level Rise In The Last 30 Years
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Sep 3, 2026
Link to paper: Three Decades of Glacial Changes on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Revealed by Historical Aerial and High‐Resolution Satellite Imagery. July 2026
By Vijaya Kumar Thota, Thorsten Seehaus, and Matthias H. Braun, Geophysical Research Letters,
[SEPP Comment: In alarmist claims of drastic Antarctic warming, the Western Antarctic Peninsula is used for the entire Antarctic. Snow and ice are accumulating on the eastern Antarctic continent.]
2026 Abundant Arctic Ice in August
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Sep 1, 2026
End-Of-August Arctic Sea Ice Extent Hasn’t Fallen In 20 Years, Official Data Show!
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Aug 29, 2026
We may have to start calling it Whiteland
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Changing Earth
Nepal Floods Caused By Bedrock Failure
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 1, 2026
Even now, some idiots are claiming that the bedrock collapse was caused by melting of permafrost. Cook and Shugar say there is no evidence of this.
The claim is absurd anyway. The glacier which collapsed was 17,000ft up in the Himalayas, where temperatures rarely get above zero.
Changing Seas
Moving the coralposts
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Stock up on Food!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 4, 2026
Link to: World Food Situation
By Staff, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Sep 4, 2026
From World Food Situation: The latest revision puts the 2026 output 61.1 million tonnes (2.0 percent) ) below the previous year’s level, marking the largest annual decline since 2018. Nevertheless, it would still rank as the second-largest harvest on record. [Boldface added]
From Homewood: Another Labour Minister totally out of her depth:
Lowering Standards
The National Academy of Advocacy
By Roger Pielke Jr., The Honest Broker, Sep 1, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) — a storied institution signed into law by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 under an act of Congress — finds itself at the center of growing controversy over how it has mixed climate change science and politics in violation of its Congressional mandate and the organization’s commitment to objectivity, independence, and excellence.
Bring Out Your Dead – No Not Those!
Or liars, damned liars and the ONS
By John Ridgway, Climate Scepticism, Sep 2, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Back in January 2022, in a paper titled, ‘Climate-related mortality and hospital admissions, England and Wales: 2001 to 2020’, the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated the following:
Over a 20-year period the estimated change in deaths associated with warm or cold temperature was a net decrease of 555,094, an average of 27,755 deaths per year (Table 1). [Table not shown.] A decrease in deaths from outcomes associated with cold temperature greatly outnumbers deaths associated with warm temperature.
In summary, the splendidly new ONS methodology treats heat and cold as if their mathematical distributions of risk are an identical mirror reflection when they are most emphatically not. The heat threat is episodic and acute, but the cold threat is chronic, acting over a wider range of temperatures and over a much longer timescale.
This is a nice, neat comparison, but one that entirely misses the point. By chasing a confounder-free indicator that can then be neatly compared to the heat-related scenario, the ONS has committed a classic statistical error: they have prioritized a notion of model integrity over real-world accuracy. They seem far more interested in seeking an extreme weather basis for mortality than they do an accurate indicator of public health. I don’t know exactly what the ONS thinks it is counting, but it is no longer the actual number of cold-related deaths suffered by the British public.
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Ghouls descend on Nepal
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
The climate alarmist habit of leaping with a cry of triumph on any natural disaster was on ugly display when a flash flood struck in Nepal and Tibet on August 26, killing at least hundreds and probably thousands. NBC admitted that “it’s not exactly clear what happened yet” yet confidently attributed whatever it was to “rising global temperatures and climate change”. Bloomberg was especially shameful, touting “The new era of glacier catastrophes” in an email newsletter the next day as if there had been more than one of them. And the day after that Climate Home News chanted “This week’s deadly landslides in Tibet and Nepal – where the planet’s warming climate means glaciers are breaking off at a faster rate and causing flash floods – are the latest horror showing why emissions must be reduced as fast as possible.” Such coverage is an affront to decency and science alike.
Wrong, New York Times, Nepal’s Tragedy Wasn’t Caused by Climate Change
By Anthony Watts, Climate Realism, Sep 1, 2026
The Himalayas are among the youngest and most tectonically active mountain systems on Earth, caused by when the Indian Plate slammed into the Eurasian landmass. Landslides are not unusual there. Neither are rock, snow, and ice avalanches.
CCN Celebrate Media Lies About Nepal Floods
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 4, 2026
If these charlatans are still pushing what they now know to be a lie, it is obvious that we can no longer trust any of the MSM where climate is concerned.
Follow Science, New York Times, Corals Are Doing Well Amid Modest Climate Change
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, Sep 2, 2026
Where Did The Heatwave Go, Daily Mirror?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 4, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Do a Poll?
Climate Majority Project: Scientists “Freaking Out”
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Sep 2, 2026
The Climate Majority Project (CMP) is predicated on a shaky premise:
Most people sense that the planet is in deep trouble and want to do something. Welcome to the climate majority.
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Beware Climatists Exploiting Nepal
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Aug 30, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda
How dare YOU – Doom Pixie and your political pals!?!
By Paul Driessen, WUWT, Sep 3, 2026
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Climate Crazies Are Back
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Sep 2, 2026
Roger Hallam (the co-founder of climate activist groups like Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil) has widely promoted this, repeatedly stating for example that “the British insurance sector once did an analysis showing that at 3 degrees Celsius of global warming, 4 billion people could die — and at 2 degrees, 2 billion lives could be lost. But that’s not even the full truth — it’s the minimum.” Hallam has also noted that the trial of some Just Stop Oil activists (which resulted in acquittal) included the court taking “4 billion deaths at 3°C” as an “agreed fact“
Questioning European Green
Net Zero is leaving Britain defenceless
Wars are won on the factory floor. Expensive, unreliable energy is a gift to our adversaries.
By Maurice Cousins, Spiked, Sep 1, 2026
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Reality Check for PA’s Failed Green Energy Mandates
By Gordon Tomb, Real Clear Energy,, Sep 2, 2026
Each month, Pennsylvania’s 6 million electricity customers—all facing rising electricity bills—are charged for services of questionable value without knowing how much they are paying and, for most, that the charge even exists.
Enacted by the legislature in 2004, Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards Act (AEPS) requires that 18% of an electricity seller’s offering consists of energy from sources like wind, solar, biomass, and other technologies deemed worthy of special treatment.
In 2025, this program, now in its third decade, cost customers more than $700 million
Why Net-Zero Policies Risk Human Catastrophe and Carbon Dioxide Doesn’t
By Angela Wheeler, CO2 Coalition, Sep 1, 2026
The Political Games Continue
Candidates in Michigan’s 4th District Give Sharply Different Visions for Energy Affordability
By Ted Bolema, Real Clear Energy, Sep 2, 2026
Link to article: Price hikes tied to wind and solar
Regional electricity costs increase as ‘green’ generation falls short of promises
By David Stevenson, Mackinac Center, Apr 24, 2026
Link to paper: Michigan’s Expensive Net-Zero Gamble
Projecting the Costs of Gov. Whitmer’s MI Healthy Climate Plan
By Jason Hayes, Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling, Mackinac Center, Aug 5, 2025
From Executive Summary:
1. Immediately halt the planned early closures of coal, nuclear and natural gas plants.
The net-zero plans to rush the closure of reliable baseload power plants will leave Michigan residents at high risk of electric service shortfalls….
2. Create a Reliable Portfolio Standard.
Low-cost estimates for building and operating wind and solar present an overly optimistic picture of the costs of this proposed energy transition. Michigan legislators should require the Michigan Public Service Commission and public utilities to use a “reliable portfolio standard” and factor an “all-in cost” of wind and solar in their energy plans….
3. Enact an “Only Pay for What You Get” Act.
Michigan legislators should protect residents and ratepayers by allowing utilities to charge only for the reliable energy they provide. Under the current regulatory system, monopoly utilities can force ratepayers to finance building new generation even if it weakens grid reliability, such as with wind and solar projects.
Litigation Issues
22 state AGs question National Academies’ taxpayer funding amid ‘sham’ of a review
By Tate Rosentreter, The Center Square, Aug 27, 2026 [H/t Jim Buell]
Twenty-two state attorneys general are questioning taxpayer funding of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine amid what the AGs call the group’s “sham”-like “independent review” of its much-debated reference manual’s climate science chapter that was removed due to public concerns of political bias.
Court strikes down New York law that sought to hold fossil fuel companies liable for climate change
By Rachel Frazin The Hill, Sep 1, 2026
In 2024, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed a bill that would hold the companies that have been responsible for the most planet-warming emissions to pay a total of $3 billion a year for 25 years.
Cash-Strapped Blue Cities Stand To Collect Billions From Climate Suits Headed To The Supreme Court
By Simon August, Daily Caller, Sep 3, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Baltimore pursued its own climate suit for nearly eight years before the Maryland Supreme Court affirmed its dismissal in March, becoming the first state high court in the country to throw out such a case entirely.
The legal argument underpinning the lawsuits suffered a setback Monday when a federal judge blocked New York’s $75 billion climate superfund law, finding that the Clean Air Act preempts the state’s attempt to impose liability for emissions generated beyond its borders, the same federalism argument that Suncor and ExxonMobil are making before the Supreme Court.
Foreign lawfare threatens Transatlantic energy security
By Major General Bob Dees, CFACT, Aug 29, 2026
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Green Taxes Are Decimating British Industry – And My New Report Proves It
Green taxes are decimating British industry and driving up energy prices, with nothing to show for it as emissions are merely pushed offshore, says Kathryn Porter, who has a new report setting out the damning details.
By Kathryn Porter, The Daily Sceptic, Sep 2, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Link to press release: New report into the refineries sector concludes we need to abolish the UK ETS
By Kathryn Porter, Watt-Logic, Aug 31, 2026
Link to report: Fuel, Refineries and the UK ETS: What Policymakers Need to Know
By Kathryn Porter, Watt-Logic, Aug 2026
https://watt-logic.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Refinery-report-FINAL.pdf
From abstract: The UK Emissions Trading Scheme was designed to encourage decarbonization, but after decades of energy efficiency investments by the industry there is little further meaningful decarbonization that can be economically delivered in the refineries sector.
This means the ETS is now simply a tax, and one that cannot be passed through to consumers who can buy imported refined products that are exempt from carbon taxes. As there are no plans for the sector to be covered by the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, the issue of carbon leakage will not be solved.
Britain’s green taxes are economic vandalism
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 4, 2026
Not only do Carbon Taxes put up the price of electricity, they are also damaging to industry, as Kathryn Porter explains:
EPA and other Regulators on the March
EPA considers further narrowing Clean Water Act protections
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Sep 4, 2026
Similarly, it proposed to define a protected wetland as one that has standing or flowing surface water that is continuously connected with surface water in another body that is already regulated by the clean water act every day for 11 months of the year.
[SEPP Comment: Dry lands with wet leaves will no longer be navigable waters of the United States?]
Forest Service closing 23 research sites
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Sep 3, 2026
The Forest Service is closing 23 research sites that it described as having few to no staffers as part of a broader reorganization, it announced Thursday.
Energy Issues – General
Carney’s Dagger: How Ottawa’s Trade Brinkmanship Threatens US National Security Strategy
By Tilak Doshi, Tilak’s Substack, Aug 31, 2026
The Anchorage meeting and the Caracas operation together sketched a world in which the Western Hemisphere could become a low-cost, high-security energy platform spanning Alaska to Tierra del Fuego – light oil from the US Permian and other shale oil basins married to heavy Orinoco and Athabasca crude, insulated from Eurasian pipeline politics and Middle Eastern chokepoints. That architecture still requires Canadian flows in the critical intervening years. Carney’s war language, his Democratic entanglements and the temptation to ‘wait Trump out’ do not create new heavy-oil supplies or new all-Canadian pipelines. Rather, they raise the probability that the existing system fractures worsen – between Ottawa and Alberta, and between Ottawa and Washington – at the precise moment when US strategy is attempting to lock in hemispheric advantage in energy supplies.
Climate Regulations Crushed Western Oil Refineries. Now Goldman Sachs Predicts a Diesel Crisis
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Sep 4, 2026
Link to: Goldman Sachs Sees Diesel Refining Margins Soaring to $63 a Barrel
By Irina Slav, Oil Price.com, Aug 31, 2026
From Slav: Global diesel stocks are running low due to refinery damage in the Middle East and Russia. According to Goldman’s commodity team, refinery outages are currently 60% higher than the seasonal average, and the tightness in diesel will extend into next year.
Fuel exports from the Persian Gulf are running at some 40% of pre-war levels, the analysts also said, compared to an estimated 70-80% for crude oil exports.
In Europe, the situation is additionally complicated by a shortage of refineries, as EU climate regulations forced energy companies to shut down refining capacity in anticipation of demand destruction that has yet to materialize.
Energy Issues – Europe
Bombshell Report Claims Miliband’s Clean Power Plan Will Cost £320 Billion
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Aug 31, 2026
Britain can no longer rely on the kindness of strangers for its energy
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Aug 29, 2026
British Gas Boss Warns UK Faces Winter Fuel Shortage Due to Reliance on Imports
By Will Jones, The Daily Sceptic, Aug 27, 2026
Iran shuts down a UK power plant for four days, but that’s no biggie…
By Jo Nova, Her Blog Sep 4, 2026
Australians may not be aware but Iranian hackers managed to knock out a UK power plant in July and it took four days to get it restarted. But there’s no need to worry. The UK power plant was so small and the event so minor that the UK government took weeks to announce it and still won’t tell us the name of the plant.
Energy Issues – Australia
Rushed Bloated Battery Scheme accidentally installed batteries that don’t work in the cold
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 1, 2026
The most popular subsidized home battery shuts off at zero degrees [32 ℉]
At least one poor sod who paid to install a big battery found his electricity bill went up this winter compared to last year. And he won’t be the only one. The most popular battery sold in the rush to take part in the artificial “Cheaper Home Battery” bonanza was a Chinese Fox ESS battery that may have been cheaper if it didn’t have a heater and thus it would stop charging below zero to protect the battery.
The poor sod, Rob Westaway, says he had to pay $250 for a thermal blanket for his battery, which slightly increases the risk of overheating. But oh boy — he has to pay an installer $350 or more to come and install it before winter and then pay him again to come and take it away for spring. Thar’ blows quite a lot of the savings…
No hot dinner for the poor — “Smart Switch” helps people become living Negawatts to rescue the grid
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 2, 2026
Big Government made sure that rich people got help from the poor to pay for their solar panels and batteries, so they can throw parties any night of the week but the poor just get a ‘smart-meter’ to inspire them to give up electricity at the time of day when everyone wants to use it.
Apparently this is what passes for a cost-of-living policy now: rather than designing the electricity system around the lives of Australians, Australians are being encouraged to redesign their lives around the electricity system.
Energy Issues – Elsewhere non-US
The Energy Future: Made in China By Coal
By Frank Clemente , Fred Palmer, Real Clear Energy, Sep 3, 2026
In terms of rates, U.S. household power prices have risen nearly 25% in just four years. In 2025-26 a total of 47 states endured electricity price increases and dozens of additional rate increase requests are still pending. The American people are increasingly victims of an array of poor energy policy decisions at both the Federal and state level — and even utilities themselves have failed to think ahead, closing productive coal plants to get in on the government dole of “renewables” like expensive wind and solar.
Energy Issues — US
Congressional Races Will Impact Energy Affordability and Reliability
By Isaac Orr, WUWT, Aug 29, 2026
America Doesn’t Have an AI Problem. It Has a Competitiveness Problem.
By Taylor Weyenth, WUWT, Aug 31, 2026
Building the Reliable and Resilient Grid That Virginia Needs: Why Transmission Investment Is a Consumer Issue
By Lori Cobos, Real Clear Energy, Sep 3, 2026
Link to: Virginia Is Epicenter of US Electricity Demand Growth
By Dick Young, Young Research, May 5, 2026
From Young: Commercial electricity sales in Virginia increased by nearly 30.0 million megawatt hours (MWh) between 2019 and 2025, much faster growth than in any other state except Texas, a much larger state, according to our Annual Electric Power Industry Report. The growth in sales of electricity in Virginia is largely driven by a concentration of data centers, as well as electric vehicle adoption and building electrification.
RGGI Update and the Auction Clearing Price Question
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, Sep 4, 2026
Protecting Rate Payers or Throwing Them to the Wind?
By Kevin Kilty, WUWT, Aug 31, 2026
The Progress(ives) War on Reliable and Affordable Electricity
By Geoffrey Pohanka, Real Clear Energy, Aug 31, 2026
Governor Moore [MD] does support an increase in in-state energy generation but his primarily focus is on offshore wind, solar energy, and battery storage. The large offshore wind project off the Maryland Atlantic coastline has faced significant opposition from the shore community and is likely not going to be built anytime soon. Solar energy is only given a less than 7% reliability factor by the PJM grid operator. Wind and solar energy are intermittent power sources and are very unreliable without expensive battery backup. The combination of wind and solar power with battery backup is one of the most expensive sources of electricity generation.
Washington’s Control of Energy
Federal Oil and Gas Well Bonding: Undoing Biden
By Timothy Terrell, Master Resource, Sep 1, 2026
The Biden Administration enacted hundreds of punitive actions against the domestic oil and gas industry. The Trump Administration has worked to reverse this overreach. The latest reversal concerns a Bureau of Land Management’s proposal to lower statewide bonding on oil and gas leases from $500,000 to $25,000.
Trump administration moves to fast-track oil drilling approvals in Alaska
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Sep 4, 2026
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
New York’s New Solar Religion Is Absolutely Devastating To Wildlife, Farmland
By Vijay Jayaraj, WUWT, Sep 1, 2026
Drive from Buffalo into Genesee County and you will pass fields that have grown corn and soybeans for generations. Soon, thousands of those acres will be covered by steel and glass. New York state is forcing industrial-scale solar plants onto rural communities that never asked for them, and the people who live there are discovering just how little their voice counts when a governor decides differently.
[SEPP Comment: Will the solar panels work when covered with heavy lake effect snow?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Hydrogen Subsidies Will Drive Up Energy Bills
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Sep 1, 2026
I’m not sure what the relevance is in comparing hydrogen with nuclear, as the former does not create any energy – it merely stores it.
But it is a reminder that all of this hydrogen needs a lot of energy to create it. Yes – ten nuclear plants, plus more to fuel the wasted energy in the electrolysis process.
Where, one is tempted to ask, will all that power come from?
Hydrogen: Energy’s Version of Waiting for Godot
By James Varney, Real Clear Investigations, Sept. 1, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
The National Clean Hydrogen Strategy and Roadmap, released in June 2023, claimed the planned $9.5 billion in spending on various hydrogen projects would result in 100,000 jobs by 2030, while also reducing the economy’s emissions by 10% by 2050.
Now, however, the vision appears dormant in the Trump administration. The national plan may not be a flaming skeleton like the most infamous hydrogen project of the last century, the Hindenburg – a different administration could resurrect it – but its single biggest item, $3 billion to two West Coast “hydrogen hubs,” is halted and in litigation.
Environmental Industry
Lobbying the Biden DoJ on Behalf of “Climate” Plaintiffs
By Staff, climate Litigation Watch, Government Accountability & Oversight, Aug 31, 2026
Other News that May Be of Interest
Colorado River Crisis Brings Major Cuts for California, Nevada, and Arizona
Phoenix is planning to dip into its emergency water bank as a result.
By Leslie Eastman, Legal Insurrection, Aug 28, 2026
Microsoft backing measure protecting consumers over data center water usage costs
By Julia Shapero, The Hill, Sep 3, 2026
The server warehouses used about 66 billion liters of water in 2023, according to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. As of 2015, the U.S. used about 322 billion gallons per day, or more than 400 trillion liters per year, with power plants and irrigation accounting for the greatest usage. [Boldface added]
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Nemo Nemo Nemo
The final update on the tale of fishy science?
By JIT, Climate Scepticism, Aug 30, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Just how many solar panels does it take to stop landslides in Nepal (Especially terrible ones 800 years ago?)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Aug 29, 2026
It’s another sad blow to what once was The World’s Largest Renewable Energy Proposal
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Sep 3, 2026
Carney still Carney
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Sep 2, 2026
Carney also still believes in “decarbonized oil”. Which is not far off dehydrated water as a practical concept. But just because it can’t be done, or shouldn’t, is no reason to suppose he doesn’t think it can and should. As with the government’s EV strategy that might gut Canadian auto manufacturing and turn the market over to China, the fact that politicians’ plans won’t work is no reason to suppose they know they won’t. Quite the contrary.
Throwback Sunday: “We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period!”
By Scootle Royale, WUWT, Aug 30, 2026
ARTICLES
1. ‘Extreme Weather’ Isn’t a Scientific Term
It is a scare tactic, pure politics, yet we pretend otherwise.
By Stephen Einhorn, WSJ, Aug. 30, 2026
TWTW Summary: After stating that extreme weather is not a scientific term the author of “Climate Change: What They Rarely Teach in College.”asserts:
“Weather can be measured. Scientists measure temperature, rainfall, wind speed, storms and droughts. But the word ‘extreme’ isn’t a measurement. It’s an arbitrary personal judgment.
How hot must a day be to be ‘extreme’? Ninety degrees, 100, 105? Must the temperature set a local record? Must it exceed the historical average by a particular amount? Must it last two days, three days or a week?
The same problem exists with rainfall, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and wildfires. Different agencies and researchers employ different standards. Some definitions are based on percentiles. Others use fixed thresholds, historical rarity, physical damage, economic losses or emergency declarations. Some definitions change according to location and season.
These aren’t merely different ways of measuring the same thing. They are different definitions of different things.
A 95-degree day might be classified as extreme in Milwaukee but ordinary in Phoenix. A storm may be statistically unusual but cause little damage. Another storm may be statistically ordinary but cause enormous losses. One definition measures the weather; another measures its consequences.
No definition can reconcile all of these contradictions. The definition must constantly be selected according to the event, location, time period and purpose.
‘Extreme weather’ is never scientific. Science requires terms that can be universally agreed upon in a single definition. The U.S. government has at least four different definitions of ‘extreme weather’: a legal definition, a statistical climatological definition, a hazard-based definition and an operational definition, which in turn is divided into three parts (climatological, forecast and user-specific). Congress and a host of agencies, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Weather Service to the Environmental Protection Agency, must decide which definition to use. Otherwise, the label can be selected or rejected for almost any destructive, unusual or frightening occurrence.
‘Extreme’ sounds dramatic without being specific, without requiring the speaker to identify a measurable standard. And if one definition fails to make the point, another can be substituted. If storm frequency hasn’t increased, economic damage can be cited. If damage is inconclusive, temperature, rainfall or computer projections can take its place.
The claim can never be disproved because its meaning isn’t fixed. If a term can’t be defined, claims made with that term can’t be proved true or false. Therefore, the statement ‘Climate change is causing more extreme weather’ should be rejected as meaningless.”
*************
2. The Data-Center Dividend for Workers
Jobs and wages are booming in counties that welcome AI.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Sept. 3, 2026
TWTW Summary: The editorial begins with:
“President Trump has drawn condemnation for suggesting that communities that block data centers will end up ‘backwards and poor.’ His remark was hyperbolic, but he’s right that areas embracing data centers are enjoying more jobs and faster wage growth.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics last week published industry-level data on state and county employment and wages through March of this year. We compared growth in Loudoun County, Va.—known as Data Center Alley—with other Washington, D.C., suburbs since early 2020 before the pandemic. The disparities are striking.
Loudoun has long been a hub for data-center development because of its easy zoning, relatively low-cost energy and geographical proximity to telecom network exchanges. It’s an exurban county with more land for growth than older suburbs closer to D.C. But it has also embraced growth, unlike those older suburbs. Construction growth has accelerated amid the AI boom, with permitted data-center space increasing by some 150% between 2020 and 2025. Jobs have followed.
Most counties surrounding the capital have experienced little job growth since the pandemic. Loudoun is the exception, with employment surging 17.4% since early 2020. Jobs increased by 1% or less in Fairfax County, Va., and Prince George’s County, Md. Virginia’s Arlington County (-7.3%) and Maryland’s Montgomery County shed jobs (-5.6%).
Construction jobs increased 63% in Loudoun, far more than in Fairfax (6.3%), Arlington (8.2%), Prince George’s (8.3%), and Montgomery (a 12.8% decline). Job growth from data-center construction also appears to be having positive spillover labor effects in other industries.
Employment in leisure and hospitality increased 6.8% in Loudoun while declining in other D.C. suburbs since early 2020. Average weekly wage growth for leisure and hospitality workers in Loudoun over this period (69%) was double that in Fairfax (26%), Arlington (29%), Montgomery (31%) and Prince George’s (27%).
Building and operating data centers may have increased demand for blue-collar workers and bid up wages. Loudoun’s fast-growing workforce may have increased spending at restaurants and tips for hospitality workers. If more construction workers are grabbing drinks after shifts, bartenders make more money.
Loudoun’s prosperity isn’t an isolated example. Meta’s massive data-center project in Richland Parish in Louisiana is helping revive that poor, rural farming community. Since the first quarter of last year, private employment in Richland has grown 41%, and average weekly wages have shot up 61%. Neighboring parishes have experienced little or no growth.”
