The Week That Was: 2024 07-20 (July 20, 2024)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Crash programs fail because they are based on theory that, with nine women pregnant, you can get a baby in a month.” — Wernher von Braun
Number of the Week: 175 Year Global Record – NOAA
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: Discussed below are the following. A paper by Richard Lindzen and William Happer emphasizes how trivial and disastrous Net Zeros are. Howard Hayden continues to point out gaping holes in IPCC science. Meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo reports on the failure of NOAA to adjust for the well-known Urban Heat Island effect. Ron Clutz illustrates some climate fallacies in cartoon fashion. Some Big Tech are admitting their need for reliable electricity, and as Francis Mention demonstrates others are not. The winner of SEPP’s 2024 April Fools Award is announced.
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Disastrous Trivial Pursuit: Professor emeriti Richard Lindzen and William Happer posted a brief paper on the CO2 Coalition website: “Net Zero Policies Will Have a Trivial Effect on Temperature, But Disastrous Effects on People Worldwide.” The paper summaries well the physical impact on global temperatures from eliminating human carbon dioxide emissions and the disastrous impact on humanity and civilization. The key points are stated below (citations omitted here).
“The United States and countries worldwide are vigorously pursuing regulations and subsidies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to Net Zero by 2050 on the assumption, as stated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that the ‘evidence is clear that carbon dioxide (CO2) is the main driver of climate change’ and is ‘responsible for more than 50% of the change.’
Carbon Dioxide is Now a Weak Greenhouse Gas. At today’s CO2 concentration in the atmosphere of approximately 420 parts per million, additional amounts of CO2 have little ability to absorb heat and therefore is now a weak greenhouse gas. At higher concentrations in the future, the ability of future increases to warm the planet will be even smaller. This also means that the common assumption that carbon dioxide is ‘the main driver of climate change’ is scientifically false.
In short, more carbon dioxide cannot cause catastrophic global warming or more extreme weather. Neither can greenhouse gases of methane or nitrous oxide, the levels of which are so small that they are irrelevant to climate.
Referring to additional atmospheric CO2 as ‘carbon pollution’ is complete nonsense. More CO2 does no harm. Quite the contrary, it does two good things for humanity: (1) It provides a beneficial increase in temperature, although slight and much less than natural fluctuations. (2) It creates more food for people worldwide, which we cover further below. Implications.
First. Net Zero Efforts Will Have a Trivial Effect on Temperature. More of the atmospheric greenhouse gas, CO2, will increase temperature, but only slightly. How changes in atmospheric greenhouse gases affect radiation transfer are described by precise physical equations that have never failed to describe observations of the real world. We applied these formulas to the massive efforts in the U. S. and worldwide to reduce CO2 emissions to Net Zero by 2050 in a simple paper that we recommend to those with a technical background. We show that all the efforts to achieve net zero emissions of carbon dioxide, if fully implemented, will have a trivial effect on temperature:
• United States Net Zero by 2050 — only avoids a temperature increase of 0. 015 °F with no positive feedback, and only 0.06 °F with a positive feedback of 4 that is typically built into the models of the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
• Worldwide Net Zero by 2050 — only avoids a temperature increase of 0.13 °F or 0.50 °F with a factor of 4 positive feedback.
These numbers are trivial, but the cost of achieving them would be disastrous to people worldwide.
Second. Net Zero Policies Will Be Disastrous for People Worldwide. In the United States and worldwide, Net Zero regulations and subsidies will have disastrous effects, including elimination of coal-fired and gas-fired power plants that provide the majority of the world’s electricity, elimination of gas-fueled heaters and cooking stoves, elimination of internal combustion engines for transportation and other uses and elimination of energy sources and feedstocks for producing nitrogen fertilizer that feeds nearly half the world and for the manufacture of nearly everything used in daily life. Investments into inefficient ‘green’ energy technologies divert resources from more useful purposes. These and other effects would destroy entire economies.
Third. More Carbon Dioxide Means More Food. Contrary to the demonization of the carbon dioxide as a pollutant, increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide boosts the amount of food available to people worldwide, including in drought-stricken areas. Doubling carbon dioxide to 800 ppm, for example. will increase global food supplies by many tens of percent.
Thus, carbon dioxide emissions should not be reduced, but increased to provide more food worldwide. There would be no risk of catastrophic global warming or extreme weather because carbon dioxide is now a weak greenhouse gas. Reducing carbon dioxide emissions will reduce the amount of food available to people worldwide and produce no benefit to the climate.
Fourth. Fossil Fuels Must Not Be Eliminated. Net Zero requires that fossil fuels be eliminated because they account for about 90% of human-induced CO2 emissions. However, the elimination of fossil fuels will have no effect on the climate since carbon dioxide is now a weak greenhouse gas. The use of fossil fuels should be expanded because they (1) provide more carbon dioxide which makes more food, (2) are used to make nitrogen fertilizer that enables the feeding of about half of the world’s population, and (3) provide reliable and inexpensive energy for people everywhere, especially for the two-thirds of the world’s population without adequate access to electricity.
Conclusion
All Net Zero Actions Worldwide Should Be Stopped Immediately. All Net Zero carbon dioxide regulations and subsidies in the United States and worldwide must be stopped as soon as possible to avoid the disastrous effects on people worldwide, especially in developing countries.”
Very simply, the leaders of the developed nations are scientifically and mathematically illiterate. They don’t understand that the effect of CO2 on temperatures is logarithmic and subject to what economists call the law of diminishing returns – adding or reducing the CO2 concentration in today’s atmosphere has little effect on global temperatures. Conversely, the leaders of China, India, and many other developing countries appear to be aware of this fact. They are paying lip service to the pleas to reduce emissions while greatly expanding their coal-fired power plants.
If the current situation continues, it cannot end well for developed nations. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Missing in Action: AMO physicist Howard Hayden understands radiation transfer, the transport of energy by electromagnetic energy through a gas, which is how the greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere block some of Earth’s infrared radiation from directly escaping to space. This process, first experimentally shown by John Tyndell in the 1860s, keeps the land masses warm enough at night to prevent life killing deep cold. At the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Doctors for Defensive Preparedness Hayden gave a provocative and amusing lecture showing the gaping lapses in logic that are in the reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021). These gaps in logic are continued by the collaborators of the IPCC, including NOAA, NASA-GISS, and other government entities.
The content of some of the key slides in Hayden’s presentation “The World Needs Some Climate Rationality: Where Were/Are the Climate Scientists?” are given below.
“Hayden shows the 600,000-year Plot of CO2 and Temperature given by Al Gore and states: “It takes no expertise to ask:
▪ Where did the CO2 come from, to cause the warming?
▪ Where did the CO2 go, to cause the cooling?
▪ What caused the CO2 concentration changes?
So, where were the ‘climate scientists? Why did they miss the obvious?”
He then shows a graph of the cycle length compared with the amplitude of climate cycle and states:
“It takes a little more expertise to ask: Why do the oscillations in temperature and CO2 match the oscillations in Milankovitch cycles?
So, where were the “climate scientists”? Did they really think astronomy was irrelevant?”
He gives citations from AAAS Science which specifically noted that the temperature changes preceded CO2 changes in the glacial-interglacial transitions.
“So, where were the ‘climate scientists? Did they all fail to read climate papers in Science Magazine? Did they believe in retroactive causality?”
He shows a graph plotting Temperature and CO2 for the past 600 million years which shows that about 450 million years ago Earth was heavily glaciated (Snowball Earth) while CO2 concentrations were about ten times greater than today (well over 4000 parts per million) and asks:
“So, where were the “climate scientists”? Did they really believe that the present LOW CO2 level would cause higher temperatures than HIGH levels in the geologic past?” (Why?)
Hayden states that the UN IPCC asserts that no climate change occurred before humans! Then cites and entry in the Glossary of AR6
“’ the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (a parent organization of the IPCC), in its Article 1, defines climate change as: ‘a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is an addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods’ (Boldface in original)
and you thought I was joking! (Boldface added)
Presenting a plot showing the decline in CO2 from 2,500 parts per million volume (ppmv) about 140 million years ago to about 280 ppmv in present era before 1850 shows that without human emissions CO2 would be at dangerously low levels. Hayden titles the slide:
“Grade school science: No photosynthesis, no life”
He then presents articles asserting:
“We have too much CO2!!
Nature: Catastrophic change looms as Earth nears ‘climate tipping points (Dec 6, 2023)
State of the Planet (Columbia University): How Close Are We to Climate Tipping Points? (Nov 11, 2021)
Where were the climate scientists?”
Hayden discusses a NASA funded CERES Science Team Meeting (May 7-9, 2023) (CERES is the only project worldwide whose prime objective is to produce global climate data records of Earth’s Radiation Budget (ERB) from instruments designed to observe the ERB). He then shows slides:
“Conclusions: CERES says that the planetary heat imbalance is caused by a decrease in albedo, NOT by an increase in greenhouse gas concentration. Where were the climate scientists?
Trivial algebra for equilibrium;
- Heat absorbed = Heat to space
- Surface heat-G (the greenhouse effect) = heat to space
- Heat absorbed = Surface heat – heat to space
I know it’s hard, but these are my equations! … Even though I never wrote them down” (Al Gore)
Other slides states
“IPCC: Doubling of CO2 brings two results.
- ‘Radiative forcing (a.k.a. an increase in the ability of the atmosphere to stop outgoing radiation) of 3.7 watts per square meter.
- Temperature increases of 3°C (likely range 2°C to 5°C.)
Stefan-Boltzmann law tells us (but ‘climate scientists do not) that each increase of 1°C surface temperature causes the surface to emit 5.5 W/m2 more IR (Infrared radiation)
So, how does 3.7 W/m2 increase of the ability to stop IR manage to stop an increase of 16.5 W/m2 of IR?’
Response:
“3.7 = 16.5 for very large values of 3.7
Where were the climate scientists?”
Hayden exposes other false claims by the IPCC and its collaborators. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Urban Heat Island: Meteorologist Joseph D’Aleo points out that the Urban Heat Island effect has been a problem with the US Surface-Air Temperature dataset for a long time. He writes:
In the very first US operational data set in the late 1980s, adjustments were built in to correct for urbanization in the national network in growing cities and 70% of the network stations that were at airports. In the following versions the original adjustment algorithms were removed and a data trace (was substituted) that better mapped the AGW claims of manmade CO2 warming. Fortunately, NOAA with a push from Dr. John Christy, set up a network of carefully sited stations as he used in Alabama where he was the state climatologist. NOAA never discusses this data gem but makes the data available monthly if you can find it on their site.” (Boldface added)
He shows a graph depicting the data from US Climate Reference Network and states:
The US Climate Reference Network record from 2005 shows no obvious warming during this period. The graph above is created monthly by NOAA.
The graph shows the Average Surface Temperature Anomaly for the contiguous United States since 2005. The data comes from the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) which is a properly sited (away from human influences and infrastructure) and state-of-the-art weather network consisting of 114 stations in the USA.
These station locations were chosen to avoid warm biases from Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effects as well as microsite effects as documented in the 2022 report Corrupted Climate Stations: The Official U.S. Surface Temperature Record Remains Fatally Flawed. Unfortunately, NOAA never reports this data in their monthly or yearly “state of the climate report.” And mainstream media either is entirely unaware of the existence of this data set or has chosen not to report on this U.S. temperature record.
In another post D’Aleo writes:
“Thus, Climate Models are invalid for at least two reasons: first, they all assume the existence of a non-existent tropical hotspot; and second, they are all tuned to best explain the now-shown-to-be totally fabricated Global Average Surface Temperature data. (Boldface, italics in original)
The USCRN dataset (rural stations only) does not start until January 2005. Thus, all previous data is influenced by the Urban Heat Island effect, and unreliable. D’Aleo posts a report that demonstrates the manipulation of the US dataset making it unreliable.
Separately, the CO2 Coalition posted a video on the Urban Heat Island effect. Also, UK’s Chris Morrison of the Daily Sceptic writes:
Over eight in 10 of the 113 temperature measuring stations opened in the last 30 years by the U.K. Met Office have been deliberately or carelessly sited in junk Class 4 and 5 locations where unnatural heating errors of 2°C and 5°C respectively are possible. This shock revelation, obtained by a recent Freedom of Information request, must cast serious doubt on the ability of the Met Office to provide a true measurement of the U.K. air temperature, a statistic that is the bedrock of support for Net Zero. Over time, increasing urban encroachment has corrupted almost the entire network of 384 stations with 77.9% of the stations rated Class 4 and 5, but it beggars’ belief that new stations are being sited in such locations.
These are examples of the junk data that go into claims by the UN IPCC and others that humans are causing unprecedented and dangerous global warming. None of the government entities responsible exhibit scientific integrity which requires utter honesty. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy, Lowering Standards and Measurement Issues – Surface.
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Climate Fallacies: Ron Clutz posted a set of cartoons exposing logical fallacies, then adapted them to expose logical fallacies in “Climate Science.” See link under Seeking a Common Ground.
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Big Tech Bragging Rights: It is becoming apparent to a few commentators that Big Tech will have difficulty reaching their claims of going Net Zero. Francis Menton continues to look at reports from Big Tech. He writes:
‘… I had written a post last week titled ‘Big Tech On The Path To Net Zero.’ That post looked at the most recently issued ‘sustainability’ reports from Google, Microsoft and Meta, and noted that all three admit to going rapidly in the opposite direction from ‘net zero.’ As their businesses grow in the direction of power-hungry data centers and AI, they inevitably require large incremental amounts of always-available electricity — the kind of electricity that wind and sun cannot provide. Lacking viable alternatives to fossil fuels, their ‘emissions’ rise.
But you might ask, how about Amazon and Apple? They too put out annual ‘sustainability’ reports. Here is the ‘2023 Amazon Sustainability Report’ (that appears to have just been issued); and here is the ‘Apple Environmental Report covering fiscal year 2023,’ that came out in April. Unlike the similar Reports issued by Google, Microsoft and Meta, … the Amazon and Apple Reports do not admit to lack of progress (let alone negative progress) on the ‘net zero’ goal. Are they being honest?
The answer is that these Reports from Amazon and Apple are substantially less honest than the efforts of Google, Microsoft and Meta. Amazon’s Report follows the general pattern of the Google, Facebook and Meta Reports, with happy talk in the introduction and summaries and then some potentially real information buried deep in the interior. Apple’s Report is the worst of the lot and can best be described as an effort at deception and misdirection.’ (Boldface added)
TWTW adds the Apple report was signed by Apple’s VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiative Lisa Jackson who was administrator of the EPA when it announced greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, are a pollutant without physical evidence of human harm caused by CO2. She earned the SEPP’s April Fools Award, a lump of coal named after her. See link under Questioning the Orthodoxy.
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April Fools Award: This year DDP replaced the Jackson, a small lump of coal on a stand, with the new Jackson, a huge lump of coal, unadorned. SEPP announced the award at the DDP Annual Meeting. The deserving winner of a lump of coal is the US National Science Teaching Association. Last year, the Association banned the CO2 Coalition from its meeting which the Coalition members paid for and were approved because the CO2 Coalition exhibit pointed out that CO2 is essential for photosynthesis which is the food source of all complex life on Earth.
Fifty years of photos from Landsat program (started in 1972) show Earth is greening from enhanced carbon dioxide. Life is flourishing. Apparently, the National Science Teaching Association thinks such knowledge of Life is obscene for young minds. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ8OEQDgl04
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Number of the Week: 175 Year Global Record – NOAA. NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) announced:
“The January–June global surface temperature ranked warmest in the 175-year record at 1.29°C (2.32°F) above the 1901-2000 average of 13.5°C (56.2°F). According to NCEI’s statistical analysis, there is a 59% chance that 2024 will rank as the warmest year on record and a 100% chance that it will rank in the top five.”
As discussed above, NOAA’s temperature record is less than rigorous, even for the United States. How globally extensive were the thermometers in 1850, 175 years ago? We did not have comprehensive measurements until satellite measurements of temperature trends began in 1979. On what basis can NOAA calculate global temperatures before then? Even today, there is no recognized standard for locations of measuring stations or recording devices. See link under Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science.
Censorship
Did the European Union Just Try to Illegally Censor US Free Speech?
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 13, 2024
French government fines TV news for allowing a skeptic to speak without being challenged
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 13, 2024
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
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
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
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
Challenging the Orthodoxy
Net Zero Policies Will Have a Trivial Effect on Temperature, But Disastrous Effects on People Worldwide
By Richard Lindzen and William Happer, CO2 Coalition, July 15, 2024
Link to full paper: Net Zero Policies Will Have a Trivial Effect on Temperature, But Disastrous Effects on People Worldwide
By Richard Lindzen and William Happer, CO2 Coalition, July 14, 2024
The World Needs Some Climate Rationality
Where Were/Are the Climate Scientists?
By Howard Hayden, 42nd Annual Meeting, Doctors for Disaster Preparedness, July 7, 2024
http://www.sepp.org/science_papers/DDP%202024.pdf
Causality Analysis Finds Temperature Changes Have Determined CO2 Changes Since The Phanerozoic
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 15, 2024
Link to paper: Stochastic assessment of temperature–CO2 causal relationship in climate from the Phanerozoic through modern times
By Demetris Koutsoyiannis, Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, July 10, 2024
https://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2024287
From the article by Richard: A comprehensive new study details a stochastic assessment determination of the sequencing of CO2 variations versus temperature variations since the 1950s, over the last 2,000 years (the Common Era), and throughout the last 541 million years.
The author has had a series of peer-reviewed scientific papers published supporting this same T→CO2 conclusion (Koutsoyiannis et al., 2022, Koutsoyiannis et al., 2020, Koutsoyiannis et al., 2023, Koutsoyiannis, 2024, Koutsoyiannis, 2024) in just the last few years.
(SEPP Comment: A strong correlation is not proof of causation, however a weak or no correlation is a demonstration that the proposed causation is false.)
Short Summary of Observations Until June 2024
By Ole Humlum, Climate4you, Accessed July 20, 2024
https://www.climate4you.com
An unusually warm year or two cannot be blamed on climate change
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, July 17, 2024
Anything different from that small 0.02 deg. C per year warming is due to natural climate variability.
US surface temperature trend when corrected for UHI
By Joseph D’Aleo, ICECAP, July 14, 2024
http://icecap.us/index.php/go/joes-blog/us_tempertaure_when_corrected_for_uhi1/
Link to: Time Series: Compare Contiguous U.S. temperature anomalies of the ClimDiv and USCRN Datasets for the Contiguous U.S.
By Staff, NOAA, National Temperature Index, July 2024
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/national-temperature-index/time-series/anom-tavg/1/0
Link to: Major surface data issues argue the global warming hypothesis can’t be validated
By Joseph D’Aleo, CCM, ICECAP, Accessed July 19, 2024
Urban Heat Island
By Staff, CO2 Coalition, July 15, 2024
Video
Cooling The Niño
By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, July 14, 2024
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Year-to-date Temperature: January–June 2024
By Staff, NOAA, National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), Cooperative Institute for Satellite Earth System Studies (CISESS) National Centers for Environmental Prediction, NCAR, July 8, 2024
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/202406#:~:text=The%20January%E2%80%93June%20global%20surface,rank%20in%20the%20top%20five.
Scientists Advocate Major Study on Geoengineering for Glaciers
By Clarence Oxford, Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Scientists_Advocate_Major_Study_on_Geoengineering_for_Glaciers_999.html
Link to report: Glacial Climate Intervention: A Research Vision
Glaciological research should be expanded to include the science of ice-sheet preservation to determine if engineered interventions applied to critical icesheet regions may reduce sea-level rise.
By Douglas MacAyeal, et al, Sponsored by the Climate Systems Engineering Initiative at the University of Chicago (CSEi), 2024
From the Executive Summary: We cannot stop sea-level rise, but we may be able to slow it while humanity does the necessary shift away from carbon-based energy systems…. Significant progress has been made on these scientifically (and logistically) challenging questions. Most notably, research has identified the physical instability processes that can accelerate ice-sheet mass loss leading to sea-level rise, even under steady or improving climate, as well as “hot spots” where instability may be happening now, e.g., the Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea sector of Antarctica.
(SEPP Comment: In its “Principles for evidence-based debate” it does not include that all physical evidence must be considered. It uses UN IPCC estimates for sea level rise, not actual long-term measurements from geologically stable tidal gages which show modest increases.)
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Big Tech On The Path To Net Zero: The Story With Amazon And Apple
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 17, 2024
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2024-7-17-big-tech-on-the-path-to-net-zero-the-story-with-amazon-and-apple
Summer Heat And Burn Area
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 18, 2024
US burn acreage does not correlate with atmospheric CO2, but it does correlate with the percent of hot days in the summer.
(SEPP Comment: For long-term trends, using data of percent of days over 90F (32C) since 1900.)
The climate science #socialfeedback loop Part III: Show me the hype and I’ll find you the science
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
CDN readers will not be surprised by any of his assessments. As we have long observed, it is an iron rule of climate science that all impacts of climate change are bad, and all bad things are caused by climate change.
Climate Skeptics and Fiction
By John M. Cape, WUWT, July 14, 2024
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
Percent dry weight (biomass) increases for black-eyed peas following 300 and 600 ppm increases in the air’s CO2 concentration
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
From the CO2Science Archive:
Problems in the Orthodoxy
China Still Lagging Way Behind The UK On Renewable Energy
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 13, 2024
Homewood: There is no evidence whatsoever that China has any intention of significantly cutting back on fossil fuels. Nor that they will ever be able to run a grid relaint mainly on renewables, no matter how much the Guardian may wish it.
(SEPP Comment: Homewood includes a great chart from Our World In Data on Electricity production by source, China.)
Microsoft reportedly fires DEI team — becoming latest company to ditch ‘woke’ policy
By Ariel Zilber, New York Post, July 17, 2024
https://nypost.com/2024/07/17/business/microsoft-fires-dei-team-becoming-latest-company-to-ditch-woke-policy-report
Seeking a Common Ground
Climate science struggles to explain hot world
By David Whitehouse, Net Zero Watch, July 18, 2024
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/climate-science-struggles-to-explain-hot-world
What is clear right now is that nature has shown us we don’t understand what is going to our climate as well as we thought we did. Why is this a surprise?
Intro to Climate Fallacies
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, July 18, 2024
Science, Policy, and Evidence
Let’s Kick Politics Out of Energy Policymaking
By Jeffrey Kupfer, Real Clear Energy, July 17, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/17/lets_kick_politics_out_of_energy_policymaking_1045288.html
The dangerous delusion of Biden and World Leaders of transition to ‘just electricity’
By Ronald Stein and Tom DeWeese, America Out Loud, July 15, 2024
The dangerous delusion of Biden and World Leaders of transition to ‘just electricity’ – America Out Loud News
Models v. Observations
The #CRE challenge Part 6: Three places to watch
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
Model Issues
It’s Later Than You Think
Climate Fueled Extreme Weather, Part 3
By Roger Pielke Jr., The Honest Broker, July 15, 2024
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/its-later-than-you-think?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=146339579&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Link to a study of models and adding another model: Modeled Impact of Anthropogenic Warming on the Frequency of Intense Atlantic Hurricanes
By Morris Bender, et al., AAAS Science, Jan 22, 2010
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1180568
Measurement Issues — Surface
New map depicts the world’s hidden reserves of groundwater in unprecedented detail
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, July 17, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4777364-groundwater-sources-ecosystems-first-comprehensive-map
(SEPP Comment: The link in the article goes to a Global Groundwater Dependent Ecosystems map by The Nature Conservancy. Contrary to The Hill article, TWTW was unable to find any such paper in the Journal Nature.)
NOAA’s June 2024 Global Time Series Average Temperature Anomaly Declining Trends Eviscerates Alarmists Flawed “Climate Emergency” Claims.
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, July 15, 2024
Urban Heat Island
By Staff, CO2 Coalition, July 15, 2024
Video
Measurement Issues – Energy Flow
Study Reveals Gulf Stream’s Potential Vulnerability to Climate Change
By Sophie Jenkins, London, UK (SPX) Jul 15, 2024
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Study_Reveals_Gulf_Streams_Potential_Vulnerability_to_Climate_Change_999.html
Link to paper: Deeper and stronger North Atlantic Gyre during the Last Glacial Maximum
By Jack H. Wharton, et al. Nature, July 10, 2024
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07655-y
From Abstract: Our findings arise from benthic foraminiferal δ18O profiles from sediment cores in two depth transects at Cape Hatteras (36–39° N) and Blake Outer Ridge (29–34° N) in the Northwest Atlantic.
From the article: During the last ice age, stronger winds led to a more robust and deeper Gulf Stream, even though the overall global temperature was much colder.
(SEPP Comment: It may have been a stronger Gulf Stream that contributed to the end of the last glaciation.)
Changing Weather
“I do not want to hear about the 1930s”
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 16, 2024
(SEPP Comment: Do not disturb my ignorance with facts?)
Something New In North Dakota
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 16, 2024
North Dakota holds the US temperature record outside of the desert southwest. It was 121F at Steele, ND on July 6, 1936. But DNYUZ says hot weather there is something new.
The Upcoming Cooling over the Northwest
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 19, 2024
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-upcoming-cooling-over-northwest.html
But not just any maps. Let me show you the average of many forecasts…an ensemble of predictions.
Why? Because an average of a diverse collection of forecasts generally has more skill than any individual forecast. These maps show the upper-level heights (solid lines) at 500 hPa pressure, about half of sea-level pressure. (Boldface in original)
(SEPP Comment: Weather forecasters recognize the importance of testing the skill of an ensemble of predictions by comparing predictions with outcomes. Climate modelers do not test the skill of their ensemble of predictions against physical evidence, such as skill in predicting past outcomes (hindcasting). When tested, the global climate models fail.)
Germany’s Summer Falls Way Short Of Predicted Hellish Temps. North, Baltic Seas Cool
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 16, 2024
Barely Beryl
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
Oh my. A bad hurricane season before the Industrial Revolution. Are those allowed?
Delhi’s Heatwave Not Unusual At All
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 19, 2024
Fog and Smoke: An Intimate Relationship in the Northwest
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 15, 2024
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2024-07-17T08:32:00-07:00&max-results=2
Changing Seas
The battle of climate hypotheses, Round 4: The Green-house Gas Forcer vs. The Winter Gatekeeper
AMOC’s “Cold Blob” Has Gone Missing
By Gabriel Oxenstierna, WUWT, July 18, 2024
AMOC is known as a thermohaline circulation, where the word -haline means salt. AMOC is therefore not only about the transport of heat, but also about the transport of salt. The key to the circulation is the density of the water: the colder and saltier the water, the heavier it is. The saltiness comes from the AMOC passing through the tropics where evaporation is high, thus increasing the salinity in the Gulf Stream.
Knowing Nature & Ourselves (Part 2.)
By Jennifer, Marohasy, Her Blog, July 19, 2024
I went on to explain that water temperatures may remain below the regional threshold for bleaching, but in places where wave action is insignificant 40 to 75 percent of the coral heads may bleach and go on to die. This was widely reported following the 2006 bleaching – 18.6 years ago, the last summer of maximum lunar declination. Wave-washed sites, they are less likely to suffer damage, I explained.
The Coral Endures
By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, July 13, 2024
Nothing to sea here either
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
As one sarcastic viewer asked, “So apparently ships have to go uphill as they approach cities where the sea is rising so much more rapidly than in other places?”
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Arctic Sea Ice ‘Choke Points’ Reducing NW Passage Shipping Season Length By 5-14 Weeks Since 2007
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 18, 2024
Link to paper: Sea ice choke points reduce the length of the shipping season in the Northwest Passage
By Alison J. Cook, et al., Nature, Communications Earth & Environment, July 11, 2024
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01477-6
(SEPP Comment: Is sea ice getting in the way of the Northwest Passage a sign of global warming?)
W. Hudson Bay sea ice not going away anytime soon as polar bears sit tight offshore
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, July 18, 2024
Lowering Standards
A THB Follow Up: Climate Research Fails a Science Integrity Test
Something is rotten in academic publishing
By Rober Pielke, Jr. The Honest Broker, July 18, 2024
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/a-thb-follow-up-climate-research
The ridiculous ChatGPT image above (not shown here) appeared in a recent peer-reviewed paper and was quickly sussed out and widely mocked. Within days, the paper was retracted. How could it not be retracted? Fake information should not appear in a peer-reviewed journal.
Well, unless that journal is the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
EIA forecasts rising electricity demand, natural gas prices
By SJ Munoz, Land Line, July 11, 2024
Link to Short-Term Energy Outlook
By Staff, EIA, July 9, 0224
https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo
From article: “The increase in electricity demand paired with a decrease in natural gas generation creates a gap between the power we need, and the power being produced,” EIA Administrator Joe DeCarolis said. “Utilities will look for a more economical alternative as natural gas prices go up. Since so much renewable capacity has been coming online the last couple of years, we expect renewables—especially solar—to fill most of the gap in the power mix. We expect utilities will also look to coal as a less expensive fuel source the rest of the year.”
(SEPP Comment: What will happen on a cold, still night?)
Science Shock: Met Office Continues to Site New Temperature Stations in Junk Locations
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, July 18, 2024 (H/t Paul Homewood)
Justin Rowlatt Complaint
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 19, 2024
Homewood: I have now upped the complaint to the next stage, with this reply:
“Your reply does not address my complaint and is frankly laughable.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
No BBC, Wind & Solar Are Not The Cheapest!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 19, 2024
(Environmental Economist (?)) Shrivastav compounds her lie by claiming that “Building transmission and battery storage is all part of bringing the cheapest electricity to households”. The whole idea that you can spend £100 billion on upgrading the grid and still save money for households is so absurd as to question her motives for such lies. (Also note she was asked how much such upgrading would cost but refused to answer.)
AEP (energy analyst) Does Not Understand Energy Markets
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 13, 2024
Does anybody seriously expect them (non-OECD countries (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development)) to give up fossil fuels, particularly when AEP’s supposed glut will make them cheaper than ever?
Wrong, Bloomberg, Texas “Deniers” Are Right, Climate Change Had Nothing to Do with Hurricane Beryl
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, July 15, 2024
Open Letter To The Daily Telegraph
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 19, 2024
Just over two years ago, I had some correspondence with Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, suggesting that the Telegraph publish a full-page debate on the future of fossil fuels. I would write the pro case and he the anti.
At first, he was enthusiastic about the idea, but quickly backtracked. As a consequence, I published this open letter here.
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Pleasing your enemies
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
Link to: Bruce Pardy: Corporate Canada betrayed capitalism. Now it has been betrayed
Canadian business leaders eagerly jumped on the climate and ESG bandwagons. Bill C-59 has pushed them off
By Bruce Pardy, National Post, Canada, July 5, 2024
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/corporate-canada-betrayed-capitalism-now-it-has-been-betrayed
From time to time we have bewailed those corporate leaders, especially in the energy industry, who have tried to appease climate radicals by saying at every opportunity that they really truly believe there’s a crisis caused by their horrible planet-destroying product. They apparently believed that if they pretended to agree that oil and gas should be eliminated, the government would pretend to eliminate it. But now they’ve found out that the people who claim to want their companies dead actually want them dead, preferably soon and silently.
But as governments will, ours seeks to punish “misinformation” from others even while spewing it. Indeed, it will fine and even bankrupt companies for saying precisely the same stuff it says. They can ding you for up to 3% of your annual worldwide gross revenue.
(SEPP Comment: A Canadian law that suppresses Free Speech in the name of climate by assuming that accusation is evidence is what the UN Secretary General desires. Corporations are required to prove claims of environmental benefits, but the UN IPCC and its collaborators have not proven claims of environmental harm from increasing CO2.)
Permian Basin drilling driving ozone pollution in New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns: Study
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, July 16, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4774576-ozone-pollution-carlsbad-caverns
Link to paper: Summertime Ozone Production at Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico: Influence of Oil and Natural Gas Development
By Andrey Marsavin, et al. JGR Atmospheres, July 16, 2024
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2024JD040877
From the Plain Language Summary: Our study, conducted using measurements collected in the park during summer 2019 and an air quality model, investigates how emissions from O&G activities affect ozone production.
(SEPP Comment: What were the measurements before and after the summer of 2019?)
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Sea Level Rise Is Causing Longer Days?
By David Middleton, WUWT, July 17, 2024
Link to paper: The increasingly dominant role of climate change on length of day variations
By Mostafa Kiani Shahvandi, PNAS, July15, 2024
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2406930121
Middleton: The Length Of Day has been generally increasing over geologic time (Mitchell & Kirscher, 2023). As the Earth has pushed the Moon farther away, the Earth’s rotation has slowed down.
Help Wanted: Storyline Developer
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, July 19, 2024
In the spirit of co-operation, I’d like to help publicize the effort of Ed “Show Your Stripes” Hawkins, a climate crisis hawk at University of Reading in his search for “a motivated researcher to develop storylines of extreme weather events, including their attribution.”
Go Vegan to stop blackouts: Climate Change causes Electricity Grid failure now
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 17, 2024
So solar panels don’t work as well in hot weather when everyone needs their air conditioners on. I mean, who could have seen that coming, apart from a million material engineers?
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Australia’s Incoming Climate Change Authority Chair Lashes Out at “Deniers”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 17, 2024
Former Obama Interior Secretary: “really afraid for the future of our planet” if President Trump Wins
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 16, 2024
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
An Example of What “Climate Alarmist Propaganda” Looks Like
By Larry Hamlin, WUWT, July 19, 2024
And yet the news media wonder why their claims have such low credibility marks from the public with AXIOS reporting a record low 39% of the public indicating “they don’t trust the media at all.”
(Energy Commentator) AEP Still Wrong About BP
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 13, 2024
Homewood: If BP and other oil businesses walked away from new investment, as AEP wishes, oil and gas output in a few years’ time would be severely impacted, as older fields wound down. Prices would rocket and the global economy would crash.
And any oil companies still in business will make a fortune.
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
New York City Local Law 97 – Don’t Do It
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, July 13, 2024
Link to report: Don’t Do It!
Report to New York Co-op and Condo Boards and Trade Associations On LL97 Conversion To Electric Heat
By Francis Menton, Roger Caiazza, and Richard Ellenbogen, July 8, 2024
The fines that are slated to be imposed on buildings failing to convert by 2030, although substantial, are small compared to the combined exposures of conversion costs plus potential liabilities. Moreover, when it becomes apparent that the grid cannot handle the mandated demands, the laws imposing impossible and irreconcilable mandates must inevitably be modified.
(SEPP Comment: Mandating the unknown.)
Questioning European Green
German CO2 reduction in global perspective
By Fritz Vahrenholt, Climate Gate.NL, Translated from German, accessed July 16, 2024
National Grid: Britain will remain dependent on gas for years
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 16, 2024
Previous projections were never more than fantasy. Finally, the National Grid have woken up to reality.
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Greens mistake Fake Chinese Economic Statistics for a Climate Triumph
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 15, 2024
Green Jobs
Electric Car Doldrums…VW Announces 1000 Layoffs At East German Plant
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 13, 2024
Headed For Obsolescence’: Chinese Automakers Could Be Poised To Wipe Out American Car Titans
By Nick Pope, Daily Caller, July 16, 2024
https://dailycaller.com/2024/07/15/chinese-electric-vehicles-american-manufacturers
Litigation Issues
Two Important Supreme Court Cases Strongly Support the CO2 Coalition’s Supreme Court Strategy
By Gregory R. Wrightstone, CO2 Coalition, July 14, 2024
Full paper: Two Important Supreme Court Cases Strongly Support the CO2 Coalition’s Supreme Court Strategy
By Gregory R. Wrightstone, CO2 Coalition, July 14, 2024
(SEPP Comment: A solid report demonstrating the importance of abandoning the Chevron Deference.)
Life After the Death of Chevron, a Cautionary Tale
By Barbara Pfeffer Billauer, ACSH,, July 11, 2024
https://www.acsh.org/news/2024/07/11/life-after-death-chevron-cautionary-tale-48854
Even Judge Roberts acknowledges the difference between factual findings (upon which most agency determinations arise) and legal findings, with reasonable factual findings generally inviting deference:
The moral of the Loper Bright/Chevron story:
Fageddabout the courts – teach your lawyers (who eventually become judges) science and school your health lawyers in public health and its history.
(SEPP Comment: Where are the factual findings, physical evidence, supporting the EPA’s endangerment finding?)
Appeals court unanimously sides with Biden administration on updated power plant rules
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 17, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4782160-biden-power-plant-epa
The three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with the EPA on the standards, required under the Clean Air Act, which regulate emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.
(SEPP Comment: Where’s the physical evidence of harm from CO2?)
Another Fake Climate Case Bites the Dust
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, July 17, 2024
(SEPP Comment: The litigation by the city of Baltimore represented by the legal group common to many such litigation efforts.)
Did The Guardian Just Blow Up the Exxon Knew Narrative?
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 19, 2024
Many of the oil company executives who ignored global warming alarmism in the 70s and 80s would have been well aware of predictive failures like Ehrlich’s book (The Population Bomb) and would also have been aware of scientists like Stephen Schneider, who in just a few short years jumped ship from demanding fossil fuel be shut down to prevent the next ice age, to demanding fossil fuel be shut down to prevent the world from overheating.
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Heatwaves and High Bills: The Urgent Need for a Carbon Tax in 2024
By Mary Anna Mancuso, Real Clear Energy, July 15, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/15/heatwaves_and_high_bills_the_urgent_need_for_a_carbon_tax_in_2024_1044236.html
(SEPP Comment; Doubt that this political strategist and a spokesperson for “RepublicEn.org, a growing group of conservatives who care about climate change,” knows of a way to enforce the carbon tax on China, the world’s largest emitter of CO2 by far.)
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
The Government-Imposed Cost of Electricity in Texas
By Bill Peacock, Master Resource, July 20, 2024
(SEPP Comment: The subsidy race in Texas: If you subsidize unreliable electricity generation, eventually the public will demand reliable generation, which must be subsidized?)
The great green bait and switch
By Andrew Montford, Net Zero Watch, July 18, 2024
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/heat-pump-bait-and-switch
Subsidy games.
Energy Issues – Non-US
A Big Wreck Is About To Happen At The Intersection Of Artificial Intelligence Boulevard And Net Zero Avenue
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 14, 2024
Homewood: AI may be the catalyst, but this article highlights a much wider issue.
As societies grow and develop, they need ever increasing amounts of energy.
Mechanization and automation have been the driver of increasing human wealth in the last couple of hundred years, and there is still plenty of potential to improve our lives further still as human effort is replaced by machines and computers. But they will need energy that renewables cannot begin to provide.
(SEPP Comment: Reliable energy is crucial.)
Future Energy Scenarios 2024
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 15, 2024
Link to report: Future Energy Scenarios (FES)
By Staff, The National Gird (UK), July 15, 2024
https://www.nationalgrideso.com/future-energy/future-energy-scenarios-fes
From Report: Future Energy Scenarios (FES) 2024: ESO Pathways to Net Zero represent different, credible ways to decarbonise our energy system as we strive towards the 2050 target.
From Homewood: Excluding I/Cs, (International Connections) we have 40GW of firm capacity. In winter that 48GW of solar power might give us about 1GW averaged over 24 hours, which of course assumes that there is sufficient battery storage to spread the load throughout the night.
There will be times every year when wind power drops to less than 5% of capacity. Even 5% would only provide 5GW, and on occasions this could drop much lower.
It is immediately apparent that we will have nothing like the 100GW needed. Storage is projected at 112 GWh, which might help to meet peak demand for an hour or two, but useless for longer power shortages. Remember too that batteries need to be recharged – if the wind is not blowing, there will be no electricity available to enable that.
Price Swings Mean Coal May Replace Natural Gas in European Power Mix This Winter
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, July 12, 2024
https://www.powermag.com/price-swings-mean-coal-may-replace-natural-gas-in-european-power-mix-this-winter/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
(SEPP Comment: Washington freezing new export terminals does not help.)
Energy Issues – Australia
Chickens for Col. Sanders
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
Speaking of businesses being surprised that the crocodile ate them, in Australia energy producers are shocked, shocked to find that natural gas is going to be phased out in an effort to get rid of carbon-based fuels. What did they expect? Even if it was just that they’d be the last to get killed, objects in the calendar are closer than they appear and if we’re all going to reach “Net Zero” by 2050, well, it’s barely 25 years away now so pass the shroud. Or the cooking pot.
Energy Issues — US
Cracks in the NY Climate Act Façade
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, July 18, 2024
Energy density and human DNA will determine energy future
By Vijay Jayaraj, Business of Politics Review, July 16, 2024
https://www.bizpacreview.com/2024/07/16/energy-density-and-human-dna-will-determine-energy-future-1472718
Energy and power density don’t tell the whole story. Relative abundance and ease of extraction and processing are important factors that make fossil fuels preferable to other sources.
Another is the capacity factor of a power plant, or the ratio of its actual output to its potential output if it were to operate continuously at full nameplate capacity. Coal-fired plants approach 50% capacity factor, and natural gas combined-cycle plants exceed 55%. Nuclear plants achieve an astounding 93% average capacity factor.
Energy Truths Will Set Us Free
By Terrence Keeley, Real Clear Energy, July 17, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/17/energy_truths_will_set_us_free_1045049.html
(SEPP Comment: Accepts false claims by the UN IPCC that CO2 from fossil fuels is significantly increasing global temperatures.)
Washington’s Control of Energy
Biden administration seeks feedback on potential new Arctic drilling protections
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 12, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4769383-biden-administration-arctic-drilling-protections-feedback-alaska
Oil Spills, Gas Leaks, Etc., & Consequences
Vineyard Wind: Catastrophic Failure (‘sharp fiberglass shards’ close Nantucket beaches)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 18, 2024
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Vogtle 5? Big Nuclear Looks to Big Government
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, July 15, 2024
(SEPP Comment: Despite the cost overruns, the article does not address the real question: Was it a solid 40-to-80-year investment?)
Why Nuclear is Cheaper than Wind and Solar
By Isaac Orr and Mitch Rolling. Cornwall Alliance, July 17, 2024
When one does consider system costs and long-term value, nuclear plants are by far the most affordable carbon-free energy source that gives energy consumers the most bang for their buck. If the ongoing “energy transition” were serious, it would allow for more realistic timelines that stretch many decades into the future and the replacement of retiring coal plants more naturally with nuclear plants – instead of the premature retirements before suitable replacement capacity can even come online, as we have seen thus far.
(SEPP Comment: The difference between nameplate capacity and operational capacity and long duration of operating life (80 years v. 20 years) are beyond the thinking skills of Washington.)
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Biden administration moves to bolster solar power in Puerto Rico
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 18, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4780659-biden-administration-moves-to-bolster-solar-power-in-puerto-rico
The Biden administration made a pair of announcements Thursday that aim to bolster solar energy in Puerto Rico — which frequently deals with power outages.
(SEPP Comment: To enjoy power outages every night?)
Fears for food security as Miliband pushes through Britain’s biggest solar farm
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 14, 2024
The Offshore Wind Energy Scandal Is Even Worse Than You Think
These 11 charts show how America’s biggest NGOs are colluding with foreign corporations that want to industrialize our oceans with thousands of turbines that will hurt whales and ratepayers
By Robert Bryce, His Blog, July 15, 2024
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/offshore-wind-scandal-is-worse-than-you-think?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=630873&post_id=146613250&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
“The states on the East Coast that are building offshore wind have some of the highest electricity prices in the country. Those rates will go higher due to offshore wind. (California is also planning to spend billions on offshore wind …”
But the hard reality is that America’s offshore wind sector is a subsidy-dependent industry that is dominated by foreign companies who are in bed with some of America’s biggest climate NGOs, including the NRDC (gross receipts: $555 million) and Sierra Club (Gross receipts: $184 million).
The Titanic scale of floating wind turbines quantified
By David Wojick, CFACT, July 17, 2024
https://www.cfact.org/2024/07/17/the-titanic-scale-of-floating-wind-turbines-quantified
Access to a different article: The Largest And Most Powerful Wind Turbine Ever Built Is Now Operational
By Davie Niel, Science Alert, July 24, 2024
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-largest-and-most-powerful-wind-turbine-ever-built-is-now-operational
From different article: Here are some more stats: The central tower stands some 152 meters (499 feet) tall, and the generator weighs 349 metric tons (385 US tons). It represents a phenomenal piece of engineering, and it should produce around 66 gigawatt-hours of energy per year. That’s enough to supply approximately 36,000 homes, according to China Three Gorges Corporation, which helped construct and install the turbine.
(SEPP Comment: Even large ships such as aircraft carriers try to avoid the center of a storm. They pitch, move up and down, when hit by high waves. It would be interesting to see how tall wind turbines with heavy nacelles at the top of a tall tower do in a heavy storm which the turbines cannot avoid.)
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
How the West’s big bet on hydrogen fell apart
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 18, 2024
Homewood: It is a mystery why politicians have allowed themselves to be fooled into thinking that hydrogen is a “superfuel”. The whole idea is ridiculous.
On all levels, it is hopelessly energy inefficient, massively expensive, and extremely difficult to store and transport.
Above all it is simply illogical to take one form of energy and then waste some of that energy turning it into another form at huge cost.
Energy experts have known about this all along.
The Hydrogen Titanic just sank in Australia because renewable electricity costs too much
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 19, 2024
The irony! The only generator that can make affordable hydrogen is brown coal
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Big Batteries? Big Problems!
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, July 14, 2024
Historic Gemini Solar-Plus-Storage Project Now Fully Operational
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, July 18, 2024
https://www.powermag.com/historic-gemini-solar-plus-storage-project-now-fully-operational/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
(SEPP Comment: No statement of cost.)
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Consumer Choice Over Automobile Mandates
By Kristen Walker, Real Clear Energy, July 16, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/16/consumer_choice_over_automobile_mandates_1044976.html
Electricity Rationing At Charging Stations Due To Limited Charging Infrastructure in Europe
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 14, 2024
Toyota’s Pratt Wisely Puts Automotive Eggs in Many Baskets
By Duggan Flanakin, Real Clear Energy, July 18, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/18/toyotas_pratt_wisely_puts_automotive_eggs_in_many_baskets_1045561.html
Toyota, he said (Bill Pratt, Chief scientist at Toyota ), recognizes the difference between decarbonization – which is the goal – and electrification, which is one means of reaching that goal. Toyota therefore is building hybrids, electric vehicles (EVs), and internal combustion engines that use hydrogen rather than gasoline or diesel as a fuel. In the developing world where electricity is in short supply, he added, the best choice may be low-carbon liquid fuels.
Buy A Secondhand Nissan Leaf? Don’t Expect To Travel Far!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 14, 2024
We Can’t Afford to Ignore Threat of Chinese EVs Built in Mexico
By Jim Constantopoulos, Real Clear Energy, July 16, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/16/we_cant_afford_to_ignore_threat_of_chinese_evs_built_in_mexico_1044972.html
What we have going for us – if we choose to embrace it – is a vast mineral endowment. From lithium to copper and rare earths, we have the resources here and in friendly countries with resources that can help us defang China’s mineral dominance.
Carbon Schemes
Cape Cod scientists want to dump 60,000+ gallons of sodium hydroxide into ocean in climate change experiment
By Lance Reynolds, Phys.og, July 17, 2024 (H/t Bernie Kepshire)
https://phys.org/news/2024-07-cape-cod-scientists-dump-gallons.html
Woods Hole says there are two central goals to its so-called LOC-NESS project, short for “Locking away Ocean Carbon in the Northeast Shelf and Slope.”
California Dreaming
California’s Water Economy – The Three Biggest Choices
By Edward Ring, What’s Current, Accessed July 17, 2024
https://mailchi.mp/calpolicycenter/whats-current-issue-377910?e=cd9fa89d1e
We’ve already “made conservation a way of life” in California. The choice we should be making now should be to stop short of strictly rationing urban water demand at tremendous expense, and instead incentivize investment to increase supply.
Other News that May Be of Interest
Ditching PFAS chemicals requires reality check, scientists argue
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, July 18, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4779978-pfas-replacement-dangers
Link to paper: From “forever chemicals” to fluorine-free alternatives
Identifying alternatives to PFAS requires weighing trade-offs and uncertainties
By Mohamer Ateia and Martin Scheringer, AAAS Science, July 18, 2024
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ado5019
From article: The (AAAS paper) article focuses on both the urgency and difficulty of replacing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a broad class of 10,000-plus synthetic chemicals with wide and destructive impacts on the human body.
(SEPP Comment: Where is the physical evidence of harm?)
‘Guns Versus Butter’ is Passé; Now It’s ‘Guns Versus Virtue’
By Henry I. Miller, MS, MD and Andrew Fillat, ACSH, July 9, 2024
https://www.acsh.org/news/2024/09/16/%25E2%2580%2598guns-versus-butter%25E2%2580%2599-pass%25C3%25A9-now-it%25E2%2580%2599s-%25E2%2580%2598guns-versus-virtue%25E2%2580%2599-17560
There is no question that the U.S. has, in recent years, vastly expanded its welfare state, particularly under cover of the pandemic. Programs now completely out of date are kept on life support because nobody likes losing “goodies.” America’s national debt has soared and now exceeds $43 trillion for the first time in history.
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Yale360: CO2 is Greening the Deserts – But it is Still Bad News
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 27, 2024
(SEPP Comment: Increasing photosynthesis is harming the environment because increasing CO2 is increasing the efficiency of water use by plants, allowing the deserts to bloom?)
Angry Birds! Really….
By Kip Hansen, WUWT, July 16, 2024
(SEPP Comment: Nature fighting back?)
America’s growing elderly population endangered by rising heat, wildfires
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, July 20, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4782481-older-americans-heat-health-safety-risks
(SEPP Comment: That’s why US retirees move South and to the dry Southwest?)
Shameless green ambassadors sleep luxuriantly
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
It is surprisingly easy to collect examples of climate alarmist hypocrisy, such as Canada’s “Ambassador for Climate Change” Catherine Stewart billing over a quarter of a million dollars in travel expenses in under two years, jetting from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam to Bali and on and on including London, Milan, Paris, Rome and Zurich.
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
Untethered from facts, climate alarmists are now following Icarus on a perilous flight path. Canada’s Environment and Climate Change minister Steven Guilbeault recently Xed out “Results are in: June heat waves in central & Eastern Canada were 7-10°C above average due to climate change.
The “Hottest June on Record”
By David Craig, The Daily Sceptic, July 14, 2024
ARTICLES
1. Get Ready to Pay More for Less-Reliable Electricity
As the grid becomes increasingly unstable due to age and extreme weather, utilities are ramping up spending on long-overdue maintenance and capital improvements
By Katherine Blunt, WSJ, July 18, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/electricity-expensive-less-reliable-91555a33?mod=hp_lead_pos7
TWTW Comment: Not worth summarizing. In a display of shallow thinking the reporter does not address the problems of subsidizing and mandating unreliable electricity generation onto the grid.
2. Tech Industry Wants to Lock Up Nuclear Power for AI
Largest tech companies are looking to buy nuclear power directly from plants, which could sap the grid of critical resources
By Jennifer Hiller and Sebastian Herrera, WSJ, July 1, 2024 {H/t Claire Goldsberry)
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/tech-industry-wants-to-lock-up-nuclear-power-for-ai-6cb75316
TWTW Comment: Further confirmation that Big Tech is desperately aware that it needs reliable power in the future and is buying up available, reliable future power. Regular consumers beware of blackouts and higher prices.
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