The Week That Was: 2024 07-27 (July 27, 2024)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure.” —Thomas Jefferson (1823)
Number of the Week: 0.01°C
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: The following are discussed below. Professor Yim presents more evidence of Our Dynamic Earth. AMO physicist Howard Hayden demonstrates another misleading trick used by the IPCC and the USGCRP. Copernicus uses false precision to mislead newspapers and their readers. The UN IPCC has a highly misleading website called Myth Busters. Private investor Deri Hughes exposes another weakness from adding wind, solar, and batteries onto the electrical grid leading to greater instability.
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Our Dynamic Earth: The Climate & Energy Realists of Australia posted a video lecture by Professor Wyss Yim, of Hong Kong University updating his lecture covered in the October 29, 2022, TWTW. readers may recall Yim showed that many ocean hot spots (or hot Blobs) are the result of natural submarine volcanoes, occasionally coming to the surface (in the Pacific with its Ring of Fire). They are not the result of CO2-caused warming, and not due to the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO), for which they have been mistaken.
Among the main points Professor Yim brought out in the latest lecture are:
- Volcanoes impact extreme weather events which have local or regional impacts.
- The increase in frequency of these events is incorrectly used to support anthropogenic global warming.
- ‘Real’ global climate changes have sufficiently large temperature difference of ~ (approximately) 10°C e.g., interglacial/glacial cycles. Smaller differences include the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period.
For example, the Nishino-shima submarine/sub-aerial eruption 940 km south of Tokyo between March 2013 to August 2015 created conditions leading to the North Pacific Blob, a region of sea-surface temperature anomalies up to 5°C above normal conditions. In the atmosphere, this changed the pressure conditions to high pressure from March 2013 to Early 2016 affecting weather in North America. The Pacific coast with very mild winters, while continental North America experienced cold winters.
National Geographic claimed it was an example of [manmade] global warming. Examples it gave were mass mortality of red crabs, benthic feeders and prawns, and sea otters.
Over the past 15 years the Hunga-Tonga volcano has created three separate Blobs in the South Pacific.
Wolf volcano erupted in the Galapagos late May to June 2015, with hot lava flowing at 1200 C which may be a source for the intensity of the long-lasting 2014 to 2016 ENSO. This results in regional weather changes.
El Hierro of Spain erupted in 2011/2012, prompting the melting of Arctic Sea ice with warm water from the Atlantic. Similarly, the eruption of Nishino-shima off Japan in 2013/2015 contributed to the reduction in Arctic sea ice with warm water from the Pacific with a less sharp decline in sea ice (the Bering Straits are narrower than the path of warm water in the Atlantic).
The biggest Blob Yim investigated was the South Pacific Blob 2019-2020. From this he states:
- “There was a marine heat wave east of New Zealand – High pressure, sunny sky, and light wind.
- The area was 1 million square kilometers (size of Texas)
- Temperatures were 6 degrees Celsius above normal.
- Total thickness of hot seawater was 50 meters (over 150 feet)
- According the Prof. J. Renwick, the high-pressure system and sunny skies caused the oceans to warm by the sun, natural causes not CO2-caused global warming.”
There was a reduction in Antarctic sea was during and after the South Pacific Blob.
The impacts on the ocean were less in the 2021-2022 Tongan submarine /sub-aerial eruption because much of the heat went into the atmosphere, not into the ocean. The atmospheric heat changed upper atmosphere circulation and atmospheric rivers while increasing cloud formation in the lower atmosphere. The net result was record rainfall in Indonesia. The Southern Hemisphere experienced increased rainfall.
Yim emphasizes looking at changes in the first month. The results are clearer. Volcanoes cause changes in the Victoria Harbor tidal gage (Hong Kong) because they increase or diminish rainfall in China, resulting in dramatic changes in the outfall from the river Pearl. Further, heavy rainfall means low pressure.
Yim’s main conclusions are:
- “Based on observation records, [many] extreme weather events including rainfall variability can be explained by volcanic eruptions.
- Atmospheric water vapor and cloud distribution are much more important in weather changes than carbon dioxide.
- Contribution to the long and strong 2014-2016 ENSO include Nishino-shima eruption from March 2013-Auguts 2015, the Hunga eruption from December 2014-January 2015, the Axial Seamount eruption from April to May 2015 and the Wolf eruption from May to June 2015. This is also supported by regional weather Artic Sea-ice changes.
- Climatic models must consider the influence of volcanic eruptions on the atmosphere and oceanic circulation. The role of submarine volcanism in regional oceanic warming is greatly underestimated.
- The missing heat attributed to carbon dioxide storage in oceans is better explained by the release of geothermal heat through submarine volcanic eruptions.
- Sea level in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor is influenced by extreme rainfall, including changes in atmospheric pressure and river runoff.”
- Volcanic eruptions as a cause of extreme weather are underestimated…. Our dynamic Earth.
Yim’s pet new subject is to look at the changes in cloud formation and rainfall during the first 35 days after an eruption. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy and https://www.sepp.org/twtwfiles/2022/TWTW%2010-29-22.pdf for the October 29, 2022, TWTW.
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Mathematical Absurdity: Mathematics is the language of science. However, some scientists use mathematics and statistics to deceive others and, perhaps, themselves. One example is claiming that a slight increase in climate (temperatures) can result in a major increase in extreme weather events. Below is an explanation how this was done by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Assessment Report (AR3, 2001), using the assertions in the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) in 2008 with NOAA’s Tom Karl as convening lead author of the section titled “Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate.”
There are many tricks in lying with statistics and easy to understand books have been published on these tricks. Some of these tricks make large values appear small and small values appear large. Published in the bulletin, The Energy Advocate, Professor emeritus in physics Howard Hayden writes in ‘Another Way to Lie with Statistics’ showing how Karl performed this trick.
Simply, Karl used a standard normal or Gaussian bell-shaped curve for estimating weather events and shifted it to the reflect higher temperatures without showing a decline in cold temperatures asserting that more carbon dioxide means higher temperatures without stating it would mean fewer cold nights. This shift is misleading for several reasons:
- Humanity evolved in the hot tropics of Africa.
- Humanity is better adapted naturally to warmth rather than cold.
- Cold kills many times more people the heat.
- A significant increase in the greenhouse effect raises nighttime temperatures.
Also, Hayden points out:
“…IPCC’s ‘most likely’ temperature increase due to CO2 doubling, even though it is physically impossible for the radiative forcing from CO2 doubling to block the additional infrared from the surface that must accompany a 3ºC temperature rise.
Also bear in mind that when ‘climate scientists’ endlessly tell us that storms, floods, cyclones, hurricanes, droughts, heat domes, atmospheric rivers, and other such weather phenomena are caused by ‘climate change,’ they do not speak the truth.”
This is an example of the quality of “climate science” produced by USGCRP and the IPCC. Unfortunately, it reflects poorly on the high-quality work done by other government entities. Thus, the group the produces the work should be delineated, not generalized under one umbrella. See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy or http://www.sepp.org/science_papers.cfm, and https://downloads.globalchange.gov/sap/sap3-3/sap3-3-final-all.pdf for the USGCRP report.
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Another Trick: Editors and reporters for the US Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill, fell for another trick produced by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. In “Record broken for hottest day on earth for second straight day” The Hill stated:
“Preliminary data published by the European climate service Copernicus Wednesday showed that Monday’s temperature was 0.06 degrees Celsius — about 0.1-degree Fahrenheit — higher than Sunday’s temperature.
Copernicus’s analysis suggested that warmer temperatures in the Antarctic region contributed to the high global average temperatures recorded this week.”
However, according to its press release on July 23, Copernicus actually stated:
“The Earth has just experienced its warmest day in recent history, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data. On 22 July 2024, the daily global average temperature reached a new record high in the ERA5 dataset*, at 17.16°C. This exceeds the previous records of 17.09°C, set just one day before on 21 July 2024, and 17.08°C, set a year earlier on 6 July 2023.
Based on data released by C3S on 25 July, Monday 22 July was the hottest day in the ERA5 dataset, which begins in 1940. The temperature on 23 July was very similar, at 17.15°C**.” [Boldface added]
So, The Hill got the details wrong, but what about the Copernicus press release? We did not start getting good sea surface data until the Argo Program, which began in the 21st century. And the oceans cover 71 percent of the globe. Thus, the press release is misleading. We really don’t know what the temperatures were for 71 percent of the globe.
Secondly, as The Hill stated, most of the warming shown by Copernicus in its “Surface Air Temperature Anomaly, 23 Jul 2024”, was in Antarctica, highlighted in the favorite summertime color of TV weather personalities – bright red. The area includes large parts of the continent and the oceans surrounding it, where there are no thermometers. Indeed, according to AccuWeather, at Vostok Station Antarctica (where there are thermometers) on July 22, the temperature ranged from minus 84 to minus 60°F, (minus 64 to minus 51°C), up from minus 94 to minus 59°F the previous Monday, July 15. On July 23 it ranged from minus 74 to minus 53°F.
Thirdly, as reported in last week’s TWTW, according to UK’s Chris Morrison of the Daily Sceptic:
“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.”
So, what is the range of error in the data reported by Copernicus? The standard method of calculating the error range of a group of values with varying estimates of error is to square each error range, then sum them, then take the square root of the sum. With so much poor data, it is not credible to report an error range less than 1°C. Yet, Copernicus reports data within one-hundredth of a degree C? According to Copernicus, its 2023 budget was EUR 10.5 million. Surely it could hire someone who is numerically literate. See links under Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up, https://climate.copernicus.eu/new-record-daily-global-average-temperature-reached-july-2024 for Copernicus press release, and https://www.accuweather.com/en/aq/vostok-station/2273742/july-weather/2273742 for AccuWeather report on July temperatures at Vostok Station.
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Happening Now: Climate Change is happening now. It has been occurring for hundreds of millions of years. Changing temperature is only one simple measure of climate. A far better measure is the Koppen-Geiger classification system developed by German botanist-climatologist Wladimir Köppen and first published in 1900. He continued to modify the system until he died in 1940 and it has been modified by other climatologists. Britannica states:
“Köppen’s classification is based on a subdivision of terrestrial climates into five major types, which are represented by the capital letters A, B, C, D, and E. Each of these climate types except for B is defined by temperature criteria. Type B designates climates in which the controlling factor on vegetation is dryness (rather than coldness). Aridity is not a matter of precipitation alone but is defined by the relationship between the precipitation input to the soil in which the plants grow and the evaporative losses. Since evaporation is difficult to evaluate and is not a conventional measurement at meteorological stations, Köppen was forced to substitute a formula that identifies aridity in terms of a temperature-precipitation index (that is, evaporation is assumed to be controlled by temperature). Dry climates are divided into arid (BW) and semiarid (BS) subtypes, and each may be differentiated further by adding a third code, h for warm and k for cold.
As noted above, temperature defines the other four major climate types. These are subdivided, with additional letters again used to designate the various subtypes. Type A climates (the warmest) are differentiated on the basis of the seasonality of precipitation: Af (no dry season), Am (short dry season), or Aw (winter dry season). Type E climates (the coldest) are conventionally separated into tundra (ET) and snow/ice climates (EF). The mid-latitude C and D climates are given a second letter, f (no dry season), w (winter dry), or s (summer dry), and a third symbol (a, b, c, or d [the last subclass exists only for D climates]), indicating the warmth of the summer or the coldness of the winter. Although Köppen’s classification did not consider the uniqueness of highland climate regions, the highland climate category, or H climate, is sometimes added to climate classification systems to account for elevations above 1,500 meters (about 4,900 feet).”
The system is elaborate, but Earth is complex. It has six major classifications (including Highlands) and many sub-classification. Trying to simplify this complexity into one figure, average global surface-air temperature, is absurd. There is no agreed upon method of measuring this today, much less any that has been used for a hundred years. Yet the UN continues to issue reports pretending that its numbers are valid. The UN has a website called Climate Action. Under the category Science are sub-categories What is Climate Change; Myth Busters; Reports; Fast Facts; and Explainers.
As expected, the website states: “Humans are responsible for global warming” primarily from the use of fossil fuels. The principal references for the Myth Busters section are the UNFCCC, IPCC, WHO, IEA, REN21, and IRENA. The UNFCCC is the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. IEA is the International Energy Agency. REN21 is “Crowd-Sourced Knowledge and Data with over 650 experts and 2,000 sources.” IRENA is the International Renewable Energy Agency, a group promoting a particular industry at the exclusion of many others.
The list of “facts” includes “Every fraction of a degree of warming matters” with a graphic of part of the globe from the UNFCCC showing an increase of 1.5 colored green; and an increase of 2.0 degrees C colored orange, and an increase of 3.0 degrees C colored red.
Other “facts” include “Climate change is a major threat to people’s health,” yet humanity evolved in hot, tropical Africa and many times more humans die of cold than heat. Another fact is “Natural gas is a fossil fuel, not a clean source of energy” and quotes the UN Secretary-General saying “leave oil, coal and gas in the ground…” This should give pause to those in the natural gas industry who attack coal. To paraphrase Winston Churchill: An appeaser is one who feeds the green crocodile in hopes the crocodile will eat him last.
Another “fact” is “Clean energy technologies produce far less carbon pollution than fossil fuels.” Yet carbon dioxide is essential for photosynthesis, the food source of all complex life on earth. Complex life is carbon based, so if carbon is a pollutant, then life is a pollutant.
Another “fact” is “Entire countries already rely on nearly 100 per cent renewable electricity.” “Costa Rica, Norway, Iceland, Paraguay, and Uruguay power their grids with hydro, geothermal, wind and solar energy. (REN21).” The primary sources of reliable electricity for these countries are hydropower, with geothermal supplementing in Iceland, and wind supplementing in Uruguay. Most countries do not have the geographical features permitting more hydropower, a form of electricity generation, intensely opposed by The Environmental Industry.
Following this assertion about entire countries second paragraph of the section states: Some provinces and sub-national states also use nearly 100 per cent renewables-based electricity: South Australia, Quebec (Canada) and Qinghai (China), as well as the islands of Ta’u (American Samoa), Eigg (Scotland) and El Hierro (Spain). (REN21).
TWTW has long reported on the wind power, pumped storage facilities on El Hierro (population less than 12,000). When the last report from the Spanish utility came out about 2021, the facility had about 11.5 MW of wind power, 11 MW of hydropower, and 6 MW of hydro pumped storage. For 18 days in February 2018, it ran 100% on renewables, wind, hydro, and pumped storage. Then the percentages generated by these declined. The Spanish utility stopped reporting the results when diesel was used to generate over 40% of electricity for the year. Yet the website remains bragging about the February 2018 results.
That sums up the fact checking ability of the UN Myth Busters – creating myths and falling for them. See links under Defending the Orthodoxy and https://www.idom.com/en/project/el-hierro-hydrowind-power-plant-2/ for the facility on El Hierro.
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Weakening the Grid: TWTW has had many posts exploring the weaknesses of adding wind and solar onto the electrical grid, which is about 99.99% reliable. However, wind and solar are unreliable and very expensive when built with necessary battery storage. Writing for Net Zero Watch, UK private investor Deri Hughes brings out another weakness of using wind, solar, batteries and other devices on the grid to replace reliable heavy, rotating machinery which can be synchronized to match the output of other such machines and bring great inertia that stabilizes the system. An additional weakness to the grid comes from grid-tie inverters which convert direct current (DC) into alternating current (AC) suitable for injecting electrical power into the grid at the same voltage and frequency of the grid. Hughes writes:
“Along with a basic requirement for balancing energy supply and demand, AC grid operation requires precise and consistent control of frequency and voltage. Deviation from acceptable values is more than a nuisance: connected equipment can operate improperly and can be damaged. A grid has a certain highly strung and binary quality, in that it either works correctly or it does not work. Hence the practice of disconnecting portions of a network in response to serious instability; doing so is preferable to a systemic collapse. This unavoidable fact has fundamental implications for the design of generating plant that can safely be connected to a grid.” [Boldface added]
After a discussion of the characteristics of the grid and the need for inverters to tie wind, solar, batteries into the grid. Hughes concludes:
“The greater the number of wind turbines, solar arrays, batteries, and DC lines connected to a grid, the less it resembles a network of synchronous alternators. It becomes inherently less stable. Attempting to operate a grid using asynchronous sources exclusively, or nearly exclusively, would lead to a swift collapse, irrespective of overall weather conditions. This is an engineering problem that is well understood in the relatively small world of grid operation but is far less appreciated outside. Unless it is solved, even daydreaming about vast wind, solar and battery installations will be a waste of time.
Some aspects of a possible solution are reasonably plausible. For example, there are specialized devices that can improve synchronous inertia and reactive power compensation. However, a complete solution is currently not assured. The behavior of inverters is an evident vulnerability. Work is under way to improve them, namely, to make them act more like synchronous alternators, but success is not guaranteed. It is a case of a newer technology struggling to catch up with an older and more effective predecessor; perhaps an appropriate metaphor for the pursuit of decarbonisation as a whole.
The simplest way to solve or avoid the problem is to limit the capacity of asynchronous sources, relative to that of synchronous alternators. That, however, places a firm limit on asynchronous capacity addition, thereby undermining the current policy preference. On the other hand, given the vast cost and potential disruption of adding the envisaged asynchronous capacity, a technical limit on the scale of deployment could be seen as a blessing. After all, doing nothing is sometimes best.”
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Number of the Week: 0.01°C. As discussed above, claiming it can calculate accurately average global surface-air temperature to one-one hundredth of a degree Celsus, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service is demonstrating absurd arrogance. Such absurd arrogance extends to the IPCC, and the government entities participating in the US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP).
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Washington DC and Milwaukee Among US Cities Most at Risk from Space Weather
By Sophie Jenkins, London, UK (SPX) Jul 21, 2024
https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Washington_DC_and_Milwaukee_Among_US_Cities_Most_at_Risk_from_Space_Weather_999.html
[SEPP Comment: Coronal mass ejections are a real threat to the security of the grid. However, will some academic claim that solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun are caused by climate change?]
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
Volcanic Eruptions and Extreme Weather
By Wyss Yim, Video, Climate & Energy Realists of Australia
Another Way to Lie with Statistics
By Howard Hayden, The Energy Advocate, July 2024
http://www.sepp.org/science_papers.cfm
A Short Summary of Observations Until June 2024
By Ole Humlum, Climate4you, Accessed July 26, 2024
https://www.climate4you.com
Northern Hemisphere Sea Ice Area, July 26, 2024
https://www.climate4you.com/ then link to: 20240726h
[SEPP Comment: Up and down, but no significant trend.]
On grid stability
By Deri Hughes, Net Zero Watch, July 22, 2024
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/on-grid-stability
Along with a basic requirement for balancing energy supply and demand, AC grid operation requires precise and consistent control of frequency and voltage. Deviation from acceptable values is more than a nuisance: connected equipment can operate improperly and can be damaged. A grid has a certain highly strung and binary quality, in that it either works correctly or it does not work. Hence the practice of disconnecting portions of a network in response to serious instability; doing so is preferable to a systemic collapse.
The greater the number of wind turbines, solar arrays, batteries and DC lines connected to a grid, the less it resembles a network of synchronous alternators. It becomes inherently less stable. Attempting to operate a grid using asynchronous sources exclusively, or nearly exclusively, would lead to a swift collapse, irrespective of overall weather conditions.
East coast wind turbine fiasco in the making
By Joe Bastardi, CFACT, July 24, 2024
This hurricane drought on the NE coast can’t last forever (nothing in 33 years, when it was once every 7 years from 1938-1991). We hear how bad it is. It’s not, but a return to the “normalcy” that was the East Coast hurricane frequency (of course, if that happens, they will blame man-made climate change) means they have set up a disaster.
How to destroy your economy in two easy steps
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
And it’s one thing to wage a consistent war on the essential bases of prosperity in your nation but quite another to wage an inconsistent one, so investors cannot count on any particular disaster occurring but can be very sure you’ll manage one somehow and blindside them.
The climate science #socialfeedbackloop Part IV: Narrative is everything
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
Concluding our series on climate scientist Patrick Brown’s essay on the current state of climate science we confirm what CDN readers already knew: there is a powerful filter that operates from the journals down through the news media to ensure that the public only hears bad news about climate and the conclusion is always that we need more aggressive state intervention because otherwise we are all going to die.
Defending the Orthodoxy
What Is Climate Change?
By Staff, UN Climate Action, Accessed July 24, 2024
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change
The Facts on Climate and Energy and Energy, Myth Busters, UN Climate Action, Accessed July 24, 2024
https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/mythbusters
Climate change is already affecting every region on Earth. Changes in rainfall patterns, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, a warming ocean, and more frequent and intense extreme weather events are just some of the changes already impacting millions of people. [Boldface added]
[SEPP Comment: False facts from the UN]
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
E-commerce hubs worsen air pollution: Study
By Lauren Sforza, The Hill, July 24, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4790958-warehouses-air-pollution-increase
Link to paper: Air pollution impacts from warehousing in the United States uncovered with satellite data
By Gaige Hunter Kerr, et al., Nature Communications, July 24, 2024
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-50000-0#Sec2
From the article: The research, funded by NASA, also found that warehouses with more vehicle activity had higher increases of nitrogen dioxide that were above the 20 percent average.
[SEPP Comment: Average of what? Is it harmful?]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
Hottest Day Ever
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 23, 2024
July 21 was 20th coolest in the US since 1895. The hottest years were 1901 and 1936. The US is one of very few countries with high-quality long-term records, where this sort of analysis is possible.
[SEPP Comment: Such facts do not matter to the red crayon crowd.]
Net Zero is Impoverishing the West and Enriching China
By Will Jones, The Daily Sceptic, July 24, 2024
Link to: Net zero will only make you poorer and China richer
We need to wake up and stop hemorrhaging trillions in self-inflicted climate policies that will mainly benefit Beijing
By Bjorn Lomborg, Telegraph UK, July 24, 2024
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/07/24/net-zero-will-only-make-you-poorer-and-china-richer
Paywall (charge for use)
This Climate Graph has a Nasty Secret
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 23, 2024
Video Why doesn’t the IPCC report absolute temperatures predicted by climate models? Because the range of error from the models is so large?
The Real Existential Threat to Billions of People
By Ronald Stein, Cornwall Alliance, July 24, 2024
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
As Climate Realists observed in reXing it, NOAA has no thermometer readings for most of the planet 175 years ago, and mostly not even 100, so they’re making it up. But if the entire world is experiencing record heat, why are so many places having normal or even cooler than normal temperatures? Does “globe” not mean what we think it means?
Are we really experiencing more ‘extreme’ weather?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 26, 2024
Airline fleets to double in new blow to flight-shamers
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 20, 2024
#Cheerful Charts #1: Childhood mortality
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
Perhaps because so many people share the grim opinion of eccentric Canadian Green MP Elizabeth May that “baby boomers have [coarse banal expletive deleted] this planet” we today begin a new series called “Cheerful Charts”, in which we broaden out from the dreary tunnel vision driving climate doomsters to drink and look at what real world data tell us about the state of our world today.
Energy & Environmental Review: July 22, 2024
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, July 22, 2024
After Paris!
Science-based targets miss the mark
By Andy Reisinger, Nature, Communications Earth & Climate, July 23, 2024
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01535-z?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-07-26&utm_campaign=DeBriefed+Biden+s+climate+legacy+Global+wildfires+Life+in+Louisiana+s+Cancer+Alley+
From the introduction: Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximizing their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies.
[SEPP Comment: There is nothing science based about the Paris Agreement or about controlling CO2 emissions to prevent warming and cooling of Earth.]
US falling short of emissions goals: Research
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 23, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4788208-us-emissions-paris-climate-agreement
Link to report: Taking Stock 2024: US Energy and Emissions Outlook
In our annually updated outlook for US greenhouse gas emissions under current federal and state policy, we find that the US is on track to reduce emissions 38-56% below 2005 levels by 2035, absent any additional new action.
By Ben King, et al., Rhodium Group, July 23, 2024
From report: With all federal and state policies on the books as of June 2024, we estimate the US is on track to reduce its GHG emissions by 38-56% below 2005 levels in 2035, representing at least a doubling—and potentially as much as a four-times increase—from the pace of annual emissions abatement from 2005 to 2023. On the way to 2035, we find the US could reduce its emissions by 32-43% below 2005 levels in 2030.
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
Global Greening Becomes so Obvious That Climate Alarmists Start Arguing We Need to “Save the Deserts”!
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, July 20, 2024
Percent dry weight (biomass) increases for hybrid roses following 300 and 600 ppm increases in the air’s CO2 concentration
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
From CO2Science Archive
Global atmospheric methane uptake by upland tree woody surfaces
By Vincent Gauci, et al, Nature, July 24, 2024
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07592-w?utm_source=cbnewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=2024-07-26&utm_campaign=DeBriefed+Biden+s+climate+legacy+Global+wildfires+Life+in+Louisiana+s+Cancer+Alley+
[SEPP Comment: Not only do growing trees absorb CO2, but methane as well?]
Problems in the Orthodoxy
India Pledges Support for Nuclear, Coal, and Pumped Storage Projects
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, July 23, 2024
https://www.powermag.com/india-pledges-support-for-nuclear-coal-and-pumped-storage-projects/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
Officials in India said that country’s energy transition plan will focus on developing small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), pumped energy storage projects, and more efficient coal-fired power plants.
India’s power ministry earlier this year said about 19.6 GW of new coal-fired generation capacity is expected to be brought online by year-end 2025. That figure includes about 14 GW expected to be commissioned this year. Coal-fired generation in India last year jumped by 14.7%. Officials said that was the first-time growth in coal-fired electricity output outpaced growth in renewable energy since 2019. Generation from renewables in India grew by 12.2% last year.
[SEPP Comment: Comparing a percentage increase in the puny with a percentage increase in the significant. How to lie with numbers.]
Seeking a Common Ground
Why Climate Misinformation Persists
Noble lies, conventional wisdom, and luxury beliefs
By Roger Pielke Jr. His Blog, July 25, 2024
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/why-climate-misinformation-persists?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=146992837&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
While the west watches a game show, the rest build a new world order
By Terry Elam, BOE Report, July 23, 2024
The biggest, quietest movement must the the rise of BRICS, the affiliation of nine countries that have formed an alliance to ‘counter western influence’ and work to chart a new direction. The founding countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – were joined by new members at the beginning of the year, including Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia (who has been coy about explicitly affirming membership but is considered member last I checked). These countries are not a chain of unpopulated tropical islands; they have a combined population of about 3.5 billion people and annual GDP of over $28 trillion.
The BRICS group is growing quickly; earlier this year, it was reported that an additional 34 countries have expressed an interest in joining, with many applications from Africa, South America and Asia. It would not be hard to envision Russian satellite countries looking that way as well.
Model Issues
Japanese Scientist Concludes IPCC Is Using “Erroneous” Parameters And Climate Sensitivities
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 24, 2024
Scientists extend El Niño forecasts to 18 months in advance
By Staff, NSF, July 22, 2024
https://new.nsf.gov/news/scientists-extend-el-nino-forecasts-18-months?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Saharan dust regulates hurricane rainfall
Press Release, Stanford University, Via Charles Rotter, WUWT, July 26, 2024
Link to paper: Leading role of Saharan dust on tropical cyclone rainfall in the Atlantic Basin
By Laiyin Zhu, et al., AAAS Science Advances, July 24, 2024
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn6106
From the abstract: The model identifies dust optical depth (DOD) as a key predictor that enhances performance evidently. The model also uncovers a nonlinear and boomerang-shape relationship between Saharan dust and TCR, with a TCR peak at 0.06 DOD and a sharp decrease thereafter. This indicates a shift from microphysical enhancement to radiative suppression at high dust concentrations.
[SEPP Comment: A weak statistical relationship was explored using artificial intelligence. The relationship has been discussed for years, but the term regulates is too strong. Influences is a better term.]
Changing Weather
We Don’t Need No Stinking Science
Climate Fueled Extreme Weather, Part 4
By Roger Pielke Jr. The Honest Broker, July 22, 2024
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/we-dont-need-no-stinking-science?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=146850881&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
“The moment the Good Guys act like they have all the right answers — and that they are even entitled to tell “noble lies” when it suits the public interest — is when they start to become hard to distinguish from the bad guys.”
Sunday was 0.01 degree hotter than last year, and 1 or 2 degrees cooler than what cavemen lived through. So What?
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 24, 2024
Don Valley Flooding – We Told You So [Toronto]
Video, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 17, 2024
“Climate Change Is Killing People”
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 21, 2024
The death rate from natural disasters in down 95% over the past century, and the UN says “climate change is killing people”
Told you so
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
Hazel was only the 5th-deadliest hurricane ever in Canada, and that the four that were worse came in climate-change-ravaged 1882 (“Labrador’), 1927 (“Nova Scotia (3))”, 1873 (“Nova Scotia (1)” and, killing more than all the others on the top 10 list, an estimated 4,000 or more, 1775 “Newfoundland (1).
Fifty Years Ago Today
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 21, 2024
Northwest wildfires are most frequently grass fires. Climate change is not an important contributor to grass fires.
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, July 23, 2024
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2024/07/northwest-wildfires-are-most-frequently.html
In addition, these human-spread flammable grasses are more likely to be ignited these days, with large increases in population as well as fire-inducing human activities (from fireworks and off-road vehicles to gunnery practice to deficient power infrastructure, to name only a few.)
Strong winds play a critical role in spreading grass fires, something of particular note on the windy, lower eastern slopes of the Cascades.
Too many media outlets blame grass and range fires on climate change without factual bases or supportive information. Grass/range fires also play a large role in inducing forest fires, something I will discuss in a future blog.
[SEPP Comment: By introducing invasive species of grass, humans had a role in causing change in fires, but it is not climate change which is a convenient excuse for responsible parties blaming others when incompetent policies are the cause. Such policies include failure to clear power lines of vegetation and prohibiting fire breaks and other practical fire suppression measures.]
‘Extreme’ California blaze could mark dangerous turning point for wildfire season
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, July 26, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4794526-park-fire-california-wildfire
Local law enforcement believe the blaze began after Ronnie Sout, a 42-year-old resident of Chico, Calif., was seen pushing a car that was ablaze into a nearby gully.
[SEPP Comment: The expert commentator is in Los Angeles, some 450 miles away from Chico?]
Changing Climate
New Study: Central Europe Was ‘2-5°C Warmer Than Present’ Throughout Most Of The Holocene
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, July 22, 2024
Link to paper: Reconstruction of warm-season temperatures in central Europe during the past 60 000 years from lacustrine branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs)
By Paul D. Zander, et al., Climate of the Past, Apr 8, 2024
From the abstract: This study presents a 60 000-year-long temperature reconstruction based on branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) extracted from lake sediments from the Eifel Volcanic Field, Germany. brGDGTs are bacterial membranespanning lipids that are known to have a strong relationship with temperature, making them suitable for temperature reconstructions.
Changing Seas
Miami Drowning
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 2, 2024
Changing Earth
Video: Hydrothermal explosion scatters visitors at Yellowstone National Park
By Derick Fox and Addy Bink, The Hill, July 23, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4789130-video-hydrothermal-explosion-yellowstone-national-park-biscuit-basin
“Hydrothermal explosions like that of today are not a sign of impending volcanic eruptions, and they are not caused by magma rising towards the surface,” officials with USGS and Yellowstone said in a joint statement shared with Nexstar.
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Pesticides as big a cancer risk as smoking, study finds
By Saul Elben, The Hill, July 25, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4792919-pesticides-cancer-link-study
Link to paper: Comprehensive assessment of pesticide use patterns and increased cancer risk
By Jacob Gerken, Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society, July 24, 2024
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cancer-control-and-society/articles/10.3389/fcacs.2024.1368086/full
From introduction: Our findings demonstrated an association between pesticide use and increased incidence of leukemia; non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; bladder, colon, lung, and pancreatic cancer; and all cancers combined that are comparable to smoking for some cancer types.
[SEPP Comment: Shoddy study with shoddy definitions and statistics.]
Pesticides may contain an alarming amount of ‘forever chemicals’: Study
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, July 24, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4790651-toxic-forever-chemicals-pesticides-study
Link to paper: Forever Pesticides: A Growing Source of PFAS Contamination in the Environment
By Nathan Donley, et al. Environmental Health Perspectives, July 24, 2024
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/EHP13954
From paper: Environmental contamination by fluorinated chemicals, in particular chemicals from the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) class, has raised concerns around the globe because of documented adverse impacts on human health, wildlife, and ecosystem quality.
[SEPP Comment: Where is the evidence of harm?]
Forbes is Wrong, Agriculture is Doing Well Amid Modest Warming
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, July 23, 2024
More Bad Good News: Nitrate Fertiliser is Cooling the Planet
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 24, 2024
If we get much more of this bad good news, people might start asking if it is actually good news, and if claims we are experiencing a global climate crisis are wildly exaggerated.
Lowering Standards
EIA projects that renewable generation will supply 44% of U.S. electricity by 2050
By Vikarm Linga, et al., EIA, March 18, 2022
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=51698
[SEPP Comment: Of that 44%, 51% is delivered by solar?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Yale Environment 360 Pushes Alarming Carbon Dioxide Story, Despite Beneficial Global Greening
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, July 22, 2024
Link to misleading article: With CO2 Levels Rising, World’s Drylands Are Turning Green
Despite warnings that climate change would create widespread desertification, many drylands are getting greener because of increased CO2 in the air — a trend that recent studies indicate will continue. But scientists warn this added vegetation may soak up scarce water supplies.
By Fred Pearce, Yale Environment 360 (Published at the Yale School of Environment), July 16, 2024
https://e360.yale.edu/features/greening-drylands-carbon-dioxide-climate-change
Ten days in June
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
So here’s a scary statistic from Canada’s capital. “After 10 consecutive June days with minimum temperature ≥14°C in #Ottawa, the minimum temperature was only 12.8°C today. We made it to 6th place, only 9 days behind the record.” And can you spot the hidden terror in a run of hot summer nights? Right. The notion that “only 9” is a tiny number in a month that only contains 30… and that 10 days is almost the same as 19 days. Math is hard, and a major reason for climate alarmism is that too many commentators didn’t get along with it in their youth and have not reconciled since. [Boldface added]
Claim: Global Warming is Messing with our Rainfall
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 25, 2024
Shock News–It’s Hot In Dubai!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 23, 2024
What an absolutely dishonest article! When they resort to terms like “heat dome”, “heat index” etc., you know you are being lied to.
113F is 45C, which is par for the course in Dubai. Most years get much hotter, and there is no evidence that summer temperatures are rising there:
Meanwhile tourists will still flock to the “most dangerous city on Earth”!
The Media Are Sheep
By Willis Eschenbach, WUWT, July 21, 2024
The Seattle Times, in its usual alarmist fashion, has an article about how the dreaded “rising seas” are forcing the Quinault Nation to move its main town, Taholah.
[After analysis of data] To summarize: South of Taholah, there’s no statistically significant sea level rise or fall, and north of Taholah, the sea level is falling.
This, of course, all means that the dozens and dozens and dozens of articles claiming that Taholah is endangered by rising sea levels are … well … let me call them “ludicrously misinformed” and leave it at that.
And the conclusion from this?
You absolutely cannot trust the modern media to do even the simplest verification of factual claims.
What to know about Project 2025’s plan for agriculture, and how it could lead to ‘real chaos’
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, July 25, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4791069-project-2025-farming-food-aid
“Project 2025 argues that step allowed Biden to “abuse the CCC” by using it to fund programs promoting agricultural programs aimed at slowing the pace of global heating — a goal the project universally pans.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
Climate Change: The Great Thaw
By Mary Anna Mancuso, Real Clear Energy, July 24, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/24/climate_change_the_great_thaw_1046912.html
Antarctica has begun warming at twice the global average, signaling it is becoming a driver of global warming rather than a buffer. As the ice sheets in Antarctica melt, sea levels will rise disproportionately in the northern hemisphere where most of humanity lives.
[SEPP Comment: Apparently “the political strategist and a spokesperson for RepublicEn.org, a growing group of conservatives who care about climate change”. does not understand geology. The West Antarctic ice sheet is over a geological hot spot. Data from the US Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and the Russian Vostok Station tell a different story – no warming.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
Guardian: Tackling Climate Change in Films is an Ethical Responsibility, Like Ending Slavery
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 23, 2024
Record broken for hottest day on earth for second straight day
By Lauren Sforza, The Hill, July 24, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4790626-record-broken-again-hottest-day-on-earth
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
London Must Prepare For Climate Change–Says Green Blob
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 23, 2024
Homewood: This fraudulent report has nothing to do with facts. It is an overtly political exercise, designed to scare the public.
[SEPP Comment: According to Wikipedia BBC is: The oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, the BBC employs over 21,000 staff in total, of whom approximately 17,900 are in public-sector broadcasting…The principal means of funding the BBC is through the television licence, costing £169.50 per year per household since April 2024.[127] Such a license is required to legally receive broadcast television across the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. In short, the public pays for an organization engaged in government propaganda.]
Same Weather As Always
By Tony Heller, His Blog, July 22, 2024
The press describes normal weather for the Persian Gulf as “apocalyptic” and says it “smashes temperature records”
Article: Apocalyptic 150F heat dome smashes temperature records as the world bakes
Dubai is ranked as the most dangerous city in terms of high summer heat in the world, with the high heat occurring on approximately 89 percent of summer days.
[SEPP Comment: The headline treats the heat index as temperature.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
XR Founder Roger Hallam Sentenced 5 Years In Prison For Blocking M25 Motorway In 2022
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, July 20, 2024
Just Stop Oil Activists Disrupt Flights, Demand Fossil Fuel End by 2030
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, July 24, 2024
Roger Hallam Receives Five Year Sentence, other Just Stop Oil Co-Conspirators Receive Four Years
British Labour Government Pressured to Release Just Stop Oil “Truth Tellers”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, July 21, 2024
Questioning European Green
Team GB pay for air conditioning to make up for Paris 2024’s eco-friendly offering
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 20, 2024
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Can American Conservation Survive ‘Green’ Energy?
By Portia Roberts, Real Clear Energy, July 25, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/25/can_american_conservation_survive_green_energy_1047205.html
But now the environmental movement is at odds with itself. The movement’s full-throated embrace of so-called “green energy,” successfully amplified by unprecedented government mandates and subsidies, is leading to habitat-invading and beauty-destroying energy projects at scales that not only rankle onlookers but also those environmentalists still committed to stewardship and conservation—and would shock the founders of the preservation movement.
Breaking Wind
The disintegration of the turbine blade and resultant pollution that forced the closure of Nantucket’s beaches should scuttle the offshore wind scam. But it’s only the tip of Big Wind’s problems.
By Robert Bryce, His Blog, July 22, 2024
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/breaking-wind
As I noted here a week ago, the development of offshore wind energy on the Eastern Seaboard has been promoted by some of America’s biggest climate NGOs, including the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation, and Conservation Law Foundation, as well as numerous Democratic politicians at state and federal levels. …This disaster happened in calm weather. It doesn’t take much effort to imagine what will happen when a hurricane hits the East Coast.
Biden Administration Launches A Great Leap Forward Into Green Energy
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, July 23, 2024
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2024-7-23-biden-administration-launches-a-great-leap-forward-into-green-energy
The name “Great Leap Forward” refers to Mao Zedong’s second Five Year Plan, launched in 1958, and intended to catapult China’s economy from backwardness into modernity. This was to be not just any old central planning project, but a whole new approach designed by the really smart people to correct the mistakes and failures that the Soviet Union had encountered on the road to communism. This time, they were going to get central planning right.
This new initiative is just one small piece of the vast economic waste of the falsely named Inflation Reduction Act, with its multi-trillion dollars of subsidies for uneconomic projects. But the “community-driven” tag line here is what brings the memory of the Great Leap Forward. The basic idea is that the new investments and technologies to transform our energy economy are going to come from federal selection and subsidizing of various projects originating out of state and local governments, otherwise known as “communities.”
[SEPP Comment: Everywhere Western reporters went in China they were led by government guides and interpreters. They praised the disaster that resulted in famine and cannibalism.]
Electrification Without the Infrastructure
By Jonathan Lesser, Real Clear Energy, July 24, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/24/electrification_without_the_infrastructure_1046914.html
Energy policies of Biden and Newsom are the real existential threat to billions
By Ronald Stein, America Out Loud, July 22, 2022
Green Jobs
The solar boom has busted: In the last six months Europe’s solar manufacturing has collapsed by half…
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 27, 2024
Last word: China already controls 80% of the market, would it really want to dump so many solar panels it drove the last 20% out of business, or was this just one huge Big-Government mistake?
Funding Issues
Delay Equals Denial and That May Be the Point
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, July 24, 2024
The Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General has engaged in a pattern and practice of stalling to avoid meeting its obligation of public transparency about its operations. Now, Energy Policy Advocates (EPA) has filed an emergency motion arising out of this pattern and the bad faith involved in EPA v. Healey I, an open records lawsuit over records pertaining to Michael Bloomberg staffing the Office to advance his policy agenda, in which suit EPA prevailed.
Litigation Issues
Environmental lawsuits have direct effect on mortality
By Bob Zybach, Rogue Valley Times (Oregon), June 30, 2024
http://nwmapsco.com/ZybachB/Editorials/Rogue_Valley_Times/Zybach_20240630.pdf
One Small Step for Man…
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, July 25, 2024
[SEPP Comment: Proposed legislation to stop outside groups from funding state attorneys general offices.]
Red states ask Supreme Court to halt Biden climate rule for power plants
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, July 23, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4788530-state-petition-biden-emission-rule
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
Biden Admin Cuts Multi-Billion Dollar Check To Push ‘Community-Driven’ Green Projects All Over America
By Nick Pope, Daily Caller, July 22, 2024
https://dailycaller.com/2024/07/22/biden-epa-community-driven-projects-billion-dollar-funding/#google_vignette
Specific projects funded by the money announced Monday include an initiative to ramp up heap pump use in New England and Alaska, industrial decarbonization in Pennsylvania and a multi-state coalition that will look to enhance EV charging infrastructure along the I-95 corridor, according to the EPA.
How ‘Green’ Energy Subsidies Transfer Wealth to the Rich
By Nicolas Loris, Bryan Cosby, The Heritage Foundation, July 18, 2024
https://www.heritage.org/energy-economics/commentary/how-green-energy-subsidies-transfer-wealth-the-rich
For instance, a recent study by the Pacific Research Institute found that more than 99 percent of subsidies for electrical vehicles go to households with incomes of $50,000 or higher, and nearly three-quarters go to households with an annual income of $100,000 or more.
EPA and other Regulators on the March
EPA takes next step toward banning chemical spilled in East Palestine crash
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, July 24, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4790994-epa-proposes-ban-toxic-substance
[SEPP Comment: How about practical control measures rather than banning?]
EPA Awards $4.3 Billion to Fund Climate Change Projects in 30 States
By Staff, AP, Via Newsmax, July 22, 204
https://www.newsmax.com/us/epa-climate-change/2024/07/22/id/1173507/?ns_mail_uid=9af78cd4-7188-4875-ba2c-e930f35496ab&ns_mail_job=DM655112_07222024&s=acs&dkt_nbr=01050213ji3j
The Environmental Protection Agency is awarding $4.3 billion in grants to fund projects in 30 states to reduce climate pollution.
[SEPP Comment: What is climate pollution?]
The SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule Is a Dark Cloud Over Energy Abundance
By Stone Washington, Real Clear Energy, July 23, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/23/the_secs_climate_disclosure_rule_is_a_dark_cloud_over_energy_abundance_1046616.html
Energy Issues – Non-US
UK may need new gas-fired power stations to decarbonise grid–Guardian
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 24, 2024
A ‘green new deal’ is Canada’s best hope of achieving a just carbon-zero transition
By Richard Sandbrook, Prof emeritus Political Science, Affiliated with Science for Peace,
https://theconversation.com/a-green-new-deal-is-canadas-best-hope-of-achieving-a-just-carbon-zero-transition-231670
Something radical needs to be done, whether we like it or not. Modest policy measures, such as a carbon tax, might have sufficed if they had been adopted in the 1980s (when the science of climate change was already established). Reversing global warming at this late stage requires more extensive action. A green new deal could be just the kind of radical action needed to save us all.
There is no easy way out.
[SEPP Comment: Bold, painful solutions to a non-problem.]
Paying the price for Great British Energy
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 25, 2024
“’While Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer are warning of a ‘difficult’ autumn Budget to deal with the ‘crisis’ in the public finances, the Government is getting on with the business of spending vast sums of taxpayers’ money on its pursuit of net zero.’”
This is Why Electricity Costs Twice as Much in Britain as in the USA
By John Fernley, The Daily Sceptic, July 19, 2024
The cost of Contracts for Difference
By Bruno Prior, No Tricks Zone, July 20, 2024
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/the-cost-of-contracts-for-difference
[SEPP Comment: Issues on fixed subsidies and problems with the reported data for wind output. See link immediately below.]
CfDs: Facts v Myths
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 26, 2024
NZW has a long detailed analysis of how CfDs work.
I would like to add some actual numbers to it:
Given the facts we do have at hand, while diversity of energy supply is important, there is clearly not an economic case for continuance of CfDs. Investors should take the risk themselves, and not customers.
If we could walk that way…
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
A new report from a “Net Zero Advisory Body” warns Canada’s Trudeau administration that they’d better cut the denialism and start owning the huge cost of the green energy transition. “Net zero policy developments must consider the cost of living challenges facing many Canadians,” it said.
Energy Issues – Australia
The more renewables Australia added the more expensive electricity got
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 25, 2024
If Australia gets any more free, cheap energy we’ll go broke
The Energy Transition Ain’t Happening: Hydrogen in Australia
By Francis Menton, WUWT, July 21, 2024
Energy Issues — US
A Positive Energy Agenda for America
By Iddo Wernick, Real Clear Energy, July 23, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/23/a_positive_energy_agenda_for_america_1046613.html
Finally, instead of fear, a positive national energy agenda must be based on hope for the future. In exchange for the false certainty about a climate calamity, plans for the future should focus on improving the lives of all Americans.
Energy Independence Is American Independence
By Staff, the Empowerment Alliance, Accessed July 26, 2024
A Natura Gas special interest group
Energy Sound Bites on Fossil Fuels, Part 1
Easy-to-remember arguments for using more fossil fuels
By Alex Epstein, His Blog, July 20, 2024
https://alexepstein.substack.com/p/energy-sound-bites-on-fossil-fuels?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=513601&post_id=146531303&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
U.S. Hits Record High Electricity Generation From Natural Gas
By Julianne Geiger, Oil Price.com, July 25, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/US-Hits-Record-High-Electricity-Generation-From-Natural-Gas.html
Washington’s Control of Energy
Running Up That Hill – Three-Pronged Plan To Refill SPR Comes With Challenges Beyond Price
By Sheela Tobben, RBN Energy, July 24, 2024
https://rbnenergy.com/running-up-that-hill-three-pronged-plan-to-refill-spr-comes-with-challenges-beyond-price
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Keep This Party Going – More LNG Export Projects Vying For Startup On Canada’s West Coast
By Martin King, RBN Energy, July 19, 2024
https://rbnenergy.com/keep-this-party-going-more-lng-export-projects-vying-for-startup-on-canadas-west-coast
[SEPP Comment: With the first terminal scheduled to deliver over 1.5 Billion cubic feet per day by April 2025 to Asia, German leaders must be disgusted with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who told them there is no market for Canadian LNG.]
Propane Beyond Your Grill: Renewable Propane and DME Are Lighting a Path to Emission Reductions
By Michael McAdams, Real Clear Energy, July 25, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/25/propane_beyond_your_grill_renewable_propane_and_dme_are_lighting_a_path_to_emission_reductions_1047209.html
Blending renewable dimethyl ether (DME) into propane is one of the ways the industry is looking at reducing its carbon footprint.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Expect the unexpected
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, July 24, 2024
[SEPP Comment: The California Duck has its belly full.]
Offshore wind whale deaths indicated by statistical analysis
By David Wojick, CFACT, July 22, 20224
Offshore wind whale deaths indicated by statistical analysis
Link to article: Professor Makes Stunning Discovery: ‘Absolutely, 100 percent, Offshore Wind Kills Whales
By Donna Anderson, Climate Change Dispatch, July 19, 2024
[SEPP Comment: This is not confirmation, but support of the assertion that is far stronger than EPA’s finding that CO2 is a pollutant.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
In Search of the Next Shale
The growing momentum behind geologic hydrogen.
By Doomberg, Its Blog, July 22,2024
https://newsletter.doomberg.com/p/in-search-of-the-next-shale?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=343139&post_id=146760944&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Natural Hydrogen?
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Ford’s EV Bloodbath Continues
FoMoCo lost $47,585 for each EV sold in Q2, GE Vernova calls offshore turbine blade failure a “manufacturing deviation”
By Robert Bryce, His Blog, July 24, 2024
https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/fords-ev-bloodbath-continues?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=630873&post_id=146972186&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=f7h7&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
[SEPP Comment: Has the slogan for critics of the company changed from FORD stood for Fix or Repair Daily to Foolish Obedience to Ridicules Dictates?]
To make EV’s our battery band aid for a wounded grid we need another $10b in inverters
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, July 26, 2024
Historians will look back on this era and describe it as a case study in corruption and mass delusion. The great capitalist free market of Adam Smith exists only in limited pockets that masquerade as “free choice”.
Carbon Schemes
Converting captured carbon to fuel: Study assesses what’s practical and what’s not
Press Release, University of Colorado at Boulder, July 22, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/07/240722155154.htm
Link to paper: Closing the Loop: Unexamined Performance Trade-Offs of Integrating Direct Air Capture with (Bi)carbonate Electrolysis
By Hussain M. Almajed, et al., American Chemical Society (ACS) Energy Letters, May 1, 2024
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsenergylett.4c00807
From the article: The root of the problem
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a team of scientists convened by the United Nations, carbon dioxide removal “is required to achieve global and national targets of net zero CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.”
[SEPP Comment: The root of the problem is the UN IPCC?]
How the failure of carbon capture risks causing a net zero nightmare
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 24, 2024
California Dreaming
Quantifying California’s Brave EV Future
By Edward Ring, What’s Current? Accessed July 25, 2024
https://mailchi.mp/calpolicycenter/whats-current-issue-377926?e=cd9fa89d1e
California to Launch ‘Hydrogen Hub’ to Expand Zero-Emission Technology
The project will include more than 10 sites to produce energy for the ports of Long Beach, Oakland, and Los Angeles.
By Summer Lane The Epoch Times, July 21, 2024 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/california-to-launch-hydrogen-hub-to-expand-zero-emission-technology-5691079?ea_src=frontpage&ea_med=latest-news-posts-0?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=ZeroHedge&src_src=partner&src_cmp=ZeroHedge
California regulators step up support for offshore wind
By Sharon Udasin, The Hill, July 22, 2024
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4786447-california-regulators-offshore-wind
[SEPP Comment: Why are regulatory agencies promoting specific industries?]
Health, Energy, and Climate
Climate Warriors are Colonizing Medicine
By Ben Pile, The Daily Sceptic, July 19, 2024
The condition of this infection is anomie – “instability resulting from a breakdown of standards and values or from a lack of purpose or ideals”. Only doctors – those who have yet to be infected by it – can stop the spread.
Environmental Industry
Natural Gas Industry’s Smear of Coal Is False and Self-Defeating
By Gregory Wrightstone, Real Clear Energy, July 22, 2024
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2024/07/22/natural_gas_industrys_smear_of_coal_is_false_and_self-defeating_1046060.html
[SEPP Comment: The late Aubrey McClendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, a natural gas exploration and production company, helped fund the Sierra Club’s beyond coal campaign. Then, the Sierra Club launched its Beyond Gas campaign.]
Utah’s The Independent is Right, Climate Activism Ignores or Harms the World’s Poor
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, July 25, 2024
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Climate Criminals
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 23, 2024
A new organisation called Climate Criminals is calling on the International Criminal Court to bring charges against a large number of businessmen and others from what they call the polluter industrial complex, who they deem to be guilty of various crimes against the climate.
From Press Release: New York City, United States–A new research project, Climate Criminals, has been launched today in Union Square, New York City, beneath the Climate Clock to charge 24 individuals who bear responsibility for delaying action on climate change and locking the US and planet Earth onto a trajectory to blow past 1.5°C temperature rises.
[SEPP Comment: Crimes against future generations and the Earth.?]
Historic England encourages heat pumps in heritage homes
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, July 26, 2024
“The body, a main reference for councils considering planning applications, has written new advice on making heritage buildings more green.” [Boldface by Homewood”
ARTICLES
1. The Best Quick Fix for Climate Change? Curbing Methane
The greenhouse gas warms the planet far more than carbon dioxide but dissipates more quickly. There are many promising ways to cut emissions.
By Rob Jackson, WSJ, July 25, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/the-best-quick-fix-for-climate-change-curbing-methane-b342b192?mod=hp_listc_pos1
TWTW Summary Another silly article in the Wall Street Journal to which Ken Haapala added to the comments section: As with government reports, the professor of earth science ignores Earth’s atmosphere. Starting in 1859, John Tyndall conducted research showing that what he called greenhouse gases, primarily water vapor, keep land masses from deeply freezing at night, killing all vegetation. Water vapor makes the influence of methane on temperatures trivial. Knowledge that doesn’t exist in government reports.
*******************
2. Wall Street Wants In on America’s Battery Storage Boom
Solar surge lets battery companies charge up when power prices are low, sell when high
By Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ, July 17, 2024
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/wall-street-wants-in-on-americas-battery-storage-boom-861f5f1f?mod=djemclimate
TWTW Summary: The article begins:
“Sheldon Kimber sees a lucrative opportunity in bottling sunshine.
The 46-year-old entrepreneur is installing hundreds of giant batteries the size of shipping containers around sun-soaked Texas and California. The batteries charge up during the day when solar power is abundant. When electricity demand rises in the evening, straining the power grid, Kimber sells that stored energy at higher prices.
Kimber is betting that surging power demand and extreme weather events will make it an increasingly profitable trade.
‘The only thing we can guarantee in the energy transition is that volatility will increase,’ said Kimber, chief executive of renewable energy developer Intersect Power.
Kimber is part of a nationwide race to profit from battery storage, which helps stabilize the outdated power grid and smooth out intermittent electricity sources such as wind and solar. It is a rapidly growing sector that is being fueled by a boom in solar energy and billions of dollars from Washington and Wall Street.
In one of the largest battery storage deals, Intersect is raising $837 million in debt and equity tied to tax credits from Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and HPS Investment Partners.
The money will fund three giant battery storage projects in Texas. Together, the 258 Tesla Megapack batteries will be able to provide enough power for nearly 400,000 homes for two hours when they begin operating in the coming months, Intersect says.”
The article does not discuss the cost of electricity to the consumers, just the benefits of subsidies and tax credits to Wall Street investors. Further evidence that the effect of the Inflation Reduction Act is to increase the wealth of the wealthy and those who take advantage of such legislation.
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