WUWT
"Now BEST is telling us it is the media who refuses to hold back on reporting preprints? Give me a freaking break.
Either the Muller team is grossly incompetent at public relations, or they are playing a unbelievably stupid game of CYA after the fact due to the negative reactions they are getting to the “press before peer review” fiasco they brought on themselves.
Either way, it’s gobsmackingly unscrupulous of them to now blame the media."
Monday, 31 October 2011
Climate Change: Global Flatlining
Guido Fawkes
"The claims by the likes of George Monbiot and others that the respectable scientific world was at one and those of us sceptical of the alarmist’s claims were in denial ring increasingly hollow. Public opinion is turning sceptical, suspecting rightly that this is just another racket to raise taxes. Temperatures have not been rising for a decade contrary to the global warming theories under-pinning the outlandish claims of the alarmists. Our supposed invisible carbon threat reminds Guido of the emperor’s new clothes – seen only by fools deceived by charlatans."
"The claims by the likes of George Monbiot and others that the respectable scientific world was at one and those of us sceptical of the alarmist’s claims were in denial ring increasingly hollow. Public opinion is turning sceptical, suspecting rightly that this is just another racket to raise taxes. Temperatures have not been rising for a decade contrary to the global warming theories under-pinning the outlandish claims of the alarmists. Our supposed invisible carbon threat reminds Guido of the emperor’s new clothes – seen only by fools deceived by charlatans."
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Another decline hidden
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"But not only did that warmist media misunderstand the debate, it overhyped a study that’s now being disowned by one of its own authors:.... "
"But not only did that warmist media misunderstand the debate, it overhyped a study that’s now being disowned by one of its own authors:.... "
Brrr…the Troposphere Is Ignoring Your SUV
Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.
"For those tracking the daily global temperature updates at the Discover website, you might have noticed the continuing drop this month in global temperatures. .....I just thought it was an interesting curiosity during a time when some pundits are claiming global warming is “accelerating”. Apparently, they are still stuck in the last millennium. "
"For those tracking the daily global temperature updates at the Discover website, you might have noticed the continuing drop this month in global temperatures. .....I just thought it was an interesting curiosity during a time when some pundits are claiming global warming is “accelerating”. Apparently, they are still stuck in the last millennium. "
Record snowfall for “climate action day” in New York
WUWT
"It just doesn’t get any better than this. The Occupy Wall Street Mob had a “Climate Justice Day” scheduled for today. I don’t think they figured on a “Nightmare on Wall Street” irony like this."
"It just doesn’t get any better than this. The Occupy Wall Street Mob had a “Climate Justice Day” scheduled for today. I don’t think they figured on a “Nightmare on Wall Street” irony like this."
Lying, cheating climate scientists caught lying, cheating again
Telegraph
"...Heaven forfend that a distinguished professor from Berkeley University should actually have been caught out telling a lie direct. No, clearly what has happened here is that Professor Muller has made the kind of mistake any self-respecting climate scientist could make: gone to press with some extravagant claims without having a smidgen of evidence to support them.
Here, to help the good professor out, is a chart produced by the Global Warming Policy Foundation's David Whitehouse. It was plotted from BEST's own figures.Note how the 10 year trend from 2001 to 2010 – in flat contradiction of Muller's claims – shows no warming whatsoever. What's odd that BEST appears to have gone to great trouble – shades of "hide the decline", anyone? – to disguise this inconvenient truth."
"...Heaven forfend that a distinguished professor from Berkeley University should actually have been caught out telling a lie direct. No, clearly what has happened here is that Professor Muller has made the kind of mistake any self-respecting climate scientist could make: gone to press with some extravagant claims without having a smidgen of evidence to support them.
Here, to help the good professor out, is a chart produced by the Global Warming Policy Foundation's David Whitehouse. It was plotted from BEST's own figures.Note how the 10 year trend from 2001 to 2010 – in flat contradiction of Muller's claims – shows no warming whatsoever. What's odd that BEST appears to have gone to great trouble – shades of "hide the decline", anyone? – to disguise this inconvenient truth."
Three million on the East Coast could be without power for DAYS after New York was hit by deadly October snow storm... and there's more on the way
Daily Mail
#Governors declare states of emergency in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York
#Pennsylvania man, 84, dies as tree crashes into his home as he has had a nap. Another dead in Connecticut. Man electrocuted in Massachusetts.
#In excess of 2.3million people from Maryland to New England lost power, with some predicting it could be off for days
#Earliest New York City one-inch snowfall since records began
#More than 1,000 flights in or out of America cancelled
#Parts of North East receive more than two feet of snow as records tumble
#Only fourth time since Civil War that snow has fallen in NYC in October
#Governors declare states of emergency in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York
#Pennsylvania man, 84, dies as tree crashes into his home as he has had a nap. Another dead in Connecticut. Man electrocuted in Massachusetts.
#In excess of 2.3million people from Maryland to New England lost power, with some predicting it could be off for days
#Earliest New York City one-inch snowfall since records began
#More than 1,000 flights in or out of America cancelled
#Parts of North East receive more than two feet of snow as records tumble
#Only fourth time since Civil War that snow has fallen in NYC in October
David Whitehouse: Best Confirms Global Temperature Standstill
Climate Realists
"When examined more objectively Best data confirms the global temperature standstill of the past decade. That the standstill should be present in land only data is remarkable. There have been standstills in land temperature before, but the significance of the past decade is that it is in the era of mankind’s postulated influence on climate through greenhouse gas forcing. Predictions made many times in the past few years suggest that warming should be the strongest and fastest in the land data. ....We make a big deal of the temperature going up. In my view we should make a bigger scientific deal about temperature flatlining for a decade or more in the face of rising CO2 levels. If further scrutiny of the Best dataset confirms this finding we will have new questions about the nature and balance of oceanic and land warming.
The fact that Best confirms the global temperature hiatus and shows that it is apparent in land only data is significant, and in my view its major scientific finding, so far. It is puzzling that they missed it."
"When examined more objectively Best data confirms the global temperature standstill of the past decade. That the standstill should be present in land only data is remarkable. There have been standstills in land temperature before, but the significance of the past decade is that it is in the era of mankind’s postulated influence on climate through greenhouse gas forcing. Predictions made many times in the past few years suggest that warming should be the strongest and fastest in the land data. ....We make a big deal of the temperature going up. In my view we should make a bigger scientific deal about temperature flatlining for a decade or more in the face of rising CO2 levels. If further scrutiny of the Best dataset confirms this finding we will have new questions about the nature and balance of oceanic and land warming.
The fact that Best confirms the global temperature hiatus and shows that it is apparent in land only data is significant, and in my view its major scientific finding, so far. It is puzzling that they missed it."
Scientist who said climate change sceptics had been proved wrong accused of hiding truth by colleague
Daily Mail
"But today The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that BEST’s research shows global warming has stopped.
Prof Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America’s prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Prof Muller’s claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a ‘huge mistake’, with no scientific basis. Prof Curry is a distinguished climate researcher with more than 30 years experience and the second named co-author of the BEST project’s four research papers. Her comments, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, seem certain to ignite a furious academic row. She said this affair had to be compared to the notorious ‘Climategate’ scandal two years ago. Like the scientists exposed then by leaked emails from East Anglia University’s Climatic Research Unit, her colleagues from the BEST project seem to be trying to ‘hide the decline’ in rates of global warming.
In fact, Prof Curry said, the project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Mail on Sunday has obtained.‘There is no scientific basis for saying that warming hasn’t stopped,’ she said. ‘To say that there is detracts from the credibility of the data, which is very unfortunate.’
However, Prof Muller denied warming was at a standstill."
-----------------------
However, he admitted it was true that the BEST data suggested that world temperatures have not risen for about 13 years. But in his view, this might not be ‘statistically significant’, although, he added, it was equally possible that it was – a statement which left other scientists mystified.‘I am baffled as to what he’s trying to do,’ Prof Curry said. Prof Ross McKitrick, a climate statistics expert from Guelph University in Ontario, added: ‘You don’t look for statistically significant evidence of a standstill.‘You look for statistically significant evidence of change.’ .....‘For the Berkeley team to have chosen this particular moment to launch a major international publicity blitz is a highly unethical sabotage of the peer review process.’ In Prof Curry’s view, two of the papers were not ready to be published, in part because they did not properly address the arguments of climate sceptics.As for the graph disseminated to the media, she said: ‘This is “hide the decline” stuff. Our data show the pause, just as the other sets of data do. Muller is hiding the decline."
"But today The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a leading member of Prof Muller’s team has accused him of trying to mislead the public by hiding the fact that BEST’s research shows global warming has stopped.
Prof Judith Curry, who chairs the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at America’s prestigious Georgia Institute of Technology, said that Prof Muller’s claim that he has proven global warming sceptics wrong was also a ‘huge mistake’, with no scientific basis. Prof Curry is a distinguished climate researcher with more than 30 years experience and the second named co-author of the BEST project’s four research papers. Her comments, in an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, seem certain to ignite a furious academic row. She said this affair had to be compared to the notorious ‘Climategate’ scandal two years ago. Like the scientists exposed then by leaked emails from East Anglia University’s Climatic Research Unit, her colleagues from the BEST project seem to be trying to ‘hide the decline’ in rates of global warming.
In fact, Prof Curry said, the project’s research data show there has been no increase in world temperatures since the end of the Nineties – a fact confirmed by a new analysis that The Mail on Sunday has obtained.‘There is no scientific basis for saying that warming hasn’t stopped,’ she said. ‘To say that there is detracts from the credibility of the data, which is very unfortunate.’
However, Prof Muller denied warming was at a standstill."
-----------------------
However, he admitted it was true that the BEST data suggested that world temperatures have not risen for about 13 years. But in his view, this might not be ‘statistically significant’, although, he added, it was equally possible that it was – a statement which left other scientists mystified.‘I am baffled as to what he’s trying to do,’ Prof Curry said. Prof Ross McKitrick, a climate statistics expert from Guelph University in Ontario, added: ‘You don’t look for statistically significant evidence of a standstill.‘You look for statistically significant evidence of change.’ .....‘For the Berkeley team to have chosen this particular moment to launch a major international publicity blitz is a highly unethical sabotage of the peer review process.’ In Prof Curry’s view, two of the papers were not ready to be published, in part because they did not properly address the arguments of climate sceptics.As for the graph disseminated to the media, she said: ‘This is “hide the decline” stuff. Our data show the pause, just as the other sets of data do. Muller is hiding the decline."
Snow smacks Northeast; power could be out for days
Yahoo News /AP
"SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) — Millions of people from Maine to Maryland were without power as an unseasonably early nor'easter dumped heavy, wet snow over the weekend on a region more used to gaping at leaves in October than shoveling snow. The snow was due to stop falling in New England late Sunday, but Halloween will likely come and go before many of the more than 3 million without electricity see it restored, officials warned. Several officials referred to the combination of its early arrival and its ferocity as historic, yet another unwelcome superlative for weather-weary Northeasterners. .....The storm smashed record snowfall totals for October and worsened as it moved north. Communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Snowfall totals topped 27 inches in Plainfield, and nearby Windsor had gotten 26 inches by early Sunday. It was blamed for at least three deaths, and states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York. ....October snowfall is rare in New York, and Saturday marked just the fourth October day with measurable snowfall in Central Park since record-keeping began 135 years ago, the National Weather Service said."
"SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) — Millions of people from Maine to Maryland were without power as an unseasonably early nor'easter dumped heavy, wet snow over the weekend on a region more used to gaping at leaves in October than shoveling snow. The snow was due to stop falling in New England late Sunday, but Halloween will likely come and go before many of the more than 3 million without electricity see it restored, officials warned. Several officials referred to the combination of its early arrival and its ferocity as historic, yet another unwelcome superlative for weather-weary Northeasterners. .....The storm smashed record snowfall totals for October and worsened as it moved north. Communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Snowfall totals topped 27 inches in Plainfield, and nearby Windsor had gotten 26 inches by early Sunday. It was blamed for at least three deaths, and states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York. ....October snowfall is rare in New York, and Saturday marked just the fourth October day with measurable snowfall in Central Park since record-keeping began 135 years ago, the National Weather Service said."
Saturday, 29 October 2011
Chris Huhne is not merely ignorant but positively dangerous
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"Chris Huhne demonstrated again last week his breathtaking unfitness to run Britain’s “energy and climate change” policy. ......This confirmation of Huhne’s technical illiteracy, however, pales beside his suggestion earlier this month that, if motorway speed limits are raised to 80mph, it should only be for electric cars. (One might have thought Huhne would be wiser to steer away from any discussion of speed limits.)"
"Chris Huhne demonstrated again last week his breathtaking unfitness to run Britain’s “energy and climate change” policy. ......This confirmation of Huhne’s technical illiteracy, however, pales beside his suggestion earlier this month that, if motorway speed limits are raised to 80mph, it should only be for electric cars. (One might have thought Huhne would be wiser to steer away from any discussion of speed limits.)"
U.S. Hurricanes: worse than we thought…100 years ago
WUWT
"This historical reanalysis by NOAA shows U.S. hurricane landfalls were much more frequent in the past. For example, did you know that the busiest U.S. hurricane season ever was in 1886? Bill McKibben, Joe Romm and other “severe weather is climate” posers won’t like this because it blows the whole “CO2 is causing more hurricanes” argument right out of the water."
"This historical reanalysis by NOAA shows U.S. hurricane landfalls were much more frequent in the past. For example, did you know that the busiest U.S. hurricane season ever was in 1886? Bill McKibben, Joe Romm and other “severe weather is climate” posers won’t like this because it blows the whole “CO2 is causing more hurricanes” argument right out of the water."
Friday, 28 October 2011
Not a “denier”, and nothing denied
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"Professor Richard A. Muller made clear in 2008 that he was a warmist who was happy if some alarmists exaggerated in the right cause: .......This week the warmist media, exaggerating in the right cause, presents him as a sceptic all along who has now seen the light: .......And even after all that, what Muller actually says is what few most sceptics would argue with:
Global warming is real. Perhaps our results will help cool this portion of the climate debate. How much of the warming is due to humans and what will be the likely effects? We made no independent assessment of that.
And a few other missing pieces:
First, the reports have not yet been peer reviewed. Also, the BEST project conclusions were based solely on land data and did not include ocean data. "
"Professor Richard A. Muller made clear in 2008 that he was a warmist who was happy if some alarmists exaggerated in the right cause: .......This week the warmist media, exaggerating in the right cause, presents him as a sceptic all along who has now seen the light: .......And even after all that, what Muller actually says is what few most sceptics would argue with:
Global warming is real. Perhaps our results will help cool this portion of the climate debate. How much of the warming is due to humans and what will be the likely effects? We made no independent assessment of that.
And a few other missing pieces:
First, the reports have not yet been peer reviewed. Also, the BEST project conclusions were based solely on land data and did not include ocean data. "
Explaining Muller vs. Muller: is BEST blissfully unaware of cosmic-ray-cloud theory?
WUWT
"Here is the puzzle, as noted by Nigel Calder and others: how can BEST insist that a modicum of additional evidence of late 20th century warming should put skepticism of the CO2-warming theory to rest, while at the same time admitting that they never even tried to examine the possible causes of warming?"
"Here is the puzzle, as noted by Nigel Calder and others: how can BEST insist that a modicum of additional evidence of late 20th century warming should put skepticism of the CO2-warming theory to rest, while at the same time admitting that they never even tried to examine the possible causes of warming?"
Muller Data Proves That He Is A Skeptic
Real Science
"CO2 rose at an unprecedented record rate over the last decade, and temperatures went down. By contrast, from 1910 to 1940 temperatures rose very fast while CO2 hardly increased at all."
"CO2 rose at an unprecedented record rate over the last decade, and temperatures went down. By contrast, from 1910 to 1940 temperatures rose very fast while CO2 hardly increased at all."
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Nature pans BEST and Muller PR antics, prints letter from Dr. Singer
WUWT
"The BEST (Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature) results in no way confirm the scientifically discredited Hockeystick graph, which had been so eagerly adopted by climate alarmists. In fact, the Hockeystick authors never published their post-1978 temperatures in their 1998 paper in Nature ? or since. The reason for hiding them? It's likely that those proxy data show no warming either. Why don't you ask them?"
"The BEST (Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature) results in no way confirm the scientifically discredited Hockeystick graph, which had been so eagerly adopted by climate alarmists. In fact, the Hockeystick authors never published their post-1978 temperatures in their 1998 paper in Nature ? or since. The reason for hiding them? It's likely that those proxy data show no warming either. Why don't you ask them?"
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Rahmstorf’s new heat wave cherry twisty
WUWT
"Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. says exactly what I thought: this new paper from Rahmstorf is untrustworthy."
"Dr. Roger Pielke Jr. says exactly what I thought: this new paper from Rahmstorf is untrustworthy."
The Games Climate Scientists Play
Roger Pielke, Jr.
"[UPDATE: At Real Climate Stefan Rahmstorf has a long and laborious post trying to explain not only the 1911 cherry pick, but several others that defy convention in attribution studies. In the comments below I publish Stefan's response to my query -- They used "trends" (using a new definition of that term in climate science) such that the "trend" from 1911 is the same as that from 1880. Look at the graph below and ask yourself how that can be -- Climate science as ink blot.]
Here is another good example why I have come to view parts of the climate science research enterprise with a considerable degree of distrust."
"[UPDATE: At Real Climate Stefan Rahmstorf has a long and laborious post trying to explain not only the 1911 cherry pick, but several others that defy convention in attribution studies. In the comments below I publish Stefan's response to my query -- They used "trends" (using a new definition of that term in climate science) such that the "trend" from 1911 is the same as that from 1880. Look at the graph below and ask yourself how that can be -- Climate science as ink blot.]
Here is another good example why I have come to view parts of the climate science research enterprise with a considerable degree of distrust."
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Rewriting The Past At The Ministry Of Truth
Real Science
"In 1975, NCAR generated this graph of global cooling. Temperatures plummeted from 1945 to at least 1970. .....In 2011, Richard Muller published this graph, showing that it never happened."
"In 1975, NCAR generated this graph of global cooling. Temperatures plummeted from 1945 to at least 1970. .....In 2011, Richard Muller published this graph, showing that it never happened."
As Pressure Mounts, Chris Huhne Signals Approval Of Shale Exploration
GWPF
"Mr Huhne said: “If it transpires that the early indications we have received from Cuadrilla about the size of the find under Lancashire are correct, there will clearly be an impact on gas prices within the UK. We have already seen that gas prices in the United States are half of those in the UK and the rest of Europe and are even lower than the prices for gas in the Far East. This is a very important development and all our policy framework is designed to make sure that we can provide affordable, clean electricity at the cheapest possible price to British consumers in the long run. If that means cheap gas, then obviously the technological imperative is to go forward with carbon capture and storage so that we can use that gas in an environmentally friendly manner.”
ED Can the UK afford Mr Huhne ?
"Mr Huhne said: “If it transpires that the early indications we have received from Cuadrilla about the size of the find under Lancashire are correct, there will clearly be an impact on gas prices within the UK. We have already seen that gas prices in the United States are half of those in the UK and the rest of Europe and are even lower than the prices for gas in the Far East. This is a very important development and all our policy framework is designed to make sure that we can provide affordable, clean electricity at the cheapest possible price to British consumers in the long run. If that means cheap gas, then obviously the technological imperative is to go forward with carbon capture and storage so that we can use that gas in an environmentally friendly manner.”
ED Can the UK afford Mr Huhne ?
British energy landscape shifted a month ago, old media waking up now…
JoNova (Australia)
"In the UK, gargantuan (as in wow!#$) amounts of cheap energy were discovered a month ago, yet it seemingly hasn’t changed the political landscape. (Or, then again, maybe it did? I gather no one in the UK government seems to be admitting it, but from afar, it looks like a lot of clunker UK policies have not-coincidentally got the boot in the last month.) Overtly, it’s been the gift no one wanted to open… but possibly a few in power are well aware of what’s under wraps and it is influencing policies?"
"In the UK, gargantuan (as in wow!#$) amounts of cheap energy were discovered a month ago, yet it seemingly hasn’t changed the political landscape. (Or, then again, maybe it did? I gather no one in the UK government seems to be admitting it, but from afar, it looks like a lot of clunker UK policies have not-coincidentally got the boot in the last month.) Overtly, it’s been the gift no one wanted to open… but possibly a few in power are well aware of what’s under wraps and it is influencing policies?"
Monday, 24 October 2011
German Meteorologists: “Horror Winter” To Hit Central Europe
NoTricksZone
"Wetter.net predicts December in Germany should see a fair amount of snow with good chances for a white Christmas. Temperatures will be around normal.. January will see temperatures plummet and the month will be considerably colder than normal. Central Europeans can expect to see temperatures to fall as low as -25°C."
"Wetter.net predicts December in Germany should see a fair amount of snow with good chances for a white Christmas. Temperatures will be around normal.. January will see temperatures plummet and the month will be considerably colder than normal. Central Europeans can expect to see temperatures to fall as low as -25°C."
Are US Floods Increasing? The Answer is Still No.
Roger Pielke, Jr
"A new paper out today in the Hydrological Sciences Journal shows that flooding has not increased in the United States over records of 85 to 127 years. This adds to a pile of research that shows similar results around the world. This result is of course consistent with our work that shows that increasing damage related to weather extremes can be entirely explained by societal changes, such as more property in harm's way. In fact, in the US flood damage has decreased dramatically as a fraction of GDP, which is exactly whet you get if GDP goes up and flooding does not."
"A new paper out today in the Hydrological Sciences Journal shows that flooding has not increased in the United States over records of 85 to 127 years. This adds to a pile of research that shows similar results around the world. This result is of course consistent with our work that shows that increasing damage related to weather extremes can be entirely explained by societal changes, such as more property in harm's way. In fact, in the US flood damage has decreased dramatically as a fraction of GDP, which is exactly whet you get if GDP goes up and flooding does not."
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Countries Leaving Kyoto Process – Kyoto Countries May Soon Be Down To Only 16% Of Global CO2 Emissions!
NoTricksZone
"The German online CO2 Handel here writes that things are looking bleaker than ever for a Kyoto successor climate treaty. Once again German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen has dumped more cold water on expectations for a climate treaty in Durban later this year. "
"The German online CO2 Handel here writes that things are looking bleaker than ever for a Kyoto successor climate treaty. Once again German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen has dumped more cold water on expectations for a climate treaty in Durban later this year. "
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Chris Huhne condemns us all to fuel poverty
Telegraph
"There have been faint glimmerings of reality, lately, breaking in on that dreamworld into which our politicians have been led by their obsession with global warming. As soaring energy bills – up by 18 per cent – help to push inflation to its highest level for 20 years, everything the Government has done to “fight climate change” has also been driving millions more people into “fuel poverty”. Last week, a new study suggested that this is already causing 2,700 deaths a year in England and Wales. ......So at least there are faint signs that a crunch is approaching, where it becomes obvious that our climate change make-believe can only lead to economic suicide. As yet, however, no vestige of reality seems to have entered the head of Mr Huhne. Last week he was again lamenting on the Today programme that we cannot afford to depend for our electricity on ever-rising imports of natural gas – without mentioning that our best hope of keeping Britain’s lights on is our vast potential reserve of shale gas. He hates this because it offers the prospect of electricity so much cheaper than that from his useless windmills. "
"There have been faint glimmerings of reality, lately, breaking in on that dreamworld into which our politicians have been led by their obsession with global warming. As soaring energy bills – up by 18 per cent – help to push inflation to its highest level for 20 years, everything the Government has done to “fight climate change” has also been driving millions more people into “fuel poverty”. Last week, a new study suggested that this is already causing 2,700 deaths a year in England and Wales. ......So at least there are faint signs that a crunch is approaching, where it becomes obvious that our climate change make-believe can only lead to economic suicide. As yet, however, no vestige of reality seems to have entered the head of Mr Huhne. Last week he was again lamenting on the Today programme that we cannot afford to depend for our electricity on ever-rising imports of natural gas – without mentioning that our best hope of keeping Britain’s lights on is our vast potential reserve of shale gas. He hates this because it offers the prospect of electricity so much cheaper than that from his useless windmills. "
World is warming. Pope is Catholic.
WUWT
"Quite an effort has been made by many people (including Dr Richard Muller) to portray the BEST pre-pre-pre-papers as some kind of death blow against climate skepticism, as if the whole debate had been a sports match with everybody pigeonholed in two opposite camps: here, the noble scientists finding out the world is warming; there, the ignoble skeptics pretending the world is not warming.
Needless to say, it’s all the usual crass, outdated lie."
"Quite an effort has been made by many people (including Dr Richard Muller) to portray the BEST pre-pre-pre-papers as some kind of death blow against climate skepticism, as if the whole debate had been a sports match with everybody pigeonholed in two opposite camps: here, the noble scientists finding out the world is warming; there, the ignoble skeptics pretending the world is not warming.
Needless to say, it’s all the usual crass, outdated lie."
Global warming is real
Telegraph
""The planet has been warming," says a new study of temperature records, conducted by Berkeley professor Richard Muller. I wonder what he'll be telling us next: that night follows day? That water is wet? That great white sharks have nasty pointy teeth? That sheep go "baaaa"?
No, the only surprising part of the results of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project is the good professor's chutzpah in trying to present them as new or surprising – let alone any kind of blow to the people he calls "skeptics" (or, when speaking to his friends at the Guardian, "deniers").
....... It has been a truth long acknowledged by climate sceptics, deniers and realists of every conceivable hue that since the mid-19th century, the planet has been on a warming trend – emerging, as it has been, from a widely known phenomenon known as the Little Ice Age. A period which in turn was preceded by the even better known Medieval Warming Period.
This is why the standard rebuttal to the term "climate change denier" is: "But I don't deny that climate changes. I recognise that it has done so since the dawn of time. What I question is not the process of climate change, but what causes is it, whether it represents a problem and whether there's anything we can do about it other than sensible mitigation."
""The planet has been warming," says a new study of temperature records, conducted by Berkeley professor Richard Muller. I wonder what he'll be telling us next: that night follows day? That water is wet? That great white sharks have nasty pointy teeth? That sheep go "baaaa"?
No, the only surprising part of the results of the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project is the good professor's chutzpah in trying to present them as new or surprising – let alone any kind of blow to the people he calls "skeptics" (or, when speaking to his friends at the Guardian, "deniers").
....... It has been a truth long acknowledged by climate sceptics, deniers and realists of every conceivable hue that since the mid-19th century, the planet has been on a warming trend – emerging, as it has been, from a widely known phenomenon known as the Little Ice Age. A period which in turn was preceded by the even better known Medieval Warming Period.
This is why the standard rebuttal to the term "climate change denier" is: "But I don't deny that climate changes. I recognise that it has done so since the dawn of time. What I question is not the process of climate change, but what causes is it, whether it represents a problem and whether there's anything we can do about it other than sensible mitigation."
Friday, 21 October 2011
The Paul Ehrlich Of Climatology Reveals His Latest Halloween Horror Visions
NoTricksZone
"Obviously he appears unaware of the fact that the Arctic all but melted away in the 1950s (see photo above) before rebounding to the record high levels of the 70s."
"Obviously he appears unaware of the fact that the Arctic all but melted away in the 1950s (see photo above) before rebounding to the record high levels of the 70s."
Professor Judith Curry: IPCC “WG2 And WG3 Reports Pretty Much Belong In The Dustbin”
NoTricksZone
"Judith Curry at Climate Etc here does a good job reviewing the book. She gave it 4.5 stars (professors rarely give out A+s), which means two solid thumbs up. I was particularly amused by her comment:
Does the problems with the IPCC mean that WG1 science is incorrect? Not necessarily, but I agree that a “new trial” is needed. WG2 and WG3 reports pretty much belong in the dustbin, as far as I can tell.”
"Judith Curry at Climate Etc here does a good job reviewing the book. She gave it 4.5 stars (professors rarely give out A+s), which means two solid thumbs up. I was particularly amused by her comment:
Does the problems with the IPCC mean that WG1 science is incorrect? Not necessarily, but I agree that a “new trial” is needed. WG2 and WG3 reports pretty much belong in the dustbin, as far as I can tell.”
Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Children
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"How Kevin Rudd sold the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
The first thing I’d say is the IPCC - International (sic) Panel on Climate Change - scientists has 4000 essentially humourless scientists in white coats who go around and measure things and have been doing so for about 20 years.
But an explosive new book reveals the IPCC is actually stuffed with young activists, rather than leading scientists, Reader Michael summarises:
Here are some excerpts from the book The Delinquent Teenager written by Danna Laframboise, a Canadian investigative journalist. The details are priceless and beyond words. This is outrageous.
Her book chronicles how the IPCC participants are picked by governments, not for their scientific knowledge and expertise, but for their political connections and for “diversity.” Other issues she uncovers go as far as to say that approximately 1/3rd of the sources for the IPCC come from magazines, press releases and unpublished scientific papers. It also tables corruption, scandals, and conflicts of interest. The Summary for Policy Makers (i.e. our leaders) is compiled by bureaucrats not scientists and often completed before the articles they actually summarise are made available. "
----------------------
"So, how will this book be received by the climate establishment? First, I suspect that they will attempt to smear Laframboise as a denier. This is not the case. Her prime motivation seems to be a concern about free speech; she has a long standing involvement in free speech issues in Canada. ...." (Judith Curry)
"How Kevin Rudd sold the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change:
The first thing I’d say is the IPCC - International (sic) Panel on Climate Change - scientists has 4000 essentially humourless scientists in white coats who go around and measure things and have been doing so for about 20 years.
But an explosive new book reveals the IPCC is actually stuffed with young activists, rather than leading scientists, Reader Michael summarises:
Here are some excerpts from the book The Delinquent Teenager written by Danna Laframboise, a Canadian investigative journalist. The details are priceless and beyond words. This is outrageous.
Her book chronicles how the IPCC participants are picked by governments, not for their scientific knowledge and expertise, but for their political connections and for “diversity.” Other issues she uncovers go as far as to say that approximately 1/3rd of the sources for the IPCC come from magazines, press releases and unpublished scientific papers. It also tables corruption, scandals, and conflicts of interest. The Summary for Policy Makers (i.e. our leaders) is compiled by bureaucrats not scientists and often completed before the articles they actually summarise are made available. "
----------------------
"So, how will this book be received by the climate establishment? First, I suspect that they will attempt to smear Laframboise as a denier. This is not the case. Her prime motivation seems to be a concern about free speech; she has a long standing involvement in free speech issues in Canada. ...." (Judith Curry)
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Britain’s Green Huhnacy
GWPF
"But Cameron faces a political conundrum and one that could easily force him out of office. Two recent polls suggest the EU and Britain are set on a collision course over future energy and climate policies. In September, in a three-country poll (Britain, the U.S. and Canada) the Angus Reid Public Opinion organisation reported that less than half of Brits (43 percent) believe that global warming is a fact and/or is caused by human activity. That’s more than Americans (49 percent) or Canadians (52 percent) who share that view. According to the poll however, over 33 percent of Brits now favor economic growth above protecting the environment with 40 percent favoring the environment. That’s a massive 11 percent shift toward favoring economic growth above the environment since a poll the previous year. It is clear that a major proportion of the British electorate does not back Huhne’s obsession with carbon targets – and the cost to them it incurs."
"But Cameron faces a political conundrum and one that could easily force him out of office. Two recent polls suggest the EU and Britain are set on a collision course over future energy and climate policies. In September, in a three-country poll (Britain, the U.S. and Canada) the Angus Reid Public Opinion organisation reported that less than half of Brits (43 percent) believe that global warming is a fact and/or is caused by human activity. That’s more than Americans (49 percent) or Canadians (52 percent) who share that view. According to the poll however, over 33 percent of Brits now favor economic growth above protecting the environment with 40 percent favoring the environment. That’s a massive 11 percent shift toward favoring economic growth above the environment since a poll the previous year. It is clear that a major proportion of the British electorate does not back Huhne’s obsession with carbon targets – and the cost to them it incurs."
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
INDIAN OCEAN AND PACIFIC OCEAN SEA LEVEL SCANDAL UNFOLDING
ICSC
"ICSC science advisor Nils-Axel Mörner, PhD (Sea Level Changes and climate), Emeritus Professor of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden:
"Computer modelling by persons not having visited the sites in question is not good enough.”
“In the year 2000 we started an international sea level project in the Maldives where several distinguished experts took part,” he said, and he had been on six of those expeditions. “There is no ongoing rise in the sea level at all and since 1970, it fell by about 20 cm and has remained quite stable for the last 30 to 40 years.”
The team had investigated several different shore environments, including open coasts, rock cut platforms, sandy shores in erosion and such an overwhelming mass and quality of observational facts must outdo idle talk, he said, with reference to the IPCC reports." (H/T Climate Depot)
"ICSC science advisor Nils-Axel Mörner, PhD (Sea Level Changes and climate), Emeritus Professor of Paleogeophysics & Geodynamics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden:
"Computer modelling by persons not having visited the sites in question is not good enough.”
“In the year 2000 we started an international sea level project in the Maldives where several distinguished experts took part,” he said, and he had been on six of those expeditions. “There is no ongoing rise in the sea level at all and since 1970, it fell by about 20 cm and has remained quite stable for the last 30 to 40 years.”
The team had investigated several different shore environments, including open coasts, rock cut platforms, sandy shores in erosion and such an overwhelming mass and quality of observational facts must outdo idle talk, he said, with reference to the IPCC reports." (H/T Climate Depot)
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Cooling Planet – Europe Was 10°C Warmer 14 Million Years Ago
NoTricksZone
"That means Germany (Central Europe) had to have been a balmy place 15 million years ago. In fact it was about 10°C warmer than it is today, the fossil indicates. "
"That means Germany (Central Europe) had to have been a balmy place 15 million years ago. In fact it was about 10°C warmer than it is today, the fossil indicates. "
Not in our backyard, locals tell upbeat mining company
The Age (Australia)
"A MINING company searching for coal just outside Bacchus Marsh, about 50 kilometres west of Melbourne, says its early findings are much better than expected, with an estimated 1 to 2 billion tonnes of export-quality brown coal in the area. But West Australian company Mantle Mining could have a fight on its hands, with the local community bitterly opposed to its plans for an open-cut mine. ....The company has drilled four holes around Parwan, a farming community on the southern fringe of Bacchus Marsh, as part of a 15-hole exploration. It says two of the holes contain coal seams that are more than 50 metres thick, and that the cumulative coal thickness is 146 metres, which exceeds the company's expectations by more than 25 per cent. ......Friends of the Earth spokesman Cam Walker said approving any new coal mine in Victoria would be a retrograde step as the government should be focusing on renewable energy. ''The time for new coal developments is over in Victoria,'' Mr Walker said. ''There's no justification in general for new coal mining operations and certainly not in prime agricultural country.'' H/T Andrew Bolt
"A MINING company searching for coal just outside Bacchus Marsh, about 50 kilometres west of Melbourne, says its early findings are much better than expected, with an estimated 1 to 2 billion tonnes of export-quality brown coal in the area. But West Australian company Mantle Mining could have a fight on its hands, with the local community bitterly opposed to its plans for an open-cut mine. ....The company has drilled four holes around Parwan, a farming community on the southern fringe of Bacchus Marsh, as part of a 15-hole exploration. It says two of the holes contain coal seams that are more than 50 metres thick, and that the cumulative coal thickness is 146 metres, which exceeds the company's expectations by more than 25 per cent. ......Friends of the Earth spokesman Cam Walker said approving any new coal mine in Victoria would be a retrograde step as the government should be focusing on renewable energy. ''The time for new coal developments is over in Victoria,'' Mr Walker said. ''There's no justification in general for new coal mining operations and certainly not in prime agricultural country.'' H/T Andrew Bolt
More shootdown of the “severe weather is increasing” hype
WUWT
"We continue to feature evidence from throughout the scientific literature showing that storm activity around the planet is not increasing in activity, whether we feature extra-tropical or tropical storm events. While the global warming alarmists contend we are impacting these storms, the facts suggest otherwise."
"We continue to feature evidence from throughout the scientific literature showing that storm activity around the planet is not increasing in activity, whether we feature extra-tropical or tropical storm events. While the global warming alarmists contend we are impacting these storms, the facts suggest otherwise."
Monday, 17 October 2011
The Delinquent Teenager
Matt Ridley
"Donna Laframboise is a journalist and civil libertarian in Toronto, who made her name as a fearless investigative reporter in the 1990s. She has recently been investigating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has come up with startling results about how its reports are compiled. For those of us who took the IPCC's evaluations of climate at face value when they came out -- I know I did -- and thought that they were based on an impartial and careful process that relied on peer reviewed evidence, these revelations are shocking. Her book The Delinquent Teenager is now available on kindle and will shortly be in paperback. It is one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism in recent years. It demolishes the argument that we need the mainstream media because the blogosphere will never do the hard work of investigative journalism. The opposite is true."
"Donna Laframboise is a journalist and civil libertarian in Toronto, who made her name as a fearless investigative reporter in the 1990s. She has recently been investigating the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has come up with startling results about how its reports are compiled. For those of us who took the IPCC's evaluations of climate at face value when they came out -- I know I did -- and thought that they were based on an impartial and careful process that relied on peer reviewed evidence, these revelations are shocking. Her book The Delinquent Teenager is now available on kindle and will shortly be in paperback. It is one of the most important pieces of investigative journalism in recent years. It demolishes the argument that we need the mainstream media because the blogosphere will never do the hard work of investigative journalism. The opposite is true."
Gas against wind
Matt Ridley
"The best thing about cheap gas is whom it annoys. The Russians and the Iranians hate it because they thought they were going to corner the gas market in the coming decades. The greens hate it because it destroys their argument that fossil fuels are going to get more and more costly till even wind and solar power are competitive. The nuclear industry ditto. The coal industry will be a big loser (incidentally, as somebody who gets some income from coal, I declare that writing this article is against my vested interest).
Little wonder a furious attempt to blacken shale gas’s reputation is under way, driven by an unlikely alliance of big green, big coal, big nuclear and conventional gas producers. The environmental objections to shale gas are almost comically fabricated or exaggerated. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking uses 99.86% water and sand, the rest being a dilute solution of a few chemicals of the kind you find beneath your kitchen sink."
"The best thing about cheap gas is whom it annoys. The Russians and the Iranians hate it because they thought they were going to corner the gas market in the coming decades. The greens hate it because it destroys their argument that fossil fuels are going to get more and more costly till even wind and solar power are competitive. The nuclear industry ditto. The coal industry will be a big loser (incidentally, as somebody who gets some income from coal, I declare that writing this article is against my vested interest).
Little wonder a furious attempt to blacken shale gas’s reputation is under way, driven by an unlikely alliance of big green, big coal, big nuclear and conventional gas producers. The environmental objections to shale gas are almost comically fabricated or exaggerated. Hydraulic fracturing or fracking uses 99.86% water and sand, the rest being a dilute solution of a few chemicals of the kind you find beneath your kitchen sink."
You Don't Say: Cost Of Green Energy 40% Higher Than Government Estimates
GWPF
"Ontario residents could end up paying some of the highest costs for electricity in the developing world because providing wind and solar energy will cost about 40 per cent more than government estimates, according to a new study."
"Ontario residents could end up paying some of the highest costs for electricity in the developing world because providing wind and solar energy will cost about 40 per cent more than government estimates, according to a new study."
How many died in the great Blackpool earthquake of '11?
Telegraph
"My Spectator boss Fraser Nelson has made it his big new cause:
How big does Shale have to get before our policymakers wake up to its implications? There is an Energy Summit in No.10 today where Chris Huhne wants to focus on the need “to help consumers save money on their gas and electricity bills”. A preview interview on the Today programme underlined the dire situation. First, Huhne was not asked about how his own green regulations have massively contributed to the problem. Then, the managing director of British Gas was invited on to say that “unless someone discovers huge amounts of gas and imports it into the UK…”. And, bafflingly, no-one mentioned the small fact that one of BG’s rivals recently discovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas near Blackpool. As Matt Ridley says in this week’s Spectator, that’s enough to keep the entire British economy going for many decades. And it doesn’t even need importing."
"My Spectator boss Fraser Nelson has made it his big new cause:
How big does Shale have to get before our policymakers wake up to its implications? There is an Energy Summit in No.10 today where Chris Huhne wants to focus on the need “to help consumers save money on their gas and electricity bills”. A preview interview on the Today programme underlined the dire situation. First, Huhne was not asked about how his own green regulations have massively contributed to the problem. Then, the managing director of British Gas was invited on to say that “unless someone discovers huge amounts of gas and imports it into the UK…”. And, bafflingly, no-one mentioned the small fact that one of BG’s rivals recently discovered 200 trillion cubic feet of gas near Blackpool. As Matt Ridley says in this week’s Spectator, that’s enough to keep the entire British economy going for many decades. And it doesn’t even need importing."
Public Warning: Solar Climate Change: Piers Corbyn: Update for 16-21 Oct and 21-23 Oct (North Sea storm threat) – threat level increased.
Climate Realists: "However the return to warm weather originally expected for 19-20th will have been knocked out by the very active 17-18th Extra Top Red period - the expected brief return of High pressure being too weak."
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Greens buy 4x4s to save them from global cooling
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"Having been badly caught out by last winter’s ice and snow (see above), when its lack of road gritters provoked residents to a mood which, according to an official report, was “angry, vitriolic and even venomous”, Brighton council has spent £1 million on a new fleet of 4x4 gritters to ensure that, in the renewed blizzards predicted for this winter, the city’s roads are kept clear. Bully for them, you might think – what a far-sighted council. Except that, in May this year, the people of Brighton voted in Britain’s first Green council, electing 23 councillors who swept to power convinced that Brighton and the world were faced with catastrophe through runaway global warming. "
"Having been badly caught out by last winter’s ice and snow (see above), when its lack of road gritters provoked residents to a mood which, according to an official report, was “angry, vitriolic and even venomous”, Brighton council has spent £1 million on a new fleet of 4x4 gritters to ensure that, in the renewed blizzards predicted for this winter, the city’s roads are kept clear. Bully for them, you might think – what a far-sighted council. Except that, in May this year, the people of Brighton voted in Britain’s first Green council, electing 23 councillors who swept to power convinced that Brighton and the world were faced with catastrophe through runaway global warming. "
Nigel Lawson: Listen Up, BBC, The Climate Debate Is Far From Over
GWPF
"The BBC, in determining its policy towards the coverage of global warming, which is of course not simply a scientific issue but an economic and a political issue, too, ought to shred that section of the Jones review and revert to the impartiality laid down in its charter."
"The BBC, in determining its policy towards the coverage of global warming, which is of course not simply a scientific issue but an economic and a political issue, too, ought to shred that section of the Jones review and revert to the impartiality laid down in its charter."
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Room for one more? World population to reach 7 BILLION in next few days
Daily Mail
"The world's population looks set to smash through the seven billion barrier in the next few days, according to the United Nations. It comes just 12 years since the total reached six billion - with official estimates saying the figure will top eight billion in 2025 and 10 billion before the end of the century. ......Britain is mirroring the world's expansion. In 1801, its population was 10.5 million - and is now close to 62.5 million.
ED: This the real problem, not Carbon Dioxide Tax
"The world's population looks set to smash through the seven billion barrier in the next few days, according to the United Nations. It comes just 12 years since the total reached six billion - with official estimates saying the figure will top eight billion in 2025 and 10 billion before the end of the century. ......Britain is mirroring the world's expansion. In 1801, its population was 10.5 million - and is now close to 62.5 million.
ED: This the real problem, not Carbon Dioxide Tax
Friday, 14 October 2011
Plant trees, not carbon laws
WUWT
"The results of a 12-year study at an experimental forest in northeastern Wisconsin challenge several long-held assumptions about how future forests will respond to the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide blamed for human-caused climate change, said University of Michigan microbial ecologist Donald Zak, lead author of a paper published online this week in Ecology Letters.
“Some of the initial assumptions about ecosystem response are not correct and will have to be revised,” said Zak, a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts."
"The results of a 12-year study at an experimental forest in northeastern Wisconsin challenge several long-held assumptions about how future forests will respond to the rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide blamed for human-caused climate change, said University of Michigan microbial ecologist Donald Zak, lead author of a paper published online this week in Ecology Letters.
“Some of the initial assumptions about ecosystem response are not correct and will have to be revised,” said Zak, a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts."
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Billions will be wasted painting pork barrel green
The Australian
"SO it's done. But it's hardly a shining achievement. Even the government's hope is that by the next election most voters will have forgotten it. And who knows, like an unpleasant visit to the dentist, the climate change legislation may fade with time. But it will still be the most expensive dentist's visit in our history.
Not that the government is willing to admit it. That's understandable, for it knows the community is unwilling to make sacrifices for a policy that seems pointless. But even on Treasury's assumptions, the carbon tax will cost a year's national income: that is, $1 trillion."
"SO it's done. But it's hardly a shining achievement. Even the government's hope is that by the next election most voters will have forgotten it. And who knows, like an unpleasant visit to the dentist, the climate change legislation may fade with time. But it will still be the most expensive dentist's visit in our history.
Not that the government is willing to admit it. That's understandable, for it knows the community is unwilling to make sacrifices for a policy that seems pointless. But even on Treasury's assumptions, the carbon tax will cost a year's national income: that is, $1 trillion."
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Australia commits suicide
Telegraph
"Take Australia, an island built on fossil fuel with an economy dependent on fossil fuel. What would be the maddest economic policy a place like that could pursue as the world tips deeper into recession? Why, to introduce a carbon tax, of course. Which, for reasons just explained above, means a tax on absobloodylutely everything. Which is exactly what Julia Gillard's Coalition (why is it that word always makes me want to reach for my Browning?) has just gone and done, obviously.
What must be particularly galling to all the Australians (the majority) bitterly opposed to this lunatic measure is the unutterable feebleness of the arguments the Coalition is using to justify it."
"Take Australia, an island built on fossil fuel with an economy dependent on fossil fuel. What would be the maddest economic policy a place like that could pursue as the world tips deeper into recession? Why, to introduce a carbon tax, of course. Which, for reasons just explained above, means a tax on absobloodylutely everything. Which is exactly what Julia Gillard's Coalition (why is it that word always makes me want to reach for my Browning?) has just gone and done, obviously.
What must be particularly galling to all the Australians (the majority) bitterly opposed to this lunatic measure is the unutterable feebleness of the arguments the Coalition is using to justify it."
The repeal of the carbon tax
Catallaxy Files,Prof.Sinclair Davidson
"Much has been said of the difficulties in repealing the carbon tax legislation – with the Government introducing many poison pills to thwart the intentions of future Parliaments and future generations. Partly this hinges on the creation of property rights which would be extremely expensive to repurchase (under the ‘just terms’ provision of section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution).
Both Labor and the Greens have declared that they will actively subvert the will of the people should an Abbott Government be elected with an express promise to repeal the legislation. This would, we’re told, require a double dissolution and potentially a joint sitting of Parliament.
But there is a simpler way – a Referendum."
"Much has been said of the difficulties in repealing the carbon tax legislation – with the Government introducing many poison pills to thwart the intentions of future Parliaments and future generations. Partly this hinges on the creation of property rights which would be extremely expensive to repurchase (under the ‘just terms’ provision of section 51(xxxi) of the Constitution).
Both Labor and the Greens have declared that they will actively subvert the will of the people should an Abbott Government be elected with an express promise to repeal the legislation. This would, we’re told, require a double dissolution and potentially a joint sitting of Parliament.
But there is a simpler way – a Referendum."
Tax triumphalism not a good look
Chris Kenny, The Australian
"THE disconnect between the political/media fishbowl and mainstream Australia is often stark. We have seen a clear demonstration of that with the Prime Minister and her team applauding, kissing and congratulating each other on the passage of their carbon (dioxide) tax bills through the House of Representatives. Only yesterday Newspoll showed a massive primary vote split of 49 to 29 between the dominant, anti-carbon (dioxide) tax Coalition and the struggling, pro-carbon (dioxide) tax Labor government.
Climate change ranked as the lowest priority of the main issues for voters, and even then, more people thought the Coalition would handle the issue best. Polls have shown that well over half the population opposes the carbon (dioxide) tax and little more than a third support it. Simply, the tax is unpopular.
Yet in the rarefied atmosphere of Canberra, Labor MPs publicly pat themselves on the back for passing it. The political myopia of this self-congratulation is stunning. It only makes a bad situation worse. Labor promised not to introduce a carbon (dioxide) tax and there is already a good deal of anger from voters about the broken promise. It is being expressed through talkback radio, letters to newspapers, and polling results."
"THE disconnect between the political/media fishbowl and mainstream Australia is often stark. We have seen a clear demonstration of that with the Prime Minister and her team applauding, kissing and congratulating each other on the passage of their carbon (dioxide) tax bills through the House of Representatives. Only yesterday Newspoll showed a massive primary vote split of 49 to 29 between the dominant, anti-carbon (dioxide) tax Coalition and the struggling, pro-carbon (dioxide) tax Labor government.
Climate change ranked as the lowest priority of the main issues for voters, and even then, more people thought the Coalition would handle the issue best. Polls have shown that well over half the population opposes the carbon (dioxide) tax and little more than a third support it. Simply, the tax is unpopular.
Yet in the rarefied atmosphere of Canberra, Labor MPs publicly pat themselves on the back for passing it. The political myopia of this self-congratulation is stunning. It only makes a bad situation worse. Labor promised not to introduce a carbon (dioxide) tax and there is already a good deal of anger from voters about the broken promise. It is being expressed through talkback radio, letters to newspapers, and polling results."
Promise broken, promise made
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"Julia Gillard promised at the last election that “there will be no carbon (dioxide) tax under the government I lead”. This morning: The government’s carbon tax package was passed 74 votes to 72, with applause from the government benches as legislation was passed with the support of independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, and Greens MP Adam Bandt.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott makes a promise even more definite:
But Mr Abbott said he was more determined than ever to axe the carbon (dioxide) price if he became prime minister. “We will repeal this tax, we will dismantle the bureaucracy associated with it,” Mr Abbott said. “I am giving you the most definite commitment any politician can give that this tax will go. This is a pledge in blood this tax will go...”
If Abbott is elected. he’ll have no option but to repeal the tax, no matter what that will cost. "
"Julia Gillard promised at the last election that “there will be no carbon (dioxide) tax under the government I lead”. This morning: The government’s carbon tax package was passed 74 votes to 72, with applause from the government benches as legislation was passed with the support of independents Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, and Greens MP Adam Bandt.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott makes a promise even more definite:
But Mr Abbott said he was more determined than ever to axe the carbon (dioxide) price if he became prime minister. “We will repeal this tax, we will dismantle the bureaucracy associated with it,” Mr Abbott said. “I am giving you the most definite commitment any politician can give that this tax will go. This is a pledge in blood this tax will go...”
If Abbott is elected. he’ll have no option but to repeal the tax, no matter what that will cost. "
Climate of green fear awaits us
Herald Sun (Australia)
"YOU could almost cut the hubris with a knife in Canberra, when the carbon (dioxide) tax legislation was passed as expected in the lower house. ....Brown went on to list the usual climate scares: a "wrecked Great Barrier Reef and Murray-Darling Basin", "no ski fields left by the middle of the century" and 700,000 coastal properties doomed. Of course he never explains that a carbon (dioxide) tax in Australia will make zero difference to the climate. But his chutzpah knows no bounds. Even as protesters were being thrown out of the public gallery, Brown claimed that Australia "in the main" wants the carbon (dioxide) tax, when polls show that support for a carbon (dioxide) tax collapsed this year. The latest Newspoll even found that climate change slipped to last place of the ten most important issues in the minds of Australians. And for the first time, voters judge the Coalition better able to handle climate change, 31 per cent to 28 per cent.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the carbon (dioxide) tax."
"YOU could almost cut the hubris with a knife in Canberra, when the carbon (dioxide) tax legislation was passed as expected in the lower house. ....Brown went on to list the usual climate scares: a "wrecked Great Barrier Reef and Murray-Darling Basin", "no ski fields left by the middle of the century" and 700,000 coastal properties doomed. Of course he never explains that a carbon (dioxide) tax in Australia will make zero difference to the climate. But his chutzpah knows no bounds. Even as protesters were being thrown out of the public gallery, Brown claimed that Australia "in the main" wants the carbon (dioxide) tax, when polls show that support for a carbon (dioxide) tax collapsed this year. The latest Newspoll even found that climate change slipped to last place of the ten most important issues in the minds of Australians. And for the first time, voters judge the Coalition better able to handle climate change, 31 per cent to 28 per cent.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement of the carbon (dioxide) tax."
This is science? This is progress?
Bishop Hill
"Reports on Progress in Physics, a journal published by the Institute of Physics here in the UK, has published a paper by Raymond Orbach, an engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. It's available in return for free registration, and I actually think it's worth it, if only because it's so toe-curling."
"Reports on Progress in Physics, a journal published by the Institute of Physics here in the UK, has published a paper by Raymond Orbach, an engineer at the University of Texas at Austin. It's available in return for free registration, and I actually think it's worth it, if only because it's so toe-curling."
Our sustainable mirth
WUWT
"Bishop Hill writes of a new paper, one so “toe curling” it is worth mentioning here to get more exposure. He writes: ......In fact, absence of citations is a bit of an issue. Here’s how Orbach starts to deal with claims about the medieval warm period.
Climate scientists now understand that the Medieval Warm Period was caused by an increase in solar radiation and a decrease in volcanic activity, which both promote warming. Other evidence suggests ocean circulation patterns shifted to bring warmer seawater into the North Atlantic. Those kinds of natural changes have not been detected in the past few decades.
Interesting claims – but where did they come from? We are not told. We are expected to take Prof Obach on trust. At the risk of repeating myself, one would never get away with this kind of thing on a blog.
(PS: Note to Prof Orbach – the ocean near the top of the globe is the Arctic (with a c in the middle). And it’s Santer not Senter."
"Bishop Hill writes of a new paper, one so “toe curling” it is worth mentioning here to get more exposure. He writes: ......In fact, absence of citations is a bit of an issue. Here’s how Orbach starts to deal with claims about the medieval warm period.
Climate scientists now understand that the Medieval Warm Period was caused by an increase in solar radiation and a decrease in volcanic activity, which both promote warming. Other evidence suggests ocean circulation patterns shifted to bring warmer seawater into the North Atlantic. Those kinds of natural changes have not been detected in the past few decades.
Interesting claims – but where did they come from? We are not told. We are expected to take Prof Obach on trust. At the risk of repeating myself, one would never get away with this kind of thing on a blog.
(PS: Note to Prof Orbach – the ocean near the top of the globe is the Arctic (with a c in the middle). And it’s Santer not Senter."
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Who funds the Climate Alarmists?
Telegraph
"A few days ago, none of you will have noticed, the New York Times's tragically well-meaning environmental columnist Andy Revkin ran a flow chart on his blog – produced by two US academics with evidently an awful lot of time on their hands – showing the mechanisms of the EVIL CLIMATE DENIAL MACHINE (TM).
I personally was very disappointed in it. For one thing, it did not show the $10 million per day the Koch Brothers funnel directly into my account for the deliberate lies I tell on their behalf about Man Made Global Warming. "
"A few days ago, none of you will have noticed, the New York Times's tragically well-meaning environmental columnist Andy Revkin ran a flow chart on his blog – produced by two US academics with evidently an awful lot of time on their hands – showing the mechanisms of the EVIL CLIMATE DENIAL MACHINE (TM).
I personally was very disappointed in it. For one thing, it did not show the $10 million per day the Koch Brothers funnel directly into my account for the deliberate lies I tell on their behalf about Man Made Global Warming. "
Britain's major independent television broadcaster today joins major national newspapers in finally accepting that man-made global warming is history.
Climate Realists
"The ITV weather presenter explained, "UV emissions go through an eleven-year sequence of high UV emissions and low UV emissions and this affects wind speed and direction and that, of course, affects our weather and so they [scientists] are thinking that when there is low UV activity we are in for a freezing cold winter."
This announcement from a mainstream TV broadcaster, is matched by similar stories this week in the UK national printed press. The big news shift runs counter to the global warming policies steadfastly pursued by the British government and trumpeted (until now) by the media. This rift could well set alight a fresh political controversy."
"The ITV weather presenter explained, "UV emissions go through an eleven-year sequence of high UV emissions and low UV emissions and this affects wind speed and direction and that, of course, affects our weather and so they [scientists] are thinking that when there is low UV activity we are in for a freezing cold winter."
This announcement from a mainstream TV broadcaster, is matched by similar stories this week in the UK national printed press. The big news shift runs counter to the global warming policies steadfastly pursued by the British government and trumpeted (until now) by the media. This rift could well set alight a fresh political controversy."
Monday, 10 October 2011
Green Europe Imperiled as Debt Crisis Triggers 46% Carbon Market Collapse
Climate Change Dispatch
"The European sovereign debt crisis that’s spread from Greece to Italy and is roiling the region’s banks now has another potential victim: energy policy."
"The European sovereign debt crisis that’s spread from Greece to Italy and is roiling the region’s banks now has another potential victim: energy policy."
New Climate Scare: Europe May be Facing Return Of ‘Little Ice Age’
WUWT
"Britain should brace itself for another freezing winter with the return of La Niña, a climate phenomenon known to disrupt global weather, ministers have warned. The warning coincides with research from the Met Office suggesting Europe could be facing a return of the “little ice age” that gripped Britain 300 years ago, causing decades of bitter winters. The prediction, to be published in Nature, is based on observations showing a slight fall in the sun’s emissions of ultraviolet radiation, which over a long period may trigger mini ice ages in Europe."
"Britain should brace itself for another freezing winter with the return of La Niña, a climate phenomenon known to disrupt global weather, ministers have warned. The warning coincides with research from the Met Office suggesting Europe could be facing a return of the “little ice age” that gripped Britain 300 years ago, causing decades of bitter winters. The prediction, to be published in Nature, is based on observations showing a slight fall in the sun’s emissions of ultraviolet radiation, which over a long period may trigger mini ice ages in Europe."
Carbon markets still a "fraudster's playground", report claims
ClickGreen
"The report shows that while IETA has blamed a “lack of action from the side of the regulators” for the cases of carbon fraud, its lobby strategy has been driven by a desire to find new opportunities for speculation by whatever means are necessary.
In January 2011, the European Commission halted trading on a key part of the carbon market after the latest in a series of large fraud cases was uncovered.
According to Carbon Trade Watch, less than a month later and with the suspension still partly in place, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA, the main carbon traders’ lobby group) was privately insisting to Brussels officials that “there might be no need to regulate this market”. (H/T Climate Depot)
"The report shows that while IETA has blamed a “lack of action from the side of the regulators” for the cases of carbon fraud, its lobby strategy has been driven by a desire to find new opportunities for speculation by whatever means are necessary.
In January 2011, the European Commission halted trading on a key part of the carbon market after the latest in a series of large fraud cases was uncovered.
According to Carbon Trade Watch, less than a month later and with the suspension still partly in place, the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA, the main carbon traders’ lobby group) was privately insisting to Brussels officials that “there might be no need to regulate this market”. (H/T Climate Depot)
Sunday, 9 October 2011
How climate change zealots are wrecking every last industry this country possesses
Daily Mail
"The Chancellor acknowledged that a decade of environmental laws had been piling unnecessary costs on households and companies, adding that Britain was not going to save the planet by putting ourselves out of business. He was referring in particular to the Climate Change Act, famously passed by the House of Commons in October 2008 by 463 votes to three, even as the snow was falling outside. By the Government's own estimate, it would cost £404 billion to implement – £760 per household every year for four decades. .....Tens of thousands have been pushed into fuel poverty. Firms that could not pass on their costs moved abroad. Huge tranches of the aluminium industry have disappeared, one major firm having moved to the Emirates in October 2009 – taking 300 workers from Anglesey who had to follow to keep their jobs. ......Particularly affected is the chemical industry, which contributes £30 million a day to the British economy. Major chemical multinationals are now looking to move production to places such as South Africa, India and China. There, under a global carbon credit scheme, we actually subsidise them by giving them credits – which they then sell back to our industries, making huge profits.
I haven't even mentioned the madness of the wind machines. Subsidies, paid for by consumers, make wind power three times more costly than the normal tariff electricity. But as the pull of the subsidies draws investment away from new conventional plants, the spectre of power cuts looms large. Caught in this vice of increasing 'green' costs and subsidised competition, the manufacturing industries which Osborne hopes will lead the UK recovery simply cannot survive."
"The Chancellor acknowledged that a decade of environmental laws had been piling unnecessary costs on households and companies, adding that Britain was not going to save the planet by putting ourselves out of business. He was referring in particular to the Climate Change Act, famously passed by the House of Commons in October 2008 by 463 votes to three, even as the snow was falling outside. By the Government's own estimate, it would cost £404 billion to implement – £760 per household every year for four decades. .....Tens of thousands have been pushed into fuel poverty. Firms that could not pass on their costs moved abroad. Huge tranches of the aluminium industry have disappeared, one major firm having moved to the Emirates in October 2009 – taking 300 workers from Anglesey who had to follow to keep their jobs. ......Particularly affected is the chemical industry, which contributes £30 million a day to the British economy. Major chemical multinationals are now looking to move production to places such as South Africa, India and China. There, under a global carbon credit scheme, we actually subsidise them by giving them credits – which they then sell back to our industries, making huge profits.
I haven't even mentioned the madness of the wind machines. Subsidies, paid for by consumers, make wind power three times more costly than the normal tariff electricity. But as the pull of the subsidies draws investment away from new conventional plants, the spectre of power cuts looms large. Caught in this vice of increasing 'green' costs and subsidised competition, the manufacturing industries which Osborne hopes will lead the UK recovery simply cannot survive."
Saturday, 8 October 2011
“…somebody had to say it”
WUWT
"Dr. Judith Curry writes about the UCAR meeting she attended: .......Climate scientists have this very naive understanding of the policy process, which is aptly described by the A+B=C model in the context of the precautionary principle. This naive understanding is reflected in the palpable frustration of many climate scientists at the failure of the “truth” as they “know” it to influence global and national energy and climate policy. This frustration has degenerated into using to word “denier” to refer to anyone who disagrees with them on either the science or the policy solution.
The path that we seem to be on, whereby the science is settled and all we need is better communication and translation of the science to policy makers, not only has the potential to seriously mislead decision makers, but also to destroy atmospheric and climate science in the process."
"Dr. Judith Curry writes about the UCAR meeting she attended: .......Climate scientists have this very naive understanding of the policy process, which is aptly described by the A+B=C model in the context of the precautionary principle. This naive understanding is reflected in the palpable frustration of many climate scientists at the failure of the “truth” as they “know” it to influence global and national energy and climate policy. This frustration has degenerated into using to word “denier” to refer to anyone who disagrees with them on either the science or the policy solution.
The path that we seem to be on, whereby the science is settled and all we need is better communication and translation of the science to policy makers, not only has the potential to seriously mislead decision makers, but also to destroy atmospheric and climate science in the process."
AD 1764-1791: The First Climate Change and Geoengineering Acts
TUNOCC
"..There we go then: climate and geoengineering legislation officially based on science, but on a “science” in turn based on activism takings its inspiration from the science-free humanity- and material-progress-hating thoughts of a distant philosopher (Rousseau).
Nothing new under the sun. Science-based policy, it ain’t."
"..There we go then: climate and geoengineering legislation officially based on science, but on a “science” in turn based on activism takings its inspiration from the science-free humanity- and material-progress-hating thoughts of a distant philosopher (Rousseau).
Nothing new under the sun. Science-based policy, it ain’t."
“Global warming is a bogus proposition…”
WUWT
"That headline from Zhang Musheng, one of China’s most influential intellectuals according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. .....From the article:
A new study by the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency shows China now emits far more greenhouse emissions than any other country, with emissions doubling between 2003 and 2010. China’s carbon emissions rose 10 per cent last year alone, to 9 billion tonnes, compared with 5.2 billion tonnes for the United States. The report showed India’s emissions also rose rapidly, by 9 per cent, although its total emissions are still only one-fifth of China’s. The most startling finding, however, is that China’s per capita emissions are now higher than several rich nations including France and Italy. China’s per capita emissions could even overtake the US within six years, the study said."
"That headline from Zhang Musheng, one of China’s most influential intellectuals according to this article in the Sydney Morning Herald. .....From the article:
A new study by the Netherlands Environment Assessment Agency shows China now emits far more greenhouse emissions than any other country, with emissions doubling between 2003 and 2010. China’s carbon emissions rose 10 per cent last year alone, to 9 billion tonnes, compared with 5.2 billion tonnes for the United States. The report showed India’s emissions also rose rapidly, by 9 per cent, although its total emissions are still only one-fifth of China’s. The most startling finding, however, is that China’s per capita emissions are now higher than several rich nations including France and Italy. China’s per capita emissions could even overtake the US within six years, the study said."
Friday, 7 October 2011
Fraser Nelson: The Osborne Doctrine
GWPF
"In the midst of the excitement from the Conservative Party conference, and distractions from Italian courtrooms, not enough attention was given to an radical declaration made by George Osborne. In one of the few important pronouncements to have come from the lectern, he declared: “Let’s at the very least resolve that we’re going to cut our carbon emissions no slower but also no faster than our fellow countries in Europe.” There is no mistaking the meaning of his words. And while it might not sound much, it was a piece of open defiance. .........Osborne is trying to navigate Britain away from what looks increasing like a second world recession. But as he so rightly said last week, we do not save the planet by running British business into the ground. The LibDems will wish to ignore his conference speech, but its implications are clear. A new era of climate realism is long overdue, and the Osborne doctrine calling an end to unilateral carbon policies is urgently needed. We look forward to its implementation."
"In the midst of the excitement from the Conservative Party conference, and distractions from Italian courtrooms, not enough attention was given to an radical declaration made by George Osborne. In one of the few important pronouncements to have come from the lectern, he declared: “Let’s at the very least resolve that we’re going to cut our carbon emissions no slower but also no faster than our fellow countries in Europe.” There is no mistaking the meaning of his words. And while it might not sound much, it was a piece of open defiance. .........Osborne is trying to navigate Britain away from what looks increasing like a second world recession. But as he so rightly said last week, we do not save the planet by running British business into the ground. The LibDems will wish to ignore his conference speech, but its implications are clear. A new era of climate realism is long overdue, and the Osborne doctrine calling an end to unilateral carbon policies is urgently needed. We look forward to its implementation."
Thursday, 6 October 2011
THE END OF AUSTRALIA
Telegraph (Australia)
“Want to know what global warming has in store for us?” asks Rolling Stone magazine. “Just go to Australia, where rivers are drying up, reefs are dying, and fires and floods are ravaging the continent.” Jeff Goodell reports: .......After all of this, Goodell carries on for another 5120 hilariously doom-laden words. His conclusion:
We walk for a while, watching all the happy people strolling along the boardwalk and drinking wine in cafes and surfing the waves. The sun is shining, and everything is lovely. Too bad that it all has to go.
Too bad he had to show up. Bye, Jeff. "
“Want to know what global warming has in store for us?” asks Rolling Stone magazine. “Just go to Australia, where rivers are drying up, reefs are dying, and fires and floods are ravaging the continent.” Jeff Goodell reports: .......After all of this, Goodell carries on for another 5120 hilariously doom-laden words. His conclusion:
We walk for a while, watching all the happy people strolling along the boardwalk and drinking wine in cafes and surfing the waves. The sun is shining, and everything is lovely. Too bad that it all has to go.
Too bad he had to show up. Bye, Jeff. "
Huhne's Green Madness: Household Energy Crisis Looms
GWPF
"The average household energy bill now stands at £1,293 per year, which is 14% short of the affordability threshold.
£1,500 a year spent on energy would be the absolute tipping point for households as 77% confessed that any more would send them over the edge.
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, commented; "This is a wake-up call and the clearest evidence yet that the UK is on the brink of an affordability crisis when it comes to household energy. We are now just £207 or 14% away from hitting an affordability ceiling after which consumers will start rationing their usage as though they are living in the third world.”
"The average household energy bill now stands at £1,293 per year, which is 14% short of the affordability threshold.
£1,500 a year spent on energy would be the absolute tipping point for households as 77% confessed that any more would send them over the edge.
Ann Robinson, Director of Consumer Policy at uSwitch, commented; "This is a wake-up call and the clearest evidence yet that the UK is on the brink of an affordability crisis when it comes to household energy. We are now just £207 or 14% away from hitting an affordability ceiling after which consumers will start rationing their usage as though they are living in the third world.”
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
Questions for the Chief Scientist
Quadrant Online (Australia)
"Chubb dismisses arguments that climate change is driven primarily by natural events, not AGHG emissions. "You don't get the Arctic ice melt just by natural events,” he said. “You can't reproduce it through modelling if you just factor in natural events. But if you factor in human activity, then you get what's happening and you get the reduction.”
But how can one “just factor in natural events” when our knowledge of their causes is somewhere between partial and incomplete; when there are no laws of climate change in “the science”, or proven causal linkages? Does any climate model have genuine predictive power? Does evidence of changes in the natural world prove they are “dangerous” and wholly our fault? Is public confidence in climate science low because of its reluctance – or inability - to answer such questions?
Multi-million dollar advertising campaigns depicting carbon dioxide as “carbon pollution” are not working. Will monetising carbon dioxide (taxing us) really enable the government to, as it claims, manipulate the climate, the frequency of “extreme weather events”, save national “icons” and so on?"
"Chubb dismisses arguments that climate change is driven primarily by natural events, not AGHG emissions. "You don't get the Arctic ice melt just by natural events,” he said. “You can't reproduce it through modelling if you just factor in natural events. But if you factor in human activity, then you get what's happening and you get the reduction.”
But how can one “just factor in natural events” when our knowledge of their causes is somewhere between partial and incomplete; when there are no laws of climate change in “the science”, or proven causal linkages? Does any climate model have genuine predictive power? Does evidence of changes in the natural world prove they are “dangerous” and wholly our fault? Is public confidence in climate science low because of its reluctance – or inability - to answer such questions?
Multi-million dollar advertising campaigns depicting carbon dioxide as “carbon pollution” are not working. Will monetising carbon dioxide (taxing us) really enable the government to, as it claims, manipulate the climate, the frequency of “extreme weather events”, save national “icons” and so on?"
UK Shale Gas Could Shake Government Coalition
Energy Tribune,JAMES DELINGPOLE
"Whatever happens, the solution won't be easy. Under the terms of the 2010 Climate Act, Britain is the only country in the world legally bound to a program of carbon emissions reduction. Between now and 2050, the British taxpayer is expected to stump up £18.3 billion every year, as part of an ambitious scheme to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.
On top of this, one of Prime Minister David Cameron's first gestures on assuming power was to announce his intention of leading the "greenest government ever." Shale gas is not, of course, as carbon unfriendly as coal. But "fracking" is very much a dirty word among vociferous environmental campaigners. They won't let Britain turn into Gasland without a very bitter fight.
So who's going to win? Ultimately, I predict, it will be a case of "follow the money." If Britain's economic prospects seem grim now, imagine how much worse they're going to feel in six months' time as a battered population emerges from what is forecast to be another freezing winter, with less money in their pocket (energy bills recently rose, on average by 15 per cent), with wind farms popping up like Bubonic plague pustules on their favorite stretch of countryside, and an economy being dragged ever further downward by the European sovereign debt crisis.
At times like this, the government minister responsible for deciding whether or not Britain continues to commit energy suicide will not be the Minister in charge of Energy. It will be the Minister in charge of the purse strings: George Osborne - not Chris Huhne. " (H/T Climate Realists)
"Whatever happens, the solution won't be easy. Under the terms of the 2010 Climate Act, Britain is the only country in the world legally bound to a program of carbon emissions reduction. Between now and 2050, the British taxpayer is expected to stump up £18.3 billion every year, as part of an ambitious scheme to reduce CO2 emissions by 80 per cent.
On top of this, one of Prime Minister David Cameron's first gestures on assuming power was to announce his intention of leading the "greenest government ever." Shale gas is not, of course, as carbon unfriendly as coal. But "fracking" is very much a dirty word among vociferous environmental campaigners. They won't let Britain turn into Gasland without a very bitter fight.
So who's going to win? Ultimately, I predict, it will be a case of "follow the money." If Britain's economic prospects seem grim now, imagine how much worse they're going to feel in six months' time as a battered population emerges from what is forecast to be another freezing winter, with less money in their pocket (energy bills recently rose, on average by 15 per cent), with wind farms popping up like Bubonic plague pustules on their favorite stretch of countryside, and an economy being dragged ever further downward by the European sovereign debt crisis.
At times like this, the government minister responsible for deciding whether or not Britain continues to commit energy suicide will not be the Minister in charge of Energy. It will be the Minister in charge of the purse strings: George Osborne - not Chris Huhne. " (H/T Climate Realists)
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Better things to buy than offsets
Ziggy Switkowski, The Australian
"When it comes to greenhouse gases, Treasury modelling points to about a 1 per cent reduction in global emissions in 2050 arising from Australia's purchases of carbon credits on the international market at a cumulative cost of more than $600 billion ....Finally, for much less than $600bn Australia could have a national network of nuclear power stations to provide 100 per cent of our electricity needs safely and cost-effectively with near zero greenhouse gas emissions. There'd be money left over to build a central repository for spent fuel and other nuclear waste as well as to start an enrichment industry, and to buy and maintain nuclear submarines.
All our stationary energy emission targets would be easily met, and society and industry would have something to point to for their dollars. The intensity of the political debate and media commentary reflects an assumption that climate change is the headline issue of modern times. But is it, and how might all that effort and money be better allocated? I think that's a debate worth having.
Ziggy Switkowski is chancellor of RMIT University."
"When it comes to greenhouse gases, Treasury modelling points to about a 1 per cent reduction in global emissions in 2050 arising from Australia's purchases of carbon credits on the international market at a cumulative cost of more than $600 billion ....Finally, for much less than $600bn Australia could have a national network of nuclear power stations to provide 100 per cent of our electricity needs safely and cost-effectively with near zero greenhouse gas emissions. There'd be money left over to build a central repository for spent fuel and other nuclear waste as well as to start an enrichment industry, and to buy and maintain nuclear submarines.
All our stationary energy emission targets would be easily met, and society and industry would have something to point to for their dollars. The intensity of the political debate and media commentary reflects an assumption that climate change is the headline issue of modern times. But is it, and how might all that effort and money be better allocated? I think that's a debate worth having.
Ziggy Switkowski is chancellor of RMIT University."
WWF Influence at the Highest Levels of the IPCC
Donna Laframboise (Canada)
"That leaves us with 32 people who might be considered world-class scientists. But among those are:
IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri – who is thoroughly tainted by the fact that he writes forewords for Greenpeace publications
Bill Hare – a longtime Greenpeace employee who is considered a legend in that organization
and – who’d have guessed it? – 9 other people with documented links to the World Wildlife Fund. These nine individuals belong to the Climate Witness Scientific Advisory Panel about which I have been reporting recently. Their names are Osvaldo Canziani, Saleemul Huq, David Karoly, Zbigniew Kundzewicz, Monirul Mirza, Leonard Nurse, Nijavalli Ravindranath, the late Stephen Schneider, and Gary Yohe.
So of the 32 members of the IPCC’s core writing team that we might have expected to be world-class scientists, 11 of them (34%) are publicly affiliated with environmental NGOs."
"That leaves us with 32 people who might be considered world-class scientists. But among those are:
IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri – who is thoroughly tainted by the fact that he writes forewords for Greenpeace publications
Bill Hare – a longtime Greenpeace employee who is considered a legend in that organization
and – who’d have guessed it? – 9 other people with documented links to the World Wildlife Fund. These nine individuals belong to the Climate Witness Scientific Advisory Panel about which I have been reporting recently. Their names are Osvaldo Canziani, Saleemul Huq, David Karoly, Zbigniew Kundzewicz, Monirul Mirza, Leonard Nurse, Nijavalli Ravindranath, the late Stephen Schneider, and Gary Yohe.
So of the 32 members of the IPCC’s core writing team that we might have expected to be world-class scientists, 11 of them (34%) are publicly affiliated with environmental NGOs."
Monday, 3 October 2011
After Carbon
Matt Ridley
"Robert Laughlin, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in quantum physics, takes a rather different view. He thinks that "one can't find much actual global warming in present-day weather observations" and that "the final demise of carbon burning is so far away, perhaps ten generations, that it's quite irrelevant to energy problems of today." And so in "Powering the Future" he takes up the problem of energy use two centuries from now, on the assumption that it will take that long for us to run out of, or give up, fossil fuels."
"Robert Laughlin, who won a Nobel Prize for his work in quantum physics, takes a rather different view. He thinks that "one can't find much actual global warming in present-day weather observations" and that "the final demise of carbon burning is so far away, perhaps ten generations, that it's quite irrelevant to energy problems of today." And so in "Powering the Future" he takes up the problem of energy use two centuries from now, on the assumption that it will take that long for us to run out of, or give up, fossil fuels."
George Osborne Vows UK Won't Go It Alone On Carbon Targets
GWPF
"In a potentially explosive intervention, Osborne insisted the government will only cut emissions in line with its neighbours in order to ensure British businesses are not put at a disadvantage."
"In a potentially explosive intervention, Osborne insisted the government will only cut emissions in line with its neighbours in order to ensure British businesses are not put at a disadvantage."
Back to the “drawing board” on glacial period carbon sinks
WUWT
"Nature study: Rising CO2 levels at end of Ice Age not tied to Pacific Ocean
CORVALLIS, Ore. – At the end of the last Ice Age, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose rapidly as the planet warmed; scientists have long hypothesized that the source was CO2 released from the deep ocean.
But a new study using detailed radiocarbon dating of foraminifera found in a sediment core from the Gorda Ridge off Oregon reveals that the Northeast Pacific was not an important reservoir of carbon during glacial times. The finding may send scientists back to the proverbial drawing board looking for other potential sources of CO2 during glacial periods.
The study, which was supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of Michigan, was published online this week in Nature Geoscience."
"Nature study: Rising CO2 levels at end of Ice Age not tied to Pacific Ocean
CORVALLIS, Ore. – At the end of the last Ice Age, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels rose rapidly as the planet warmed; scientists have long hypothesized that the source was CO2 released from the deep ocean.
But a new study using detailed radiocarbon dating of foraminifera found in a sediment core from the Gorda Ridge off Oregon reveals that the Northeast Pacific was not an important reservoir of carbon during glacial times. The finding may send scientists back to the proverbial drawing board looking for other potential sources of CO2 during glacial periods.
The study, which was supported by the National Science Foundation and the University of Michigan, was published online this week in Nature Geoscience."
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Make-believe schemes for a make-believe fix to a make-believe problem
Andrew Bolt,Herald Sun (Australia)
"The Gillard Government plans to cut our emissions by 160 million tonnes a year by 2020 actually involves paying foreigners for offsets for 100 million tonnes of that target.
That means billions a year sent overseas on schemes in, say, India:
A diplomatic cable published last month by the WikiLeaks website reveals that most of the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in India should not have been certified because they did not reduce emissions beyond those that would have been achieved without foreign investment. Indian officials have apparently known about the problem for at least two years. The revelations imply that millions of tonnes of claimed reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions are mere phantoms, she says, and potentially cast doubt over the principle of carbon trading."
"The Gillard Government plans to cut our emissions by 160 million tonnes a year by 2020 actually involves paying foreigners for offsets for 100 million tonnes of that target.
That means billions a year sent overseas on schemes in, say, India:
A diplomatic cable published last month by the WikiLeaks website reveals that most of the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in India should not have been certified because they did not reduce emissions beyond those that would have been achieved without foreign investment. Indian officials have apparently known about the problem for at least two years. The revelations imply that millions of tonnes of claimed reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions are mere phantoms, she says, and potentially cast doubt over the principle of carbon trading."
Clueless Huhne turns his back on the only way we’ll keep our lights on
Christopher Booker,Telegraph
"With immaculate timing, our Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Chris Huhne, has again demonstrated why it is hard to think of any minister in history less fitted for his job. Last month, it was announced that 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas had been discovered, embedded in the shales under Lancashire, which could herald an energy resource even larger than North Sea oil and gas. Thanks to technical advances pioneered in the US, which already draws 20 per cent of its gas from shale, we might be looking at reserves big enough to power Britain’s economy for centuries to come.
Yet that same day, it was reported that Huhne had been telling an audience of Lib Dems that we must halt the “dash for gas”, because this would prevent us from meeting our commitment under the Climate Change Act to cut our CO2 emissions by 80 per cent within 40 years. He even cited approvingly an absurdly mendacious propaganda film produced by US global warming zealots vilifying shale gas.
So lost is Huhne in his green dreamworld that he somehow imagines that we can centre our future energy policy on building thousands of wind turbines. Faced with the discovery of vast reserves of cheap gas, any minister who knew his job would say: “Forget about those ludicrously expensive, inefficient and unreliable windmills, and go flat out for building enough gas-fired power stations to keep Britain’s lights on in the years ahead, when we will lose 14 coal-fired and nuclear power stations that currently supply 40 per cent of our average electricity needs.”
"With immaculate timing, our Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Chris Huhne, has again demonstrated why it is hard to think of any minister in history less fitted for his job. Last month, it was announced that 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas had been discovered, embedded in the shales under Lancashire, which could herald an energy resource even larger than North Sea oil and gas. Thanks to technical advances pioneered in the US, which already draws 20 per cent of its gas from shale, we might be looking at reserves big enough to power Britain’s economy for centuries to come.
Yet that same day, it was reported that Huhne had been telling an audience of Lib Dems that we must halt the “dash for gas”, because this would prevent us from meeting our commitment under the Climate Change Act to cut our CO2 emissions by 80 per cent within 40 years. He even cited approvingly an absurdly mendacious propaganda film produced by US global warming zealots vilifying shale gas.
So lost is Huhne in his green dreamworld that he somehow imagines that we can centre our future energy policy on building thousands of wind turbines. Faced with the discovery of vast reserves of cheap gas, any minister who knew his job would say: “Forget about those ludicrously expensive, inefficient and unreliable windmills, and go flat out for building enough gas-fired power stations to keep Britain’s lights on in the years ahead, when we will lose 14 coal-fired and nuclear power stations that currently supply 40 per cent of our average electricity needs.”
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