May 27, 2010 – 11:03 pm Maurice Strong has been central to reformulating socialism’s grand narrative in radical environmental terms There is nothing that aspiring global governors love so much as recognition of their vast good intentions. Today, octogenarian citizen of the world Maurice Strong receives one of this year’s Four Freedoms Awards, established by the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute and the Roosevelt Stichting in the Netherlands. The Four Freedoms are those relating to speech and religion, and from want and fear, and are at the root of the United Nations charter. Mr. Strong’s award comes under the “want” category. The citation notes his modest “role as the foremost guardian of the world’s environment.” Also his commitment to “social justice.” Inconveniently, that latter commitment has recently come to the attention of Fox News’ Glenn Beck, who is not the first to notice that “social justice” actually means forced redistribution, which means socialism, which has created more “want” than any system devised by man. Read More » (Financial Post)
A Tale of Two Gushers: Oil and Spending Washington’s runaway gusher of spending makes the Deepwater Horizon disaster look small and simple to stop. Congress is debating another irresponsible round of extra spending (although they refuse to call it “son of stimulus”) before they take a Memorial Day break. The measure would add an estimated $84-billion (or perhaps $100-billion) to the deficit. That’s actually good news, because earlier this week they planned to spend $50-billion more, until some Democrats joined Republicans in balking. The bad news is that Congress refuses to adopt a budget that would describe how much more they intend to spend over the next five years—or even to tell us how much more they will spend this year. In addition, another spending bill is moving thru Congress–with $60-billion that is mostly to finance the war in Afghanistan—which is also deficit spending not included in official budget numbers. The National Debt clock just topped $13-trillion, surpassing $42,000 apiece for each American. The $1.5-trillion deficit in 2010 makes everything worse. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Side Effects: Cost Of Medicaid Expansion Going Nowhere But Up In passing Obamacare, Congress has put the states in quite a pickle. To sharply expand health coverage, Obamacare flung wide the gates of Medicaid eligibility. It envisions a massive expansion of the federal-state health program that, historically, delivers low-quality care to low-income Americans. Not a smart move. States were already struggling to meet their share of Medicaid program costs—even though Medicaid payments to providers often don’t even cover the cost of care. And, due to the inadequate reimbursement rates, more and more doctors were already refusing to accept new Medicaid patients. How fiscally shaky is Medicaid today? Well, last year Congress used the stimulus bill to give states $87 billion to help them cover rising Medicaid costs. And that doesn’t seem to be enough. A recent letter from House Democrats encourages their colleagues to give states another $24 billion to help them cover Medicaid costs for another six months. “Without this funding,” the letter says, “our states will be forced to make severe cuts to Medicaid providers and benefits, and the ensuing budget shortfall would have grave consequences for school funding and other essential state programs.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
ONE of the many things ailing the present university - and the list is long - is the emergence of what we might term vampire disciplines. These new disciplines are parasitic
on existing bodies of knowledge and tend to justify themselves in terms of critique, deconstruction, contextualism, discourse analysis and other approaches that don't add very
much to the total sum of knowledge a society or civilisation possesses about itself.
Dispatch: Rising Rate of Media Misrepresentation MSNBC’s Nightly News last night devoted a short segment to an “Extreme
Eating” list of high-calorie restaurant meals compiled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). While the reporter acknowledges that each restaurant also
offers lower-calorie options, he concludes by saying that the more calorie-dense options are “a weighty issue for Americans, as this country’s obesity rates just keep
rising.”
At last justice has been seen to be done in the case of Andrew Wakefield, who provided our first Number of the Month this year. For those who need it here is a comic book version of the saga. We have covered the case on several occasions, beginning in February 2002. A side issue is the fact that in covering such matters we exposed ourselves to potential bankruptcy in the UK courts, owing to Britain’s extraordinary libel laws, which have been invented on the hoof by the likes of Mr Justice Eady ( Numby Laureate in 2006). Still, given the state of the nation, the creation of a lucrative minor industry such as libel tourism is probably considered a positive contribution. Meanwhile, all commentators, even those outside the UK if their remarks are published here, face the possibility of massive costs and time-wasting, innocent or not. Crooks can use their ill-gotten gains to oppress anyone who dares to expose them. Funny old world. (Number Watch)
Work stress linked to higher asthma risk NEW YORK - People who regularly feel stressed out by their jobs may have a higher risk of developing asthma than those with a more-relaxed work atmosphere, a new study
suggests.
Tanning beds raise melanoma risk, US study finds CHICAGO - Indoor tanning beds sharply increase the risk of melanoma, the deadliest kind of skin cancer, and the risk increases over time, U.S. researchers said on Thursday,
and others experts called for tighter regulation.
Graying Germany Contemplates Demographic Time Bomb Germany is already facing a demographic nightmare as birth rates fall despite a slew of family-friendly policies. Now, new statistics show that more people are leaving the country than immigrating -- adding to concerns about the country's shrinking population. (Spiegel)
If only mice were little men: Bone marrow transplants cure mental illness – in mice Preliminary research involving bone marrow transplants in mice suggests there may be an immune component to mental illness such as depression, OCD, autism and schizophrenia (Ian Sample, The Guardian)
Scientists offer solutions to arsenic groundwater poisoning in southern Asia An estimated 60 million people in Bangladesh are exposed to unsafe levels of arsenic in their drinking water, dramatically raising their risk for cancer and other serious
diseases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Cull of badgers reduces outbreaks of TB in cattle, ministers told Badger culling has reduced incidence of TB in cattle, according to scientific evidence given to ministers.
U.S. Congress hears benefits of synthetic biology WASHINGTON - Synthetic biology can be used to make nonpolluting fuel, instant vaccines against new diseases and inexpensive medicines, but it will take time, collaboration
and a nurturing regulatory environment, scientists said on Thursday.
Regarding climate change, Kerry should heed science Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) argued his climate bill, the American Power Act, is a national security imperative, because climate change will inject “a new major source of chaos, tension and human insecurity into an already volatile world.” (“Climate change: The new national security challenge” May 20) As evidence, he reeled off a doomsday list of looming climate crises, including, “more famine and drought, worse pandemics, more natural disasters, more resource scarcity, and staggering human displacement.” On every count, the senator is wrong. (William Yeatman, The Hill)
NASA accused of 'Climategate' stalling FOIA response long overdue The man battling NASA for access to potential "Climategate" e-mails says the agency is still withholding documents and that NASA may be trying to stall long enough
to avoid hurting an upcoming Senate debate on global warming.
Whether right or not this merely gives the impression of having something to hide: U-Va. goes to court to fight Cuccinelli's subpoena of ex-professor's documents RICHMOND -- Virginia's flagship university went to court Thursday to fight an effort by Virginia Attorney Gen. Ken Cuccinelli II (R) to get documents from a former climate
scientist at the school, an unusual confrontation that will test the bounds of academic freedom and result in the college facing down its own lawyer in court.
Throwing the Hate Crime Grenade Hate Crime legislation is the last resort of those with no real case. It’s the last resort in the “shut-up” campaign that Team-Carbonari have been running against the free world for two decades. The unverifiable, unknowable crime of intent. (Anyone have one of those Handy-Hate-Meters that reliably measures the dreaded Evil-Score to two decimal places? No? It’s a matter of time…) A couple of months ago, I wrote a post called Evidence What Evidence? where I dismantled the words of a famous Australian science journalist for parroting bureaucrats and not investigating the evidence. What I wrote is not a recipe for building a better bomb with your Mazda, but Ben E took issue with my pointed discussion in the comments: “Sad, but scarcely surprising. Sites like this one will eventually be shut down in future updates to hate crime legislation, as they are well on the way to inciting violence and hatred towards scientists and science communicators.” Willis Eschenbach popped in with a devastating reply that deserved to be repeated. “Well, let’s review the bidding regarding “violence and hatred” … More » (Jo Nova)
Casus Belli – Suspend Democracy! Here’s another excellent post by Eduardo Zorita at the Klimazwiebel. In this BBC podcast (takes a minute or so to load), the view of green elitists is that we have casus belli. Thus democracy has to be suspended and common sense authoritarianism has to take over – just for a while, until things are put back in their proper order. The general population is just too stupid to understand it, and is only getting in the way. (Actually, and thankfully, they’re too informed and many people understand precisely what this is about). “The situation is urgent, the world is going to hell in a handbasket – let us rescue the planet. Trust us,” we are constantly told. I’m trying to think of a veggie or fruit that’s green outside and brown inside. The closest thing I can think of is a rotten avocado. For me it’s even disturbing that the BBC even gives equal time and weight to the green nutjobs who propose suspending democracy and taking us back to the German Democratic Republic – East Germany, behind the Berlin Wall, for those of you who may have already forgotten. “Trust us” just isn’t good enough. History shows that populations have been burned by this all too often. The good news is that authoritarianism only works if there’s consent. But there can be no consent unless there is a genuine debate. That’s where the problem lies for the kook warmists. They’ll never win this debate, and they know it. Indeed consent has been massively eroding lately. Their science has been exposed as a hoax. They’ve lost the case and their desperation has caused them to lose any rationality they may have once had. (No Tricks Zone)
Middle classes in suburbs 'bearing brunt of liberal elite's obsession with climate change' Middle class people living in the suburbs are bearing the brunt of an obsession with tackling climate change forced on them by a liberal elite, according to a new report.
Scottish parliament under pressure over emissions manifesto pledge Scottish government told to draft tougher targets after MPs vote down mandatory annual targets
Billions
of pounds of taxpayers’ money is being "wasted" in fighting climate change as other nations are hell-bent on development, a new book claims today – says The
Daily Express.
Hmm... A forum to make sense of climate science The Science Museum's new gallery aims to deepen the understanding of those who accept man-made global warming and inform those who are unsure
Oops! Society to review climate message The UK's Royal Society is reviewing its public statements on climate change after 43 Fellows complained that it had oversimplified its messages.
Why Man-Made Global Warming is a load of cobblers; Pt 1 Just been reading Climate: The Counter Consensus (Stacey International) the new book by Bob Carter – that’s New Zealand’s Professor Robert M Carter to you, mate: he’s one of the world’s leading palaeoclimatologists – and it’s a cracker. By the end, you’re left feeling rather as I did after the Heartland Conference, that the scientific case against AGW is so overwhelming that you wonder how anyone can still speak up for so discredited a theory without dying of embarrassment. (James Delingpole)
Propagandists seek new visuals: Beyond polar bears? Experts look for a new vision of climate change to combat skepticism Climate change is about more than just polar bears. That is the message from Dr Kate Manzo whose research into climate change communication has been published in
Meteorological Applications. The research, which reviews the efforts of journalists, campaigners and politicians to engage the British public with climate change, explores how
new 'visual strategies' can communicate climate change messages against a backdrop of increased climate scepticism.
Hmm... time will tell: Government Warns Of Worst Hurricane Season Since 2005 The Atlantic storm season may be the most intense since 2005, when Hurricane Katrina killed over a thousand people after crashing through Gulf of Mexico energy facilities,
the U.S. government's top climate agency predicted on Thursday.
I knew we were in trouble but hadn't realized the country had closed completely: Our greenhouse emissions back on the rise Australia's greenhouse gas emissions have started creeping up again after a dip caused by the global financial crisis, a trend that would see the nation overshoot its
Copenhagen Accord commitment by a large margin.
Reuters makes a similar tonnage claim... Australia On Track To Meet Kyoto Target: Government Australia is on track to meet its greenhouse gas emissions target under the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol climate pact in part because of the global economic downturn, the
government said on Thursday.
Like a dog with a Frisbee... Scientists detect huge carbon 'burp' that helped end last ice age Scientists have found the possible source of a huge carbon dioxide 'burp' that happened some 18,000 years ago and which helped to end the last ice age.
Will REDD Preserve Forests Or Merely Provide a Fig Leaf? The tropical forest conservation plan, known as REDD, has the potential to significantly reduce deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. But unless projects are carefully designed and monitored, the program could be undercut by shady dealings at all levels, from the forests to global carbon markets. (Fred Pearce, e360)
Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, May 27th 2010 Al Gore channels Monty Python, there’s a long list of hyphen-gate scandals for you to cut out and keep, Big Green is out of step with ordinary people and there is a planet doomed by global warming, but it’s not Earth. (Daily Bayonet)
Twaddle: Global Floating Ice In "Constant Retreat": Study The world's floating ice is in "constant retreat," showing an instability which will increase global sea levels, according to a report published in Geophysical
Research Letters on Wednesday.
The search for improved carbon sponges picks up speed Jeffrey Long’s lab will soon host a round-the-clock, robotically choreographed hunt for carbon-hungry materials.
Who Is Really To Blame For This Blowout? Here's my question: Why are we drilling in 5,000 feet of water in the first place? Many reasons, but this one goes unmentioned: Environmental chic has driven us out there.
The BP Spill: Self-Regulation, Public Property, and Political Capitalism by Sheldon Richman
With some 7,000 barrels of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico each day from BP’s exploded Deepwater Horizon well, offshore drilling and oil-industry regulation have returned to the front pages. The familiar old trap is set: Do you want unfettered markets and oil spills or government regulation and safety? The implied premise is that the oil industry operates in a free market. So, the argument goes, the only alternative is government regulation. On first glance that story is plausible. From USA Today:
So: the MMS wanted to regulate, but the industry said it could regulate itself at lower cost, insisting it was a good steward of the environment. This is not to say that MMS was right and the companies wrong. For reasons provided below, government regulation is fatally flawed. Further, this is not just a simple matter of regulation. More fundamentally it’s a matter of ownership. The government has proclaimed itself the owner of the offshore positions where oil companies drill. In a free market those positions would be homesteaded and managed privately with full liability. In the absence of a free market and private property, built-in incentives that protect the public are diminished if not eliminated. Bureaucrats and “political capitalists” are not as reliable as companies facing bankruptcy in a fully freed market. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Energy Regulation in the States: A Wake-Up Call by Daniel Simmons
Affordable energy is under assault at all levels of government. But while much attention has focused on federal efforts that are certain to increase the cost of energy (e.g. Waxman-Markey, Kerry-Graham-Lieberman) far less scrutiny been paid to the concerted efforts at the state level to achieve similar goals. The Institute for Energy Research’s report Energy Regulations in the States: A Wake-up Call fills the void and highlights the programs anti-energy activists are promoting in the states. The report is available here and an interactive map showing electricity prices and other select economic and energy data is here. The report includes: · A detailed look at greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations in the states. There have been total of 249 bills passed (see below) that regulate GHGs nationwide, leading to higher energy prices in states. · An examination of the three regional greenhouse gas initiatives and their effect on state energy policy. A majority of the nation’s states are either members or observers in one or more of these initiatives, and they have varying effects of energy policy. · A look at the de facto bans on coal power plants that are popping up in different parts of the nations, and the impact these have on the price of energy and doing business in these states. · An analysis of Renewable Portfolio Standards throughout the nation. These mandates require a certain percentages of the state’s overall electricity to come from renewables. States that have binding renewable electricity mandates, have electricity prices that are an average of 40 percent higher than other states. · A break down of the electricity generation profile in each state (this map provides an easy-to-use view of this breakdown). The report also explains why promoting nuclear and wind will do nothing to reduce oil imports (petroleum provides only one percent of our electricity generation). · An examination of the reasons electricity prices are lower in some states than in others. For example, 13 of the 15 states with the least expensive residential electricity prices produce at least 50 percent of their electricity from either coal or hydroelectric power. · A detailed state specific appendix examining the energy sources, prices, and regulation (scroll down here to view the link for each states) These profiles give the varying prices of energy per state, as well delve into the wide spectrum of energy sources utilized by our nation. They describe both the benefits and impediments that different sources face in each state and the programs that make up policy. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Not All the ‘Easy’ Oil is Gone Mr. President
At the press conference accompanying the political hara-kiri by his director of the Minerals and Management Service, President Obama changed topics and said, “Now let me make one broader point, though, about energy. The fact that oil companies now have to go a mile underwater and then drill another three miles below that in order to hit oil tells us something about the direction of the oil industry. Extraction is more expensive, and it is going to be inherently more risky. … The easily accessible oil has already been sucked up out of the ground.” Not all of it. He also could have noted that billions of barrels of “easily accessible” oil have been turned into “impossible to access” oil by federal regulations and moratoria that block any access. There is still a lot of non-deep sea oil available off the cost of California that can be accessed from onshore. And, don’t forget, there are the 10 billion barrels in ANWR. All of this oil has been placed completely off limits by federal regulations. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
European Dream of Desert Energy Takes Shape Can the Sahara Desert really meet Europe's voracious appetite for energy? The Desertec solar power project aims to do just that, but a host of obstacles remain. Overly optimistic expectations are now being scaled down as the project starts to take shape. (Spiegel)
Nissan: electric cars could shed government aid in 4 years Nissan Motor Co and alliance partner Renault could market electric vehicles without government incentives within four years as global sales reach 500,000 to 1 million
vehicles per year, executives said on Wednesday.
Banning medic training with live animals could kill our troops
As Euro Zone Demonstrates Again, Socialism's Downfall Is Inevitable Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried, and it will continue to do so despite the best efforts of the die-hard true believers in the Obama administration and the
rest of the world.
Censorship is not the answer to health scares The only way to challenge the pseudoscience of Andrew Wakefield and others is to have more debate, not less.
Researchers take step to 'universal' flu vaccine WASHINGTON - A "headless" version of the influenza virus protected mice from several different strains of flu and may offer a step toward a so-called universal flu
vaccine, researchers report.
MILLOY: The standard for an environmental hazard Litigators clean up while taxpayers are taken to the cleaners
An eruption of fear and irrationalism As more facts come to light, we can finally see how crazy it was to shut UK airspace in response to the Icelandic volcano.
Herbs, supplements often sold deceptively: US report WASHINGTON - Sellers of ginseng, echinacea and other herbal and dietary supplements often cross the line in marketing their products, going as far as telling consumers the
pills can cure cancer or replace prescription medications, a U.S. government probe found.
Floods cause havoc as beavers bite the land that saves them As if the euro crisis were not enough, the Continent is being gnawed by a new problem: ungrateful beavers.
MILLOY: Avoiding the slick spots Agency more adept at blowing hot air
The Kerry-Lieberman Bill Will Cause American Layoffs But that doesn't stop the New York Times from running interference for the two New England liberals' climate change bill, of course.
EDITORIAL: Tax dollars perpetuate global-warming fiction $6 million study is used to lobby for cap-and-tax
EU carbon trading scheme failing to cut pollution, campaigners warn Campaign group Sandbag says the European emissions trading scheme is failing to reduce enough CO2 emissions
Oh boy... EU stops short of recommending 30% cut in emissions by 2020 Climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard claims that economic crisis has made it cheaper to move to higher target
Global Warming Brought to Book “The best is yet to be...” [Robert Browning, from ‘Dramatis Personae’ (1864)] Read more... (Philip Stott, The Clamour of the Times)
Climategate and the Scientific Elite Climategate starkly revealed to the public how many global-warming scientists speak and act like politicians.
More yuks... Understanding the Urgency of Climate Change Many circumstances require immediate action: consider a full bladder or a red traffic light. We usually address such circumstances without delay, because the consequences of
inaction--physical discomfort or legal troubles--are clear.
These clowns are still on about CO2 too: Air traffic poised to become a major factor in global warming The first new projections of future aircraft emissions in 10 years predicts that carbon dioxide and other gases from air traffic will become a significant source of global warming as they double or triple by 2050. The study is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal. (ACS)
This infection is everywhere: Researchers calculate the greenhouse gas value of ecosystems CHAMPAIGN, lll. — Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a new, more accurate method of calculating the change in greenhouse gas emissions that results
from changes in land use.
Public servants trained to fight scepticism Victoria’s Department of Sustainability and the Environment admits that the more you question a global warming scientist, the less likely you are to believe him:
And so the department is offering all Victorian public servants this workshop - which of course presumes there’s not a sceptic in the joint:
Ah, that slur-word “denialism”. But why a “question time” when debate is so dangerous to the cause? (No link to the DSE email. Thanks to readers Michael, Peter, Pat and Andy.) (Andrew Bolt)
Again with the make-believe: Extreme droughts to be 'more common' Britain is heading for water shortages and crop failures as extreme droughts like that of 1976 become more frequent, experts have warned.
Excellent Posts On The Weblog Of Bob Tisdale On Near Real-Time Ocean Surface Temperature Anomalies In my post Lack Of A Trend In The Ocean Surface Temperature Since 2000 – Its Significance I wrote
Bob Tisdale on his weblog http://bobtisdale.blogspot.com/ has alerted us to his excellent weblog presentation with monthly updates of SST anomalies globally, and for hemispheric and ocean basin basins. His information is accessible at http://bobtisdale.blogspot.com/2010/05/april-2010-sst-anomaly-update.html The global average anomaly is currently well above average, but unless this positive anomaly continues for the coming months, the absence of a clear long term trend since 1998 remains (although the interannual variations are remarkably large). As Bob writes
Bob also provides mid-month updates of NINO3.4 and global data using the weekly OI.v2 SST anomaly data, aka Reynolds SST data at http://bobtisdale.blogspot.com/2010/05/mid-may-2010-sst-anomaly-update.html. He writes
and
I recommend bookmarking this excellent, much needed weblog! (Roger Pielke Sr., Climate Science)
On attribution (Real Climate)He believes - or he pretends to believe - that the average RC readers are more confused about this topic than himself. However, his text - which is a mixture of correct observations, tautologies, obfuscations, hidden facts, missing basic principles, double standards, and manifestly untrue propositions - shows otherwise. His "executive summary" makes four basic claims:
But even if you ignore the wrong word "model" and consider the point 3 correct, 3 is just the very beginning of science - and everything else that Schmidt would like to be done with 3 is just wrong. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
We have written about the solar control on climate many times in the past, and to say the least, the debate continues to rage regarding the solar influence of Earth’s climate. IPCC has been luke warm on the subject, stating in the Technical Summary that “Solar irradiance contributions to global average radiative forcing are considerably smaller than the contribution of increases in greenhouse gases over the industrial period.” Two articles have appeared recently that provide even more evidence that variations in solar output have a profound impact on regional, hemispheric, and global climatic variations. (WCR)
Norway hopes to unlock climate cash to fight tropical deforestation Norway has announced $1bn in aid to protect forests in Indonesia and hopes to forge a partnership to fight climate change (Reuters)
New Scientist: The Age of Name-Calling New Scientist plumbs new lows. The magazine has become its own self-parody. Do they see the irony of inviting a PR expert to accuse industries nearly 20 years ago of committing the crime of, wait for it, … using a PR expert? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hold any elitist ideas that only people with science degrees can write for New Scientist (the magazine has pretty much proven how useless a science degree can be). My issue with them is that Richard Littlemore (a PR expert) has essentially written a smear-by-association piece, which should have no place in a real scientific magazine. It’s not like Littlemore is just an unhealthy part of a big healthy debate — instead he’s the advertiser being offered free editorial space within the one-sided propaganda that masquerades as journalism. New Scientist may think climate science is a moral imperative, but they don’t have room for the climate scientists who have published peer reviewed criticisms of their favorite theory. Nor do they have space to tell the extraordinary story of the grassroots independent retiree scientists who’ve busted the biggest scientific scam since the Piltdown Man. More » (Jo Nova)
Climate Change-Malaria Link Debunked Many climate change alarmists have predicted a wide range of calamitous side-effects to be caused by global warming. One such link that frequently surfaces is that global warming will cause the spread of malaria, leading to a world wide pandemic. A new study, just published in the journal Nature, has shown that malaria is actually declining worldwide. Furthermore, proposed future climate induced effects are insignificant compared with the observed natural trend and easily overcome by current disease control mechanisms. In short, claiming that malaria will spread around the globe due to climate change is an outright lie. An increased malarial threat has been popular with the media and global warming alarmists for decades. Conscientious scientists like Paul Reiter, a medical entomology researcher at the Institut Pasteur, have denounced such exaggerated claims for more than a decade. “Environmental activists use the ‘big talk’ of science to create a simple but false paradigm,” Reiter said in testimony before the US Senate in 2006. “Malaria specialists who protest this are generally ignored, or labelled as ‘sceptics’.” Now he and others have who have fought against such non-science have been vindicated. A new article, entitled “Climate change and the global malaria recession,” by Peter W. Gething et al. has driven a stake into the heart of this blatant nonsense. Writing in the May 20, 2010, issue of the respected scientific journal Nature the international team of researchers explain their study:
Simply put, instead of just conjecture they went back over the past century's worth of records concerning malaria to find out what has actually been happening. After all, we all know that Earth's climate has warmed somewhat over the past 100+ years or so, which should imply an increase in malaria if the proposed global warming-malaria link is true. Not that it is unreasonable to think that climate change could have an impact on malaria. A malaria mosquito. Photo UC Davis. Malaria remains a major scourge of mankind, killing around 1.5 million people each year, more than 3,000 of them children under the age of five. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it has an infection rate of approximately 400 to 500 million victims each year and accounts for one in every ten deaths of children in developing countries. Malaria is both treatable and preventable with the technology we have today. Tragically, the majority of these cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa where poverty is the biggest obstacle in dealing with this epidemic. Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease caused by a eukaryotic protist of the genus Plasmodium. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of North and South America, Asia, and Africa. Malaria is naturally transmitted by the bite of a female Anopheles mosquito (the disease's vector). The life cycle of malaria parasites is quite complicated, consisting of three major cycles with multiple stages at each step along the way. The malaria life cycle. Source CDC. When an infected mosquito bites a person, malaria parasites are transferred to the new human host in the mosquito's saliva. The first human cycle (A) is spent in the infected person's liver. After a period of between two weeks and several years, the malaria parasites infect and begin to multiply within red blood cells, starting the second human cycle (B). The parasites are protected from attack by the body's immune system because, for most of their human life cycle, they hide in the liver and red blood cells, where they are relatively invisible to the immune system. In the human blood cycle, infected cells stick to the walls of blood vessels, obstructing blood flow. The pathogen also digests the blood cells' hemoglobin, diminishing oxygen flow throughout the body. The classic symptom of malaria is cyclical occurrence of sudden coldness followed by rigor and then fever and sweating lasting four to six hours. It also causes widespread anemia and major problems occur when blockage affects major organs such as the brain and heart. Children with malaria can suffer cognitive impairments and even severe brain damage. During this stage of the parasites' life red blood cells burst open spilling the pathogen into its host so other cells can be infected. From the victim's blood, mature parasites await transfer to a new mosquito host. Red blood cells burst by malaria parasites. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken that contains malaria parasites and the mosquito cycle (C) starts. After dining on an infected person, parasites develop within the mosquito and about one week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal the whole complicated process over again. Both the malaria parasite and the mosquitoes which spread it respond to temperature and moisture, and global warming is expected to increase both. As is typical these days, scientists constructed models to help predict the impact of a changing climate on diseases including malaria. These models have predicted that in a warmer world the area subject to endemic malaria would increase significantly, though some places could see a reduction due to increased aridity. “We compare the magnitude of these changes to the size of effects on malaria endemicity proposed under future climate scenarios and associated with widely used public health interventions,” state Gething et al.. The researchers found two key implications with respect to climate change and malaria that the alarmists often conveniently ignore: “First, widespread claims that rising mean temperatures have already led to increases in worldwide malaria morbidity and mortality are largely at odds with observed decreasing global trends in both its endemicity and geographic extent. Second, the proposed future effects of rising temperatures on endemicity are at least one order of magnitude smaller than changes observed since about 1900 and up to two orders of magnitude smaller than those that can be achieved by the effective scale-up of key control measures.” Figure S2. Maps estimating the P. falciparum basic reproductive rate. In other words, over the past century malaria has receded, despite an ever warming climate—the exact opposite of the effect predicted by the climate change Cassandras. Gething et al. concluded that claims that a warming climate has led to more widespread disease and death due to malaria are not supported by the evidence. Actual real-world data show the areas affected shrinking in size and the impact of the change shrinking as well. Furthermore, the changes projected for the future are only a tenth of those already experienced and can be easily controlled. The study's authors summed up the case for an increasing malarial threat due to global warming this way:
Science speak for “it doesn't work that way.” There is no denying that all life on Earth is affected by climate, and that the climate is always changing. It is the amount of the climate effect that has been blown all out of proportion. Just like the claims of imminent polar bear extinction, increased hurricane activity and rapidly rising sea-levels, the global warming induced malaria epidemic is a fiction. These revelations have prompted a wide number of responses in the media, including one from the green.view column of The Economist, which generally supports climate change claims. “Scientists tend to model what can be modelled, and natural scientists, in particular, tend to prefer models that incorporate at least some aspects of the underlying processes which they are interested in, rather than working purely on empirical correlations,” the online article states. Models should always come with a list of warning, caveats regarding possible inaccuracies, but that this doesn't always get communicated along with a model's results. The article calls not including appropriate caveats reckless, but many have no time for such details and others have agendas to follow:
Unsurprisingly, warmist propagandists like Joe Romm and Andy Revkin persist in trying to spread this untruth. They continue to claim that balanced coverage of global warming is really bias and that people need to be scared into supporting draconian anti-climate change measures. Lies on top of lies. Eventually these self-serving, pompous ignoramuses will have to drink from the bitter cup of truth. It is worth recalling the words of Dr. Reiter to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation:
The Economist opined, “one of the obvious problems with predicting the future effects of climate change is that they haven’t happened.” Indeed. Here again we see a scare tactic widely used by climate change alarmists shown to be pure bunk. Real science takes time, but politicians, the media and eco-activists are always impatient and rushing to judgment. In doing so they may generate a few scary headlines and temporarily shift public opinion in their direction, but the truth comes out in the fullness of time. As we said in The Resilient Earth, nature is what it is. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
FORT COLLINS - The large number of tiny organic aerosols floating in the atmosphere – emitted from tailpipes and trees alike – share enough common characteristics as a
group that scientists can generalize their makeup and how they change in the atmosphere.
Are Clouds The Main Cause Of Climate Change? Two weeks ago, I interviewed Dr. Roy Spencer from the
University of Alabama, Huntsville. Spencer is a trained atmospheric scientist and actively publishes in peer-reviewed journals – he is also a global warming skeptic.
Given his background and contrarian views, I asked Spencer what evidence there is to suggest that a majority of the climate science community is wrong about global warming.
by Tom Quirk It was them that done it! The explanation from P. Fraser, a senior CSIRO scientist, reveals how a major document branded by the organisation was published and promoted. Apparently, the final draft “State of the Climate” report was not reviewed by CSIRO or BOM scientists themselves, and when it is questioned others are blamed for the errors it contains and the confused dating of information. It’s not as though nothing is at stake. Were the now delayed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme to be introduced, an estimated $14 billion over 10 years would be confiscated from the coal mining sector alone, simply on the basis that its allegedly rising fugitive methane emissions posed an unacceptable climatic threat. Australia’s was the only scheme in the world that was going to penalise coal mining in this way – and the proposal appeared to have CSIRO professional authority behind it. But rather than represent the data objectively – which is the CSIRO’s charter – we’ve been served up a significant distortion. If it’s not the scientist’s fault one wonders where the real accountability lies? To Fraser’s points: while the data may now be correct the choice of scale renders the presented result unintelligible. What remains unexplained is the omission of the methane measurements from Cape Grim showing the plateau in methane concentrations. Fraser makes the point that the CSIRO team were the first to report a rise in methane again towards the end of 2006 at the end of the omitted plateau. The work of the group in atmospheric measurements is first class and arguably occasionally better than some of their US colleagues but their over eager interpretation may lead them astray. The claim of rising methane is an example (Figure 1) as the latest published measurements[i] suggest otherwise with a decreasing trend. Figure 1: Recent measurements of atmospheric methane. Instantaneous growth rate for globally averaged atmospheric methane (solid line; dashed lines are ±1 standard deviation). The IPCC does not understand or cannot explain the behaviour of atmospheric methane. The CSIRO has done no better. Only time for more measurements and a better understanding of the sources and sinks of methane will resolve this issue. The science is uncertain and not a basis for any policy making that has the potential to cripple a large part of the coal mining industry. More transparency and less selective presentation would help.
(Quadrant)
Study: Major hurricane could devastate Houston Post-Ike study by Rice's SSPEED Center details vulnerabilities
AGU 10-10: Undersea forces from hurricanes may threaten Gulf pipelines WASHINGTON—Hurricanes could snap offshore oil pipelines in the Gulf of Mexico and other hurricane-prone areas, since the storms whip up strong underwater currents, a new
study suggests.
The Blowout And Our Addiction To Prosperity The Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is providing barrels of new ammunition to pundits on both the Right and the Left who contend we have to end our “addiction” to oil. [Read More] (Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune)
I ride my bike to work. It seems so pure.
Turning all cars electric in Britain needs boost in power supply Switching all cars in the country to electric would drain the National Grid of nearly a fifth of its capacity unless the equivalent of another six new nuclear power stations are built, claims a report. (TDT)
Wind Integration Realities: The Bentek Study for Texas (Part IV) by Kent Hawkins [Editor's note: This is the final post in the series reviewing studies for the Netherlands, Colorado and Texas on (elevated) fossil-fuel emissions associated with firming otherwise intermittent wind power. Part I introduced the issues. Part II showed negated emission savings for the Netherlands at current wind penetration (about 3 percent). Part III extended the Netherland's experience to the higher wind penetration in Colorado (6%) which demonstrates higher emissions. Part IV concludes with the Bentek results for Texas,which confirms those for Colorado.] There are a number of relevant, notable characteristics of the 2008 Texas electricity production profile, 85% of which is managed by ERCOT:
Because of recycling events, arguably attributable to the presence of wind plants, the results are the same as for PSCO, that is, there is an increase in CO2 emissions with the presence of wind. In ERCOT, the coal plants produced an additional CO2 emissions in 2008 of about 0-566,000 tons over running stably without these events, and in 2009, an additional 772,000-1,102,000 tons. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Spiraling Costs Threaten International Fusion Reactor Project The planned ITER fusion reactor in France is supposed to replicate conditions inside the Sun to produce limitless clean energy. But skyrocketing costs are putting the
international project at risk. Now Germany's research minister has said Berlin will not write a blank check for the technology.
Negative research often spun to look good: study NEW YORK - Scientists are no strangers to spinning their research, a new study -- presumably not spun -- shows.
Blood pressure control up in US; many still suffer CHICAGO - About half of the 65 million people in the United States who have high blood pressure now have it under control, up from 27 percent two decades ago, U.S.
researchers said on Tuesday.
The Center for Nonsense with another idiotic handwringer: Menus still calorie-laden despite new laws: group WASHINGTON - Laws requiring U.S. restaurant chains to list calorie counts have not stopped them from offering unhealthy meals that pack in calories, fat and salt, a group
that encourages healthy food said on Tuesday.
FDA needs more clout to make food supply safer WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration needs greater authority, more cooperation from other agencies and must do more scientific research to help make the U.S. food
supply safer, the General Accountability Office said on Monday.
Chris French mourns the passing of Martin Gardner, a prolific writer and populariser of mathematics, and one of the most influential figures in scepticism I woke up on Sunday morning to some very sad news. Martin Gardner had died the previous day at the age of 95. Gardner's life was not only long but extraordinarily productive. He was a polymath and a gifted writer, publishing more than 70 books in his long career as well as innumerable magazine and newspaper articles. His wide range of interests included recreational mathematics, pseudoscience, scepticism, magic, religion, philosophy and literature. He will be mourned by many hundreds of thousands around the world. It is no exaggeration to describe Gardner as one of the most influential figures in scepticism. In 1976 he was a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP; now known as the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, CSI). His sceptical credentials were already well established by that time. Back in 1952 he had published his seminal analysis of the nature of pseudoscience, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. In this classic work, which is still well worth reading, he demolished a wide range of pseudoscientific claims to the total satisfaction of any reader with an iota of critical intelligence. His targets covered a very wide range including UFOs, creationism, Atlantis, scientology, Rudolf Steiner, dowsing, reincarnation, and Wilhelm Reich – to name but a few. It is, of course, slightly depressing to realise just how contemporary this book still sounds. Gardner's uncompromising attacks on fringe science and New Age ideas delighted his admirers and enraged his detractors for many decades. From 1983 to 2002, he contributed a regular column to the Skeptical Inquirer magazine under the title "Notes of a fringe watcher" and published several more sceptical books including Science: Good, Bad and Bogus and Order and Surprise. (The Guardian)
Beavers responsible for Poland's flooding Beavers are partly to blame for the devastating floods that have swept Poland killing 15 people because the animals tunnel through vital defences protecting the cities, the
interior minister has said.
I call "Bullshit!" End of Alaotra grebe is further evidence of Sixth Great Extinction Species are vanishing quicker than at any point in the last 65 million years One more step in what scientists are increasingly referring to as the Sixth Great Extinction is announced today: the disappearance of yet another bird species. The vanishing
of the Alaotra grebe of Madagascar is formally notified this morning by the global conservation partnership BirdLife International – and it marks a small but ominous step in
the biological process which seems likely to dominate the 21st century.
Tiger conservation is disastrous, says BBC wildlife presenter Chris Packham Donating money to tiger conservation charities is a waste of time because their success rate is "disastrous", according to Chris Packham, the BBC wildlife
presenter.
Scientists conclude asteroid ended the age of the dinosaurs University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist Michael Whalen is part of a team of distinguished scientists who recently compiled a wide swath of evidence striking a definitive
blow in the ongoing battle over what killed the dinosaurs.
Calderon And Daley Want Your Guns Gun Rights: Not happy with interfering in our internal affairs by savaging Arizona's new immigration law, the president of Mexico wants to shred our Second Amendment too.
And the mayor of Chicago wants to help.
President Obama's announcement last Friday that his Administration is contemplating fuel economy standards beyond 2016 resurrected a familiar canard in the debate on the
Murkowski disapproval resolution. To wit: the resolution would overturn the "historic" auto emissions deal struck last May between the Obama Administration (EPA,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, and Carol Browner), auto executives, and the state of California. By overturning EPA's endangerment finding,
Murkowski's detractors say, the administration's new fuel economy standards will vanish into thin air.
Small businesses and the American economy, beware: Once again Washington politicians are conspiring to help you out. Apparently, Sens. Robert Casey (D., Pa.) and Thomas
Carper (D., Del.) are planning to “save” you from the onerous rules regulating greenhouse gases being hatched at the EPA.
Cap and Flee: California refutes its own 'green jobs' policy. California, that former land of opportunity, was one of the first states to pass its own version of "cap and trade" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007
when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the law, called AB-32, he said it would propel California into an economy-expanding, green job future. Well, a new study by the
state's own auditing agency—its version of the Congressional Budget Office—has burst that green bubble.
Incredible stupidity: EU sets toughest targets to fight global warming Europe will introduce a surprise new plan today to combat global warming, committing Britain and the rest of the EU to the most ambitious targets in the world. The plan
proposes a massive increase in the target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in this decade.
France and Germany cool on EU climate proposals AFP - France and Germany on Tuesday gave a less than warm response to the EU Commission's suggestion that Europe unilaterally binds itself to cut greenhouse gas emissions by
30 percent by 2020.
German industry against greater EU climate efforts BERLIN, May 25 -- The German industry has lashed out against a plan by the European Commission to boost Europe's climate protection efforts.
China All But Dashes Hope Of Climate Deal This Year A senior Chinese climate official said on Tuesday that negotiators aim to seal a binding global pact on warming by the end of 2011, a blow to any lingering hopes the world
could reach a deal at talks this year in Mexico.
Demonstrating the idiocy of tying aid to a non-extant "problem": UN Urges Rich To Honor $30 Billion Climate Aid Pledge The United Nations urged rich nations on Tuesday to keep a pledge to give $30 billion to poor nations by 2012 to cope with climate change, saying it was "not an
impossible call" despite budget cuts in Europe.
Global warming is 'making Mount Everest more dangerous to climb' Mount Everest is becoming increasingly dangerous to climb because global warming is melting glacier ice along its slopes, according to a Nepalese Sherpa who has conquered the world’s highest summit 20 times. (TDT)
Global CO2 Emissions To Rise 43 Percent By 2035: EIA The world's emissions of carbon dioxide from burning coal, oil, and natural gas should rise 43 percent by 2035 barring global agreements to reduce output of the gases blamed
for warming the planet, the top U.S. energy forecaster said on Tuesday.
Encouraging signs of development in India: India discloses carbon emissions for first time in more than decade Emissions from electricity, cement and waste have more than doubled since 1994, making it the world's fifth biggest emitter
Majority Of Firms Will Spend More On Climate Change Seventy percent of firms with revenue of $1 billion or more say they plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives in the next two years, a global survey reported
on Tuesday.
Could Climate Science Survive a Legal Cross Examination? Review by Bill DiPuccio Could the global warming hypothesis meet the rigorous evidentiary standards of a legal trial? The answer, according to Jason Scott Johnston, is clearly negative. Johnston is the Robert G. Fuller, Jr. Professor of Law, and Director of the Program on Law, Environment and Economy of the University of Pennsylvania Law School. His 79 page essay, Global Warming Advocacy Science: A Cross Examination, published by the Institute of Law and Economics, examines a broad range of evidence both for and against the conclusions drawn by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). After a comprehensive examination of the peer-reviewed literature, the author concludes that there is a tendentious use of evidence by the IPCC, revealing “a systematic tendency of the climate establishment to engage in a variety of stylized rhetorical techniques that seem to oversell what is actually known about climate change while concealing fundamental uncertainties and open questions regarding many of the key processes involved in climate change” (1). Johnston is not attempting to arrive at a scientific conclusion regarding the global warming hypothesis. Rather, he is cross examining the “established climate story” by asking “very tough questions, questions that force the expert to clarify the basis for his or her opinion, to explain her interpretation of the literature, and to account for any apparently conflicting literature that is not discussed in the expert report” (6). This approach raises some fundamental questions about the role of non-specialists in critiquing science. Scientists would like to believe that their disagreements can be settled by evidence alone. However, the reality is that science possesses an underlying grammar which includes the rigorous use of opposing evidence, critical thinking, mathematics, logic, and internal consistency. Most of these elements are shared by other fields, including - and especially- the legal profession. Anyone who is competent in these areas may weigh-in on their proper, or improper, use without a full understanding of the scientific facts. When I first read the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment (2007) I had very little background in climate science, though I had worked in operational meteorology. Yet, it became fast apparent to me that the supporting evidence for the IPCC’s projections did not warrant the high level (90%-95%) of confidence expressed by its authors. Indeed, it was the authors themselves who raised fundamental doubts about our scientific understanding of radiative forcing agents and climate change, both past and present. As Johnston concludes, these projections are not reliable enough to make public policy decisions. After pouring over years of mainstream literature, Johnston discovered numerous scientific uncertainties “which are rarely if ever even mentioned in the climate change law and policy literature” (8-9): * “There seem to be significant problems with the measurement of global surface temperatures over both the relatively short run - late 20th century - and longer run - past millennium - problems that systematically tend to cause an overestimation of late 20th century temperature increases relative to the past; * Continuing scientific dispute exists over whether observations are confirming or disconfirming key short-run predictions of climate models - such as an increase in tropospheric water vapor and an increase in tropical tropospheric surface temperatures relative to tropical surface temperatures; * Climate model projections of increases of global average surface temperature (due to a doubling of atmospheric CO2) above about 1 degree centigrade arise only because of positive feedback effects presumed by climate models; * Yet there is evidence that both particular feedbacks—such as that from clouds - and feedbacks in total may be negative, not positive; * Confidence in climate models based on their ability to causally relate 20th century temperature trends to trends in CO2 may well be misplaced, because such models do not agree on the sensitivity of global climate to increases in CO2 and are able to explain 20th century temperature trends only by making arbitrary and widely varying assumptions about the net cooling impact of atmospheric aerosols; * Similar reason for questioning climate models is provided by continuing scientific dispute over whether late 20th century warming may have been simply a natural climate cycle, or have been caused by solar variation, versus being caused by anthropogenic increases in atmospheric CO2; * The scientific ability to predict what are perhaps the most widely publicized adverse impacts of global warming - sea level rise and species loss - is much less than generally perceived, and in the case of species loss, predictions are based on a methodology that a large number of biologists have severely criticized as invalid and as almost certain to lead to an overestimate of species loss due to global warming; * Finally, many of the ongoing disputes in climate science boil down to disputes over the relative validity and reliability of different observational datasets, suggesting that the very new field of climate science does not yet have standardized observational datasets that would allow for definitive testing of theories and models against observations.” Johnston cross examines and juxtaposes conclusions from numerous scientists to reveal “a rhetoric of persuasion, of advocacy that prevails throughout establishment climate science"(9). Complexities and uncertainties that might shake the confidence of policymakers are often concealed. For example, there is no mention of water vapor feedbacks in the IPCC AR4 “Climate Science” documents intended to influence the public and the media - the Policymaker Summary and Technical Summary (24). By oversimplifying the climate story, it appears that the IPCC’s projections are just straightforward physics: The 2 C to 6 C projected rise in global average temperature is the direct, linear result of increasing CO2. But in reality, the IPCC claims that CO2, acting alone, will result in only a 1.2 C rise in temperature. The rest depends on whether the climate amplifies (positive feedback) or diminishes (negative feedback) CO2 forcing. As Johnston demonstrates from the scientific literature, the complex and chaotic processes underlying these mechanisms, especially as they relate to cloud formation and precipitation, constitute anything but straightforward physics. The issue of feedbacks and climate sensitivity is probably the greatest question facing climate science. But policymakers are left blissfully ignorant of these controversies. Johnston concludes by calling for a change in climate science practices and funding. Since one of the major sources of disagreement between scientists lies in the use of different datasets, he recommends that “public funding for climate science should be concentrated on the development of better, standardized observational datasets that achieve close to universal acceptance as valid and reliable.” On the other hand, the continued development of “fine-grained climate models,” in the absence reliable data, only perpetuates “faith-based climate policy” (77-79). Johnston’s essay echoes the experience of many reputable scientists whose work has been marginalized or rejected by IPCC gatekeepers. As we learned from the ‘Climategate’ emails, there was indeed a concerted effort behind the scenes to insure that only one side of the story was heard. If the climate science community is serious about transparency, then they need to abandon their “tidy story” and provide a bone fide forum for opposing views. These views should be incorporated as an alternative report in both IPCC and governmental publications, including the summaries for policymakers. With so much hanging in the balance, decision makers need to hear both sides of the debate. Special thanks to Roger Pielke Sr. for finding Johnston’s article. See PDF. Bill DiPuccio served as a weather forecaster and lab instructor for the U.S. Navy, and a Meteorological/Radiosonde Technician for the National Weather Service. More recently, he was the head of the science department for Orthodox Christian Schools of Northeast Ohio. (Icecap)
Two degrees C Urban Heat Island in small village of Barmedman, NSW, Australia May 25th, 2010 by Warwick HughesDriving from Canberra to West Wyalong last Sunday morning I tried out a temperature logger and scored this signature from the centre of the village of Barmedman which is in flat country between Temora and West Wyalong – conditions were not windy. Barmedman is so small that very few places with a population as low as 227 would rate a BoM temperature station. So Jones et al/IPCC data would not contain very many stations from sites with populations as small – yet Barmedman sure has a very pronounced UHI. The lesson is – think before you are conned by pro-IPCC lies. (Warwick Hughes)
Modeling the Polar Bear Tipping Point After reading this BBC article on modeling the “tipping point” of polar bear populations, it seemed this photo summed it up well, especially since modeling was substituted in lieu of “nearly non-existent data”. I wonder how the bears survived the Roman Warm Period, or the Medieval Warm Period? From the BBC: Polar bears face ‘tipping point’ By Matt Walker Climate change will trigger a dramatic and sudden decline in the number of polar bears, a new study has concluded. The research is the first to directly model how changing climate will affect polar bear reproduction and survival. Based on what is known of polar bear physiology, behaviour and ecology, it predicts pregnancy rates will fall and fewer bears will survive fasting during longer ice-free seasons. These changes will happen suddenly as bears pass a ‘tipping point’. Details of the research are published in the journal Biological Conservation. Educated guesses Until now, most studies measuring polar bear survival have relied on a method called “mark and recapture”. Continue reading
Getting increasingly desperate... Small mammals at risk as world warms The biodiversity of small mammals in North America may already be close to a "tipping point" causing impacts "up and down the food chain" according to a
new study by U.S. scientists.
20th century one of driest in 9 centuries for northwest Africa Droughts in the late 20th century rival some of North Africa's major droughts of centuries past, reveals new research that peers back in time to the year 1179.
Lack Of A Trend In The Ocean Surface Temperature Since 2000 – Its Significance In the Lyman et al 2010 paper [that I have discussed in two posts; see and see], there is the interesting statement that
This finding is based on the section of the paper State of the Climate in 2008 by Peterson and Baringer (2009) titled Knight, J. et al. Global oceans: do global temperature trends over the last decade falsify climate predictions? Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 90, S56–S57 (2009). Figure 3.4 top in this article is presumably the data that Lyman et al 2010 are referring to. The tropical ocean average anomalies in Figure 3.4 5th figure also shows an absence of further warming since 1998 although, as with the global average, it remains above the long term average (1950 to 2008). There are important consequences of this lack of a continued global average ocean surface temperature increase:
Of course, as I and others, including Kevin Trenberth, have repeatedly urged (e.g. see and see) we need to move to the use of the ocean heat content change as the metric to assess global warming and cooling. Ocean heat content changes provide a much more robust metric than surface temperature trends as the metric to assess global warming and cooling (e.g. see and see). A further assessment of the ocean surface temperature trends is available from the excellent website http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/ml/ocean/sst/anomaly.html. I have presented two analyses of ocean surface temperature anomalies below; one for mid May 2010 (top) and one for mid May 1997 (bottom). The format has changed and the center point of geography is different (which makes it harder to compare the two figures], but what stands out is not a clear difference in the ocean average, but the remarkably large spatial variations in the anomalies. It is these anomalies that have a much greater effect on the climate that society and the environment experience (e.g. drought, floods, hurricanes, etc) than a global average trend (which has not even been evident for several years). What is missing from the otherwise excellent website, of course, are time plots of the global average sea surface temperatures, as well as averages for different subregions of the oceans. With that information, we could more readily track the ocean contribution to the global average surface temperature trend, as well as anomalies within the subregions. (Roger Pielke Sr., Climate Science)
From CO2 Science Volume 13 Number 21: 26 May 2010 Editorial: Subject Index Summary: Journal Reviews: Effects of Elevated CO2 and Temperature on a Temperate Coral: Are they as bad as climate-alarmists generally contend they are? How Best to Help Corals Cope with Heat-Induced Bleaching: Reducing local threats to coral reefs enhances their ability to withstand the planet-wide threat of global warming. Impacts of Elevated CO2 on Growth and Calcification of Two Species of Oyster Larvae: How are they affected by the presence of people? Sea Fan Adaptive Responses to Pathogen- and Heat-Induced Stress: What are they? ... and how effective are they? Plant Growth Database: Medieval
Warm Period Project:
Lloyd’s syndicates launch legal action over BP insurance claim BP’s attempts to limit the financial damage from the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico suffered a blow yesterday when almost half the syndicates in the
Lloyd’s of London insurance market launched a legal action against the company.
In Standoff With Environmental Officials, BP Stays With an Oil Spill Dispersant In a tense standoff, BP continued to spray a product called Corexit in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday to break up a vast oil spill despite a demand by federal regulators that
it switch to something less toxic.
Inspector General’s Inquiry Faults Regulators WASHINGTON — Federal regulators responsible for oversight of drilling in the Gulf of Mexico allowed industry officials several years ago to fill in their own inspection
reports in pencil — and then turned them over to the regulators, who traced over them in pen before submitting the reports to the agency, according to an inspector
general’s report to be released this week.
Cash 'black hole' threatens Scots low-carbon economy A FINANCIAL black hole is threatening Scotland's transformation to a low carbon economy, the head of Lloyds Banking Group has warned.
Waste is power, says rubbish collection chief Waste, and not wind, should be the focus of the new Government’s energy policies, according to the chief executive of one of Britain’s rubbish collectors.
Wind Integration Realities: The Bentek Study for Colorado (Part III) by Kent Hawkins [Editor's note: This is the third of four posts on (elevated) fossil-fuel emissions associated with firming otherwise intermittent wind power. Part I introduced the issues. Part II showed negated emission savings for the Netherlands at current wind penetration (about 3 percent). Part III (below) and Part IV tomorrow examine the higher emissions from wind in Colorado and Texas, respectively, according to a new study by Bentek.] The Bentek study is a significant contribution to the wind/fossil-fuel emission literature despite some notable limitations. The study analyzes the PSCO system, which dominates Colorado’s needs, and the ERCOT system in Texas, which manages 85% of that state’s electricity. The analysis includes SO2, NOx and CO2 emissions. Bentek looks at coal cycling events only in both cases, ignoring any gas cycling, while noting PSCO’s acknowledgement that wind impacts gas as well as coal. There are reasons why coal cycling is focused upon:
Both analyses utilize published production information. As PSCO does not reveal hourly wind production, for emissions analysis purposes, Bentek has to rely on a few coal cycling events in relation to detailed wind production provided in PSCO training manuals. This limitation is offset by the information available on a notable increase in coal cycling, which has occurred during the period of wind introduction, and which is arguably attributable to wind. As ERCOT does release wind production at 15 minute intervals, the same analysis approach is used in the Texas system to validate the Colorado results, which it does. Criticisms that the PSCO analysis is based on two days experience only, are well answered in the Bentek report. The reality is that PSCO does not make the necessary information available, and Bentek has done well with what they had to work with. Also, the validation of results based on the ERCOT experience is important. Finally, Bentek appropriately acknowledges limitations by calling for more comprehensive studies based on detailed information. Having established that RPS appear to add to the emissions problem, Bentek concludes that, given RPS, it will be necessary to incorporate adequate flexible fuel capacity facilities (gas plants) to ensure reduction in emissions, which is true enough. What is missed in this logic is that incorporating such new facilities without RPS will achieve even lower emissions. More on this is provided below. There are not only more emissions with RPS than without them, but also there is duplicate capacity installed (wind) at significantly higher costs, which adds notably to the costs of electricity. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Lawrence Solomon: Pro-global warming camps may war with each other May 25, 2010 – 5:53 pm 90 top global warming scientists have turned their sights on the biomass energy industry, until recently seen as allies, warning that biofuels sometimes increases rather than decreases greenhouse gas emissions. ““There may be a public perception that all biofuels and bioenergy are equally good for the environment and are all lower in carbon emissions than fossil fuels, but that’s not true,” said one of the signatories, Dr. William Schlesinger of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in a press release yesterday aimed at the U.S. Congress. “Many produce just as much or more carbon pollution than oil, gas, and coal. If our laws and regulations treat high-carbon-impact bioenergy sources, like today’s corn ethanol, as if they are low-carbon, we’re fooling ourselves and undercutting the purpose of those same laws and regulations.” That ethanol in your gas tank, the climate change scientists are telling us, could be bringing us closer to Armageddon by undercutting their efforts at saving the world. “Many international treaties and domestic laws and bills account for bioenergy incorrectly by treating all bioenergy as causing a 100% reduction in emissions regardless of the source of the biomass,” the scientists explain.” Under some scenarios, this approach could eliminate most of the expected greenhouse gas reductions during the next several decades.” The letter by the 90 scientists is a response to the American Power Act, which was recently introduced by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman. This proposed legislation promotes the bioenergy sector while downplaying wind and solar. Under the Kerry-Lieberman proposal, the National Academies of Sciences would study the role that biomass could play in reducing greenhouse gases while contributing to energy independence. The Environmental Protection Agency would then submit recommendations to Congress based on the NAS study and another study, this one a joint effort by EPA, the Department of the Interior, and the Department of Agriculture Congress would then act on the basis of the new information before it. To prevent this steamroller from flattening plans for windmills and solar collectors, the 90 scientists decided to take on the biomass lobby head-on. The biomass industry is now gearing up to counter the 90 with scientists of their own. In a rebuttal by BioFuels Digest, a leading industry journal, the letter from the 90 “represents a narrowly-held view within the scientific community, rather than consensus,” as it “was primarily signed by biologists and ecologists and did not include leading scientists noted in the development of bioenergy technologies.” Then came the call to action: “The Digest urgently calls on its friends in the scientific community, through the National Academy of Sciences, or other appropriate vehicles, to develop a point of view which can be generally said to be representative of a broad scientific consensus. We have seen what a lack of consensus can do to side-track the discussion of climate change.” Financial Post LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com
Side Effects: Seniors Will Lose Big Under Obamacare Passage of Obamacare will have negative consequences for practically all Americans. However, it is the nation’s senior citizens who will get the short end of the stick after enactment of the President’s health care agenda. In a recent paper, Heritage health policy expert Robert Moffit, Ph.D., lays out the specific provisions of Obamacare that will hurt seniors:
Continue reading... (The Foundry)
ObamaCare’s Price Controls Threaten HSAs Posted by Michael F. Cannon John Goodman is correct that ObamaCare’s individual mandate — and Kathleen Sebelius’s power to make the mandate more burdensome at whim — threaten the continued existence of health savings accounts (HSAs). But ObamaCare’s price controls are no less a threat. The new law requires insurers to charge enrollees of the same age the same average premium, regardless of health status. That’s a price control, and it will cause premiums for healthy people to rise dramatically and thus lead to massive adverse selection. Healthy people will gravitate to less-comprehensive insurance — in particular, HSA-compatible high-deductible plans — where the implicit tax is smaller. As premiums for comprehensive plans spiral upward (ultimately causing comprehensive plans to disappear) and as ObamaCare proves more costly than projected, supporters will be desperate for new revenue. They will call for the elimination of both HSAs and high-deductible health plans on the grounds that those products — not the price controls, mind you — are causing the market to unravel. HSAs allow young and healthy consumers to avoid the raw deal that ObamaCare offers them. And that’s precisely why ObamaCare’s supporters will try to kill HSAs. We will end up repealing one or the other. (Cato at liberty)
Support for Repealing ObamaCare Hits 63 Percent Posted by Michael F. Cannon The polling firm Rasmussen Reports reports:
Repeal the bill. (Cato at liberty)
Stimulus Package Increases Trade Deficit: Replaces U.S. Jobs with Foreign “Green Jobs” by Hans Bader The $800 billion stimulus package is shipping American jobs overseas. More than 79 percent of “green jobs” funding under the stimulus package went to foreign firms. Meanwhile, to pay for the stimulus package, the government borrowed a huge amount of money from the American people, money that would otherwise have been spent on American products, or been invested in America’s companies. The stimulus package has also destroyed thousands of jobs in America’s export sector by triggering trade wars that America lost. It also subsidized countless examples of government waste. Spain’s “green jobs” program, a model for Obama’s green-jobs and global-warming programs, has turned out to be a complete bust, destroying jobs and contributing to Spain’s skyrocketing government deficit. (Earlier, Obama’s green jobs czar, Van Jones, resigned over his… Read the full story (Cooler Heads)
Weeks away from defaulting on their debt, Greek politicians promised the International Monetary Fund and the European Union that they would cut spending in exchange for a bailout. But politicians are politicians. They can’t stop spending. Now the Prime Minister has a new idea on how to save Greece: Government subsidies for “green” energy. “The focus on green economy is no longer just a case of sensitivity towards the environment, but an issue of creating a sustainable economy also,” Papandreou told the 3rd Climate and Energy Security Summit for Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean… Now the Greek government will spend more for everything from solar panels to home energy conservation: Minister of Environment, Energy and Climate Change Tina Birbili announced the subsidization of photovoltaic installations and the connection of the subsidy with the guaranteed price of kilowatt for solar energy. In addition, the program to upgrade the energy efficiency of buildings is progressing, that is to be followed by an energy conservation program in homes, with subsidies for making structural improvements. In the same breath, the Greek Prime Minister also blasts speculators: “[C]loser international cooperation is needed to develop forward-thinking energy policies, as well as face the speculators who now attack Southern European countries.” Speculators – people who invest their own, not taxpayers’, money – see that his silly policies do harm. And they see that the World Bank ranks Greece 109th, behind Egypt, Ethiopia and Lebanon, in business friendliness. No wonder the Prime Minister doesn’t like speculators. Unfortunately for Greece, and probably America too, polls show that the people don’t get it, either: 55 percent oppose cutting government spending. I hope Americans are smarter. That the leader of a bankrupt country thinks he should spend more to “go green” says a lot a lot about the power of the Green myth. I’ll cover than on my FBN show Thursday. (John Stossel)
They don't always listen to logic Picked
up by BBC Scotland lat week, after being aired by the farming
press and the trade, it appears that there is a proposal going
through the EU parliament to ban certain rat poisons.
Many vaccines at once OK for kids' brains: study NEW YORK - Parents can rest assured that getting kids their vaccine shots on time will not hurt their mental skills later on, doctors said on Monday.
British ban for doctor at heart of MMR vaccine row LONDON - A doctor whose claims of links between vaccination and autism triggered a scientific storm before being widely discredited was struck off Britain's medical register
on Monday for professional misconduct.
Really tiny study but just possibly interesting: Reducing niacin may prevent obesity DALIAN, China, May 24 -- Researchers in China suggest reducing the niacin added to many fortified foods may help prevent obesity.
Caltech-led team first to directly measure body temperatures of extinct vertebrates Could help scientists track paleoclimate, determine whether dinosaurs and other species were warm- or cold-blooded
Dominic Lawson: Spare me lectures from deluded actors Jeremy Irons is a very suitable standard-bearer for eternal misanthropes: his particular talent on film is to exude moroseness from every pore
Predictably: Environmentalists fight to keep synthetic life in lab Environmental campaigners are fighting to ban the release of synthetic life forms into the wild.
No evidence organic foods benefit health: study NEW YORK - Consumers who opt for organic foods often believe they are improving their health, but there is currently no strong evidence that organics bring nutrition-related
health benefits, a new research review finds.
EPA can't regulate climate change By: Sen. John Barrasso
Disapproving of EPA’s CO2 Regulations Whatever prospects lie ahead for cap and trade legislation moving through the Senate might not matter if the Environmental Protection Agency continues forward on its path to regulate carbon dioxide. The EPA’s endangerment finding, which took place earlier this year, gives the agency the authority to use Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs). New restrictions on automobiles were the first step in what could eventually be a long, economically painful set of regulations imposed by unelected government bureaucrats – unless Congress steps up to the plate and stops them. Lisa Murkowski’s (R–AK) resolution of disapproval would do just that. As Heritage Senior Policy Analyst Ben Lieberman explains, “In order to provide a means of stopping unwarranted or ill-advised regulations, Congress and President Clinton enacted the Congressional Review Act in 1996. The statute allows Congress to pass, by simple majority and with limited debate time, a resolution of disapproval against any newly promulgated federal regulation it opposes, thus revoking the regulation. It is hard to imagine a more appropriate application of the Congressional Review Act than a disapproval against the EPA’s attempt to regulate energy use in the name of addressing global warming.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Overturning EPA's Endangerment A Constitutional Imperative Written by George Allen and Marlo Lewis To restore the constitutional separation of powers and democratic accountability, Congress must overturn EPA‘s endangerment finding. S. J. Res. 26, a resolution of disapproval, introduced by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), provides an appropriate vehicle to accomplish that. Read more... (SPPI)
The danger is some managers might believe this idiot: Pension wealth at risk as climate priority slips Pension funds must shift more capital into low-carbon energy to drive long-term returns, British academic Nicholas Stern told Reuters Global Energy Summit, adding that a cold U.S. and European winter had sapped urgency on global warming. (Reuters)
We must stop saying ‘The science demands...’ Top climate-change expert Mike Hulme tells spiked it is a scandal that scientific claims are increasingly usurping politics and morality.
Hit Job: ABC News Attempts to Align Climate Change Skeptics with White Supremacists By Jeff Poor At first, Michael Mann, a Penn State professor and a central figure in the Climategate scandal, but best known for his discredited "hockey stick graph" didn't like being mocked in a YouTube video. Now Mann is alleging he's a victim of hate groups. On ABC's May 23 "World News Sunday," a segment from anchor Dan Harris alleged that threatening e-mails Mann received were part of a "spike" in violence aimed at the global warming alarmist community. "The ongoing oil spill crisis in the Gulf is keeping the debate over climate and energy very much in the headlines and that debate is becoming increasingly venomous with many prominent scientists now saying that they are being severely harassed," Harris said. Curiously Harris makes no mention of the real violence in the form of eco-terrorism that has come from the environmental left or Greenpeace repeatedly targeting the Competitive Enterprise Institute's Chris Horner, by stealing his garbage on a weekly basis, as his Web site points out. Instead, this "severe harassment" ABC warned about were e-mails from fringe Internet elements sent to Mann. "The FBI tells ABC News it's looking into a spike in threatening e-mails to climate scientists like Penn State's Michael Mann," Harris said. And Mann, who has a lawsuit against Minnesotans for Climate Change, a group that publicly mocked him for his discredited hockey stick graph, where he allegedly intentionally hid data to accentuate the argument of global warming alarmism, complained that the e-mailers are trying to trample his free speech rights. (NewsBusters)
Army of Light and Truth 135, Forces of Darkness 110 For what is believed to be the first time ever in England, an audience of university undergraduates has decisively rejected the notion that “global warming” is or could
become a global crisis. The only previous defeat for climate extremism among an undergraduate audience was at St. Andrew’s University, Scotland, in the spring of 2009, when
the climate extremists were defeated by three votes.
Heartland Conference Gave Global-Warming Skeptics Great Ammunition Viscount Christopher Monckton of Brenchley pulled an enormous calculator out of the inside pocket of his finely tailored English suit, pointed to a formula in the paper he
was holding, punched some buttons, and explained, showing me the calculator results, that if we shut down the entire world’s economy for 25 years, the maximum possible impact
on global temperatures would be 1 degree centigrade.
Climate Fears Turn to Doubts Among Britons LONDON — Last month hundreds of environmental activists crammed into an auditorium here to ponder an anguished question: If the scientific consensus on climate change has
not changed, why have so many people turned away from the idea that human activity is warming the planet?
Plant and Animal Response to Global Warming Written by Robert Ferguson One of the grandest of all catastrophes predicted by climate alarmists to occur as a result of CO2-induced global warming is that many plant and animal species will not be able to migrate poleward in latitude or upward in altitude fast enough to remain within the temperature regimes suitable for their continued existence, and, therefore, many of them will likely be driven to extinction. Read more... (SPPI)
Parallel Loonyverse: MMR and AGW The doctor that caused mass hysteria over the safety of the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine has been struck off for unethical behavior. Andrew Wakefield claimed the vaccine could cause autism, a claim that led to panicked parents opting not to vaccinate their children, which in turn led to needless deaths. The science behind Wakefield’s claims was junk, but a gullible, eager media pushed it anyway:
Eventually the medical journal Lancet retracted the original paper, but that won’t bring dead kids back or soothe the souls of parents that failed to vaccinate their children. The MMR scare shows how junk science can be adopted as truth when pushed by an uncritical media and supported by idiot celebrities and begs direct comparison with the global warming hoax, where dishonest junk science is sold to a gullible public by a complicit media, supported by idiot celebrities. Andrew Wakefield lost his job, his career and his credibility as punishment for his central role in the MMR scare. In the global warming arena, Michael Mann is being investigated for fraud for his debunked hockey stick graph, a central element in the junk science of the global warming hoax. Other warmist scientists are bleating about being held accountable for their words. As Dr Wakefield has discovered, people don’t like being taken for fools and the consequences of unethical, dishonest science are far more real than his manufactured conclusions ever were. (Daily Bayonet)
Cooler Heads Digest 14 May 2010 by William Yeatman In the News How To Buy Corporate Support for Kerry-Lieberman Cap-and-Scam Renewables Versus Conventional The
Bootleggers Are the Baptists’ Last Hope Thomas Friedman, Phone Home A Climate Dud The Price of Wind Kerry-(Graham)-Lieberman: A Monstrous Payoff To Big Businesses Shelving of California’s Climate Law a Lot Closer Sale of Chicago Climate Exchange Reinforces Weak
Carbon Market News You Can Use Read the full story (Cooler Heads)
Nude Socialists still confuses cause and effect: Meltdown: Why ice ages don't last forever BACK in 1993, a boy playing football near Nanjing, China, suddenly fell through the ground. He had inadvertently found a new cave, later named Hulu, which has turned out to
be a scientific treasure chest. Besides two Homo erectus skeletons, it contains stalagmites that have helped solve one of the greatest mysteries in climate science: why the ice
ages came and went when they did.
Quantifying the Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Organisms Written by Dr. Craig Idso According to climate-alarmist theory, as the air’s CO2 content rises in response to ever-increasing anthropogenic CO2 emissions, and as more and more carbon dioxide therefore dissolves in the surface waters of the world’s oceans, the pH values of the planet’s oceanic waters should be gradually dropping. Read more... (SPPI)
My Perspective On The Nature Commentary By Kevin Trenberth As readers of my weblog know, there are a set of posts giving e-mails among Kevin Trenberth, Josh Willis and I, and blog posts by Roy Spencer, on the issue of “missing heat” in the climate system. These posts can be viewed at Is There “Missing” Heat In The Climate System? My Comments On This NCAR Press Release Further Feedback From Kevin Trenberth And Feedback From Josh Willis On The UCAR Press Release Comments On Two Papers By Kevin Trenberth On The Global Climate Energy Budget The Significance of the E-Mail Interchange with Kevin Trenberth and Josh Willis Article On The “Missing Heat” In The April 16 Issue of Physicsworld.com Further Comment By Kevin Trenberth Roy Spencer’s Response To Kevin Trenberth, April 26, 2009 April 26 2010 Reply By Kevin Trenberth Earths Missing Energy: Trenberth’s Plot Proves My Point There is now a new contribution by Kevin on Nature (it is actually not new in one sense, since Kevin (and J. Fasullo) recently posted a commentary on the same subject at Science magazine. Nature soliciting the same person (no matter how qualified) to write a comment is not expanding our perspective on this issue (Roy Spencer, for example, would have been a good choice as he has a different viewpoint than Kevin expressed in his Science comment). (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Carbon phobia... Toward Sustainable Travel: Breaking the Flying Addiction Flying dwarfs any other individual activity in terms of carbon emissions, yet more and more people are traveling by air. With no quick technological fix on the horizon, what alternatives — from high-speed trains to advanced videoconferencing — can cut back the amount we fly? (Elisabeth Rosenthal, e360)
FTA Chief: Paint Is Cheaper Than Trains Posted by Randal O'Toole In March, Cato published my review of every rail transit system in America (as of 2008), showing that in nearly every case buses would have been more cost-effective at moving people. This same view was expressed last week by a surprising source: Peter Rogoff, the Obama administration’s appointee in charge of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Appropriately, Rogoff spoke before the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, whose transit system, he pointed out, is in a “grim” state. Nationwide, he noted, America’s transit industry suffers from $78 billion worth of deferred maintenance — most of which is due to rail transit lines that cities cannot afford to keep in shape. Rogoff was disturbed that cities were asking for federal grants to build more rail lines when they can’t keep the existing trains in a state of good repair. Rogoff says he has been telling transit managers, “if you can’t afford to operate the system you have, why does it make sense for us to partner in your expansion?” Cities that build “shiny new rails now . . . need to be mindful of the costs they are teeing up for future generations.” “Let’s start with honesty,” he said: “Paint is cheap, rails systems are extremely expensive.” He suggested that, instead of expensive trains, many cities can attract just as many riders onto transit by painting buses on specific routes in distinctive colors (as Boulder, CO has done). Part of the problem, Rogoff knows, is that Congress has given cities incentives to build high-cost transit projects. To address this issue, the last transportation bill, in 2005, included a section requiring the Federal Transit Administration to evaluate the incentives created by federal funding. Unfortunately, the FTA dropped the ball: the resulting report said nothing about existing incentives and addressed only the question of whether new incentives could be created to encourage agencies to bring their properties up to a state of good repair. While that is a laudable goal, it is an input, not an output. According to historic data published by the American Public Transportation Association, the productivity of public transit — outputs per unit of input — has declined dramatically since the federal government began funding transit in 1964. From 1964 through 2008, the inflation-adjusted cost of operating transit increased by more than 360 percent, while transit ridership grew by a mere 24 percent and fares by 62 percent. Ultimately, transit should be privatized, but in the meantime Congress or the administration can adopt a race-to-the-top program similar to the one the administration is using to improve education. Rogoff should direct his agency to rewrite its incentive report before Congress takes up transportation again in 2011. (Cato at liberty)
The planned discount on new electric cars could become a casualty of the government's cost-cutting drive
BP pledges to fund Gulf impact study Faced with mounting criticism of its handling of the clean-up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP pledged today to set aside up to $500 million to fund a ten-year
research programme into the environmental impact of the disaster.
States hit by oil spill prepare to seize control of botched clean-up Fury over the handling of the BP oil disaster intensified yesterday as state officials challenged federal authorities, accusing them of bureaucratic fumbling and betrayal as
the slick took over 65 miles of Louisiana coastline.
What can you expect of someone raised by a man who wanted to kill off billions of humans? Disaster must be catalyst for change, says Jean-Michel Cousteau Jean-Michel Cousteau, one of the world’s leading ocean explorers, has spoken of his “frustration at the human species” over the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and called for it to become a catalyst for political, industrial and environmental change. (The Times)
Despite Moratorium, Drilling Projects Move Ahead WASHINGTON — In the days since President Obama announced a moratorium on permits for drilling new offshore oil wells and a halt to a controversial type of environmental
waiver that was given to the Deepwater Horizon rig, at least seven new permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers have been granted, according to
records.
A Short Lesson In Scale (and Global Power Demand) When considering the global energy sector, one of the most difficult tasks is understanding the gargantuan scale of our energy consumption. [Read More] (Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune)
After oil, Norway should turn to gas Statoil, 67 percent held by the Norwegian state, is one of the world's largest oil and gas producers and the world's second largest natural gas exporter behind Russian giant
Gazprom.
Australia first, urges energy paper THE government has been flayed for undermining confidence in the resources sector, but an early version of its energy policy advocates doing everything possible to ensure
Australia remains an attractive destination for investment.
Wind Integration Realities: The Netherlands Study (Part II) by Kent Hawkins
Windpower has traditionally been considered a substitute for carbon-based energy and thus a strategy for reducing related emissions, including that of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, reality is more complicated. Either natural gas-fired or coal-fired power must rescue wind from its intermittency problem, a role that creates incremental fuel usage and emissions compared to a situation where the conventional capacity could operate on a steadier basis. Previous studies have highlighted this unsettling tradeoff for proponents of windpower. And a new study by C. le Pair and K. de Groot based on actual experience in the Netherlands finds: The use of wind energy for electricity generation in combination with the requirement for fossil fuel powered stations to compensate for wind fluctuations can easily lead to loss of the expected saving in fuel use and CO2 emission. In addition, the conventional stations will be subject to accelerated wear and tear. It is recommended to get an accurate and quantitative insight into these extra effects before society sets out to apply wind energy on a large scale. All producers must be required to publish data on the efficiency effects and fuel use when wind energy is added on. This post reviews their study and compares its results with that produced by my fossil fuel and CO2 emissions calculator, both of which show how quickly any claimed saving from wind can become negative given the reality of fossil-fuel backup to firm-up intermittent power. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Entergy says nuclear remains costly Entergy Corp Chief Executive J. Wayne Leonard said on Monday that building new nuclear plants remains too costly and will prevent many utilities from participating in the
fledgling nuclear renaissance in the United States.
If you've ever wondered how a chemical that earned the 1948 Nobel Prize could get blacklisted two decades later, you have to read The Excellent Powder: DDT's Political and Scientific History. Authors Donald Roberts and Richard Tren, of the group Africa Fighting Malaria, have done a superb job, and have somehow made the book suitable for the techie and layperson alike. You'll read about the incredible junk science put forth by St. Rachel Carson, and the shameless posturing against this compound by elite journals such as Science. Meanwhile, millions of Africans were dying, but according to evil hacks like Paul Ehrlich, that was just fine. If banning DDT is what founded the modern environmental movement, then it was founded on a gigantic lie. Read my book review in Health News Digest. In anticipation of the e-mails: She is "Saint" Rachel since even though most Greens with a science background now acknowledge that her anti-DDT screed was complete nonsense, she has attained such iconic status that it doesn't matter. Yes, yes, I realize that the use of "Saint" is theologically incorrect, as all canonizations are infallible and go through an extensive vetting process, which our secular Saint Rachel did not—until it was too late. (Shaw's Eco-Logic)
Video: Health Care Reform Timeline
The White House knows its signature health care legislation is still deeply unpopular with the American people, which is why it has been desperate to speed up implementation as much as legally possible. But many of the law’s new costs and limitations are still scheduled to kick into effect years down the line, when Congress hopes voters aren’t paying attention anymore. A new Foundry video illustrates the health care implementation timeline (pdf) researched by the Heritage health care team. Think you can keep your current plan? Think seniors and the disadvantaged will get a fair shot at the care they want and need? Watch and find out. For more information on the side effects of Obamacare, visit the Side Effects blog. (The Foundry)
Side Effects: ER Overload Will Only Get Worse Remember how Obamacare was going to save big bucks and reduce wait time in emergency rooms? The idea was that millions of previously uninsured Americans accustomed to using ERs for basic medical treatment would snatch up Obamacare coverage and start getting primary care from regular (and cheaper) medical practices. Nice thought. But it doesn’t look like it’ll pan out. Indeed, notes Rick Dallam, it looks like “it’s going to be exactly the opposite over the next four to eight years.” In an article in The Hill, Dallam, a health care partner at a firm that designs health care facilities, notes: “We don’t have the primary care infrastructure in place in America to cover the need. Our clients are looking at and preparing for more emergency department volume, not less.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits PARIS — Across Western Europe, the “lifestyle superpower,” the assumptions and gains of a lifetime are suddenly in doubt. The deficit crisis that threatens the euro
has also undermined the sustainability of the European standard of social welfare, built by left-leaning governments since the end of World War II.
EU says Glaxo, Merck vaccines OK despite pig virus LONDON, May 21 - Rotavirus vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline and Merck & Co are safe to use despite being contaminated with a pig virus, Europe's drugs watchdog said on
Friday.
Cholesterol drug side effects need watching: study LONDON, May 21 - People using cholesterol-lowering statins have a higher risks of liver dysfunction, kidney failure, muscle weakness and cataracts and such side effects of
the drug should be closely tracked, doctors said on Friday.
Your phone probably isn't killing you The scientific consensus is that devices that emit electromagnetic radiation have little effect on the body.
Older patients can skip breast radiation - study WASHINGTON, May 20 - Older women with early stage breast cancer can safely skip radiation therapy and go straight to taking pills that help keep tumors from coming back,
researchers reported on Thursday.
Contaminants in Groundwater Used for Public Supply More than 20 percent of untreated water samples from 932 public wells across the nation contained at least one contaminant at levels of potential health concern, according
to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Thirst for cash brings push to tax sweet drinks WASHINGTON — Thirsty for new sources of cash, health-conscious lawmakers in cities and states across the country are reaching for the refrigerator, proposing taxes on
sports drinks, teas and soda.
Beverage Makers Step Up Campaigns Against Levy as Cities, States Weigh Idea
When did entertainers get the silly idea they actually knew something? Earth will bite us back, warns Iron There are too many humans and disease may restore the balance, the actor claims
EU Struggles To Find Voice On Environment Issues The European Union is bogged down in a power struggle over who speaks for the bloc at international meetings, threatening action on environmental issues from mercury
pollution to whaling, EU officials say.
Study finds big decrease in global child mortality Fewer children are dying around the world, with deaths among children under 5 falling in almost every country, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday.
The human race isn’t heading to hell in a handcart, argues Matt Ridley – in fact, we’ve never had it so good (Sunday Times)
The Atrazine Scare Is Just the Beginning Recently, I reported here on the environmentalists’ trumped-up scare campaign targeting atrazine, a valuable, widely used agricultural herbicide. I quoted a Wall Street Journal editorial that observed, “The environmental lobby also figures that if it can take down atrazine with its long record of clean health, it can get the EPA to prohibit anything.” In fact, the attack on atrazine is just part of the total war against man-made chemicals that is waged today by environmentalists inside and outside of government. On May 6, the President’s Cancer Panel fired the latest salvo in this battle, in the form of its annual report, Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now. The report follows in the scare-mongering tradition established by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a major green lobby. As I noted earlier, the NRDC’s 1989 pesticide report—citing bogus rodent experiments—fomented a nationwide panic over the chemical alar, abetted by media sympathizers. Last year, the group issued a similar faux “study” to gin up alarm over atrazine. The presidential panel’s report similarly relies on “junk science” to reach alarmist conclusions, and was pre-released to reliably green journalists to maximize its visibility. Columnist Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times was one. In “New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer,” Kristof proclaimed that “the mission control of scientific and medical thinking, the President’s Cancer Panel” was “poised to join ranks with the organic food movement and declare: chemicals threaten our bodies.” Reuters likewise reported the story under the scary title, “Americans ‘Bombarded’ with Cancer Sources: Report.” Yet, jarringly, the first sentence in the report’s cover letter to President Obama begins: “Though overall cancer incidence and mortality have continued to decline in recent years . . .” How to reconcile this admission with the report’s frightening thesis: that the “American people—even before they are born—are being bombarded continually with myriad combinations of these dangerous exposures”? If cancer-causing chemicals are widespread and increasing, why do overall cancer rates and deaths continue to fall? To its credit, the New York Times highlighted strong criticism by the American Cancer Society leveled against the government report. ACS epidemiologist Dr. Michael Thun blasted the study as “unbalanced by its implication that pollution is the major cause of cancer,” and for claiming, without proof, that environmentally caused cancer cases are “grossly underestimated.” In truth, says the ACS, only six percent of all U.S. cancers are related to “environmental causes”—four percent from occupational exposures and just two percent from all other settings. “Environmental causes” thus represent only a tiny fraction of the overall incidence of U.S. cancers, which are due overwhelmingly to non-environmental factors—mainly genetics and voluntary lifestyle choices. “If we could get rid of tobacco, we could get rid of 30 percent of cancer deaths,” Dr. Thun said, adding that poor nutrition, obesity, and lack of exercise contribute far more to cancer susceptibility than do pollutants. But that’s not the conclusion the presidential panel wants you to reach. (Big Government)
Bovine TB found in wild boar for first time in UK Scientists discover TB in wild boar, raising fears among farmers that boars and badgers could be contributing to disease in cattle (The Guardian)
Beekeepers lose one sixth of hives Beekeepers lost one in six hives last winter due to disease and cold weather, according to the latest statistics.
Climate forces African rice revival vs Asian cousin OSLO, May 21 - Scientists are reviving long-ignored African rice to cut dependence on Asian varieties that may be less able to withstand the impact of climate change on the
poorest continent, a report said on Friday.
Oh... Young coral 'threatened by noise pollution' As if it's not bad enough for them with pollution, fishing by dynamiting, global warming and ocean acidification, the world's coral reefs face a new threat – from noise.
Gorebull warbling is falling apart, so: UN says case for saving species 'more powerful than climate change' Goods and services from the natural world should be factored into the global economic system, says UN biodiversity report
There's a major problem with this: Whales and dolphins deserve 'human rights' because of their intelligence Whales and dolphins should get "human rights" to life and liberty because of mounting evidence of their intelligence, a group of conservationists and experts in philosophy, law and ethics have argued. (TDT)
Sometime before June 7, the so-called Murkowski resolution to block EPA regulation of greenhouse gases will be voted on in the Senate. Democrats up for re-election this fall
may want to think twice about a knee-jerk “no” vote.
Horner: Cuccinelli Is Following the Law; Mann Up, UVa WASHINGTON The University of Virginia indicates it will challenge Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's request for records produced, using taxpayer resources, by former
Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences Michael Mann. This is regrettable. Cuccinelli is following smoke to see if there is fire, prompted by troubling revelations in
leaked documents that raise serious questions about Mann's activities while at the university.
Stupid stunt of the month: Reef team tries a little time travel to assess acid damage On a coral atoll just a two-hour boat ride from Queensland's Gladstone Harbour, past the endless line of tankers queued to load coal for export, a half-dozen scientists work
frantically against the tide.
Eye-roller du jour: A mammoth blow for global warming SCIENTISTS believe gassy mammoths helped to fill the atmosphere with methane and keep the Earth warm more than 13 thousand years ago.
Just a little ray of sunshine ended ice ages VAST sheets of ice that threatened to freeze much of the Earth may have been turned back by tiny changes in the level of sunlight, scientists have found.
By Lawrence Solomon May 21, 2010 – 7:17 pm
Hmm... very dubious reporting: Climate Scientists Claim 'McCarthy-Like Threats,' Say They Face Intimidation, Ominous E-Mails Global Warming Denier Says His Side Gets Threats, Too
Springwatch finds the BBC in cloud cuckoo land Sadly the flowers have refused to follow the BBC's climate change rules, says Christopher Booker
Coulda, woulda, shoulda, if, might, maybe... El Niño could make 2010 the hottest year ever CLIMATE scientists have warned that 2010 could turn out to be the warmest year in recorded history.
Meanwhile: El Nino 2009/10 Over - La Nina, Warm Summer and Global Cooling Coming
By Joseph D’Aleo CCM The El Nino of 2009/10 is over. Temperatures in region NINO34, the key region used for official El Nino assessment are now negative (-0.1C). The warming peaked in the central tropical Pacific in December / January. Some lingering warmth has been found in the east as cooler water has surfaced in the east central (below, enlarged here). LA NINA - SISTER OF THE EL NINO COMING ON
Ocean heat content in the tropical Pacific is shown to dive, similar to what happened in 1998 and 2007. (below, enlarged here). The cross section along the equatorial Pacific shows the warm water gone with a large plume of sub-surface water ready to be tapped by upwelling - the onset of La Nina
(below, enlarged here). Note the similarity to May in 1998 and 2007 when El Ninos gave way to La Nina in the
summer/fall (below, enlarged here). Most ENSO models indicate La Nina is likely. All dynamical models show negative anomalies. Some statistical models show La Nada (neutral) conditions (below, enlarged here).
These maps are for the Corn Belt. (below, enlarged here and here).
In 2007, slow movement west of the cold water led to late season issues, affecting mainly beans. The best analogs suggest a warm summer though cooler than normal and wet conditions in the southern plains (below, enlarged here
and here). Soil moisture models have been coming around to this thinking (below enlarged here). WILDCARDS - SOLAR SLUMBER AND VOLCANIC RUMBLINGS One of the wildcards is the sun, which returned to a quiet state in late April and early May with two extended strings of spotless days and a return of solar flux to solar
minimum levels. We continue to track close to the cycle 5 in the Dalton Minimum 200+ years ago. Unprecedented solar levels and long period of quiet solar may enhance the global
cooling effect as La Nina comes on. Note the rapid global temperature (MSU satellite lower atmospheric temperatures shown) declines in prior La Nina episodes post strong El
Ninos (red arrows) (below, enlarged here). You can also see clearly the effects of volcanic aerosols and El
Nino (warming) and La Nina (cooling). Note similarity of sunspot activity to cycle 5 at the start of the Dalton Minimum. Cycle 14 a century ago is also shown and has been regarded by some as another possible analog/ Note the more rapid recovery that cycle. That was also a cold period though not as cold as the Dalton (below, enlarged here). Also Eyjafjallajokull continues to erupt. Though most days the ash and aerosols remain below the stratosphere, occasional eruptions are more explosive. Much more dangerous Katla historically has been triggered by Eyjafjallajokull eruption periods which often last for long periods. A major eruption would change the weather picture globally quickly by affecting the AO and ash and aerosols could affect crops in Europe. Redoubt and Sarychev affected the hemisphere’s climate last two summers and last winter. See full PDF with enlarged images here. (Icecap)
Reply to article by Don Easterbrook: Don Easterbrook hides the incline by Tim Lambert: Deltoid Sunday, May 23rd 2010, 4:35 PM EDT As some of you may know, my recent paper at the Heartland global climate conference has been attacked by Gareth Renowden and posted by Tim
Lambert on his blog. File attachment: Responsetohidestheincline.pdf (Climate Realists)
?!! Debate heats up over climate impact on malaria spread Researchers criticised for saying mosquito control is more influential than a warming world in the spread of malaria (Mićo Tatalović for SciDev.net, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
Mann’s 1.8 million Malaria grant – “where do we ask for a refund’? Thomas Fuller of the San Francisco Examiner has a great piece which summarizes the issue of climate and malaria and Mann. Like with the imagined increase in hurricane frequency due to global warming, so it goes with malaria. There’s no correlation. The premise is false. On Monday, May 17th, I had the privilege of sitting on a panel at the Heartland Institute Chicago ICCC4 conference with regular WUWT contributor Dr. Indur Goklany. He gave his views on the declining mortality we’ve seen worldwide and has published several pieces here on WUWT. He also the author of the book: “ The Improving State of the World”. “Goks” (as his friends call him) gave a PowerPoint presentation on declining mortality in a warming world and you can view the PPT File here. I’ve culled one of the slides he presented below. If this doesn’t offer proof that when it comes to mankind that “warmer is better”, I don’t know what would. Note the reversal in the southern hemisphere with Australia and New Zealand. But the most interesting slide is number 10, showing the drop in Malaria worldwide: Continue reading (WUWT)
But here's a real-world problem: Mongolia: Nomadic way of life at risk as harsh winter kills 17% of livestock As nearly eight million animals are wiped out by the paralysing cold, UN predicts influx of up to 20,000 herders into the cities (Andrew Jacobs, The Observer)
Is Global Warming Really Cause for Alarm? Editors' note: This piece is co-authored by Willie Soon and David R. Legates
The Missing Climate Model Projections The strongest piece of evidence the IPCC has for connecting anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions to global warming (er, I mean climate change) is the computerized climate model. Over 20 climate models tracked by the IPCC now predict anywhere from moderate to dramatic levels of warming for our future in response to increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. In many peoples’ minds this constitutes some sort of “proof” that global warming is manmade. Yet, if we stick to science rather than hyperbole, we might remember that science cannot “prove” a hypothesis….but sometimes it can disprove one. The advancement of scientific knowledge comes through new hypotheses for how things work which replace old hypotheses that are either not as good at explaining nature, or which are simply proved to be wrong. Each climate model represents a hypothesis for how the climate system works. I must disagree with my good friend Dick Lindzen’s recent point he made during his keynote speech at the 4th ICCC meeting in Chicago, in which he asserted that the IPCC’s global warming hypothesis is not even plausible. I think it is plausible. And from months of comparing climate model output to satellite observations of the Earth’s radiative budget, I am increasingly convinced that climate models can not be disproved. Sure, there are many details of today’s climate system they get wrong, but that does not disprove their projections of long-term global warming. Where the IPCC has departed from science is that they have become advocates for one particular set of hypotheses, and have become militant fighters against all others. They could have made their case much stronger if, in addition to all their models that produce lots of warming, they would have put just as much work into model formulations that predicted very little warming. If those models could not be made to act as realistically as those that do produce a lot of warming, then their arguments would carry more weight. Unfortunately, each modeling group (or the head of each group) already has an idea stuck in their head regarding how much warming looks “about right”. I doubt that anyone could be trusted to perform an unbiased investigation into model formulations which produce very little warming in response to increasing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. As I have mentioned before, our research to appear in JGR sometime in the coming weeks demonstrates that the only time feedback can be clearly observed in satellite observations — which is only under special circumstances — it is strongly negative. And if that is the feedback operating on the long time scales associated with global warming, then we have dodged the global warming bullet. But there is no way I know of to determine whether this negative feedback is actually stabilizing the climate system on those long time scales. So, we are stuck with a bunch of model hypotheses to rely on for forecasts of the future, and the IPCC admits it does not know which is closer to the truth. As a result of all this uncertainty, the IPCC starts talking in meaningless probabilistic language that must make many professional statisticians cringe. These statements are nothing more than pseudo-scientific ways of making their faith in the models sound more objective, and less subjective. One of the first conferences I attended as a graduate student in meteorology was an AMS conference on hurricanes and tropical meteorology, as I recall in the early 1980’s. Computer models of hurricane formation were all the rage back then. A steady stream of presentations at the conference showed how each modeling group’s model could turn any tropical disturbance into a hurricane. Pretty cool. Then, a tall lanky tropical expert named William Gray stood up and said something to the effect of, “Most tropical disturbances do NOT turn into hurricanes, yet your models seem to turn anything into a hurricane! I think you might be missing something important in your models.” I still think about that exchange today in regard to climate modeling. Where are the model experiments that don’t produce much global warming? Are those models any less realistic in their mimicking of today’s climate system than the ones that do? If you tell me that such experiments would not be able to produce the past warming of the 20th Century, then I must ask, What makes you think that warming was mostly due to mankind? As readers here are well aware, a 1% or 2% change in cloud cover could have caused all of the climate change we saw during the 20th Century, and such a small change would have been impossible to detect. Also, modelers have done their best to remove model “drift” — the tendency for models to drift away from today’s climate state. Well, maybe that’s what the real climate system does! Maybe it drifts as cloud cover slowly changes due to changing circulation patterns. It seems to me that all the current crop of models do is reinforce the modelers’ preconceived notions. Dick Lindzen has correctly pointed out that the use of the term “model validation”, rather than “model testing”, belies a bias toward a belief in models over all else. It is time to return to the scientific method before those who pay us to do science — the public — lose all trust of scientists. (Roy W. Spencer)
Will Happer: testimony in the House Prof Will Happer of Princeton has given an excellent testimony in front of the House of Representatives yesterday, On these eight pages, he first modestly sketches some facts about his impressive scientific background. He says that the climate has been largely warming for 200 years or so, that the CO2 is rising because of us, that CO2 probably causes less than 2 °C of warming per doubling, that the empirical evidence increasingly speaks against large positive feedbacks, or any net positive feedbacks for that matter, that the models have been often wrong, that "modeler" Lord Kelvin was wrong when he argued against Charles Darwin's correct statement that the Earth had to be very old, that a "team B" should be created to critically evaluate the conclusions by "team A" (this IPCC2 is originally an idea due to Václav Klaus, and I also think that the names "team A" and "team B" should be naturally reversed relatively to Happer's proposal), that CO2 is naturally present in much higher concentrations in our breath etc. and is beneficial for the plants. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
BBC: Roger Harrabin about types of AGW skeptics Roger Harrabin wrote a pretty interesting BBC
report from the fourth Heartland climate conference in Chicago: Climate sceptics rally to expose 'myth'You shouldn't be shocked that the text is far from impartial. The myth is written in the quotation marks while Harrabin himself complains that the vegetarians have been underrepresented, among other bizarre attempts to attack the skeptics. But otherwise, he offers some meaningful insights into the sociology of climate change - and to the internal diversity of the climate realists in particular. You should see Bob Carter's report which is even more sensiblebut I will stay with Harrabin's text. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
In Defense of the Globally Averaged Temperature I sometimes hear my fellow climate realists say that a globally-averaged surface temperature has little or no meaning in the global warming debate. They claim it is too ill-defined, not accurately known, or little more than just an average of a bunch of unrelated numbers from different regions of the Earth. I must disagree. The globally averaged surface temperature is directly connected to the globally averaged tropospheric temperature through convective overturning of the atmosphere. This is about 80% of the mass of the atmosphere. You cannot warm or cool the surface temperature without most of the atmosphere following suit. The combined surface-deep layer atmospheric temperature distribution is then the thermal source of most of the infrared (IR) radiation that cools the Earth in response to solar heating by the sun. Admittedly, things like water vapor, clouds, and CO2 end up also modulating the rate of loss of IR to space, but it is the temperature which is the ultimate source of this radiation. And unless the rate of IR loss to space equals the rate of solar absorption in the global average, the global average temperature will change. The surface temperature also governs important physical processes, for instance the rate at which the surface “tries” to lose water through evaporation. If the globally averaged temperature is unimportant, then so are the global average cloudiness, or water vapor content. Just because any one of these globally-averaged variables is insufficient in and of itself to completely define a specific physical process does not mean that it is not a useful number to monitor. Finally, the globally averaged temperature is not just a meaningless average of a bunch of unrelated numbers. This is because the temperature of any specific location on the Earth does not exist in isolation of the rest of the climate system. If you warm the temperature locally, you then will change the horizontal air pressure gradient, and therefore the wind which transports heat from that location to other locations. Those locations are in turn connected to others. In fact, the entire global atmosphere is continually overturning, primarily in response to the temperature of the surface as it is heated by the sun. Sinking air in some regions is warmed in response to rising air in other regions, and that rising air is the result of latent heat release in cloud and precipitation systems as water vapor is converted to liquid water. The latent heat was originally picked up by the air at the surface, where the temperature helped govern the rate of evaporation. In this way, clouds and precipitation in rising regions can transport heat thousands of kilometers away by causing warming of the sinking air in other regions. Surprisingly, atmospheric heat is continually transported into the Sahara Desert in this way, in order to compensate for the fact that the Sahara would actually be a COOL place since it loses more IR energy to space than it gains solar energy from the sun. (This is because the bright sand reflects much of the sunlight back to space). Similarly, the frigid surface temperature of the Arctic or Antarctic in wintertime is prevented from getting even colder by heat transport from lower latitudes. In this way, the temperature of one location on the Earth is ultimately connected to all other locations on the Earth. As such, the globally averaged surface temperature — and its intimate connection to most of the atmosphere through convective overturning — is probably the single most important index of the state of the climate system we have the ability to measure. Granted, it is insufficient to diagnose other things we need to know, but I believe it is the single most important component of any “big picture” snapshot of climate system at any point in time. (Roy W. Spencer)
Climate change concern declines in poll Only 62% of Britons interested in subject, down from 80% in 2006, according to YouGov survey
Are Students Learning About The Corruption Of Climate Science? The mainstream media actively promoted global warming, then effectively ignored evidence of corrupt climate science and essentially ignored the whitewash investigations of the activities of members of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) and members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). They promoted Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” yet ignored the evidence of major scientific errors. They quickly condemned Martin Durkin’s documentary “The Great Global Warming Swindle” because of one small error on a graph. Durkin withheld the DVD until the error was corrected. Al Gore’s movie is still shown uncorrected in most schools, although a UK court ordered the government to have teachers advise students of the bias and errors. (Tim Ball, CFP)
Sea Level Rises…What Sea Level Rises? Another one of the standout presentations at the Heartland Institute’s fourth International Conference on Climate Change was the one by Nils-Axel Morner, former emeritus head of the paleogeophysics and geodynamics department at Stockholm University. His talk focused on sea level increases and the difference between observed data and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) model’s predictions. Morner was a former reviewer on the IPCC report and when he was first made a reviewer he said he was “astonished to find that not one of their 22 contributing authors on sea levels was a sea level specialist: not one.” Morner discussed the realities of a number of countries and islands claimed to be doomed from climate change. He started with the Maldives, which some reports claim will be submerged in the next fifty years. Morner pointed out that the sea level around the Maldives has been much higher before and actually fell 20 centimeters (7.8 inches) during the 1970s. He also asserted that sea levels have been stable for the past three decades. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach This topic is a particular peeve of mine, so I hope I will be forgiven if I wax wroth. There is a most marvelous piece of technology called the GRACE satellites, which stands for the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. It is composed of two satellites flying in formation. Measuring the distance between the two satellites to the nearest micron (a hundredth of the width of a hair) allows us to calculate the weight of things on the earth very accurately. One of the things that the GRACE satellites have allowed us to calculate is the ice loss from the Greenland Ice Cap. There is a new article about the Greenland results called Weighing Greenland. Figure 1. The two GRACE satellites flying in tandem, and constantly measuring the distance between them. So, what’s not to like about the article? Continue reading (WUWT)
The Australian Department of Climate Change
People have asked me if the Rudd Government’s postponement of the ETS means we’ve won, as in game over, time for that beach holiday in Broome? But the end of the game is nowhere in sight while our government still has a Department of Climate Change stacked with high paid executives that soak up $90 million a year. The gullible guys who leapt in with both feet are still top-dogs. The end is not even close while two of our largest daily papers don’t realize they are the real Deniers they disparage, or when the second in charge of our opposition still thinks we need to trade carbon. Joe Hockey (our shadow treasurer) said this week that “a carbon price is inevitable”. He used the same old line: “scientists say blah”, as if a consensus of “scientists” is either (a) faultless and incorruptible, or (b) in control of the weather. Carbon trading, “inevitable“? How about “inane”? Even better: perilous, fraud-prone, and serpentine. It boils down to forced markets trading fake goods that nobody would willingly buy. It’s not a “carbon” market, it’s a Permit Market. And a permit (especially to something unmeasurable) is not a commodity to be traded. What better recipe to bake a crooked cake, and fan the flames of darker human instincts? Yea verily, let’s feed the dark side and invite the charlatans to our table. Why not give them press secretaries, diplomatic immunity, and an expense account as well? Speaking of dark: the propaganda rolls on (thanks to your money) More » (Jo Nova)
A New Paper “Global Warming Advocacy Science: A Cross Examination” By Jason Scott Johnston A very important, much needed new research paper has appeared. It is Global Warming Advocacy Science: A Cross Examination by Jason Scott Johnston who is the Robert G. Fuller, Jr. Professor of Law and Director, Program on Law, Environment and Economy of the University of Pennsylvania – Law School. His short biographical vita reads
The abstract reads (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Jim Hansen responded in 2005 to a comment we made on ocean heat content with respect to a Science Express article he wrote in that year [Pielke and Christy, 2005; our Comment was (no surprise) rejected by Science]. Jim’s entire 2005 response can be read here.
With the new 2010 paper John M. Lyman, Simon A. Good, Viktor V. Gouretski, Masayoshi Ishii, Gregory C. Johnson, Matthew D. Palmer, Doug M. Smith, Josh K. Willis, 2010: Robust warming of the global upper ocean. Nature 465, 334-337 (20 May 2010) doi:10.1038/nature09043 Letter we can update how well Jim Hansen’s prediction is comparing to observations. My last update was on February 9 2009 [I have a post on Keven Trenberth's commentary on the Lyman et al paper on Monday]. The Lyman et al 2010 paper concludes that
The 1993 to 2008 value is close to the Hansen prediction despite the flattening of the heating of the upper ocean reported in the Lyman et al 2010 paper since 2003 [if we use Jim Hansen's expected radiative imbalance at the end of the 1990s of 0.85 Watts per meter squared and use 80% of that to represent the upper ocean heat content change, his prediction of the heating rate of the upper ocean is 0.68 Watts per meter squared. This is within the uncertainty of the Lyman et al analysis]. However, there are important questions with respect to conclusion of Jim Hansen’s forecast as well as an opportunity. First, since the heating rate is dominated by the time period prior to 2004, an assessment of whether the GISS model (which is the basis of Jim’s forecast) produces interruptions of the heating for this long needs to be made and reported. Also, over 40% of the heating occurred in just the time period 2002 and 2003 with about 30% more in 1999. Does the GISS model predict such shorter term bursts of heating? With respect tot the lack of recent heating, the Lyman et al 2010 paper write
A consequence of this absence of heating is that we should soon see a return to the radiative imbalance predicted by Jim Hansen, if he is correct. Indeed, this provides us the best opportunity we have over the next few years to test the robustness of the multi-decadal global models to predict the climate system radiative imbalance (i.e. global warming). (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
We Know About Soros — But Who Is Maurice Strong? Canadian mogul and avowed socialist Maurice Strong manipulates governments to benefit his "green" portfolio and those of his friends: George Soros, Ted Turner,
Al Gore, and China.
EU crisis may hit carbon targets The European Commission is under pressure to shelve plans to raise its target for greenhouse gas emission cuts from 20% to 30% amid fears that further uncertainty would be
too damaging to fragile world markets.
Somewhat desperate rerelease: The benefits of energy crop cultivation outweigh the costs Champaign, Il – May 3, 2010 - An article in the current issue of Global Change Biology Bioenergy reveals that Miscanthus x giganteus, a perennial grass, could effectively
reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, while lowering atmospheric CO2.
Shortchanging American Energy Security Who would've ever thought that a federal bureau within the U.S. Department of Interior mandated to "conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants"
could possibly have such a significant and potentially damaging effect on our nation's energy security.
Obama Gives a Bipartisan Commission Six Months to Revise Drilling Rules WASHINGTON — President Obama established a bipartisan national commission on Friday to investigate what caused the devastating oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and figure
out where the government went wrong so as to “make sure it never happens again,” as he put it.
Despite Leak, Louisiana Is Still Devoted to Oil MORGAN CITY, La. — In some parts of the country, the sight of oil drifting toward the Louisiana coast, oozing into the fragile marshlands and bringing large parts of the
state’s economy to a halt, has prompted calls to stop offshore drilling indefinitely, if not altogether.
Conflict of Interest Worries Raised in Spill Tests Local environmental officials throughout the Gulf Coast are feverishly collecting water, sediment and marine animal tissue samples that will be used in the coming months to
help track pollution levels resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
The question of the week seems to be just how much oil is leaking from the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico. [Read More] (Geoffrey Styles, Energy Tribune)
Crude Facts About Offshore Drilling There has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This unprecedented accident for the American offshore drilling industry, the first significant spill in 40 years, will certainly have a calamitous impact on the Gulf marine environment and surrounding coastal areas. What is less certain, but potentially even more dangerous, is the effect that this spill will have on the US domestic oil industry. While environmentalists clamor for a shut down of all offshore drilling in the Gulf, realists know that this will make the threat to ocean life even greater. What has not being told to the public is that nature itself leaks more oil into the ocean each year than mankind, and has been doing so for millions of years. What is even less known is that offshore drilling can actually reduce the amount of crude released into the seas. While the knowledge that nature spills more oil into the ocean environment than humans in noway reduces the amount of harm this accident will cause, or excuse those in both industry and government who are responsible for the event occurring, it should be a reminder to all that man's transgressions against nature, as bad as they are, are nothing compared with nature's own. Indeed, offshore drilling is responsible for half of the oil spillage as tankers, and together these man-made spills only account for 1/16 the amount released by natural seeps. Scientists are well aware of this situation, as was reported in a recent paper in Nature Geoscience, entitled “Asphalt volcanoes as a potential source of methane to late Pleistocene coastal waters.” In it, David L. Valentine et al. report:
When methane dissolves into the ocean it depletes the water's oxygen content, which is why investigators on the scene of the current Gulf spill have noticed the oxygen content of the surrounding water dropping. This is obviously a threat to any sea life in the area. In California, where being green is almost a requirement of residency, offshore drilling has been suppressed for years even though it probably does no good. Valentine et al. explain: “The timing and volume of erupted hydrocarbons from the asphalt structures can explain some or all of the documented methane release and tar accumulation in the Santa Barbara basin during the Pleistocene.” Tar bubble at the La Brea tar pits, Los Angeles. Photo Daniel Schwen. This means that, even without human drilling activity, there would still be escaping methane, robbing the seas of oxygen, and oil washing up on the beaches as sticky tarballs. It doesn't take a genius to figure this out. After all, one need only look at the famous La Brea Tar Pits and ask “what would happen if a similar tar pit occurred underwater?” But asking such questions unsettles the blame-humanity-first crowd. Since 1975, offshore drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone (within 200 miles of US coasts) has a safety record of 99.999%. This means that only 0.0001 percent of the oil produced has been spilled. In the waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), between 1993 and 2007 there were 651 oil spills, releasing 47,800 barrels of oil. Given 7.5 billion barrels of oil produced during that period, one barrel of oil has been spilled in the OCS per 156,900 barrels produced. The truth is, the amount of oil spilled from platforms, tankers, and pipelines is small, relative to the amount of oil extracted and transported. Even so, oil spills remain an unpleasant reality of offshore oil drilling. Certainly, any amount of oil spilled into the ocean is undesirable, but offshore oil operations contribute relatively little of the oil that enters ocean waters each year. By far the largest source of human caused oil release is through “normal” use of oil products—people just dumping used oil away. According to the National Academies’ National Research Council, natural processes are responsible for over 63% of the petroleum that enters North American ocean waters and over 45% of the petroleum that enters ocean waters worldwide. According to research by scientists from UC Santa Barbara and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), 8 to 80 times the amount of oil spilled in the Exxon Valdez accident has leaked from petroleum seeps near Coal Oil Point in the Santa Barbara Channel. Published in the May 15 issue of Environmental Science & Technology, documents how the oil is released by the seeps, carried to the surface along a meandering plume, and then deposited on the ocean floor in sediments that stretch for miles northwest of Coal Oil Point. In “Weathering and the Fallout Plume of Heavy Oil from Strong Petroleum Seeps Near Coal Oil Point, CA,” Christopher Farwell et al. report a seepage rate of 20−25 tons of oil daily in that area alone. Oil seeps naturally from the sea floor. According to oceanographers at Old Dominion University: “the oceans have been receiving natural oil for at least 400 million years. The city of Santa Barbara, California, receives more gases from natural seeps, than from all man made sources. The Gulf of Mexico has over 600 sources of natural oil leaks. And the oceans have absorbed more oil than all that is currently left on the planet.” Earth's ecosystems are more resilient than most people realize. In contrast to what green activists will tell you, offshore drilling can actually reduce the amount of oil leaking into the sea. Research shows that, because it relieves the pressure that drives oil and gas to leak from ocean floors, drilling can reduce natural seepage. In 1999, two peer-reviewed studies found that natural seepage in the northern Santa Barbara Channel was significantly reduced by oil production. The researchers documented that natural seepage declined 50% around Platform Holly over a twenty-two-year period, concluding that, as oil was pumped from the reservoir, the pressure that drives natural seepage dropped (See “Oil and Gas Seepage from Ocean Floor Reduced by Oil Production”). Though offshore drilling has proven to be less environmentally dangerous than shipping oil in tankers, occasionally an accident will focus the world's attention on the damage crude oil can do when spilled. Just such a spill, emanating from a pipe 50 miles offshore and 5,000 feet underwater, erupted into the news in late April, 2010. Fire boat crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Photo US Coast Guard. The US Gulf coast states have a love hate relationship with the oil industry. America gets around 30% of its oil from the more that 3,500 offshore drilling rigs that dot the Gulf of Mexico. These rigs bring jobs, both on the drilling platforms and at the onshore refineries that turn the crude into heating oil and gasoline. Most of the time, the residents of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida are happy to have the oil industry in the Gulf. In fact, the governors of other states had called on the federal government to relax restrictions so oil exploration could take place off their shores. President Obama had publicly announced his administration's support for expanded drilling for domestic oil and gas. Exploratory offshore drilling was planned for several parts of the east coast of the United States that were previously off limits. Then the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, leased and operated by British Petroleum (BP), suffered the worst offshore oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez sank off the coast of Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound in 1989. The immensity of the disaster in the Gulf unfolded slowly over several weeks. It started with an explosion and fire on the platform, 11 workers went missing and are presumed dead. After burning for several days the platform eventually sank on April 22. Only then did rescue workers on the scene realize that there was oil leaking from the site. The oil leak was not at the surface but at the base of the bored hole. To avoid just this type of spill, all offshore oil rigs have safety devices that are supposed to shut off their wells in the event of an accident. Something obviously went terribly wrong on the Deepwater Horizon. Oil from the fractured drilling pipe now threatens Louisiana’s fragile coastal wetlands as strong winds and rough waters hampered clean-up efforts. The miles of floating barriers have proven ineffective and the well continues to spew oil into the fisheries and fragile ecosystems of the Gulf. Oil burns during a controlled fire in the Gulf of Mexico, May 6, 2010. Photo US Navy. How to cap the massive blowout, which is leaking and estimated 200,000 gallons a day, remain elusive. Capping a geyser of oil 5,000 feet (1,500 meters) below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico is a feat never before attempted. “The sort of occurrence that we've seen on the Deepwater Horizon is clearly unprecedented,” BP spokesman David Nicholas told the Associated Press. “It's something that we have not experienced before ... a blowout at this depth.” The Transocean Ltd. rig that sank was worth over $600 million and BP was reportedly leasing the rig for $500,000 per day. Under US law and international treaty, BP is responsible for all expenses stemming from the accident—the damages could run into the billions. As of this report, BP is frantically trying to contain the spill and clean up costs are running $6 million per day. Environmental damage is being estimated at close to 8 to 12 billion dollars but, in the end, the worst damage may be to the US domestic oil industry. Eco-activist group Oceana is trying to collect a half a million signatures to stop all new offshore drilling (stopthedrill.org). So far the total is only around 33 thousand. And there is little chance that existing production wells will be shut down either. As mentioned, the Gulf provides about 30% of America’s 6.7m barrel-a-day domestic output and Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, who is heading the investigation into the Deepwater Horizon accident, says production will not be halted. When green politics collide head-on with America's energy needs there is little question, at least in politician's minds, what the outcome will be. The crude facts are these:
Seawater covered with thick black oil splashes up in brown-stained whitecaps. AP Photo. As usual, the green position is totally untenable. Offshore drilling will continue until America and the rest of the world can break their oil addiction, which will not be any time soon. Until an acceptable alternative to the internal combustion engine is found, and the hundreds of millions of cars and trucks on the road today are replaced, the world will continue to run on oil. Not that BP, Transocean and Halliburton should be left off the hook—they should pay for cleaning up their mess and for the hardship inflicted upon the local people, whose lives they have harmed, even it it drives all three into receivership. Through their whining and wailing, the eco-lobby has pushed drilling farther off shore where accidents are more probable and containment harder—nature suffers but they get to feel pious and smug. Ignorant and ideological, the greens lash out at those they do not like and offer “solutions” that cannot work: Biofuels that consume more energy than they produce and produce more pollution than the fuels they replace, all while laying waste to the worlds remaining forests; wind turbines that kill birds and bats and can alter local climate; solar power plants that ruin fragile desert ecosystems and have the greens themselves up in arms. The world's energy problems will not be solved by consumer abstinence and a gaggle of wonky alternative energy sources. Blinded by their own fanaticism, every time greens get involved in energy matters they make the problem worse. We all need to remember that, every time the lights come on when we throw a switch, every day we hop into our vehicles to take the kids to school or commute to work, every day we go shopping in the grocery store and find it filled with fresh produce from around the world, those things are possible, at least in part, due to oil. For most of the history of mankind, kings and queens could not live as well as the average citizen of a developed country does today. The Deepwater Horizon accident is a catastrophe for many reasons—not the least of which being the deaths of 11 men who laboured at one of the most dangerous jobs around to support their families and allow the rest of us to live comfortable lives. The threat to the ecosystems in and around the Gulf of Mexico is real and tragic, as is the damage to the local tourist and fishing industries. With every picture of an oil soaked bird or sea turtle the voices of those who wish to shut down the oil industry everywhere, on land and sea, will become more strident. We cannot hide our heads in the sand and ignore the world's growing need for energy, and we cannot wish the hazards of drilling for oil to go away. Life is full of hard choices and we need to act like educated adults: let us punish those responsible to the limit of the law, regulate the offshore drilling industry to ensure this does not happen again, and insist that our government takes serious action towards solving our energy problems. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay sceptical. We cannot hide from the world's growing energy needs. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Naked anticapitalism: Polluted by profit: Johann Hari on the real Climategate Global warming - and the worst environmental disasters - will only be tackled when green lobbyists in the US stop taking cash from Big Oil and Big Coal (The Independent)
U.S. Unveils New Push For More Efficient Cars, Trucks President Barack Obama unveiled a government push on Friday to boost auto fuel economy for model-year 2017 passenger vehicles and beyond, and introduce a truck efficiency
target for the first time.
Sigh... Ford re-examining its carbon footprint Ford Motor announced Thursday it will use its influence to reduce the carbon footprints of its suppliers.
Obama’s Model ‘Green’ Country? Denmark Evicts Citizens, Clear-Cuts Forests for Windmill Space Following the embarrassment of having recommended Spain's failed "green" programs, Obama switched to using Denmark as a model. Best out of five?
by Kent Hawkins There is no convincing proof that utility-scale wind plants reduce fossil fuel consumption or CO2 emissions. Although there are are a number of reports claiming gains can be made that will combat climate change, free us from fossil fuel “addiction,” provide energy independence and needed 21st century industrial development, such reports are not substantiated by definitive and comprehensive analyses. To determine the actual effects will require long-term time series, at intervals significantly less than one hour, of wind production and fuel consumption due to fast ramping of fossil fuel plants to compensate for wind’s volatility in an electricity system where wind represents approximately at least 1-2% of production. As opposed to wind proponents’ claims, studies based on actual experience with wind integration are emerging that demonstrate the fossil fuel and CO2 emissions gains are not valid. The two reviewed here are examples but are limited by the lack of availability of complete information on operational performance, especially of wind plants. Fortunately, enough information can be gleaned that provides a strong indication of what those who have studied this objectively have long suspected. Why is more complete information about wind performance and integration not available? Is it because wind proponents, including some policy makers and wind industries, do not want the realities disclosed, or, in the case of many environmentalist organizations, because they would interrupt established agendas? Or is it that these groups believe it unnecessary because they do not understand the realities of utility-scale wind power? [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Is the Electric Emperor Naked? Honda’s R&D chief thinks he may at least be in his underwear.
Update on the Legal Challenges to Obamacare Posted by Ilya Shapiro Since I first issued my challenge to debate “anyone anytime anywhere” on the (un)constitutionality of Obamacare, a lot has happened. For one thing, Randy Barnett and Richard Epstein, among many others, have published provoctive articles looking at issues beyond the Commerce Clause justification for the individual mandate — such as the argument that Congress’s tax power justifies the mandate penalty and that the new Medicaid arrangement amounts to a coercive federal-state bargain. (Look for to a longish article from yours truly due to come out in next month’s issue of Health Affairs.) For another, as Michael Cannon noted, seven more states — plus the National Federation of Independent Business and two individuals – have joined the Florida-led lawsuit against Obamacare. Perhaps most importantly, such legal challenges are gaining mainstream credibility. Here’s a brief look at some important legal filings from the past 10 days:
Finally, if anybody is reading this is in Seattle, I’ll be debating Obamacare at the University of Washington Law School next Thursday, May 27 at 4:30pm. This debate, sponsored by a number of groups, including the law school itself and the Federalist Society, is free and open to the public. For those interested in other subjects, I’ll be giving a different talk to the Puget Sound Federalist Society Lawyers Chapter the day before at 6:30pm at the Washington Athletic Club ($25, rsvp to Michael Bindas at mbindas@ij.org). The title of that one is “Justice Elena Kagan? What the President’s Choice Tells Us About the Modern Court and Confirmation Process.” Please do introduce yourself to me if you attend either event. (Cato at liberty)
Solving an Innovator’s Dilemma Innovative licensing agreements between Western and Indian drug companies are leading to sustainable profits and increased access to quality medicines.
BPA's Risks Are Vastly Exaggerated (May 19) -- If you found out that you were exposed to a chemical in food packaging that was linked to a host of health problems including obesity, breast and prostate
cancer, diabetes, heart disease, brain disorders and erectile dysfunction, you'd want to have it banned. Even if the risk wasn't that great or the science fully proven,
precaution would seem to be the most sensible course of action given those charges.
Is a high carbohydrate diet linked to pancreatic cancer? NEW YORK - One of the first symptoms of pancreatic cancer -- often noticed even years before diagnosis -- is indigestion. A new study suggests that these timely tummy
troubles may be enough to explain away previous links made between a high carbohydrate diet and an increased risk of the disease.
The results of drinking 20 ounces of Coca Cola on an empty stomach shocks starving journalist into having a sugar high.
This is called digestion, absorption, and metabolism – and it happens whenever you eat. Something similar would have happened if the ABC reporter had eaten any carbohydrates for breakfast. These break down into sugars and are absorbed into the bloodstream where they are either used immediately to power the body or stored as easily-accessible fuel in the form of glycogen. (Trevor Butterworth, STATS)
IU study: More physical activity leads to less obesity -- often, but not always BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- It may seem intuitive that greater amounts of exercise lead to less obesity, but an Indiana University study has found that this conventional wisdom
applies primarily to white women. The findings draw attention not only to racial, ethnic and gender differences regarding exercise but also to the role work can play.
D.C. Council appears to take proposed soda tax off the table A majority of D.C. Council members signaled their opposition Thursday to a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on soda, probably killing the proposal for the year.
New York governor proposes new soda tax to raise $815 million New York Governor David Paterson on Thursday proposed lifting the sales tax on diet soda, while adding a new "sugar tax" to full-calorie drinks, in a fresh bid to boost revenue for the cash-strapped state. (Reuters)
Long stretch of the day: Belly Fat in Middle Age Raises Dementia Risk 'Spare tire' had strongest association with senility, study found
Small study guesstimation of the day: Heavy caffeine intake may mean smaller babies NEW YORK - Pregnant women who down six coffee cups' worth of caffeine every day may have smaller babies than those who consume less caffeine, a new study finds.
Aimless mission drift of a once useful agency: WHO targets child obesity with food marketing curbs Health ministers, alarmed at the growing number of obese children, agreed on Thursday to try to reduce children's consumption of junk food and soft drinks by asking member states to restrict advertising and marketing. (Reuters)
Squeezing the joy out of ketchup Heinz’s decision to change its ketchup recipe after 40 years is a sign of our health-obsessed, killjoy times.
ES&T are becoming professional hysterics: Mercury levels are increasing in popular species of game fish in Lake Erie Scientists are reporting that mercury levels in a popular species of game fish in Lake Erie are increasing after two decades of steady decline. The study, the most comprehensive to date on mercury levels in Great Lakes fish, is in ACS' Environmental Science & Technology, a semi-monthly journal. (ES&T)
Report: CDC used bad data to judge DC water safety WASHINGTON — Federal health officials knowingly used flawed data in a study that calmed public fears about lead in the District of Columbia's drinking water in 2004,
according to a congressional investigation released Thursday.
Congressional report prompts fear and anger over lead in D.C. water Federal and local political leaders, D.C. parents and health advocates reacted Thursday with a mixture of anger and fear to news that a federal agency misled them about the
harm that lead in the District's water had caused -- and might still be causing.
Report linking depression with chocolate leaves bad aftertaste It's pretty much an irresistible combination -- chocolate and depression -- and everyone from the Boston Globe to the BBC took a bite the other week.
Genetics shine new light on old diseases HONG KONG - Lui Sang, now 81, was diagnosed with leprosy as a boy shortly after his older brother came down with the same infection, notorious for centuries for causing
disfiguring skin lesions and stigma.
Gene variants may raise risk of infectious diseases LONDON - Scientists have found a group of gene variants that increase susceptibility to infectious diseases like tuberculosis and malaria and say the discovery may help in
designing new drugs to tackle several illnesses at once.
Indur Goklany’s Double Play in the New York Times Posted by David Boaz Indur Goklany’s great book, The Improving State of the World: Why We’re Living Longer, Healthier, More Comfortable Lives on a Cleaner Planet, has been cited this week by both John Tierney and Andrew Revkin in the New York Times. But neither of them really says much about it. Don’t bother with the articles, just go buy the book. It’s a compelling, comprehensive case — with more than 100 charts and tables — for the case made in the title, which deserves to be bullet-pointed. It shows that the state of the world is improving because
Check out the evidence. (Cato at liberty)
Jobs: A Spanish economics professor said attempts by his country to create a green economy would fail. Now a Spanish government report confirms his findings, blunting claims
that the professor's report was biased.
About time: Water Sanity For Central California Law: A federal judge has struck a blow for California's water-deprived Central Valley, ruling that draconian federal water cutbacks violate human rights because —
surprise! — people also belong in the ecosystem.
May 20, 2010 – 7:40 pm Why are junkistas and extortionists making Canadian forest policy? Steve Kallick of the Pew Charitable Trusts — who is reported to have “brokered” this week’s Boreal Forest Agreement — gave a little “colour” to the Toronto Star about the negotiations. When dining with Avrim Lazar, the head of the Forest Products Association of Canada, Mr. Kallick said he had been lectured by Mr. Lazar, a vegetarian, over eating a “big sloppy piece of beef.” “It was an ironic twist,” said Mr. Kallick, “being lectured by the head of the logging association about not being kind to the planet.” There are a few other ironic, not to mention questionable, twists to this deal, which bans logging for three years in 29 million hectares of Canada’s vast northern wilderness. Why was a representative of a giant American foundation sitting down to negotiate Canadian forestry policy? Also, how can a “broker” simultaneously be funding one side of the “negotiation?” This agreement was dubbed a “ceasefire,” but only one party was ever shooting, and Pew was providing the bullets. Meanwhile surely the biggest irony is that Pew — which has become a multi-billion dollar fount of junk science-fuelled activism — was set up with money made by the stout free marketers who first commercialized the Alberta oilsands. Read More (Financial Post)
Levy planned for coastal residents RESIDENTS of coastal properties will be forced to pay special coastal protection levies in threatened areas under legislation proposed by the state government.
My name is Clive, and I used to be an organoholic . . . but I'm all right now After years of chemical-free eating, Clive Aslet admits that he has given up organic produce in favour of cheaper, local and even (whisper it) intensively reared food. (TDT)
Reading the Tea Leaves on the Sen. Murkowski-Epa Climate Resolution The Senate will likely vote on a climate change measure in the next few weeks.
Editorial: Climate bill would strangle economic recovery The betting in Washington is that the cap-and-trade carbon bill introduced in the Senate by Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts and Independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
hasn't got a chance of passing this year. That may explain why public outcry against yet another economy-choking piece of legislation has been fairly muted.
Scott Denning speaks at the Heartland conference Prof Scott Denning of Colorado State University was one among two de facto AGW believers who accepted the invitation to the Fourth International Conference on Climate
Change.
He's very polite, he has learned a a lot, he complains that his colleagues don't attend such meaningful conferences, and he says that paranoia isn't helpful and that
pro-market forces suffer because they're not sufficiently represented among physical scientists which is why physical scientists inevitably give far left-wing recommendations
whenever science intersects with policymaking. Very true.
EDITORIAL: Nero was hotter than Al Gore National Academy of Science study: Ancient times were warmer The planet has never been warmer than it is right now, if you believe what global warming alarmists have to say. Mankind's selfishness in producing "excessive"
amounts of carbon dioxide has set us on a path toward global cataclysm, they insist. The problem with this tale is that it neither fits with the historical record nor with a
growing body of scientific evidence.
Lawrence Solomon: Preoccupation with climate change harming efforts to control malaria May 20, 2010 – 3:27 pm Global warming is all-but irrelevant to the spread of malaria, according to a study released today in Nature. In contrast, global warming policies based on the belief that global warming promotes malaria are harming efforts to eradicate malaria. “Climate change is, in our view, an unwelcome distraction from the main issues,” according to Oxford University’s Peter Gething, the study’s lead researcher. Gething notes that malaria has been steadily decreasing while global temperatures increased. Instead of focussing on a non-issue, Gething believes, malaria-fighting resources should be directed to measures needed to maximize the progress in fighting this disease. Gething’s comments, reported today by the BBC, supports the long-standing views of the Pasteur Institute and other prestigious malaria research bodies, all of whom have long been critical of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1995 report. This report fostered misinformation that then sent malaria prevention off on a wild goose chase. To decide where to intervene to prevent the spread of malaria, researchers use models that predict where their efforts are best focussed. Models based on climate change redirected disease-prevention efforts away from regions where they were most needed to address the true health needs of Africa. Read More (Financial Post)
If a letter appearing in the May 7, 2010, issue of Science is any indication, it looks like climate science traditionalists are trying to stage a comeback. The article by P. H. Gleick and a cast of hundreds, entitled “Climate Change and the Integrity of Science,” states that “we are deeply disturbed by the recent escalation of political assaults on scientists in general and on climate scientists in particular.” Decrying the attacks on climate scientists by “deniers,” the letter reiterates the signatories' support for dogmatic climate change theory. While admitting that the IPCC “quite unexpectedly and normally, made some mistakes,” they call for an end to “McCarthy-like threats” against themselves and their colleagues. Painting themselves as victims, they have gone on the offensive—like the evil Empire of Star Wars fame, climate science is striking back. Likening climate change to the theories of the origin of Earth, Evolution and the Big Bang, the letter's signatories state: “There is compelling, comprehensive, and consistent objective evidence that humans are changing the climate in ways that threaten our societies and the ecosystems on which we depend.” They quickly play the uncertainty card, repeating the tired better-safe-than-sorry argument, saying “for a problem as potentially catastrophic as climate change, taking no action poses a dangerous risk for our planet.” Their song remains the same: we don't have real proof but we should act anyway, just in case we are right. A foreshadowing of the letter's credibility was the use of a now famous photoshopped picture of a single polar bear, stranded on a small ice-flow (clicking on the small picture at the begining of the article will bring up the bogus “collage”). The Science article on-line contains this correction:
If only they would admit their larger transgressions so easily. Aside from the pictorial faux pas, the letter itself repeats the same tired old arguments. And of course, they can not help but call those who question their theory “deniers.” If anyone is in denial it is this group. The central points of the letter are reproduced below, judge for yourself.
These cranky boffins must think that, if they repeat the same lies enough times, everyone will start believing them again. No serious skeptic claims that a single cold winter reverses the past century's warming trend, though AGW supporters constantly trumpet the warmest this and that. The truth can be seen in the chart below, produced by NASA's GISS. Mean global temperature has not changed for over a decade. NASA/GISS. This graph appeared in “Playing the Uncertainty Card,” but bears repeating, as does the statement by Mark A. Cane: “Over the past decade, the mean global temperature did not rise much, if at all.” Gleick et al. assert that Earth's climate is “now being overwhelmed by human-induced changes.” Dr. Cane, a distinguished climate scientist from the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, seems to think that nature is doing the overwhelming: “This pause in global warming cannot be attributed to cutbacks in greenhouse-gas emissions by the planet's human population, so it must be nature taking a turn towards colder temperatures.” At the end of the letter, it is claimed that skepticism of anthropogenic global warming has created a hostile environment for climate scientists. These pedants are amazed that people get upset when they are purposefully lied to, when data are manufactured to prove climate scientists' pre-ordained outcomes, and when leading experts collude to mislead the public. The same protests have been made by hucksters and confidence men down through the ages.
Do they really expect everyone to accept their assertions of imminent disaster based on the flimsy, and often falsified, evidence present by the IPCC? Do they really think that the peoples of the world would accept a crash program to reorganize the economies of every nation without overwhelming proof that significant change was occurring? These “scientists” not only don't live in the real world, they have abandoned it in favor of perfidious computer models. Immersed in their models' fantasy worlds, where they can play god with Earth's climate and reassure themselves that their half-formed notions are true. The signatories are all members of the US National Academy of Sciences but do not claim to be speaking on its behalf. The Academy itself, however, has embarked on a new course of open advocacy and decided to overtly recommend a cap-and-trade program or a carbon tax. “We really need to get started right away. It's not opinion, it's what the science tells you,” said academy panel vice chairman Robert Fri, prompting Roger Pielki Jr. to label that statement “the boneheaded comment of the day.” Pielki uses the term “stealth issue advocate” to describe someone, like Fri, who hides their advocacy behind science. The Gleick et al. letter is a veritable who's who of stealthy and not so stealthy advocates. Below is the full list of signatories to the Science letter. I propose that, when the notion of dangerous, human caused global warming is finally put to rest, we raise a monument to scientific folly, with a bronze plaque containing the names of those listed here. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
UK Arrests Four More In Suspected CO2 Tax Probe British tax investigators arrested four more people on Thursday they said were believed to be connected to a 38 million pound ($54.5 million) suspected tax fraud in European
carbon credit trading.
Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, May 20 2010 Jovian factories and SUV’s caused the giant planet to lose a red ring, the activist group Climate Camp is tearing itself apart over a Bolivian blowout and a Canuck paper says that 75% of the global population will be dead in 19 months. (Daily Bayonet)
The Great Dying of Thermometers It’s like watching the lights go out over the West. Sinan Unur has mapped the surface stations into a beautiful animation. His is 4 minutes long and spans from 1701-2010. I’ve taken some of his snapshots and strung them into a 10 second animation. You can see as development spreads across the world that more and more places are reporting temperatures. It’s obvious how well documented temperatures were (once) in the US. The decay of the system in the last 20 years is stark. For details on just how sinister the vanishing of data records is, see my previous post on Anthony Watts and Joe D’Aleo’s extraordinary summary of Policy Driven Deception.
The Great Dying of Thermometers … I’m sure one day the chronological spread (and decay) of thermometers will be a useful marker for some socio/economic/historic marker (though it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what). This is not a measure of population growth — some of those dots in Australia 100 years ago are just stations (as in big farms). It’s not just “money” (Europe booms post WWII), it’s not measuring the spread of “English” though English speaking countries are well represented, Japan suddenly comes “online” in about 1880. What was it exactly, that swept countries up with the idea and the wherewithal to measure temperatures and record them? The full 4 minute animation is (below), it’s a twinkling silent testament to human endeavor. You can also rate it on Youtube, or go to Sinan’s site and leave a comment there to say thanks. More » (Jo Nova)
Global Average Sea Surface Temperatures Poised for a Plunge Just an update…as the following graph shows, sea surface temperatures (SSTs) along the equatorial Pacific (“Nino3.4″ region, red lines) have been plunging, and global average SSTs have turned the corner, too. (Click on the image for the full-size, undistorted version. Note the global values have been multiplied by 10 for display purposes.) The corresponding sea level pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin (SOI index, next graph) shows a rapid transition toward La Nina conditions is developing. Being a believer in natural, internal cycles in the climate system, I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that global-average SSTs will plunge over the next couple of months. Based upon past experience, it will take a month or two for our (UAH) tropospheric temperatures to then follow suit. (Roy W. Spencer)
Climate Change: The West vs The Rest by Will Alexander We are fortunate to have a guest post by Will Alexander (see his earlier one here). WJR (Will) Alexander is Professor Emeritus of the Department of Civil Engineering of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and Honorary Fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering. He spent the past 35 years of his career actively involved in the development of water resource and flood analysis methods as well as in natural disaster mitigation studies. His interest in climate change arose from claims that it would have an adverse effect in these fields. In his subsequent studies of very large hydrometeorological data sets he was unable to detect any adverse human-related changes. He has written more than 200 papers, presentations and books on these subjects. [alexwjr@iafrica.com] GUEST POST By Will Alexander (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Arctic Drilling Proposal Advanced Amid Concern A proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean as early as this summer received initial permits from the Minerals Management Service office in Alaska at the same time
federal auditors were questioning the office about its environmental review process.
U.S. Power Grid Could Tap More Wind, Solar: Study Large amounts of solar and wind power could be added to the western U.S. power grid without significant spending if utilities make operational changes, the U.S. Department
of Energy said on Thursday.
Greek Crisis and Euro Fall Snare Clean-Energy Stocks May 20 -- As Europe grapples with the fallout from Greece’s economic woes, at least one unexpected corner of the economy is suffering: renewable energy companies.
Only VAT Can Fund Leftist Welfare State Recently in the Wall Street Journal, David Ranson pointed out what tax economists have known for a long time: no matter what changes Congress makes to the existing tax code, it will continue to raise the same amount of revenue as a percentage of GDP year-after-year. Ranson writes:
The income tax is the predominant revenue raiser for the federal government, and fluctuations in the revenue it collects have the biggest effect on the total change in tax collections year-to-year. Over the course of its history the top rate has been as high as 91 percent and as low as 28 percent. Even with such large variations in top rates, the income tax has raised a remarkably consistent amount of revenue as the chart shows. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
and even places with a VAT aren't making it: “I’m Afraid To Tell You There’s No Money Left” When Britain’s new Chief Secretary to the Treasury, David Laws, walked into his office last week, he found a letter from his predecessor, Liam Byrne. Laws assumed it contained useful advice. But when he opened the envelope, he found that the letter – which he characterized as “honest but slightly less helpful” than he had expected – had only a single line:
And so there isn’t. Americans don’t realize just how bad Britain’s situation is. True, Britain’s not in the Euro, which is a huge help. But Britain’s got a larger structural deficit – in other words, the deficit after you factor out the effects of the recession – than Greece, and its borrowing one pound for every four it spends. It will take years for Britain to recover from the pain New Labour has inflicted. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Free Trade: Key to Job Creation Trade critics charge that free trade damages U.S. firms and workers. It’s true that individuals can experience trade-related job loss. Balanced against that, however, must be the overall gains in U.S. employment and productivity that stem from an open trading environment. Indeed, free trade fosters economic efficiency, which is the basis for dynamic growth and job creation. In a recent report entitled “Opening Markets, Creating Jobs: Estimated U.S. Employment Effects of Trade with FTA Partners,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce points out that more than 17 million American jobs depend on trade with U.S. FTA partners, and in 2008 alone, over five million jobs were created by the boost in trade unleashed by the FTAs. Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue appropriately remarked, “I defy anyone in town to name another budget-neutral government initiative that has generated anything like this number of jobs.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Oh no! Not another one! Porter: Ecologist Sandra Steingraber is the Rachel Carson of the new millennium “It is the exquisite communion between the interior landscape of the body and the exterior,” Sandra Steingraber says, barely panting, as we pad down the streets of the
Oakwood neighbourhood side by side. She is talking about scenes from the new documentary Living Downstream, based on her book of the same title.
Counterfeit drugs on rise, pose global threat: WHO GENEVA, May 19 - Production and sale of counterfeit drugs is on the rise in rich and poor countries, with more unwary consumers buying them over the Internet, experts warned
on Wednesday.
Overuse of antibiotics spurs vicious cycle: study LONDON - Patients whose doctors over-prescribe antibiotics may develop drug resistance that lasts up to a year, putting them and the population at risk when more serious
treatment is needed, scientists said on Wednesday.
Experts find killer of pneumonia-causing bacteria HONG KONG, May 20 - A common bacteria found in the human nose and on skin which can cause diseases like meningitis and pneumonia can be destroyed by another bacteria found
in the nasal passage, researchers have found.
Particulate air pollution affects heart health Breathing polluted air increases stress on the heart's regulation capacity, up to six hours after inhalation of combustion-related small particles called PM2.5, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. (Penn State)
Moderate drinkers have better health, study finds LONDON, May 19 - People who drink moderate amounts of alcohol have better health on average than those who are teetotalers, French scientists said on Wednesday.
LONDON, May 19 - Is ageing a disease?
Fighting cancer: Diet, scant exercise problems The United States does not produce or import anywhere near enough fruits and vegetables to provide Americans the right kind of diet to prevent cancer, government researchers said on Wednesday. (Reuters)
New Strategy for Soda Tax Gives Diet Drinks a Break Gov. David A. Paterson is considering a new strategy in his effort to pass a soda tax, hoping to win over reluctant lawmakers and the beverage industry by pairing the
proposal with a state sales tax exemption on diet sodas and bottled water.
Milk, wheat-free diet may not help autism: US study WASHINGTON, May 19 - A popular diet that eliminates wheat and milk protein does not appear to help children with autism, but early behavioral treatments do, researchers
reported on Wednesday.
In Scientific Research, It's Full Disclosure for Thee, Not For Me "Commercialized" science distorts science, writes the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) on the webpage of its "Integrity in Science"
project. The very name of the project suggests that such science somehow inherently lacks integrity.
Birds chose higher protein-content seeds -- imagine that... Garden birds prefer non-organic food to organic, study finds The nutritional benefits of organic foods have been called into question by some very discerning diners – wild garden birds trying to survive the winter.
Common herbicide atrazine affects fish reproduction WASHINGTON — The farm herbicide atrazine, used widely worldwide, has been shown to affect reproduction in fish, according to a US government study released Wednesday.
Green zealots... Widow threatened with legal action over butter tub in wrong bin A widow aged 95 was threatened with legal action after accidentally putting an empty butter tub in the wrong recycling bag. (TDT)
Kerry–Lieberman: A “Simple” 987-page Bill? (Enron postmodernism in a Senator’s voice) by Robert Bradley Jr.
The late postmodern philosopher, Jacques Derrida (1930–2004) would find intellectual kinship in the political debates about climate and energy coming from the party in power. If alive today, Derrida would nod approvingly at Senator John Kerry’s above I-say-it, it-is-true inversion of reality. It ranks right up there with Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling telling the world after the Enron collapse that Enron was a great company. Donway Unmasks Enron’s Inner Philosophy Roger Donway was the first person to identify Enron as a postmodern company. In “The Collapse of a Postmodern Corporation,” he wrote:
He explained: [Read more →] (MasterResource)
No one fond of Senate’s global-warming bill Montana utilities and environmentalists are giving a cool reception to what appears to be the U.S. Senate’s main global-warming bill.
National Advocacy Society? New climate change reports underscore need for action WASHINGTON -- As part of its most comprehensive study of climate change to date, the National Research Council today issued three reports emphasizing why the U.S. should act
now to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop a national strategy to adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. The reports by the Research Council, the operating
arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering, are part of a congressionally requested suite of five studies known as AMERICA'S CLIMATE CHOICES.
Going all-in: Strong Evidence on Climate Change Underscores Need For Actions to Reduce Emissions and Begin Adapting to Impacts
Stay tuned for more America's Climate Choices...
Dumb & Dumber? Borenstein and Revkin on New NAS Reports Writing for AP, Seth Borenstein says that the US National Academy of Sciences has embarked o0n a new course of open advocacy and decided to overtly recommend a cap-and-trade program or a carbon tax, which he associates with specific legislation being considered in Congress: In what probably qualifies as the boneheaded comment of the day, the panel co-chair says that it is science that is telling us to act, not anyone's opinions (emphasis added): By contrast Andy Revkin sees not much new in terms of advocacy in the report, or in its discussion of policy options: Revkin also finds no clear linkage with Obama Administration policies or those currently being debated in Congress:
Who has got this right Borenstein or Revkin? Obviously, somebody is spinning madly. (Roger Pielke Jr)
American Physical Society begins to Backpedal on Climate Policy The Council of the American Physical Society (APS) has adopted on April 18, 2010 a "Climate Change Commentary" to append to their definitive and "incontrovertible" 2007 policy statement on climate change. The commentary allows considerable backpedaling from the prior policy while appearing to save face. The commentary removes the word incontrovertible because such words are "rarely used in science because by its very nature science questions prevailing ideas." The statement "While there are factors driving the natural variability of climate (e.g., volcanoes, solar variability, oceanic oscillations), no known natural mechanisms have been proposed that explain all of the observed warming in the past century." is added, and while not true since there are a number of papers which show that ocean oscillations and solar variability can explain all of the 0.7 degree warming of the past century, it is a step in the right direction from the 2007 policy which makes no mention of natural forcing and blames climate change on man-made emissions of CO2. (Hockey Schtick)
Even though the Constitution does not include the words "separation of church and state," liberals have long treated that concept as a hallowed fundamental
doctrine of constitutional law. But no more. With the recent introduction of new Senate cap and trade legislation, ultraliberal supporters Barbara Boxer, John Kerry, Nancy
Pelosi, Barack Obama and others have now completely abandoned that doctrine in their quest to establish global warming dogma as the official, established religion of the United
States.
Climategate-inspired fraud probe kicks up storm A row over academic freedom has broken out in the US over a state attorney general's demands that a university release documents relating to research-grant applications.
The Weather: A state attorney general is challenging the creator of the global warming hockey stick graph, and the researcher's allies are yelping about intimidation. But who are the real academic bullies? (IBD)
Leftwing Drama Queen Scientists Mark J. Fitzgibbons The leftwing-activist Union of Concerned Scientists may have done more harm than good to its favored cause, global warming. It released a letter
signed by 800 Virginia scientists urging the state's attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli, to drop his taxpayer
fraud investigation directed at the University of Virginia's records of Climategate figure Michael Mann. Of course, public policy, religion, economics, indeed all areas of thought, conscience and prosperity, also thrive on rigorous debate and frank exchange. Earth to scientists: government officials have been harassing people without PhDs for a long time. The Virginia investigation, however, isn't about probing science's boundaries or honest mistakes; it is about whether Professor Mann intentionally misrepresented or omitted material facts to procure a taxpayer grant. The standards of the law are higher than those of science in this matter. Fraud is not protected by the First Amendment, and is not an academic liberty. Scientists who believe they are above the law fit nicely into the self-indulgent, elitist paradigm against which a backlash is brewing. People who aren't ideological detractors of all things conservative are supportive of the investigation and skeptical of the motives of its critics. As Dr. S. Fred Singer wrote, "ClimateGate is a much more serious issue than simply sloppiness and ideological distortion; ClimateGate suggests conspiracy to commit fraud." Ironically for the UCS, its letter to Cuccinelli supports Dr. Singer's observation far more than refutes it. (American Thinker)
International Conference on Climate Change Totally Ignored By Media Four days after Senate Democrats introduced a new bill to limit carbon emissions, an international conference discussing the scientific holes in the theory of man-made
global warming began in Chicago.
Oh boy... Bonuses can be a good thing - if they're linked to carbon emissions Growing numbers of firms are linking executive remuneration to environmental performance – Andrew Williams investigates those companies pioneering the concept of carbon bonuses (Andrew Williams for BusinessGreen, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
Hurray for economic collapse? European recession slashed 2009 carbon emissions The European recession last year slashed more than 11 percent off climate-warming emissions from heavy industry, the European Union's executive said on Tuesday.
Disease control, not climate change, key to future of malaria A study published today in the journal Nature casts doubt on the widely held notion that warming global temperatures will lead to a future intensification of malaria and an
expansion of its global range.
Living Longer in a Warming World Indur Goklany was involved with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as an author, U.S. delegate and reviewer since before its inception. His focuses are climate change and economic development, among others, and his presentation at Heartland’s 4th International Climate Change Conference on global warming and mortality was one of the standout presentations in the entire conference. His talk establishes the long-standing fact that cold kills more than warmth and that global warming policies cost more lives than global warming itself. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Solar scientists worldwide working to counter global warming hypothesis By Lawrence Solomon May 19, 2010 – 10:59 am Solar scientists worldwide are working to disprove the hypothesis that man is primarily responsible for climate change, according to Dr. Jeff Kuhn, Associate Director of the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. In the view of Dr. Kuhn and other top scientists, the Sun changes Earth’s climate. “As a scientist who knows the data, I simply can’t accept (the claim that man plays a dominant role in Earth’s climate),” he states. Dr. Kuhn last week announced breakthrough research on the role of the Sun – after years of precise satellite measurements, undistorted by Earth’s stratosphere, he and his team discovered that the Sun did not change much in size, as has generally been believed. Rather, the Sun is surprisingly stable, its diameter changing by less than one part in a million during the last 12 years. Dr. Kuhn’s team, which includes scientists from Stanford University in California and Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa in Brazil, used NASA’s SOHO satellite to obtain resolutions 10 times better than telescopes on Earth, allowing them to measure the Sun’s diameter of approximately 865,000 miles to an accuracy of a few hundred feet. In 2017, when the world’s most powerful telescope — his institute’s Advanced Technology Solar Telescope – starts operating on Hawaii’s Mt. Haleakala’s summit at a resolution 10 times better still, he expects to zero in on details that unravel the mystery of how minute changes on the Sun’s surface affect climate on Earth. NASA’s SOHO satellite revealed that 100 metre high bumps 90,000 kilometres apart cover the Sun’s surface. With his new telescope, Dr. Kuhn expects to capture never-before-seen details of the solar surface. “We can’t predict the climate on Earth until we understand these changes on the sun,” concludes Kuhn. Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe and Urban Renaissance Institute and author of The Deniers: The world-renowned scientists who stood up against global warming hysteria, political persecution, and fraud. He can be contacted at: LawrenceSolomon@nextcity.com (Financial Post)
Global Cooling Is Coming -- and Beware the Big Chill, Scientist Warns Contrary to the commonly held scientific conclusion that the Earth is getting warmer, a scientist who has written more than 150 peer-reviewed papers has unveiled evidence for his prediction that global cooling is coming soon. (Gene J. Koprowski, FOXNews.com)
by Tom Quirk The unfinished hockey stick A Trend is a trend The CSIRO paper “State of the Climate” is as much a commentary on the state of the climate scientists who put the document together. The CSIRO has waded into a large government funded trough and is not inclined to publish anything that gets between it and the trough. (Quadrant)
Sigh... Man-made climate change blamed for 'significant' rise in ocean temperature The world's oceans are warming up and the rise is both significant and real, according to one of the most comprehensive studies into marine temperature data gathered over the past two decades. (The Independent)
Inconvenient Truth: Sea Level Rise is Decelerating Despite alarmist claims* to the contrary, according to both tide gauge and satellite altimetry data, the rate of sea level rise since 1900 (and over the past 6000 years according to paleologic data) has been decelerating, not accelerating. Carefully selected tide gauge data by Simon Holgate of the UK Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory is shown in his poster below, which notes that the rate of sea level rise decelerated in the second half of the 20th century (despite exponential increases in CO2 emissions): Furthermore, the rate of sea level rise as determined by satellite altimetry (which is only available since 1992 and is calibrated to tide gauges) has also decelerated over the past 5 years from 3.2 mm/yr to only 1.5 mm/yr, about the same rate as calculated by Holgate for the period 1954-2003. Paleologic data also indicate sea level rise has greatly decelerated over the past 6000 years, and that sea levels have been rising naturally since the last ice age. Al Gore apparently doesn't need to be concerned about his purchases of a $4.5 million condo and $8.8 million villa, both near the Pacific ocean. *The recent NAS letter states that man-made global warming is causing "climatic patterns to change at speeds unprecedented in modern times, including increasing rates of sea level rise and alterations in the hydrologic cycle." (Hockey Schtick)
What Alarming Sea Level Rise? Observational Data Reveals No Change, Scientist Says CHICAGO -- Global warming advocates say rising sea levels will soon drown Venice. But a top scientist says they're full of hot air -- and he says he’s got the data to
prove it.
From CO2 Science Volume 13 Number 20: 19 May 2010 Editorial: Subject Index Summary: Journal Reviews: Fifteen Hundred Years of Climatic Oscillations in Southern Poland: What do they tell us about the relative warmth of the Medieval and Current Warm Periods? The Three Major Determinants of Terrestrial Isoprene Emissions: What are they? ... how have they affected isoprene emissions over the course of the 20th century? ... and why do we care? Rice Production and the Looming Water Crisis: How are the two related? ... and what's CO2 got to do with it? Warming-Induced Mismatches of Breeding in Insectivorous Passerine Birds and Abundance of Prey for their Hatchlings: Do such mismatches occur in nature? ... or are they merely theoretical suppositions? Plant Growth Database: Medieval
Warm Period Project:
U.S. probes another BP rig, seeks MMS shakeup Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said on Tuesday the U.S. government was investigating another big BP oil rig while admitting his agency came up short in preventing the
massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Environment lawsuit: MMS waived oil safety rules The U.S. Minerals Management Service, which grants offshore drilling permits, set aside safety regulations for oil exploration in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, environmental
groups alleged in a lawsuit on Tuesday.In a 2008 notice to oil companies with drilling leases off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama -- areas now threatened by
the spill from the BP Deepwater Horizon rig -- the agency known as MMS waived requirements for documentation on what would be done in case of a blowout or a "worst-case
scenario" spill, the lawsuit said.
Reliance on Oil Sands Grows Despite Environmental Risks CONKLIN, Alberta — Beneath the subarctic forests of western Canada, deep under the peat bogs and herds of wild caribou, lies the tarry rock that is one of America’s top
sources of imported oil.
Dolphin and seal damage warning over wind farm expansion A new generation of offshore wind and tidal farms could produce £14 billion of electricity every year for Scotland but pose a “significant” threat to wildlife, the fishing industry and islanders’ ferries, an official report has warned. (TDT)
David Cameron, Britain’s new prime minister, may have succeeded in bridging his country’s political power gap, but another looms that could very quickly short-circuit the Tory leader’s grip on national power, unless his coalition government gets real, and quickly, over energy and environment. [Read More] (Peter C Glover, Energy Tribune)
No one ever needed government regulations or subsidies to want to become more efficient.
Huhne 'sceptical' on nuclear power in talks with utility boss Climate change minister described as enthusiastic towards wind power, according to UK's largest renewable generator (The Guardian)
British motor industry and ‘green’ energy at risk of spending cuts The future of the British motor industry and renewable energy in the UK is at stake as the new Government combs over the billions committed by Labour to supporting UK companies. (The Times)
Limited biofuel land compatible with food: industry A large but limited amount of land can be used to provide plant-based fuel without cutting the world's food supply, environmentalists and consultants told a global biofuels
gathering on Wednesday.
EU agrees mandate for virtually carbon-neutral homes All new buildings constructed in Europe after 2020 will have to be virtually carbon-neutral after the European Parliament gave new energy standards the last approval they
needed Tuesday.
Pelosi: ObamaCare Helps Artists Avoid Hassle of Working ObamaCare creates incentives not to climb the economic ladder. It also creates incentives not to
work at all; able-bodied people can quit their jobs, safe in the knowledge that the
Repeal the bill. (Cato at liberty)
Study: Medicaid Provides Lower-Quality Care Posted by Michael F. Cannon The Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2019, ObamaCare will cover 32 million U.S. residents who would otherwise have been uninsured. Half of those coverage gains would come from expanding the Medicaid program, which has been criticized for poor-quality care. A new study in the journal Inquiry gives another indication that Medicaid provides low-quality care:
The study has plenty of limitations. For one, physician training is an input, not an output. What matters are health outcomes, and so it will be interesting to see what the Oregon Health Study has to say about Medicaid’s effects on health. (Cato at liberty)
And some people confuse Australia with a free country: Fines for refusing to take part in ABS health survey People face fines if they fail to provide information on their health and lifestyle to ABS researchers
Baby boomers warned of heart attack risk MORE than 2.5 million baby boomers are likely to have a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke in the next five years because they refuse to lose weight, exercise or take
blood pressure medication.
Childhood obesity report gives D.C. a starting point for improving diets The White House may be leading the battle in the war against childhood obesity, but it's not alone.
The classic way for lobbyists to defend their client’s interest is to insist that they are not actually defending their client’s interest. Really, they say, they are
just looking out for ordinary Americans.
Grab your "woohoo" hat: U of M study finds rising levels of dioxins from common soap ingredient in Mississippi River sediments Dioxins in general decreasing, but those derived from triclosan increasing
Airlines join forces to condemn no-fly zones The model used to predict the spread of the volcanic ash was condemned as "outdated and inappropriate" as the airlines criticised Monday's closure of airports. (TDT)
Noise study turns up volumes about binge listening WAKING up bleary-eyed on Sunday morning after a night clubbing, Nick Van Breda never thought much about the ringing in his ears. That was until he found out the sound levels he had exposed himself to were the equivalent of listening to a chainsaw all night. (SMH)
‘Son of Alar’: The New Pesticide Scare Campaign In 1989, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a major environmentalist group, launched a nationwide panic over the presence on apples of alar, a chemical growth
agent. On TV shows such as “60 Minutes” and “Donahue,” and in major women’s magazines, NRDC (with the aid of its expert consulting toxicologist, actress Meryl Streep)
claimed that alar “might” eventually cause thousands of lifetime cancer cases due to apple consumption by preschoolers.
Atrazine: Safe, Needed and Effective If it were so inclined, the Environmental Protection Agency could highlight the herbicide atrazine as a farm chemical that is clearly safe and effective. For more than 50
years atrazine has been a primary crop protector for 60 percent of corn, 75 percent of sorghum and 90 percent of sugarcane produced in the United States.
U of I Atrazine Study Shows Ban Would Hurt Midwest Producers University of Illinois study reveals importance of atrazine for Midwest crops
Oh good grief! With newly protected boreal forest, the caribou are smiling The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement, signed by most of the Canadian forestry industry and environmental activists, is nothing less than historic. (Globe and Mail)
Much better: Forest shakedown May 18, 2010 – 8:40 pm We need a ‘Do not Donate’ campaign against these green extortionists Behind all the feel-good eco-speak of this week’s Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement lies a simple bargain: the forest-products industry gets a bunch of NGOs off its back (at least for the moment); the NGOs get to demonstrate their ability to bring the forest industry, or indeed any industry, to heel. As Todd Paglia, the executive director of ForestEthics, one of the NGO signatories, noted a few years ago, “We are going to provide these companies with an option of doing it the easy way. If they want to do it the hard way, we can see a tremendous amount of negative press and damage to their brand.” So the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC), which signed this deal with nine NGOs on behalf of its 21 members, has effectively cried “uncle” and called it accommodation. Read More (Financial Post)
Summit: "Environmental Disaster No One's Heard Of?" BOULDER, Colo. - Some scientists call it the biggest environmental disaster no one's heard of, and those scientists are gathering starting today to try and change that. At issue is nitrogen pollution from fertilizers and other sources that can affect both water and air quality, and has associations with possible health issues. (Ag Weekly)
The agency is making federal decisions without the consent of Congress.
Inhofe Floor Speech: The Heartland Institutes International Climate Conference
Full text of speech as prepared for delivery:
Leading Global Warming Skeptic Lindzen: Time to Abandon the 'Skeptic' Label
M.I.T. professor says 'skepticism' implies anthropogenic global warming theory a 'plausible proposition.' (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute)
'Abolish U.N. climate panel, indict chief' Former Thatcher adviser documents fraud by global body CHICAGO – Lord Christopher Monckton, a former science adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, called for the abolishment of the United Nations climate
committee and the indictment of the U.N.'s chief climate scientist for financial fraud.
Climategate 2010: The Inconvenient Facts About Global Warming Scientists, economists, and other experts present the case against manmade global warming fears at the Heartland Institute’s Fourth International Conference on Climate
Change.
USCAP Members Are Unpatriotic? As the science underpinning anthropogenic (man-made) global warming steadily erodes in light of new data and in the midst of scandal, the public policy rationale has also
shifted. The proponents of Kyoto-type legislative proposals now claim that it is vital to invest in renewable energy sources and green technology to keep pace with
international competitors.
Climate Science Policy Needs a “Team B” (Big Science + Big Government = Bad Science & Policy) by David Schnare (Guest Blogger) The wonderful “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money” statement attributed to Senator Everett Dirksen may be apocryphal, but it remains a prescient warning to our nation’s leaders. At a time when Congress is throwing billions of dollars around like pocket change based on claims of scientists and engineers, a real quote of Dirksen may be equally important (Congressional Record: June 16, 1965, p. 13884):
The nation needs Johnny. In fact, it may be time we hired a team of people like Johnny for every large science-based policy proposal Congress contemplates funding. Carbon Capture and Storage: A Known Boondoggle Consider, for example, the $4.4 billion Congress is putting into carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) research, nearly half of that to come from the Kerry-Lieberman climate bill. As Robert Bryce points out in the New York Times, “That’s a lot of money for a technology whose adoption faces three potentially insurmountable hurdles: it greatly reduces the output of power plants; pipeline capacity to move the newly captured carbon dioxide is woefully insufficient; and the volume of waste material is staggering.” [Read more →] (MasterResource)
The heart of the proposed “American Power Act,” aka: the Kerry-Lieberman bill, is a national cap-and-trade program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, we’re already well down the road to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and, whether one thinks that such efforts are horribly misguided (as I do) or desperately needed (as Al Gore does), one cannot help but wonder: Why would anyone propose something like Kerry-Lieberman at all? (Rich Trzupek, Front Page)
The Media Is Ignoring Kerry’s Cap-and-Trade by William Yeatman After 7 months of negotiations, Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman last week unveiled a major climate bill to a chorus of…silence. On the day after the rollout, the American Power Act failed to make the front page of a single paper with a national scope. The Sunday political talkies also ignored the bill. I didn’t hear a single mention of the American Power Act on Fox News Sunday, ABC’s This Week, NBC’s Meet the Press, the McLaughlin Group, or the Chris Matthews Show. What gives? The mainstream media LOVES global warming as an issue, because it’s divisive and it’s yellow. So why would they ignore it? The only explanation I can think of is that the media believes the bill… Read the full story (Cooler Heads)
Senate climate bill stuck in limbo for now The compromise climate change proposal unveiled last week in the Senate is in legislative limbo, its fate apparently uncertain until at least next month.
Poizner goes from backer to foe of global warming law The Republican primary candidate for governor now wants California to roll back AB 32. Four years ago he called the law a bold effort to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. ( Michael Rothfeld, Los Angeles Times)
New Ice Age 'to begin in 2014' Russian scientist to alarmists: 'Sun heats Earth!' CHICAGO – A new "Little Ice Age" could begin in just four years, predicted Habibullo Abdussamatov, the head of space research at St. Petersburg's Pulkovo
Astronomical Observatory in Russia.
UVa inquiry defended: Cuccinelli calls it case of possible fraud Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said Tuesday that his investigation into the research activities of a former University of Virginia climate change scientist is about rooting
out possible fraud and does not infringe upon academic freedom.
Yuks? Who cares? Academics fight Cuccinelli's call for climate-change records The ranks of Virginia academics who oppose Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's demand for records from the University of Virginia related to the climate change research of a
former professor have grown.
U.-Va. hires legal counsel as it prepares for possible fight over Cuccinelli subpoena The University of Virginia has hired the big law firm Hogan Lovells to help the school evaluate its options in responding to a civil subpoena from the state attorney general
seeking documents related to the work of a former professor. It's the strongest indication yet that the school is seriously considering fighting the subpoena in court, as
various academic groups have urged.
Barbara Hollingsworth: U.Va.'s dishonorable double standard University of Virginia students pledge not to lie, cheat or steal under the nation's oldest student-run honor system -- and to report any of their peers who do.
WWF Emerges as Leading Lobbyist on Senate Climate Bill An environmental group that made its name battling on behalf of pandas, polar bears and pelicans now is fighting for what it fears is a politically imperiled species: U.S.
climate legislation that has a global perspective.
Are they really so stupid? ACTU claims climate change action will create rural jobs The ACTU says cutting carbon emissions will create more than 100,000 new farming and mining jobs.
Return of the carbon profiteers: Greenies and business unite on climate action BUSINESSES are planning an unlikely alliance with the Australian Conservation Foundation to prod the nation's leaders into fundamental action on climate change.
Hmm... Greenland rapidly rising as ice melt continues Scientists from the University of Miami are surprised at how rapidly the ice is melting in Greenland and how quickly the land is rising in response. Their findings are
published in Nature Geoscience
New Study Reveals Link Between ‘Climate Footprints’ and Mass Mammal Extinction An international team of scientists have discovered that climate change played a major role in causing mass extinction of mammals in the late quaternary era, 50,000 years
ago. Their study, published in Evolution, takes a new approach to this hotly debated topic by using global data modelling to build continental ‘climate footprints.’
There is little doubt that the political forces promoting climate change hysteria are under attack and in retreat around the world. It has also become obvious that little global consensus exists among climate scientists regarding how to regain the public's trust. There is, however, ample evidence that the climate change alarmists have not learned their lesson. At a recent conference held in Washington, D.C., an eminent climate policy expert urged that scientists and policy leaders embrace the persuasive power of uncertainty. If you cannot convince the public with the facts, frighten them into going along anyway seems to be the message. This is not science, it is subterfuge justified by blind faith. “There is no doubt that humans are causing climate change and that existing technology can limit greenhouse gas emissions,” Mohamed El-Ashry said at the 10th Annual Science & Technology in Society Conference cosponsored by AAAS. But science and policy leaders might gain more traction in the public debate over emissions by “highlighting the uncertainty of what might happen over the next 50 years, which is much scarier,” he said. It is a sad state of affairs when an “eminent” climate scientist's best argument in support of a theory is uncertainty, and that is because uncertainty can be used to scare the public. This revealing statement was reported in the “AAAS News and Notes” section of the April 30, 2010, issue of Science, the flagship journal and official organ of the AAAS. El-Ashry called for more regional modeling of climate change and better assessment of how healthy ecosystems support local and national economies. Focusing on near term, local effects—like harsher weather conditions or changes in the timing of snowmelt used in agriculture—could help governments recognize that climate change has an impact “not just over there in the Arctic,” he said, “but on our farms and within our borders.” To accomplish this refocusing of global warming, from global climate a hundred years in the future to local changes over the next ten years, will require climate scientists to do something they have never been able to do before—predict climate change on a decadal time scale. “Decision makers are in need of decadal climate forecasts,” says Mark A. Cane, writing in Nature Geoscience. “When—or whether—climate modellers will be able to deliver is not yet clear.” Cane, G. Unger Vetlesen Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, stated the problem facing the climate science community like this:
Of course, the tool of choice in the pursuit of short term predictions is the IPCC's old friend, the computer climate model. Reporting from a workshop held in January, 2010, on “Predicting the Climate of the Coming Decades,” Cane noted that the anomalously frigid weather kept the gathered scientists and policymakers inside the auditorium in their winter coats—the workshop was being held in Miami, Florida. “It was a visceral reminder that the climate of the next few decades depends as much on natural climate variations as it does on anthropogenic forcing,” wrote Cane. Perhaps he should have added that it was also an indication of scientists' inability to accurately predict future climate change based on CO2 emissions. Mean global temperature has not changed for over a decade. NASA/GISS. Decadal prediction was described as “demand driven” by Kenneth Broad, an ecological anthropologist from the University of Miami. No doubt many decision makers would like to incorporate climate change into their decision making processes. Unfortunately, the century-long span of typical climate change projections, heretofore favored by the IPCC and other climate change alarmists, does not fit with the decadal outlook of resource managers. Spurred on by demand, and the prospect of funding, a number of institutions and organizations are diving into the decadal forecasting business. Indeed, as part of the next assessment from the IPCC, many climate modeling groups will be producing decadal forecasts. These include the UK Met. Office, the US National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, to name just a few. This effort may all be for naught, however. “[T]he hope for useful skill in predicting natural variability is far from assured,” states Cane. “The climate system is chaotic and it is not known how predictable decadal variations are, even if we had perfect models and sufficient observations to determine the initial state with high precision.” In other words, science may not be able to predict climate, even if they new how the climate system works and could incorporate that knowledge in a working computer model. So far the effort has fared no better the the IPCC's GCM behemoths:
It seems that the model offered by Doug M. Smith et al. says that “climate will continue to warm, with at least half of the years after 2009 predicted to exceed the warmest year currently on record.” You can see how it might gain favor with the climate change catastrophe crowd (see “Improved Surface Temperature Prediction for the Coming Decade from a Global Climate Model” in Science). Welcome to sunny Florida. Alternatively, the model proffered by N. S. Keenlyside et al. doesn't see things that way: “[W]e make the following forecast: over the next decade, the current Atlantic meridional overturning circulation will weaken to its long-term mean; moreover, North Atlantic SST and European and North American surface temperatures will cool slightly, whereas tropical Pacific SST will remain almost unchanged.” (see “Advancing decadal-scale climate prediction in the North Atlantic sector” in Nature). Does this story strike anyone as familiar? Following the age old management dictum, “when the plan fails change the objective,” climate science is trying to move the goal posts from a century out to just ten years from now. How bleak their prospects have become is demonstrated by the fact that the climate change community is excited by two new decadal models that not only don't work but give opposite forecasts. The researchers themselves admit that climate may not be predictable—ever. Perhaps they hope that, if nothing else, the attempts at decadal prediction will provide ample uncertainty for Dr. El-Ashry to scare the public with. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Tanaka: Climate Change is “Most Difficult Negotiation On Earth” The global crisis, now well rooted in its third year, continues to rock the world’s political and economic foundations. Regimes have been replaced, capitalism has shifted gear, and even the future of the European Union is being tested. [Read More] (Andres Cala, Energy Tribune)
PJM has received a leaked internal document confirming Spain realizes its green failures, just as Obama pushes the American Power Act based on Spain's program. (Click
here for the original Spanish document. An English translation is provided in this article.)
Industry Strives for Cleaner Oil From Oil Sands As Elisabeth Rosenthal and I discuss in an article appearing Wednesday in Business Day, oil sands — or tar sands, as their detractors like to call them — have a serious
image problem, even among fossil fuels.
New report likens Alberta bitumen to Gulf spill in “slow-motion” By Gary Park for Greening of Oil
CNQ cites big break cleaning tailings CALGARY -- Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has made what it says are "promising" steps in solving some of the most challenging environmental problems associated
with oil sands tailings ponds.
Alberta picks North West Upgrading for processing bitumen received from producers CALGARY - The Alberta government has chosen Calgary-based North West Upgrading Inc. to refine the heavy, sticky oilsands product it will receive in place of cash through its
bitumen-royalty-in-kind initiative.
The Insane Myth of ‘Renewable’ Energy The nonsense from green energy lobbyists is nothing short of crazy talk. Why is Congress, or anyone else, buying it?
The 2008-2009 Annual Report from the President's Cancer Panel: Your tax dollars totally wasted If you ever had any doubt that even a worthy mission such as fighting cancer could be undermined by political correctness, you need only read small sections from this ridiculous document. This utter bilge has been condemned by virtually every single cancer authority—not to mention my friends at... Stats.org and the American Council on Science and Health. To produce a 240-page document that raises environmentally-induced cancer to anything more than minuscule importance is positively shameful, and this panel—consisting of two whole people—should be condemned, nay mocked by the scientific community. To the clueless LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S. and Margaret L. Kripke, Ph.D. I would say this: The only proven cancer risk from chemicals derived from a very small number of cases of heavy occupational exposure, and this was pre-OSHA, of course. Almost nothing in your absurd report can be backed up, and the production of this document should force both of you into immediate retreat from public life. More than that, you have discredited the work of every agency currently in place that, if anything, has gone overboard to limit exposure to toxic chemicals. This is truly a disgrace, and you both richly deserve all the negative feedback. (Shaw's Eco-Logic)
Public Spending: Government gobbled up the British economy with amazing speed in the past decade. Here's how it happened — and why something very much like it could happen
in the U.S.
Work exposure to soy tied to asthma symptoms NEW YORK - Allergic reactions to soy may be a cause of asthma symptoms in some workers at soy processing plants, a new study suggests.
Hmm... Pesticide link to hyperactivity: study Children exposed to higher levels of pesticide found on commercially grown fruit and vegetables in the United States were more likely to have attention
deficit/hyper-activity disorder (ADHD), according to a study published on Monday.
Rotavirus vaccine keeps kids out of the hospital NEW YORK - The number of young children hospitalized for severe diarrhea dropped sharply after the U.S. introduced rotavirus vaccination in 2006, a new government study
finds.
Do c-sections increase the risk of celiac disease? NEW YORK - Children who develop celiac disease appear to be more likely to be born by cesarean section, German researchers say.
WHO study has no clear answer on phones and cancer LONDON - Experts who studied almost 13,000 cell phone users over 10 years, hoping to find out whether the mobile devices cause brain tumors, said on Sunday their research
gave no clear answer.
PRESIDENT OBAMA has started an ambitious global health initiative that will deliver urgently needed medicine and preventative care to hundreds of millions of people in poor
countries. Included in the plan are efforts to devote resources to “neglected tropical diseases,” afflictions like hookworm infections, river blindness and elephantiasis
that many think have gone the way of smallpox, but which still make up the most common ailments among the world’s bottom billion.
Oh dear... New trials launch of a daily polypill which could potentially save millions of lives A new trial of the Red Heart polypill, four drugs in a single tablet, launches today to assess whether those at risk of heart attacks and strokes will take it regularly and whether it will saves lives. (The Guardian)
Not all thyroid cancers need treatment: study NEW YORK - People with papillary thyroid cancer that hasn't spread beyond the thyroid gland appear to have good outcomes regardless of whether or not they are treated, new
research shows.
Another meta data dredge wild guess... Study suggests processed meat a real health risk CHICAGO - Eating bacon, sausage, hot dogs and other processed meats can raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes, U.S. researchers said on Monday in a study that
identifies the real bad boys of the meat counter.
Invasive kudzu is major factor in surface ozone pollution, study shows Kudzu, an invasive vine that is spreading across the southeastern United States and northward, is a major contributor to large-scale increases of the pollutant surface
ozone, according to a study published the week of May 17 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Oceans' fish could disappear in 40 years: UN NEW YORK – The world faces the nightmare possibility of fishless oceans by 2050 unless fishing fleets are slashed and stocks allowed to recover, UN experts warned Monday.
New research links decline of endangered California delta smelt to nutrient pollution Study suggests pollution reductions could help restoration efforts
Logging Deal Expected In Canada's Northern Forest Some of Canada's largest forestry firms and environmental groups are expected to unveil a landmark deal on Tuesday to end their battle over logging in the country's massive
northern forest.
Eco anarchists: A new breed of terrorist? Last month, three activists were caught trying to bomb an IBM plant. Their motivation wasn't religion or politics – but the state of the planet. This is the dark side
of green, says Nick Harding
The Anthropocene Debate: Marking Humanity’s Impact Is human activity altering the planet on a scale comparable to major geological events of the past? Scientists are now considering whether to officially designate a new geological epoch to reflect the changes that homo sapiens have wrought: the Anthropocene. (Elizabeth Kolbert, e360)
Gulf Looks To Science To Turn Desert To Farmland Gulf nations hope science will turn desert areas into arable land to boost food security and avoid the risks inherent in buying farmland abroad, industry insiders said
Monday.
A vast majority of soybeans and corn planted in this country, and in much of the world, are genetically engineered, and the technology is rapidly pushing its way into many
more crops.
Meet Spider Goat - the DNA-enhanced web-flinging nanny that may one day knit bones ON a farm in Wyoming, USA, goats are being milked for their spider webs.
Can a body grow its own spare parts? Nanoscientist Molly Stevens is working on techniques to enable a damaged heart to repair itself or bone tissue to regenerate (Robin McKie, The Observer)
Scientist: Global Cooling is the Real Crisis Global warming conference participant says reduced sunspot activity may cause extreme cold fatalities, mass starvation. (Jeff Poor, Business & Media Institute)
By Chris Horner
This seems extremely rude: Top Mann Nemesis: He's Not a Fraud By Paul Chesser on 5.17.10 @ 5:59PM The person who was most instrumental in debunking Climategate scientist Michael Mann's hockey stick chart, Steve McIntyre of Climate Audit, said last night that he did not believe his scientific misrepresentations rose to the level of fraud. At the Heartland Institute's Fourth International Conference on Climate Change in Chicago, McIntyre delivered a compelling account of his adventures in trying to obtain temperature data and in successfully challenging Mann's work, but then left much of the ballroom disappointed by letting Mann off the hook. My Heartland colleague Dan Miller recounts:
As Miller and Heartland president Joe Bast noted, it was an extremely odd audience reaction: McIntyre received a standing ovation upon his introduction, thanks to his dogged research and unrelenting demand for information and accountability, but then his blase' attitude about scientists' behavior -- particularly Mann's -- left most of the audience cold and some even angry. The applause for McIntyre was tepid upon the conclusion of his remarks. I don't think I've ever seen that before. McIntyre said he believed expressing emotions and anger over the episode was counterproductive and even self-indulgent, and that simply proving Mann and others wrong was sufficient. Perhaps if McIntyre personally lent or gave a few million dollars for Mann to indulge in his deceptive research, instead of taxpayers footing the bill, then he might feel more self-indulgent himself. (Spectator)
Kerry – Lieberman: Corrupt Climate Science Used To Destroy US Economy The Kerry - Lieberman American Power Act (APA) is a disastrous, unnecessary solution for a non-existent problem. Worse, it’s a problem that exists only in a grossly inadequate computer model whose projections have never been correct. It is predicated on the false assumption that an increase in CO2 causes a temperature increase. Every record of any duration for any period in Earth’s history shows temperature increases before CO2 increases. The false assumption is the basis of all global warming and climate change used in the corrupted research and models of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It is impossible to imagine such an unjustified basis for any action, except to undermine the US economy for political gain. (Tim Ball, CFP)
Gullible Rudd steps right in it Rudd let slip a line in his frustration this week that reveals how little he knows about the topic he holds so dear. He has so completely swallowed the PR on climate science, that when poked, he reflexively fires back exaggerated scientific claims that would make even the IPCC blush. In 2007 the IPCC and Gore et al offered Rudd the perfect Election-Wedge-on-a-Platter. They’d primed the audience with propaganda; trained the crowd to recite: Carbon is pollution. It looked like a no-brainer. Yet having based his leadership and campaign on it, it’s obvious he had not done even the most basic of checks (and still apparently hasn’t). It’s an abject lesson in the importance of doing some homework before rewriting a nation’s economy. Last week Tony Abbott (the Australian opposition leader) told school children that it was warmer ”at the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus of Nazareth”. This banal line set off a flurry of denial and bluster. Rudd was incredulous in the Parliamentary Hansard record to the opposition members last week:
In defiance of “total science”? Or totalitarian science? It’s true it’s difficult to know the exact temperature of the globe in the year one (it’s difficult to know the exact global temperature in 1975, too), but there are scientists reporting in journals from all over the world that back up Mr Abbott. We know it really must have been warmer in Europe thanks to written historical records and artefacts that pop out of melting glaciers. As William Kinninmonth points out, Hannibal took an army of elephants across the Alps in winter in 200 BC. And we all know that the Romans are not known for wearing fur coats. Rudd is apoplectic with the non-sequiteur about the industrial revolution: If temperatures were warmer in 10BC, somehow that nullifies the steam engine 1800 years later? In Rudd-land, no one can even imagine the parallel universe where carbon might not control the climate. A warmer world in Roman times? A quick tour of peer reviewed research around the globe shows it was also warmer in China, North America, Venezuela, South Africa, and the Sargasso Sea 2000 years ago. And of course, Greenland tells an evocative tale. More » (Jo Nova)
U.N. picks Costa Rican Figueres as new climate chief The United Nations appointed Christiana Figueres of Costa Rica on Monday to be its climate chief to head stalled international talks on how to contain the world's greenhouse gas emissions. (Reuters)
Michael McCarthy: This is no forecast. Climate change is here and now You can look at the warming of Lake Tanganyika as a geographical and scientific curiosity; but you're probably wiser to look at it with a considerable sense of foreboding.
Climate threatens trout and salmon Trout and salmon are among the world's most familiar freshwater fishes, but numbers have fallen over recent decades – in some areas, dramatically.
Comments On The Tree Ring Proxy and Thermometer Surface Temperature Trend Data There has been considerable discussion on the divergence in recent years of temperature trends derived from tree ring data and from surface air temperature measurements. I have discussed this in two past posts on my weblog: December 2007 Session ‘The “Divergence Problem’ In Northern Forests In the first post, the abstract of the paper includes the text
In the second post, I wrote
With respect to the science of the issue raised in the otherwise excellent Der Spiegel article I (and others) disagree with their statement that
The reason that the tree ring data differs from the surface air temperature data in recent years has not been answered, despite the above statement from Der Speigel. Possible (speculative) explanations (besides the issues with the relationship of the surface air temperature data to the tree ring proxy data that I reported on above) include the effect of the increase of atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen deposition from human emissions on tree growth. The increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and/or the addition of nitrogen to the soil in which the trees grow could be altering their relationship to temperature from what it was in previous years. Since the microclimate of the trees that were sampled are quite different from the microclimate where the surface air temperature data has been collected, this is also a possible explanation that needs to be examined. Photographs of the locations where the tree ring and surface air temperature data are collected should be a priority. The tree ring proxy temperature data is not necessarily erroneous, but it is has diverged from the in-situ measured air temperature trend analysis. The reason for this difference needs further exploration. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Could There Be A Bright Side To the Deepwater Horizon Disaster? Although the US petroleum industry is understandably in a state of panic after the recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico and some, both friend and foe, have even resorted to outrageous speculation that the accident would mean “the end of offshore oil,” there is an optimistic take to the events. [Read More] (Michael J. Economides, Energy Tribune)
Oil Tax Hike is About Raising Revenue, Not Clean Up Instead of concentrating on the cause of the oil spill, lawmakers on Capitol Hill appear to be focused on liability limits and oil tax increases. The White House and some Members of Congress are pushing for a one-cent increase per-barrel of oil produced – from eight cents to nine. In reality, this is an indirect gas tax that will be passed onto the consumer. Currently the direct federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon with the mean state tax being 27.2 cents per gallon. The purpose of the newly proposed tax hike is to increase the amount of funds available in the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and ostensibly collect more money for the clean up. But the real purpose is to make political ends meet. Although it doesn’t sound like much, the Wall Street Journal reports that “The one-cent increase would raise about $5 billion over 10 years to help offset the cost of the tax package, which is nearing $200 billion. The tax could go to 10 cents a barrel in 2017.” Wait. What tax package? Politico says, “The added revenue is coveted by tax writers, still struggling to find close to $50 billion in offsets needed to pay for an election-year package of infrastructure investments and popular tax break extensions.” This makes one wonder: is this about cleaning up the Gulf or making ends meet for other political agendas? Continue reading... (The Foundry)
BP Says Turns Corner In Oil Spill Energy giant BP said on Monday it had "turned the corner" in a weeks-long effort to contain an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico even as the company faced fresh
questions about its industry safety record.
Cape Wind’s $0.21/kWh: Bad News for Buyers, as for U.S. Taxpayers by Kent Hawkins The Boston Globe recently reported that National Grid will pay 20.7 cents per kilowatt-hour for Cape Wind electricity production starting in 2013, with increases of about 3.5% a year for 15 years. This radically uneconomic cost figure challenges the pro-wind studies of the project–and confirms the analyses of authors at MasterResource. A Charles River Associates (CRA) report previously indicated that the Cape Wind projects would save electricity customers billions of dollars. This expectation was immediately challenged in a MasterResource post by Glenn Schleede, who documented the study’s out-of-date data, doubtful assumptions, and missing costs. His conclusion was that the electric customers in New England – as well as the taxpayers – deserve a far more complete and objective analysis of the potential cost impacts on them of the proposed Cape Wind project than was provided by CRA and released by Cape Wind. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Away
from the likes of Chris Huhne and his mad vision of a land covered with wind turbines, the real world is beginning to intrude.
Medicine: The administration's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid is a fan of Britain's National Health Service and rationing services. He believes in less discretion for
your doctor, more power for your government.
Small business group joins US health reform lawsuit WASHINGTON - An influential small business lobby group said on Friday it had joined 20 states in a lawsuit arguing insurance coverage requirements in the newly enacted
healthcare overhaul are unconstitutional.
Russia confirms first polio case in 13 years MOSCOW - Russia has confirmed its first polio case in 13 years in an infant visiting from Tajikistan, but there is no immediate threat of a wider outbreak, the country's
main public health body said Friday.
FDA: Rotavirus vaccines OK despite pig virus WASHINGTON - Rotavirus vaccines made by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co Inc are safe to use despite being contaminated with a pig virus, U.S. health regulators ruled
on Friday.
Five-a-day won’t keep the doctor away The idea that eating fruit and veg can help to ward off cancer is repeated over and over again. Despite not being true. The American humourist Mark Twain said: ‘What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.’ Twain’s famous words rang especially true a fortnight ago when the latest study on the link between fruit and vegetable consumption and cancer prevention landed on our desks. It simply has to be true that eating fruits and vegetables helps to ward off cancer. After all, such purveyors of pristine science as the World Health Organisation, the National Health Service, Cancer Research UK and the American Cancer Society have all told us it is true. But behind these claims – and the catchy marketing campaign to eat ‘five a day’ – there is little solid science. In a new study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the claim that eating daily amounts of fruit and vegetables can prevent cancer was revealed as nothing more than a piece of junk science. The study, led by Paolo Boffetta from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, followed almost half a million Western Europeans for over eight years in an effort to determine whether cancer can be prevented by high intake of fruit and vegetables. Strikingly, the study failed to find any significant statistical relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and reduced risk of cancer. Eating fruit and vegetables simply did not protect one from getting cancer. (Basham and Luik, spiked)
Homeopathy is witchcraft, say doctors Homeopathy is "witchcraft" and the National Health Service should not pay for it, the British Medical Association has declared.
Burger & Fries Worsen Asthma, Study Suggests A burger and fries are not only bad for the waistline, they might also exacerbate asthma, a new study suggests.
Study Pokes Holes in Air Bag Standards New research into front air bags in automobiles is raising troubling questions about their effectiveness for drivers wearing seat belts.
HWGA: Landmark study set to show potential dangers of heavy mobile phone use Prolonged mobile phone use could be linked to a type of cancer, the largest investigation of its kind will show next week.
WaPo does better: Cellphone cancer study inconclusive; researcher urges more stud A large international study into the link between cellphone use and two kinds of brain cancer produced inconclusive results, according to a report to be released Tuesday in
Geneva.
Posted by Walter Olson From a Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial, the sort of passage you think at first must be satire:
But it’s not satire, as other news clips confirm. Now, as every parent knows who makes sure to cut up a hot dog for the smallest eaters, the risk of choking on one of these food objects is not zero (though it is very, very low; 13 children’s deaths in 2006 were linked to hot-dog asphyxiation, but children eat nearly 2 billion hot dogs a year). In that sense, the proposal is less obviously batty than some other federal regulatory initiatives that have upended whole sectors of commerce over risks that have never been shown to have harmed anyone at all. But notice that the only truly effective way to keep the familiar cylindrical hot dog off the plates of small children would be to ban it for everyone — the logical end point, perhaps, of a policy that infantilizes parents by assuming they cannot be trusted to watch out for their children’s safety. If on some future Memorial Day you find only squared-off frankfurters or triangular-prism bratwursts in the supermarket cooler, don’t say you weren’t warned. (Cato at liberty)
Hmm... Race under fire: Is being white something you can learn? What does it mean to be white? An explosive new book by an American academic argues that whiteness isn't biological at all – in fact, it can be learned. Precious Williams disagrees (The Independent)
The unjustified Facebook-fueled attack on Pampers Dry Max It would be too easy to dismiss all this as a load of crap, but when you consider the broad media coverage given to a minute number of complaints on the product, is there a better descriptive phrase? My latest HND piece takes a hard look at the complaints logged by some parents on the new diaper formulation, and suggests that empowerment of the clueless by social media might not be a good thing. Very telling is that Procter & Gamble is logging the same number of complaints (and that's a scant few) as it did with the old formulation of Pampers. Here's a portion of a statement from Dr. Kimberly Thompson, founder of Kids Risk, Inc.—a non-profit organization dedicated to pediatric safety and risk issues—and adjunct associate professor at the Harvard School of Public Health:
Read the complete article. (Shaw's Eco-Logic)
Senators lift exercise rule from obesity bill Phys-ed mandate costly, would take away class time, educators say
Combating childhood obesity may start in the womb NEW YORK - Children whose mothers developed diabetes while pregnant are at increased risk of being overweight by age 11, a new study shows.
Now an anti-binge nasal spray to tackle obesity Tackling obesity may become a little easier as a nasal spray developed by a group of researchers can restrain people from having temptation of overeating and unhealthy
foods.
How sad... David Cameron's coalition is off to a green start The coalition agreement between the two parties has no less than 20 environmental commitments, nearly twice as many as in any other area, observes Geoffrey Lean. (TDT)
This stupidity again: A Hole in the Spring Sky Twenty-five years ago this month, a small team of scientists discovered that the ozone layer above their Antarctic station was thinning more and more every spring. The layer protects life on earth from the sun’s ultraviolet light. The response to that discovery is a rare, happy environmental morality tale. (NYT)
This could be inconvenient: Scientists forecast decades of ash clouds Many more of Iceland’s volcanoes seem to be stirring
Ivy is good for walls, finds Oxford University study Ivy is good for walls and helps to protect them against the elements, according to a new study which overturns years of popular belief that the plant destroys buildings. (TDT)
Israel Opens Largest Desalination Plant Of Its Kind An Israeli consortium unveiled the world's largest reverse osmosis desalination plant on Sunday in the coastal city of Hadera, hoping to help alleviate the arid country's
water shortage.
Move to regulate farms to ease nitrate problem Farmers and state officials are exploring solutions to nitrate pollution in heavily impacted parts of the state, including regulating Central Valley farmers who rely on
commercial fertilizer.
Genetically Engineered Distortions A REPORT by the National Research Council last month gave ammunition to both sides in the debate over the cultivation of genetically engineered crops. More than 80 percent
of the corn, soybeans and cotton grown in the United States is genetically engineered, and the report details the “long and impressive list of benefits” that has come from
these crops, including improved soil quality, reduced erosion and reduced insecticide use.
Bloomberg Plan Would Simplify Gun-Permits The Bloomberg administration announced on Friday that it was moving to simplify the process for New Yorkers to obtain gun permits, thus speeding up a set of byzantine
licensing requirements that gun-rights advocates have long criticized as among the most restrictive in the country.
The Truth About Gun Sales to Terrorists Months before he loaded his SUV with propane tanks and fireworks and drove to Times Square, police say, Faisal Shahzad went to a firearms store and bought a rifle. It was
found in his other car at Kennedy Airport, where his name showed up on the no-fly list in time to keep him from escaping.
Roger Harrabin has posted a short report from the Heartland Conference which is actually not too bad. There are a couple of irrelevant asides about tobacco funding, but there is a definite change in tone. I wonder why? There's an MP3 attached below. Harrabin on Heartland (Bishop Hill)
NYT... While the Senate Fiddles You don’t have to look far for proof that this country must cut its dependence on fossil fuels and develop cleaner sources of energy.
Crank of the Week - May 10, 2010 - John Kerry & Joe Lieberman After some last minute tweaking to overcome concerns raised by the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the American Power Act, a bill proposing a Cap & Trade system for reducing US carbon dioxide emissions, was introduced in the Senate by John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent. Notable by his absence was South Carolina Republican Lindsay Graham, who came to his senses just in time to back out of the bill writing troika. Purportedly, the bill aims to reduce emissions by 17% by 2020 and by over 80% in 2050. What it really does is levy a stealth tax on carbon based energy, hiding it behind a “carbon trading” market scheme that would have made Enron proud. “Our bill will create jobs and transform the American economy; make our country more energy independent, which in turn will strengthen our national security; and improve the quality of the air we breathe,” Senator Lieberman said. “We are proud to have support from a growing and unprecedented coalition of business, national security, faith, and environmental communities, who are energized to work hard to pass this bill this year.” What Joe doesn't mention is that the “unprecedented coalition” only exists because of the unprecedented level of giveaways and special interest provisions in the draft legislation. Senator Kerry said, “We can finally tell the world that America is ready to take back our role as the world's clean energy leader. This is a bill for energy independence after a devastating oil spill, a bill to hold polluters accountable, a bill for billions of dollars to create the next generation of jobs, and a bill to end America's addiction to foreign oil and protect the air our children breathe and the water they drink.” He should have added: A bill to raise the cost of everything in America and insinuate government control deeper into the lives of every US citizen. (The Resilient Earth)
Questions posed for Kerry, Lieberman on new climate-energy bill The new Kerry-Lieberman climate bill mandates a 17% reduction in US carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. It first targets power plants that provide reliable, affordable
electricity for American homes, schools, hospitals, offices and factories. Six years later, it further hobbles the manufacturing sector itself.
Your action needed: Congress Must Stop EPA Takeover Support the Murkowski Resolution
Big Global Warming Case Hinges on Weird Procedural Technicality Posted by Ilya Shapiro Nearly two weeks ago, I blogged about some strange procedural developments in the big global warming case coming out of the Gulf Coast, Comer v. Murphy Oil USA. On the eve of final briefing deadlines before the en banc Fifth Circuit, an eighth judge of that court recused from the case (we don’t know the reason, but the previous seven recusals were presumably due to stock ownership) and so the court was faced with an unprecedented situation: losing an en banc quorum after previously having had enough of one to vacate the panel decision and grant en banc rehearing in the first place. We were all set to file our brief when the Clerk of the Fifth Circuit issued an order notifying the parties of the lost quorum and canceling the scheduled hearing — and nothing more. Out of an abundance of caution, we decided to go ahead with filing late last week. Again, here’s the situation: Mississippi homeowners sued 34 energy companies and utilities operating in the Gulf Coast for damage sustained to their property during Hurricane Katrina. The homeowners alleged that the defendants had emitted greenhouse gases, which increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which contributed to global warming, which accelerated the melting of glaciers, which raised the global sea level, which increased the frequency and severity of hurricanes, which caused the destructive force of Hurricane Katrina. The district court concluded that it lacked the authority to resolve the public debate over global warming and dismissed the case. A Fifth Circuit panel reversed this dismissal, holding that the homeowners have standing to raise some of their claims and that those claims are appropriate for resolution by the federal courts. The Fifth Circuit then granted rehearing en banc. (Cato at liberty)
Pachauri's talk to the meta-IPCC panel Today, the meta-IPCC panel held the first public session in Amsterdam: Acting IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri and his secretary Renate Christ gave PowerPoint talks: If you don't have MS Office, I recommend you to download the new and free PowerPoint viewer which is much faster than e.g. OpenOffice. As AP mentioned, Pachauri "cautioned" the meta-IPCC panel not to "undermine the scientists' motivation". In other words, the railway engineer blackmailed the would-be independent panel and asked them not to dare to insult the AGW bigots' religious sensibilities and funding. The slides are mostly about the "impressive" U.N. institutions and their complicated relationships. But let me choose slide 6 of 12 from Pachauri's talk. It shows the number of papers about climate change: That's a pretty scary growth, especially if we appreciate the fact that the research hasn't found anything substantial about the climate in the last 15 years. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Change of tune: Climate body chief defends use of 'grey literature' The head of the UN's climate change panel has defended the use of unproven science to justify climate change by saying the "grey literature" cannot be ignored. (TDT)
Wounded Warmists Attack: It’s What Happens ‘When Prophecy Fails’ The AGW community is behaving exactly like the UFO cult studied by psychologist Leon Festinger in his classic study of cognitive dissonance.
RP Jnr links to a review of the Climategate story by Der Speigel and has a fascinating discussion with his readers in the comments thread below. The point at issue is Mike's Nature Trick and the question of whether it amounts to scientific fraud. Der Spiegel describe the trick as follows: Click to read more ... (Bishop Hill)
RP Jnr says I've misrepresented his views in the post before last. If so, then I apologise. I'm still not sure that I understand Roger's views precisely. I think the confusion may be based in the semantics of the terms "fudge" and "fraud" and I want to explore the subject again here. Click to read more ... (Bishop Hill)
Climategate Taxpayer Fraud Investigation Draws Ideological Heat Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has used the power of government to seek documents from the University of Virginia regarding its former professor and Climategate figure of "hockey stick" fame, Michael Mann. Mr. Cuccinelli is investigating whether Professor Mann engaged in fraud to obtain taxpayer money to fund his research. (Mark J. Fitzgibbons, American Thinker)
Michael Mann on MWP spatial patterns Michael Mann wrote an article about the Medieval Warm Period (MWP), as "it is sometimes called", and the Little Ice Age (LIA):
Let me first start by saying that before science tries to learn something from the last millenium (to tell us about the future "climate change", which is
the fashionable question that Mann is trying to promote), it may be a good idea to actually learn something about the last millenium. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Boston Globe on Lindzen and Emanuel Beth Daley of The Boston Globe wrote a story how the relationships between friends may be altered by the global warming confrontations: A cooling trend (mobile version)In the early 1980s, both Gentlemen would come to MIT. Richard Lindzen was a registered Democrat. Kerry Emanuel had just voted for Ronald Reagan, being more right-wing than Attila the Hun according to Lindzen. ;-) Both men are relaxed and other things made them natural friends. As their discipline found itself at the epicenter of a major political battle, times were getting harder. Kerry Emanuel was slowly transformed into an AGW believer, at least superficially. Now, Richard Lindzen gave us some hints that because of their special closer relationship, he knows something more about Emanuel's motivation. And Emanuel has explicitly told Lindzen that joining the AGW bandwagon could be good for their department, the funding, and so on. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
After 12,000-mile flight to green meeting, there's MUTINY in the Climate Camp A decision by a climate-change group to fly leading activists 12,000 miles to a conference threatens to tear the movement apart.
Global
Green Meltdown Gains Momentum
Volcanoes blast; glaciers melt; economies implode; currencies nose dive and voters revolt. It is the worst of worlds for the climate change movement, and the outlook
continues to darken. None of this dimmed the glory of the majestic moment in Amsterdam yesterday as the part-time IPCC chair and part-time sleazy book
author Rajendra Pachauri emerged from the seclusion in which he has unwillingly been lurking since international outrage over some high
profile and amateurish errors at the IPCC and his vituperative and vindictive attacks on quite justified
critics made him an international laughingstock at the beginning of the year. The occasion for the prominent Indian novelist’s return to the limelight was the first open
session of a review commission convened by the United Nations to examine the work of the IPCC and, hopefully, to make recommendations that will insure that the IPCC’s
next report on climate change will be less vulnerable to critics than the document produced under Dr. Pachauri’s lackadaisical supervision last time. Politically, the commission will fail. That is, the panel will not satisfy the hundreds of engaged and vocal critics pushing back against the ‘consensus’ on
climate change — and will do even less to convince an increasingly skeptical
public opinion that a strict global treaty on climate change is humanity’s only hope of escaping devastating consequences in the near future. (American Interest)
Stotty's Corner: Nuclear Fission: Hendry Versus Huhne? Sunday, 16 May 2010 [Charles Hendry, Conservative MP for Wealden, and newly-appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy and Climate
Change] Read more... (The Clamour of the Times)
On Coalition Government - an Eighteenth Century Parallel Sunday, 16 May 2010 [‘A Block for the Whigs - or, the new State Whirligig’ - the Fox-North Coalition, caricatured by James Gillray (1783).This vibrant cartoon shows a carousel, on which sit government ministers: Charles Fox, Lord North, Edmund Burke, and Admiral Keppel. In the centre of the carousel is a pillar topped by a bust of King George III, a wig, and Union Jack suspended over the bust. In the background, two... Read more... (The Clamour of the Times)
Towards a New Politics and Economics for Climate Change? Sunday, 16 May 2010 I herewith reproduce below the latest excellent ‘Newsletter’ (14/05/2010) from The
Scientific Alliance. It seems to me that this makes a great deal of sense, and that it is well worth the read and promulgating to a wider public. Read more... (The Clamour of the Times)
WUWT
was the first sensible source to notice that Nude Socialist has jumped the shark once again (and recently they've been doing almost nothing else): the whole new issue is
dedicated to "climate deniers" (and, more generally, some other "deniers"). » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
NRO’s Manzi Mischaracterizes Global Warming Debate National Review Online contributing editor Jim Manzi, in an April 21 post, uses Mark Levin’s book Liberty and Tyranny as an example of conservative writers (quoting Ross Douthat) “offering bromides instead of substance, and … pandering instead of grappling with real policy questions.” I think he’s wide of the mark. (James M. Taylor, The Heartland Institute)
Rebuttal to "Crock of the Week - 32000 Scientists" Peter Sinclair AKA "Greenman" a cartoonist and Al Gore disciple has been hard at work creating YouTube videos that smear skeptics and their arguments. The following is a complete rebuttal to his "Crock of the Week - 32000 Scientists" video challenging the petition of 31,486 scientists who reject global warming alarm. (Popular Technology)
Citizen Audit Report on IPPC 4th Report Source: No Frakking Consensus A printer-friendly PDF version of the Citizen Audit report I released last month is now available. It’s 30 pages in total, includes clickable links to supplemental online material, and at 500 kb isn’t too huge a file.
Source: Quadrant by William Kininmonth May 12, 2010 [Open letter to Tony Abbott] Mr Tony Abbott MP Dear Mr Abbott, Although I am travelling in the US at the moment I have become aware of the controversy over your comments at an Adelaide school last week, including the public response by [a] scientist with an alarmist global warming bent. You might be interested in the graph below. The data are temperatures reconstructed from Greenland ice cores and published in the peer reviewed literature. The data confirm pre-IPCC understanding of the climate history of the Earth: Earth warmed from the last glacial maximum about 15,000 years ago when great ice sheets covered North America and northern Europe and sea level about 130 m lower than today. By 9,000 years ago Earth had warmed to the Holocene maximum when temperatures were warmer than today; the Holocene maximum lasted until about 4,000 years ago and there has been irregular cooling since. The IPCC alarmist claim that Earth’s temperature has been steady for the last 10,000 years but this view is at odds with historical and archaeological evidence Read the rest of this entry » (via SPPI)
Shock-horror – climate skeptics spotted alive in Australian science academy This article from today's Canberra Times – which so often reads like a GreenLeft news sheet – fumes at signs climate skeptic ideas are lurking within
Australia’s peak science academy.
Crisis in New Zealand climatology Source: Quadrant by Barry Brill The warming that wasn’t The official archivist of New Zealand’s climate records, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), offers top billing to its 147-year-old national mean temperature series (the “NIWA Seven-station Series” or NSS). This series shows that New Zealand experienced a twentieth-century warming trend of 0.92°C. The official temperature record is wrong. The instrumental raw data correctly show that New Zealand average temperatures have remained remarkably steady at 12.6°C +/- 0.5°C for a century and a half. NIWA’s doctoring of that data is indefensible. Read the rest of this entry » (via SPPI)
Africa's lake Tanganyika warming fast, life dying Africa's lake Tanganyika has heated up sharply over the past 90 years and is now warmer than at any time for at least 1,500 years, a scientific paper said on Sunday, adding that fish and wildlife are threatened. (Reuters)
In the virtual realm... Climate Change Threatens Health By Mediterranean People in cities around the Mediterranean including Athens, Rome and Marseilles are likely to suffer most in Europe from ever more scorching heatwaves this century caused by
climate change, scientists said on Sunday.
El Nino Rapidly Fading, La Nina Just Around the Corner? The most recent El Nino event is rapidly dying, as seen in the following plot of sea surface temperature (SST) variations averaged over the Nino3.4 region (5N to 5S, 120W to
170W) as measured by the AMSR-E instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite during its period of record, 2 June 2002 through yesterday, 13 May 2010: A similar plot of the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) data, based upon the sea level air pressure difference between Tahiti and Darwin is consistent with the SST cooling,
showing an increase in the pressure gradient across the tropical South Pacific, which portends increasing trade winds and cooling of the ocean surface: A second possibility is that we are in for continued rapid cooling in the Pacific as the SSTs fall to values more consistent with the SOI index. A third is that the current excursion toward La Nina territory is going to reverse, and SOI values will decrease to more neutral conditions, while SSTs remain relatively high. As is always the case, all we can do is sit back and watch. (Roy W. Spencer)
India's 2010 Monsoon To Arrive On May 30: Government Monsoon rains, critical to farm output in India's trillion-dollar economy, will arrive on May 30, two days before normal, India's Earth Sciences Minister Prithviraj Chavan
said on Friday.
Meandering solar cycle 23 to 24 transition Ten months have passed since my last post on the slow transition between solar cycles 23 & 24 and my graphics
series showing the utter failure of the April 2007 NASA/NOAA prediction. Seems just yesterday but it was Dec 2006 when we first talked about a slow
transition to a cooler cycle 24. I must dig out the latest NASA/NOAA prediction and track this later in the year.
Hey dude, where’s my solar ramp up? Guest post by David Archibald The prognostications based on spotless days are now a distant memory. From here, given that the green corona brightness indicates that solar maximum will in 2015, the big unknown is what the maximum amplitude will be. We are now eighteen months into a six year rise to solar maximum. What is interesting is that in the last few days, the F10.7 flux has fallen to values last seen in late 2009: The red line is a possible uptrend based on the data to date. That uptrend would result in a maximum F10.7 amplitude in 2015 of about 105. Using the relationship between F10.7 flux and sunspot number, that in turn means a maximum amplitude in terms of sunspot number of 50 – a Dalton Minimum-like result. Dr Svalgaard has kindly provided a graphic of the relationship between sunspot number and F10.7 flux: Dr Svalgaard has also done the work to show that Solar Cycle 24 is looking less and less like Solar Cycle 19: The red line is the Solar Cycle 18 to 19 minimum, and the blue is the Solar Cycle 23 to 24 minimum. Dr Svalgaard updates this graphic daily at: http://www.leif.org/research/F107%20at%20Minima%201954%20and%202008.png (WUWT)
'Expect global cooling for the next 2-3 decades that will be far more damaging than global warming would have been'
IPCC-UKMO-Jones et al errors with Russian temperature trends Lake Baikal region A decade ago I wrote my “USSR High Magnitude Climate Warming Anomalies 1901-1996″. In January I posted “Surface
minus satellites – some differences look political” finding that for the huge Asian gridbox 40 to 70 North – 60
to 130 East; HadCRUT3 warmed over UAH MSU lower troposphere 1979-2008 giving a possible surface error of 0.13 deg C per decade – an error in excess of the rate of IPCC GW.
Left-coast loons: Western Senators Propose Ban on Pacific Drilling WASHINGTON — The political ripples from the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster spread in the capital on Thursday as six West Coast senators proposed a permanent ban on drilling
in the Pacific and another group tried to raise oil company liability in a spill to $10 billion from the current $75 million.
Obama Vows End to ‘Cozy’ Oversight of Oil Industry WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday angrily assailed the finger-pointing among the three companies involved in the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as a “ridiculous
spectacle,” even as his own administration came under criticism for failing to do enough to prevent an environmental calamity.
U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits WASHINGTON — The federal Minerals Management Service gave permission to BP and dozens of other oil companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico without first getting required
permits from another agency that assesses threats to endangered species — and despite strong warnings from that agency about the impact the drilling was likely to have on the
gulf.
Lawrence Solomon: A US$13-billion business Is it any wonder that the BP calamity occurred? Here’s what has been preoccupying its environmental regulator, the Minerals Management Service, ever since MMS was established in 1982. “Record for number of lease sales in a year,” MMS crowed, referring to its success in 1983. “Greatest high bid dollar amount received in a lease sale,” it added, displaying its haul to the very last digit: “US$3,469,214,969 in the Central Gulf of Mexico.” In 1984, more records: “Most tracts offered at a lease sale (8,868 tracts in Eastern Gulf of Mexico)”; “Record number of exploratory wells drilled in a year (597)”; and “Record number of platform installations in a year (229).”
A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected an effort by environmental and Native American groups to stop exploratory oil drilling off the coast of Alaska that could begin
this summer.
BP says tube is sucking oil from Gulf well In the first significant progress in nearly a month toward stopping a massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak, BP said a 1.6km-long tube was siphoning most of the crude from a blown
well to a tanker ship after three days of wrestling to get the stopgap measure into place on the seafloor.
Coast Guard Sees Less Threat Of Huge Oil Landfall The oil slick from the huge uncontrolled spill in the Gulf of Mexico has broken into smaller parts, and while potentially catastrophic, may pose less threat of a massive
landfall, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said on Friday.
Polonius. To England send him, or
confine him where King. It shall be so. Exeunt. Once again Christopher Booker is a lone voice in pointing out the most egregious and dangerous appointment in the cobbling together of the UK Con-Lib coalition. This is the appointment of Chris Huhne to be Minister for Energy and Climate change. We have seen before how cavalier Huhne is with data misrepresentation. If he is allowed to carry on with his pro-wind and anti-nuclear campaign from a position of Governmental authority, power cuts are inevitable and will be dire. People are going to die. (Number Watch)
Campaigners believe war on climate change will be stymied The parties are divided over nuclear power, offshore oil drilling and many other green issues - and critics say that will hinder the fight against global warming
by Vaclav Smil Editor’s note: This is the conclusion of the series that provides an essential basis for the understanding of energy transitions and use. The previous posts in this series can be seen at: Part I – Definitions Part II – Coal- and Wood-Fired Electricity Generation Part III – Natural Gas-Fired Electricity Generation Part IV – New Renewables Electricity Generation America’s dominant mode of electricity generation is via combustion of bituminous and sub-bituminous coal in large thermal stations. All such plants have boilers and steam turbogenerators and electrostatic precipitators to capture fly ash, but they burn different qualities of coal that may come from surface as well as underground mines, have different arrangements for cooling (once-through using river water or various cooling towers) and many have flue gas desulfurization to reduce SO2 emissions. Consequently, these conversions of chemical energy in coal to electricity feature widely differing power densities: for the power plants alone they are commonly in excess of 2 kW/m2 and can be as high as 5 kW/m2. When all other requirements (coal mining, storage, environmental controls, settling ponds) are included, the densities inevitably decline and range over an order of magnitude: from as low as 100 W/m2 to as much as 1,000 W (1 kW)/m2. In contrast, compact gas turbines plants (the smallest ones on trailers and larger facilities that can be rapidly assembled from prefabricated units), which can be connected to existing gas supply, can generate electricity with power density as high as 15 kW/m2. Larger stations (>100 MW) using the most efficient combined-cycle arrangements (with a gas turbine’s exhaust used to generate steam for an attached steam turbine) will operate with lower power densities, and if new natural gas extraction capacities have to be developed for their operation then the overall power density of gas and electricity production would decline to a range similar to that of coal-fired thermal generation or slightly higher, that is in most cases to a range of 200-2000 W/m2. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Heritage Foundation Windpower Study: Response to Center for American Progress by David Kreutzer
Building on the misconception that renewable energy is cheap, some legislators and activists propose mandating that minimum fractions of our electric supply come from designated renewables. Wind and solar are at the top of this list. Al Gore wants 100 percent renewables in less than a decade; others propose less ambitious targets. The problem is that renewables are expensive, not to mention unreliable and environmentally questionable. Mandates would only force consumers to pay ever higher electric rates as this minimum in an renewable electricity standard (RES) grows year by year. The Center for Data Analysis at the Heritage Foundation recently analyzed the economic impact of an RES, such as proposed in federal legislation. We found that starting with a 3 percent mandate in 2012, and ramping it up by 1.5 percent each year, will by 2035:
These impacts are driven by the fact that the cheapest renewable electricity source costs twice as much per megawatt-hour as the most economical conventional sources. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
More money please! Stakeholders Team Up To Expand Europe's Super-Grid In order to incorporate more renewable energy – especially offshore wind – into the European grid, financing and technological questions must be addressed. (Renewable Energy World)
Guess What Greece Has To Jettison? Policy Failure: Greece was told that if it wanted a bailout, it needed to consider privatizing its government health care system. So tell us again why the U.S. is following
Europe's welfare state model.
NYT: Attorneys General Advance “a Credible Theory for Eviscerating” ObamaCare Posted by Michael F. Cannon The New York Times‘ Kevin Sack reports on the legal challenge to ObamaCare’s individual mandate launched by 20 state attorneys general:
Supporters claim the individual mandate will pass muster with the Supreme Court because in the past the Court has declared that the U.S. Constitution’s interstate commerce clause authorizes Congress to regulate non-commercial activity that affects interstate commerce. Sack writes:
Sack’s article contains an inaccuracy. He writes:
In fact, the law uses the term “excise tax” several times, but never in reference to the penalty for violating the individual mandate. It describes that penalty solely as a penalty. (The law does refer to the penalty for violating the employer mandate as a tax, but not an excise tax.) As my Cato colleague Randy Barnett explains, that means supporters cannot reasonably claim that the individual mandate’s penalty is a tax, because that’s not what Congress approved. As Cato chairman Bob Levy explains, even if supporters do claim that penalty is a tax, it would be an unconstitutional tax, because it does not fit into any of the categories of taxes the Constitution authorizes Congress to impose. The “substantial constitutional protections” afforded to excise taxes do not protect the individual mandate. (Cato at liberty)
FDA needs new tools to check food, drugs: experts WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is stuck using crude tools to measure the benefits of food, drugs and supplements and needs a whole new set of standards,
a panel of experts said on Wednesday.
Perchlorate not tied to pregnancy thyroid problems NEW YORK - Everyday exposure to perchlorate, an industrial chemical found in drinking water and a range of foods, may not impair thyroid function in pregnant women, a new
study suggests.
Benefits of prenatal vitamin A last a decade: study BOSTON - Children whose malnourished mothers took vitamin A during pregnancy had stronger lungs throughout childhood, with the benefits measurable well past the age of 9,
researchers reported on Wednesday.
Cancer scare headlines are not new Scientists and journalists have been publishing overblown reports for a century – no wonder people still don't trust them
Skin condition more likely in educated parents' kids NEW YORK - Children of highly educated parents may be more prone to an irritating skin disorder than peers from less educated families, a new study suggests.
Gibbering nutcase du jour: Chemtrails: The Consequences of Toxic Metals and Chemical Aerosols on Human Health Part I by Dr. Ilya Sandra Perlingieri
Ban sugary soda from US food stamps- food expert WASHINGTON, May 13 - Congress should ban sugary sodas from the $58 billion-a-year U.S. food stamp program as a step to combat the obesity crisis, the House Agriculture
Committee was told on Thursday.
Guess Who’s Behind the New Fire-Sprinkler Mandates Posted by Walter Olson California just adopted effective next year a requirement that all new one- and two-family dwellings include indoor sprinkler systems. Other states are debating similar mandates, spurred by changes to national building code standards. Earlier legal mandates have required the inclusion of smoke alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, but the cost of those devices is relatively minor, whereas full-blown sprinkler systems add measurably to the cost of a new home, as well as posing challenges in such areas as maintenance, aesthetics, and risk of property damage through accidental activation. It will surprise not a single reader of these columns, I suspect, to learn that the fire sprinkler industry has been a major force in pushing the new mandate. As for the opposition, home builders have managed to mount a bit of resistance — New Jersey, for example, saw the current depressed state of the residential construction business as reason to postpone its mandate for a year. But the builders are pretty much on their own in the fight, since future buyers of new homes are a group with no organized political presence whatsoever. Real estate blogger Christopher Fountain writes that he’s “never heard of a home buyer voluntarily ordering this equipment when building a house, so it sounds to me like one more instance of people who know better dictating to those who don’t.” Exactly. A South Carolina paper quotes a state official as saying if buyers feel priced out of the new home market by the cost of the mandate, they have other ways to save money “such as choosing less expensive flooring or countertops, or not installing yard sprinklers”. Easy to make someone else’s budget decisions for them, isn’t it? And shouldn’t the “affordable housing” community be taking more of an interest? (Cato at liberty)
Today Paul Ingrassia points out that the government is making sure that your next car will cost you much more.
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W. Va.) and Rep. Henry Waxman (D., Calif.) demand even more safety regulation. They want elaborate and expensive electronic data recorders, or "black boxes” to be installed in all new cars within two years.
That, plus America’s existing CAFE standards, suggest that the politicians wish to force car companies to produce vehicles that most Americans don’t want to buy.
(John Stossel, Fox Business)
Today’s New York Times carries the headline: “With Obama, Regulations Are Back in Fashion” You bet. Were there cheers and high-fives in the newsroom when they wrote that? It’s like Tiger Woods announcing: “More women at PGA events.” The Times suggests that the Bush Administration’s “deregulatory agenda had gone too far.” To that I say, what deregulatory agenda? Bush talked about deregulation, but his bureaucrats added more pages to the Federal Register than any other administration. Bureaucrats never stop passing rules. The Times quotes the new activist head of OSHA: “We have to turn up the volume to make it very clear that OSHA is on the job.” What nonsense. Agencies like OSHA are job-killers that rarely make us safer. Here’s a graph showing that workplace deaths declined since OSHA was created: OSHA administrators like showing that graph. It looks impressive if you don’t look at the next graph, which shows that deaths had dropped just as fast before OSHA existed. In a free country, things get better on their own. Big Government lovers cannot fathom that idea. (John Stossel, Fox Business)
NEW VIDEO: Heritage’s Entry to the EPA Video Contest
In case you had any doubts about whether Washington bureaucrats were completely out of touch with ordinary Americans, the Environmental Protection Agency is here to reassure you—they are. While Americans across the country have been tightening their belts and dealing with a wave of new taxes, fees, and regulations, the EPA has launched a video contest to celebrate their brand of over-regulation. They are offering $2,500 to whomever puts together the best video lauding the merits of regulation in American life. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Expecting the UN to adhere to the rule of law? Angry Australian judge keeps UN chief's lawyers at bay AN AUSTRALIAN judge has torn strips off the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, accusing him of ''wilful disobedience'' in a case involving a senior UN
official who claimed he was unfairly denied a promotion.
Um...no: Green-collar army invades job market ELECTRICIANS installing roof-top wind farms, plumbers advising on waste recycling and suburban accountants calculating the carbon footprint of the corner store.
Benefits of bike network far outweigh cost, says study AN INNER-CITY network of bike paths would deliver economic benefits more than triple the cost of building it, according to the first full economic appraisal of cycleways in
Australia.
Club of Rome recycled: the apocalyptos wail on... Yes, we can change society before global crises overwhelm us We should be neither too pessimistic nor complacent about environmental collapse (Simon Lewis, The Guardian)
Is Hickman naïve or just woefully ignorant? Glenn Beck holds up Maurice Strong as evidence of 'global government' conspiracy Ideologically fuelled climate sceptics, such as Fox News' Beck claim global warming is being used by malevolent forces to achieve their master plan (Leo Hickman, The Guardian)
Wishful whacko thinking: Opinion Polls Underestimate Americans' Concern about the Environment When pollsters ask Americans to name the most important problem facing the country, fewer than 3 percent mention the environment. But when asked to name the most serious
problem facing the planet if left unchecked, the environment and global warming rise to the top, according to a May 2010 study by Woods Institute Senior Fellow Jon Krosnick.
Preserve an Ecosystem, or Preserve an EPA Rule? Prescribed fires are necessary to preserve a prairie ecosystem, but the smoke causes regulatory problems for cities downwind. It's the EPA versus nature.
Scientists offer new take on selective fishing A new, less selective approach to commercial fishing is needed to ensure the ongoing productivity of marine ecosystems and to maintain biodiversity, according to a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. (CSIRO)
From the "Gosh they come up with some twaddle" files: Rising CO2 levels threaten crops and food quality Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide interfere with plants’ ability to convert nitrate into protein and could threaten food quality, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis. The scientists suggest that, as global climate change intensifies, it will be critical for farmers to carefully manage nitrogen fertilization in order to prevent losses in crop productivity and quality. (UC Davis)
Uh-huh... Pest Munches Up China Fields After GM Crop Sprays Halt A once minor pest has ravaged fruit orchards and cotton fields in China after farmers stopped spraying insecticide in crops of a genetically-modified type of cotton
resistant to bollworms, experts said.
Companies Put Restrictions On Research into GM Crops A battle is quietly being waged between the industry that produces genetically modified seeds and scientists trying to investigate the environmental impacts of engineered crops. Although companies such as Monsanto have recently given ground, researchers say these firms are still loath to allow independent analyses of their patented — and profitable — seeds. (Bruce Stutz, e360)
UN Determined to Destroy America’s Second Amendment The United Nations wants to control small arms in order to promote peace and security, but their own research contradicts this rhetoric. - by Howard Nemerov The United Nations declared the week of May 10-16 to be the “Global Week of Action against Gun Violence.” According to the UN, guns destroy personal freedom:
The UN seeks a “comprehensive, legally binding instrument establishing common international standards for the import, export and transfer of conventional arms.” Last October, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the Obama administration’s support for the United Nations plan to regulate “convention arms transfers.” Brady-endorsed Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher (D, CA-10) was chosen as under secretary for arms control and international security in the State Department. Fortunately, sufficient data exists among UN non-governmental organizations to determine if civilian firearms ownership will “negatively impact on security, human rights and social and economic development.” The Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland, publishes an annual report entitled “Small Arms Survey.” This organization doesn’t support civilian firearms ownership. Its mission page illustrates its agreement with the UN’s goals:
The 2003-2005 and 2007 editions of “Small Arms Survey” contain estimates of civilian firearms ownership rates in 59 surveyed countries. Freedom House, founded in 1941 by Eleanor Roosevelt and others “concerned with the mounting threats to peace and democracy,” is a leading international advocate for personal liberty. Their annual report, “Freedom in the World,” rates each country’s level of individual political rights and civil liberties, defined as follows:
Freedom House rates countries on a scale of 1 to 7 for each category, with 1 equating with the most rights. Countries are “Free” if they attain an average score of 1 to 2.5 (for both political and civil rights). Countries averaging between 2.5 and 5 are “Partly Free;” countries over 5 are “Not Free.” The chart below collates countries’ average political and civil rights ratings with their level of civilian firearms ownership. The overall trend line shows the general correlation between firearms ownership and freedom. As civilian firearms ownership increases, freedom ratings decrease: more guns, more political and civil rights. According to UN rhetoric, as firearms ownership increases, people should be less free: the trend line should slope up as it travels from left to right. The Heritage Foundation is America’s “most broadly supported public policy research institute,” promoting “public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.” Each year, the Heritage Foundation publishes the “Economic Freedom Index,” which analyzes ten economic variables for each country. The Heritage Foundation defines economic freedom as:
The Heritage Foundation rates countries by the following grading scale: Economically “Free” countries have an overall score of 80-100; “Mostly Free” between 70 and 79.9; “Moderately Free” between 60 and 69.9, “Mostly Unfree” between 50 and 59.9; and economically “Repressed” countries average an overall score under 50. The Heritage Foundation explains the difference between economic freedom and repression:
The chart below collates countries’ economic freedom with civilian firearms ownership. The overall trend line shows that as civilians firearms ownership increases, people have more economic freedom: more guns, more prosperity. According to the UN, “excessive accumulation and universal availability of small arms negatively impact … economic development.” Transparency International is a “politically non-partisan” global organization “leading the fight against corruption.” They publish an annual report entitled “Corruption Perceptions Index,” which evaluates “the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians.” The index “defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain.” The ideal government would score a 10: organized government corruption doesn’t exist; there’s no manipulation of political and economic processes for personal gain by bureaucrats or their families and associates. The chart below collates countries’ corruption indices with civilian firearms ownership. The overall trend line shows that as civilians firearms ownership increases, governments are less corrupt: more guns, better-behaved government. In the face of such facts, the UN’s agenda becomes obvious: By disarming civilians, governments will have free reign to abuse public office for private gain. Moreover, people won’t be able to do anything about it, because civilian disarmament also correlates with reduced political and civil rights. Disarmament also correlates with reduced economic freedom. When added together, the result is feudalism, which historically is the most common socio-economic system, where the elite few control the vast majority of arms, power, and resources. In case you think our Second Amendment will protect you, consider Obama’s perspective regarding our unique right to liberty as you watch him bow to the Saudi king and China’s president. Instead of bowing to the UN’s global aspirations, we should share our hard-earned lessons of liberty with the rest of the world. (The UN plans to take the next step on their arms treaty at the meeting planned for July 12-23, 2010.) For more in-depth analysis of this topic, see “Is There a Relationship between Guns and Freedom? Comparative Results from 59 Nations,” co-authored with Professors David B. Kopel and Carl Moody. Former civilian disarmament supporter and medical researcher Howard Nemerov investigates the civil liberty of self-defense and examines the issue of gun control, resulting in his book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working? He appears frequently on NRA News as their “unofficial” analyst and was published in the Texas Review of Law and Politics with David Kopel and Carlisle Moody.
Kerry-Lieberman’s great American rip-off There are only three things you need to know about the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill that was released Wednesday—it will accomplish nothing for the environment; it
will cost a lot of money and it will financially enrich and politically empower a host of scoundrels.
Senate Gets a Climate and Energy Bill, Modified by a Gulf Spill That Still Grows WASHINGTON — The long delayed and much amended Senate plan to deal with global warming and energy was unveiled on Wednesday to considerable fanfare but uncertain
prospects.
ON Wednesday, John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman introduced their long-awaited Senate energy bill, which includes incentives of $2 billion per year for carbon capture and
sequestration, the technology that removes carbon dioxide from the smokestack at power plants and forces it into underground storage. This significant allocation would come on
top of the $2.4 billion for carbon capture projects that appeared in last year’s stimulus package.
EPA Issues Rules On Biggest Carbon Polluters The Obama Administration finalized rules on Thursday to cut greenhouse gas emissions from big factories and power plants starting next year aimed at giving momentum to the
troubled climate bill.
Peter Foster: Birthers, truthers and warmers No paranoid fantasy of the Birthers ranks with the conviction that industrial society threatens life on Earth The world is filled with wacky ideas. Some are much more dangerous than others. A tiny minority refuses to believe that President Obama has a U.S. birth certificate. Another fringe group holds that 9/11 was an inside job. And then there’s the conviction that man-made climate change threatens life on earth and demands vast new restrictions on wealth and freedom. This latter belief is preached by the same governments and supranational organizations that led the world into the current regulatory and sovereign debt morass, and are responsible for the even greater threat implied by unfunded welfare commitments. Climate catastrophism is also enthusiastically embraced by virtually all giant corporations (including the currently much-troubled BP and Toyota) and by state-funded and UN-promoted eco NGOs. So let me see, where should we concentrate our political concerns: the “Birthers,” the “Truthers,” or the “Warmers?” Read More (Financial Post)
There's no right and wrong to tackling climate change Mike Hulme says we need to stop looking for climate change scapegoats and start engaging in honest discussion (Mike Hulme for ChinaDialogue, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
Green Movement Hits Yellow Light on Climate If a climate scientist falls in the forest, does anybody hear?
Harper rejects UN chief's plea to make climate change G20 agenda's top priority OTTAWA - Canada brushed aside a direct public demand Wednesday by the visiting United Nations chief and reiterated that it will not make climate change a priority agenda
item when it hosts the G20 summit next month.
Headline Story: Did a Secret Climate Deal Launch the Hockey Stick Fakery? The investigation into the alleged global warming data fraud by Virginia’s Attorney General may soon have a whole new angle. This comes from a previously overlooked
connection between discredited tree-ring proxy researcher, Michael Mann and Yale’s now deceased climate professor, Barry Saltzman.
IPCC Cites an Unpublished Journal 39 Times We read a lot of magazines in our house. Occasionally, an issue arrives in which nearly every article is engaging and (in the case of cooking magazines) every recipe sounds
amazing. In short, the issue is a keeper. ...was based on scientific studies completed before January 2006, and did not include later studies...That's what the rules say. And that's what was supposed to have happened. But according to the online abstracts for each of the 16 papers cited by the IPCC and published in the May 2007 issue of Climatic Change (see my working notes here):
So how could 16 papers, accounting for 39 new citations across fours chapters and two working groups, have made it into this twice vetted, next-to-finalized IPCC report? Those citations don't reference research papers the wider scientific community had already digested. They don't even reference papers that were hot off the press. Instead, in 15 of 16 cases, no expert reviewer could possibly have evaluated these papers since they hadn't yet been accepted for publication by the journal itself. Where do these 39 citations of the May 2007 issue of Climatic Change turn up in the IPCC report? [working notes here]
Welcome to the strange world of the IPCC. Whenever one turns over a new rock there's something shady beneath. .. Coming soon: the research paper that wasn't accepted for publication until May 2008, yet got cited seven times in the IPCC's 2007 report (No Consensus)
They've gone "all in" with this one: As global temperatures rise, the world's lizards are disappearing 20 percent of all lizard species could be extinct by 2080, researchers say
Political, Media, and Bureaucratic Distortions of Weather and Climate Mainstream television has extreme or severe weather reports when they are actually reporting natural events.
Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, May 13th 2010 Al Gore invokes the memory of Elvis to sell the global warming hoax, which is awkward because Elvis might be the only thing deader than Al’s favorite scam. A hippie blames an airline’s cheap flights for his traveling habit, the UK gets a Green MP and Ed Begley Jr. hates the planet. (Daily Bayonet)
They forget the most important point: Strategies for increasing carbon stored in forests and wood Scientists review the benefits and tradeoffs of current methods in forest carbon storage
Investors Wary Of "Green" Forestry Forests have a growing value as a result of climate policies, but the complexity of carbon markets coupled with the effects of the financial crisis are deterring investment,
investors and analysts said in London on Thursday.
Venus: Chris Colose vs Steve Goddard Chris Colose (click) thinks that Steve Goddard - and, to a lesser extent, your
humble correspondent - are reinventing climatology as well as astrophysics. y = mx + bWe think that there is one term only, we learn. That's a nice hypothesis and it's always nice to learn new things about my own brain :-) but thank you, I understood linear functions when I was 3 years old. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Sun & Cycles Heat Up Ice Age Interglacials Since the Mid-Brunhes Event, around 430,000 years ago, interglacial periods have grown warmer and their CO2 levels higher. Research confirms that Croll and Milankovitch were right: Earth's orbital cycles seem to be the cause of these documented cases of true global warming, with CO2 playing a supporting role, not the lead. Many of the catastrophic events warned of by climate change alarmists turn out to be well within the range of natural variation. Moreover, new findings indicate that the effects of the cycle induced changes, through their impact on the environment in the Southern Hemisphere, are not correctly accounted for in the IPCC models. One of the big questions in climate science comes from studying recent interglacial periods—those relatively warm periods between bouts of ice age glaciation. It has been known for some time, that average temperatures during recent interglacials were warmer than during older ones. Writing in the April, 2010, edition of Nature Geoscience, Q. Z. Yin and A. Berger propose an answer as to why the amplitude (i.e. warming) of the glacial interglacial cycles increased significantly after the Mid-Brunhes Event (MBE) with cooler interglacials before the MBE than after. In their paper, entitled “Insolation and CO2 contribution to the interglacial climate before and after the Mid-Brunhes Event,” they describe their work as follows:
The Mid-Brunhes Event, ~430,000 years ago, signaled significant long-term changes in global atmosphere and ocean circulation. As a consequence, there was a transition to more humid interglacial conditions in equatorial Africa, and in the Northern Hemisphere to more glacial oceanic conditions. In a paper in Science, “A Mid-Brunhes Climatic Event: Long-Term Changes in Global Atmosphere and Ocean Circulation,” J. H. F. Jansen, A. Kuijpers, and S. R. Troelestra document the event through marine and continental records from various latitudes. Their conclusion was that the change was probably due to a change in the eccentricity of Earth's orbit. “We present evidence of a global climatic change 4.0 x 105 to 3.0 x 105 years ago on a time scale of 1 x 105 to 1 x 106 years which is superimposed on the glacial and interglacial cycles,” they report. “Unlike other Late Cenozoic climatic variations reported so far, the change shows opposite trends in the Northern and Southern hemispheres.” The trends referred to are warmer Northern Hemisphere winters and Southern Hemisphere summers, accompanied by the opposite for Northern Hemisphere summers and Southern Hemisphere winters, which are cooler. This shift also brought an increase in humidity to the south. It was Jansen et al. who first proposed a mid-Brunhes transition to more humid, interglacial conditions in the southern hemisphere. Over the millions of years of the Pleistocene ice age, slow changes in ocean basin circulation due to tectonic activity (i.e. shifting continents) caused recognizable changes in climate, but the mid-Brunhes change represents something different. Both Jansen et al. and now Yin and Berger concluded that small changes in the pattern of solar radiation energy received at Earth's surface, insolation, were responsible. This was triggered by a change in one of the three Croll-Milankovitch cycles that affect Earth's orbit and attitude, primarily eccentricity. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Interview With A Global Warming Skeptic: Dr. Roy Spencer It is no secret that a majority of the peer-reviewed climate change literature lays blame for global warming on human greenhouse gas emissions.
Global Warming’s $64 Trillion Question Edited 1:35 p.m. CDT 5/13/10: Trivia question added, at the end of the post. Despite its relative simplicity, I continue to find myself trying to explain to experts and lay persons alike how scientists made the Great Global Warming Blunder when it comes to predictions of global warming. On the bright side, this morning I received an e-mail from a chemist who looked at the math of the problem after reading my new book, and then came to the understanding on his own. And that’s great! For the most part, though, the climate community continues to suffer from a mental block when it comes to the true role of clouds in global warming. All climate models now change clouds with CO2 warming in ways that amplify that warming, some by a catastrophic amount. As my latest book describes, I contend that they have been fooled by Mother Nature, and that in fact warming alters clouds in ways that mitigate – not amplify — the small amount of direct warming caused by increasing atmospheric CO2. The difference between clouds magnifying versus mitigating warming could be the difference between global warming being little more than an academic curiosity…or a disaster for life on Earth. So, once again I find myself trying to explain a concept that I find the public understands better than the climate experts do: when it comes to clouds and temperature,
the direction of causation really does matter. The “scientific consensus” has been that, because unusually warm conditions are observed to be accompanied by less cloud cover, warming obviously causes cloud cover to decrease. This would be bad news, since decreasing cloud cover in response to warming would let more sunlight in, and amplify the initial warming. That’s called positive cloud feedback. But what they have difficulty understanding is that causation in the opposite direction (cloud changes causing temperature changes) gives the ILLUSION of positive cloud feedback. It turns out that, when less cloud cover causes warmer temperatures, the cloud feedback in response to that warming is almost totally obscured. Believe it, the experts have not accounted for this effect. I find it bizarre that most are not even aware it is an issue! As far as I know, I am the only one actively researching the issue. As a result, the experts have fooled themselves into believing cloud feedbacks are positive. We have demonstrated theoretically in our new paper now accepted for publication in JGR that, even if strong negative cloud feedback exists, cloud changes causing temperature change will make it LOOK like positive cloud feedback. And this indeed happens in the real climate system. The only time cloud feedback can be clearly seen in the real climate system is when temperature changes are caused by something other than clouds. And in those cases, we find that the net feedback is strongly negative (around 6 Watts per sq. meter of extra energy lost by the Earth per deg. C of global-average warming). Unfortunately, those events only occur on relatively short climate time scales: 1 month or so. Whether this negative feedback also exists for long-term climate warming is less certain. Do Climate Models Agree With Satellite Observations of Clouds and Temperature? The fact that all the climate models which produce substantial global warming also approximate what we measure from satellites is NOT a validation of the feedbacks in those models. So far, after analyzing thousands of years of climate model runs, I have found no convincing way to validate the climate models’ long-term feedbacks with short-term (approx. 10 years or so) satellite observations. The reason is the same: all models have cloud variations causing temperature variations, which then obscures the feedback we are trying to measure. But there’s another test that could be made. The modelers’ case would be stronger if they could demonstrate that 20 additional climate models, all with various amounts of negative – rather than positive — cloud feedback, are less consistent with our satellite observations than the current crop of models, all of which had positive cloud feedback. I suspect they do not spend much time on that possibility. A climate model that does not produce much climate change is going to have difficult time getting continued funding for its support. Trivia Question to Illustrate the Point: Assume continually increasing CO2 in the atmosphere is the only source of climate variability, and we experience continuous slow warming as a result. Will the outgoing longwave radiation (OLR, or infrared) being emitted by the Earth increase…or decrease…during this process? (I will post the answer tomorrow.) Technical Note: We have found from modeling studies that if the natural cloud variations were truly random in time, the error in diagnosed feedback would be random, not biased toward positive feedback, and would average out to near zero in the long term. But in the real climate system, these cloud variations have preferred time scales….in other words, they have some degree of autocorrelation in time. When that happens, there ends up being a bias in the direction of positive feedback. (Roy W. Spencer)
By Popular Demand: A Daily Global Average CERES Dataset Since I keep getting requests for the data from which I do my analyses, I’ve decided to provide the main dataset I use here, in an Excel spreadsheet. The comments at the top of the spreadsheet are pretty self-explanatory and include links to the original data. After you click on and open the file with Excel, save it to your computer so you can analyze the data. From original satellite data online at 2 sources, I have calculated daily global-average anomalies (departures from the average annual cycle) in (1) total-sky emitted longwave (LW, or infrared) radiative flux; (2) total-sky reflected shortwave (SW, or solar) radiative flux, and (3) UAH tropospheric temperatures (TMT). The original radiative flux data that I computed these anomalies from are the Terra satellite CERES Flight Model 1 (FM1) instrument-based ES4 (ERBE-like) daily global gridpoint datasets, available here. These are large files in a binary format, and are not for the weak of heart. The original UAH TMT temperature data come from here. All of the original data were area-averaged over the Earth for each day during the 9.5 year Terra CERES period of record, March 2000 through September 2009. An average annual cycle was computed, filtered with a +/- 10 day smoother applied every day, and then anomalies were computed by subtracting the smoothed average annual cycle values from the original data. I program these calculations in Fortran-95, put the data in an Excel spreadsheet, then do all future calculations and graphical plots in Excel. And remember, folks…“If you torture the data long enough, it will confess.” (Roy W. Spencer)
There is a press release from Purdue University by Elizabeth K. Gardner and Greg Kline regarding a study by Matthew Huber of Purdue and Steve Sherwood of the University of New South Wales. The press release is titled Researchers find future temperatures could exceed livable limits The news media have already uncritically picked up this story (e.g. see Climate change could make half the world uninhabitable). The paper version of this study is Steven C. Sherwood and Matthew Huber,2010: An adaptability limit to climate change due to heat stress www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0913352107 with the abstract
The article is edited by Kerry A. Emanuel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The study has a major fault in that it has not properly assessed the actual behavoir of the atmosphere if such warming occurred in the lower troposphere. Moreover, this is another example of the publication of a paper with predictions that cannot be tested. I discuss these issues in more depth below. (Roger Pielke Sr., Climate Science)
Transocean Aims To Cap Rig-Related Damages Transocean Ltd, owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded and sank last month killing 11 people, wants to limit its liability for the accident to about $27 million,
according to a U.S. court filing on Thursday.
The Price and Who Pays: Updates From the Gulf An explosion and fire on a drilling rig on April 20 left 11 workers missing and presumed dead. The rig sank two days later about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. Since then, attempts to shut off the flow of oil streaming into the Gulf of Mexico have been unsuccessful and the search continues for a cause and for ways to prevent such blowouts in the future. Questions persist about who will be liable for damage from the spill and the risks to local wildlife. Following is an updated oil spill primer. (NYT)
BP Says Leak May Be Closer to a Solution After days of deepening gloom, BP and two Obama administration officials suggested on Wednesday that the company was closer to a solution that might halt the seemingly
uncontrollable oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Canadian Legislators Grill BP Over Arctic Drilling Exasperated Canadian legislators grilled the head of BP Plc Canadian unit on Thursday, concerned about the risks of the company's plans to drill in Arctic waters after the
catastrophic Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
by Vaclav Smil
Photovoltaic Electricity Generation Satellite measurements put the solar constant – radiation that reaches area perpendicular to the incoming rays at the top of the atmosphere (and that is actually not constant but varies with season and has negligible daily fluctuations) – at 1,366 W/m2. If there were no atmosphere and if the Earth absorbed all incoming radiation then the average flux at the planet’s surface would be 341.5 W/m2 (a quarter of the solar constant’s value, a sphere having four times the area of a circle with the same radius: 4πr2/πr2). But the atmosphere absorbs about 20% of the incoming radiation and the Earth’s albedo (fraction of radiation reflected to space by clouds and surfaces) is 30% and hence only 50% of the total flux reaches the surface prorating to about 170 W/m2 received at the Earth’s surface, and ranging from less than 100 W/m2 in cloudy northern latitudes to more than 230 W/m2 in sunny desert locations. For an approximate calculation of electricity that could be generated on large scale by photovoltaic conversion it would suffice to multiply that rate by the average efficiency of modular cells. While the best research cells have efficiencies surpassing 30% (for multijunction concentrators) and about 15% for crystalline silicon and thin films, actual field efficiencies of PV cells that have been recently deployed in the largest commercial parks are around 10%, with the ranges of 6-7% for amorphous silicon and less than 4% for thin films. A realistic assumption of 10% efficiency yields 17 W/m2 as the first estimate of average global PV generation power density, with densities reaching barely 10 W/m2 in cloudy Atlantic Europe and 20-25 W/m2 in subtropical deserts. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
One desperately wishes to give the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government the fairest of winds. The debt crisis demands that it must succeed, and that some
compromises must be made to achieve this. But one Cabinet appointment beggars belief, and is a compromise too far and too dangerous for the country.
Countryside to sprout solar farms as firms cash in on subsidy scheme Fields in Gloucestershire’s rolling countryside, immortalised by Laurie Lee in Cider With Rosie, may soon be covered by thousands of solar panels.
Czech president vetoes a biofuel amendment Václav
Klaus returns an amendment to the Air Protection Act to the deputies » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Obamacare: A Hard Pill to Swallow for Physicians The negative effects of Obamacare will impact every American. However, it is those who are the very backbone of the United States’ high-quality health care system who will be most severely affected: physicians. In a recent paper, Heritage’s health policy expert Robert Moffit, Ph.D., details the changes American doctors can expect to see in the way they practice medicine as a result of the recently-passed law. Moffit outlines the following as being most detrimental to the practice of medicine: Medicaid Expansion and Payment. As it is, doctors receive heavily reduced pay for treating Medicare patients, and reimbursement for Medicaid is even lower. In many areas, doctors who accept Medicaid do so at their own loss, as reimbursement rates do not even cover the expense of seeing the patient. Writes Moffit, “Medicare payment has resulted in sporadic access problems for Medicare patients, and the lower Medicaid payments have already contributed to serious access problems for low-income persons and worsened hospital emergency room overcrowding.” By adding an estimated 18 million people to this system, Obamacare will aggravate these existing dilemmas. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
So Much For ObamaCare's Savings Health Care: The Democrats' reform is barely out of the gate and the Congressional Budget Office already says its previous cost estimate was too low. Either the bill's
supporters lied or they're profoundly ignorant.
Morning Bell: The Road to Repeal is Well Under Way “We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told us just weeks before Congress passed President Barack Obama’s health care plan. Well, the nation’s post-passage Obamacare education continued yesterday when the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) confirmed that the federal government will have to spend an additional $115 billion implementing the law, bringing the total estimated cost to over $1 trillion. The estimate had been requested before passage of the bill by Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), but the CBO was too overwhelmed with the Democrats’ other constant revisions to the law to get back to Lewis before the final vote. This is by far not the only nasty little surprise that has come back to bite Obamacare after passage. Shortly after it became law, U.S. employers began reporting hundreds of millions if dollars in losses thanks to tax changes in the bill. AT&T and Verizon alone pegged their Obamacare tax losses at around $1 billion each. At first, Democrats in Congress were outraged by the announcements and threatened to hold hearings persecuting these companies. But then the Democrats not only found out the companies were obligated by law to report their Obamacare related losses, but that the losses were a signal these companies might have to dump their employees’ and retirees’ health care coverage all together. Then the Obama administration’s own Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final cost projections for Obamacare, finding that, contrary to White House claims, the legislation will increase national health care spending by $311 billion over the next decade. The CMS report also revealed that: 1) 18 million Americans will pay $33 billion in penalties for failing to comply with Obamacare’s individual mandate and still receive no health care; 2) U.S. employers will pay $87 billion in employer mandate penalties; 3) 14 million Americans will lose their current employer-based health coverage; 4) 7.4 million seniors will lose their current Medicare Advantage benefits; 5) 15% of all Medicare providers will be made unprofitable, thus “jeopardizing access to care for beneficiaries.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Today’s Greece, Tomorrow’s America: How Obama’s Health Care and Energy Agendas Really End The most troubling aspect of the West’s current policy turmoil is not the European meltdown led by Greece and Spain. It is instead President Barack Obama’s unflinching insistence on rushing America headlong into the very mandates, and resulting debt levels, that precipitated that meltdown. Obama is scripting a repeat of Europe’s disaster, here, by cramming down on the American people the same policy fetishes our Left has obsessed about for decades, and which Europe used to bring this down upon itself: statist management of health care and energy. (
By Richard Salsman U.S. debt will soon be equal to 100% of GDP. Health spending will only make that worse In the past four years — 2007 to 2010 inclusive — U.S. budget deficits have totalled $3.6-trillion and are projected (by the White House’s OMB and Congress’s CBO) to total just as much over the coming four years, even with an economic upswing. Whereas the deficit was 1.2% of GDP in 2007, at the end of 2010 it’ll be 10.6% of GDP. For comparison, consider that Greece, which is now getting a bailout of $160-billion, currently has a deficit-to-GDP ratio of 13.6%. Unlike Greece, which participates in the euro and thus has no power to print its own money, the United States does have such power and is exercising it (as it has since 1971). Washington will default on its debt surreptitiously, by inflation. Not only does destructive Fed policy create new federal debt, it also then recklessly monetizes it, causing inflation. Read More (Financial Post)
The European economic model is dead. Don’t believe us? – Ask The Washington Post. Yesterday’s front-page story reported that the loans being made to stave off the debt crisis come with conditions which, if enforced, would require “European governments [to] rewrite a post-World War II social contract that has been generous to workers and retirees but has become increasingly unaffordable for an aging population.” There is an obvious and painful connection to the U.S. and our economic direction. Unless we adopt a much better set of economic policies, the American version of Europe’s crisis is inevitable. What’s worse, the Post and many other commentators have understated the failure of the European model. For two generations after post-war reconstruction, Europe and America have moved in different economic directions. The American model favored growth, income, and vibrancy; the European model was said to favor fairness, equality, and stability. The long-term superiority of the American model with regard to growth was well-established before the financial crisis, but the extent of that superiority may be surprising to some. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Europe fixes debt with more debt May 10, 2010 – 8:46 pm The great muddle of Keynesian economics is crashing in on statists everywhere Anybody remember the last G20 Summit? Hard to forget. It’s only been — what? — six months since the event, held in Pittsburgh last September. The words of our leaders, triumphant and self-congratulatory, still ring out today. Boasting of having launched “the largest and most co-ordinated fiscal and monetary stimulus ever undertaken,” the G20 looked back at the London Summit, where Gordon Brown, the soon to be former PM of Britain, orchestrated a rousing session around the theme of spend, spend, spend to get the world out of economic crisis. “At that time [in London], our countries agreed to do everything necessary to ensure recovery, to repair our financial systems and to maintain the global flow of capital. It worked.” Yesterday, the subprime government debt crisis, the direct product of the above-mentioned summits and other meetings of the world’s economic and political leaders, produced another threat. The European Union, its members sliding into stimulus debt and losing market confidence, would again do “whatever is necessary” to end the crisis, restore confidence and protect the euro. Read More
May 11, 2010 – 7:23 pm The taxation required to keep the Ponzocracy of Fannie and Freddie afloat saps the U.S. private sector ‘Canada is not an island,” declared Finance Minister Jim Flaherty last week. He was presumably alluding to Elizabethan poet John Donne’s famous meditation “no man is an island,” which concludes with those ominous words “and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” Certainly, no country is outside the range of the current contagion, but if Mr. Flaherty had wanted to use a more up-to-date — and perhaps relevant — cultural reference, he might have chosen the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. That’s because danger to Canada comes not merely, or even primarily, from the prospective disintegration of the European Union, but from the related crisis to our south. Symbolic of that mess — and its government origins — is a monster called “Freddie” (different spelling, same nightmare slasher principle), which, along with its twin sister “Fannie,” is threatening to further shred U.S. public finances.
Infections cause 68 pct of child deaths, study finds May 12 - More than two thirds of the estimated 8.8 million deaths in children under five worldwide in 2008 were caused by infectious diseases like pneumonia, diarrhoea and
malaria, according to a study on behalf of the World Health Organisation and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
Doubt Is Cast on Many Reports of Food Allergies A new report, commissioned by the federal government, finds the field is rife with poorly done studies, misdiagnoses and tests that can give misleading results.
New theory of Alzheimer's explains drug failures CHICAGO - Brain plaques, long considered the chief killer of brain cells and the cause of Alzheimer's disease, may actually play a protective role, under a new theory that
is changing the way researchers think about the disease.
Sticky Study: Chocolate-depression link ignores actual chocolate content Snickers has almost no real chocolate; Lindt Excellence has lots; so which did the depressed chocoholics actually eat?
Two worst-case scenarios prove less deadly than expected.
Recycling 'tiny trash' -- cigarette butts A new study suggests expanding community recycling programs beyond newspapers, beverage containers, and other traditional trash to include an unlikely new potential
treasure: Cigarette butts. Terming this tiny trash "one of the most ubiquitous forms of garbage in the world," the study describes discovery of a way to reuse the
remains of cigarettes to prevent steel corrosion that costs oil producers millions of dollars annually. It appears in ACS' Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, a
bi-weekly journal.
Demonstrating how invested they are in gorebull warbling, here's the media on Kerry-Lieberman:
Climate bill would slash US carbon output A draft bill setting out sharp cuts in US greenhouse gas emissions was unveiled in the Senate yesterday, offering new incentives for nuclear power and offshore drilling at a
time when the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico makes support for oil exploration politically difficult.
Climate bill has new drilling protections WASHINGTON — Coastal states could veto offshore drilling plans under long-awaited legislation to curb global warming unveiled Wednesday.
Bill aimed at stemming global warming, create jobs WASHINGTON — Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman unveiled a long-awaited bill Wednesday that aims to curtail pollution blamed for global warming, reduce oil imports and
create millions of energy-related jobs.
Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill Generates Praise and Outrage WASHINGTON, DC, May 12, 2010 - The American Power Act, a bill proposing a cap and trade system for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, was introduced today in the U.S.
Senate. Written by Senators John Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat, and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent, the bill aims to reduce emissions by 17 percent in 2020 and by
over 80 percent in 2050.
Kerry-Lieberman: Cap-and-Trade With a Gas Tax Inhofe Says Bill Will Kill Jobs, Hit the Heartland Hard Link to 'Discussion Draft' of Kerry-Lieberman American Power Act Washington, D.C. - Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, commented today on the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill and its eventual political fate in the Senate: "My first reaction to the Kerry-Lieberman bill is that it's the same old cap-and-trade scheme that the Senate has defeated three times since 2003," Senator Inhofe said. "In fact, it has a strong resemblance to the disastrous Waxman-Markey bill. Only now, along with paying skyrocketing electricity prices, consumers will pay a gas tax. "The Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade proposal is just like Waxman-Markey in another key respect: it will destroy millions of good-paying jobs, many of which will be lost in regions, such as the Midwest, South, and Great Plains, which depend on coal for electricity. Given these facts, it's no wonder that this massive energy tax is opposed by Republicans and Democrats alike, and that is has virtually no chance of passing the Senate." "The sooner we reject global warming cap-and-trade legislation, and get to work on an all-of the-above energy policy, the sooner the American public will have access to affordable, abundant, American-made energy." ###
Regulations: Call it cap-and-trade or bait-and-switch, but John Kerry and Joe Lieberman continue to tilt at windmills with a bill to restrain energy growth in the name of
saving the planet.
Window Dressing Cap and Trade Won’t Make the Costs Go Away Last year Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) rolled out a companion cap and trade bill to the Waxman-Markey version that passed in the House of Representatives. Boxer-Kerry was essentially dead on arrival so Senator Kerry went back to work, this time with Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Although Senator Graham is urging his colleagues to slow down, Senators Kerry and Lieberman are trudging forward and have introduced the American Power Act – the latest big climate change bill. Subtitled, “A New Start for Clean American Power and a New Economy,” this bill fails when it comes to energy production and job creation. APA is a new climate bill that tells the same old story: corporate handouts that raise energy prices for years to come. John Kerry made his sales pitch in The Hill today saying, “There’s a reason why people and American businesses that have always opposed and fought against previous legislation – quite successfully! – are standing behind this one.” It’s because they were offered a seat at the table leaving the rest of America to pick up the tab. Take the words of one major electricity CEO who said, “We don’t flinch from the charge that, yes, some of our motivation and enthusiasm comes from the fact that we should make money on it if it happens.” As the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Chris Horner stresses, the handouts will go to the businesses that won the lobbying battle while the costs will be passed onto the consumer. It’s no surprise “influence spending” is up 25 percent for the first quarter of 2010 compared to last year. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Oh No! Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill Would Create '60 new Programs, Studies, and Reports' Climate Depot has obtained an advance memo circulating on Capitol Hill about the Kerry-Lieberman Climate Bill. Below is a list of 60 new Programs, Studies, and Reports created by the Kerry-Lieberman bill. (Marc Morano, Climate Depot)
Full Text of Kerry-Lieberman (.pdf) -- almost 1,000 pages of train wreck
The Bootleggers are the Baptists’ last hope for passage of global warming bill Three separate events late last year knocked the air out of international climate alarmism. Combined, they put the kibosh on global warming legislation in the United States for the foreseeable future. Now the only ones keeping such legislation alive are a handful of powerful special interests. Contrary to what you normally hear, big business is pushing, not opposing, climate legislation. (Iain Murray, Washington Examiner)
A $9 Million Villa for Al Gore, Sky-High Energy Costs for the Rest of Us From his sprawling new $9 million ocean-view villa in Montecito, California, with its high ceilings, wine cellar, terraces, six fireplaces, five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, pool and 6,500 square feet of living space, former Vice President Al Gore is asking a favor of the American people. He’d like you to tighten your belt and shell out big time for higher electric bills, all in the name of fighting global warming. In a renewable electricity standard (RES) proposal now before Congress, those costs would be huge. A new Heritage Foundation study modeled the effects of a generic RES and found that the average family of four would lose $2,400 per year in national income, and their share of the national debt would increase by $11,000. The Heritage analysis assumes an RES proposal that calls for 37.5% of the electricity we consume to be renewable energy by 2035; by contrast, Gore’s man-on-the-moon pipe dream calls for 100 percent renewable energy by 2018. Both would be incredibly costly to average Americans, which might be more palatable if you, like the former veep, can afford to add solar panels to the roof of one of your mansions. (Gore also owns a 10,000-square-foot mansion in Belle Meade, Tenn., where he has been depicted working in the soft glow of three 30-inch Apple cinema display monitors, which retail for a hefty $1,799 each.)
The American Power Act: A Climate Dud by Chip Knappenberger
Senators John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman have just unveiled their latest/greatest attempt to reign in U. S. greenhouse gas emissions. Their one time collaborator Lindsey Graham indicated that he did not consider the bill a climate bill because “[t]here is no bipartisan support for a cap-and-trade bill based on global warming.” But make no mistake. This is a climate bill at heart, and thus the Kerry-Lieberman bill sections labeled “Title II. Global Warming Pollution Reduction.” So apparently someone thinks the bill will have an impact on global warming. But those someones are wrong. The bill will have no meaningful impact of the future course of global warming. That is, unless the rest of the world—primarily the developing nations—decide to play along. In fact, the United States and the rest of the developed countries have little role to play in the future course of global warming except as developers of new energy technologies and/or as guinea pigs of making do with less fossil fuels. Our attempts at domestic emissions savings will have only minimal direct climate impact, but instead they will serve as an example for the developing world of what, or what not, to do. So if Kerry and Lieberman were interested in directly tackling the climate change issue, they would be working with China’s National People’s Congress to draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not the U. S. Senate. But, everyone already knows this, as we demonstrated the non-impact of U.S. emissions reduction efforts in Part I and Part II of our analysis of last summer’s Waxman-Markey offering. And as far as the global warming goes, Kerry-Lieberman’s The American Power Act of 2010 is similar to Waxman-Markey’s American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009. Kerry-Lieberman’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions reduction schedule is 17% below 2005 emissions levels by 2020, 42% below by 2030, and 83% below by 2050. Compare that to Waxman-Markey’s 20% reduction in emissions (below 2005 levels) by 2020, 42% by 2030, and 83% by 2050. Except for a bit of relaxation of near term targets, the bills’ long-term intentions are identical. The impact of this slight emissions difference on the resulting future global temperature savings is not manifest until the third digit past the decimal point—in other words, thousandths of degrees C. Climatologically, in other words, the bills are identical. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
As Chris Horner called it: Disgraceful Display of the Day Today at 1:30 pm Eastern time Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) will host a press conference announcing the fifth Senate reinvention of
"cap-and-trade" global warming legislation since 2003, the "American Power Act". Call it the American Power Grab Act, instead, for reasons that will become
obvious momentarily.
And here's some of the pigs at the trough:
Exelon chief Rowe praises Senate emissions bill but gives it slim odds Senate climate change legislation proposed Wednesday is a reasonable compromise, Exelon Corp. Chairman and CEO John W. Rowe said, but he put long odds on it going anywhere this year. (Crain's)
DALLAS - T. Boone Pickens, energy expert and creator of the Pickens Plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, released the following statement regarding energy legislation unveiled today by Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.): (Business Wire)
Insiders Cash In, Consumers Pay Under New Energy Bill Major players in Washington cheered the latest version of an energy bill, which tries to buy votes with “something for almost everyone.” But beleaguered consumers will get stuck with skyrocketing bills after others feast on new government benefits. We can expect any new “green jobs” to be offset by a larger loss of existing jobs, possibly up to 3-million, depending on details of how the bill’s cap-and-trade system is implemented to tax carbon dioxide emissions. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
ENRON APPLAUDS SENATE CAP-AND-TAX PROPOSAL by Robert Bradley Jr. [Editor note: The following post, "Cap-and-Trade: The Temple of Enron," appeared one year ago in MasterResource. It is being reprinted in conjunction with the release of the outlines of the Senate energy/climate proposal. Robert Bradley, formerly with Enron, further documents Enron's cap-and-trade shenanigans in other MasterResource articles listed at the end of this post. Two press releases from the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Institute for Energy Research on the Senate outline are reproduced as well.]
Enron is Exhibit A against Waxman/Markey’s [Kerry-Graham-Lieberman's] cap-and-trade proposal. Enron was poised to make money coming and going by being the nation’s and the world’s largest market-maker in CO2 permits, and the “smartest guys in the room” were ready to game and game for incremental dollars (remember California?). Enron’s business model, in retrospect, had to do with regulatory complexity, as I note in the introduction to my book Capitalism at Work. Enron gamed the highly prescriptive accounting rules (GAAP), tax system (the corporate tax division was actually a profit center as told in an exposé in the Washington Post). [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Global Cap And Trade Decades Off, U.S. Unveils Plan A grand vision of a global carbon market to limit greenhouse gas emissions may be decades off as U.S. senators unveiled a climate bill on Wednesday, facing tough Republican
opposition.
That'd be like, tragic, man: Australia left behind by US emission trading bill THE unveiling of a long-awaited US Senate bill to establish an American emissions trading scheme shows Australia is being left behind in terms of action on climate change, say environmentalists. (SMH)
I still want climate action: Kevin Rudd A DECIDEDLY cranky Kevin Rudd has launched an impassioned defence of his handling of climate change policy.
CSIRO should establish if there was medieval warming Down-Under THE deferral of Australia's emissions trading scheme for three years allows us time for additional scientific studies that may be critical in shaping future legislation.
As if Britons didn't have enough troubles before: Green policies of new Government A green investment bank and national programme of home insulation will be top of the agenda for the new Government.
Coalition pledges to cut central government emissions by 10% Commitment by new government will account for 1% of all UK emissions - equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road (The Guardian)
GWPF Calls for Suspension and Review of Unilateral Climate Targets In the national interest, the Global Warming Policy Foundation wishes the new Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition government every success. We welcome the fact that its first priority is to reduce substantially the alarming and unsustainable deficit in the public finances, which is leading to a rapidly-growing burden of public debt. In the circumstances, it is clear that the UK cannot afford, above all unilaterally, to move to a low carbon, let alone a zero carbon, economy. A low carbon economy means a high energy cost economy. (Benny Peiser, GWPF)
Testimony of the Viscount Monckton of Brenchley Before Congress, 6 May 2010 Wednesday, 12 May 2010 12:21 For the Full Report in PDF Form, please click here. [Illustrations, footnotes and references available in PDF version] TESTIMONY OF THE VISCOUNT MONCKTON OF BRENCHLEY BEFORE CONGRESS, MAY 6, 2010 (SPPI)
Jimmy beginning to believe his own press? 'Climate dice' now dangerously loaded: leading scientist PARIS — Evidence for global warming has mounted but public awareness of the threat has shrunk, due to a cold northern winter and finger-pointing at the UN's climate
experts, a top scientist warned Wednesday.
After brickbats, relief for Pachauri NEW DELHI: If IPCC chief R K Pachauri remained under attack for the better part of last month, his reputation was more than resurrected in the last two days, with government
heads and leaders from across the world voicing their support for the man and his organisation.
3 new climate change reports to be released at May 19 public briefing As part of its most comprehensive assessment to date, the National Research Council – the operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of
Engineering – will release three new reports examining how the nation can combat the effects of global warming. One focuses on the science that supports human-induced climate
change, and the others review options for limiting the magnitude of and adapting to the impacts of global warming. The reports are part of a congressionally requested suite of
studies known as America's Climate Choices.
### Advance copies of the reports will be available to reporters only beginning at 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 18. THE REPORT IS EMBARGOED AND NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 10
A.M. EDT MAY 19. To obtain copies of the reports or to register for the briefing, contact the Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail < news@nas.edu >.
How Much Does Climate Change Naturally? “…The blackest billingsgate, the most ungentlemanly insolence, the most yahooish brutality is patiently endured, countenanced, propagated, and applauded. But touch a
solemn truth in collision with a dogma of a sect, though capable of the clearest proof, and you will soon find you have disturbed a nest, and the hornets will swarm about your
legs and hands, and fly into your face and eyes.” ~John Adams
Silent Spring For Mongolians After Winter Kills Herds The winter camps of southern Mongolia are quiet during this year's breeding season, after an unusually harsh winter wiped out herds and left nomadic families with little but
debt to their name.
EPA's Role in Protecting Ocean Health Should Focus on the "Here-and-Now" Threats Wednesday, 12 May 2010 19:36
For the Full Report in PDF Form, please click here. [Illustrations, footnotes and references available in PDF version] This statement provides my analysis of the effects of ocean acidification on our living resources and our economy. It lightly touches on the other topics of the Hearing: the oil spill and the EPA role in ocean health. (SPPI)
SPPI Monthly CO2 Report: April 2010 Wednesday, 12 May 2010 12:30 The authoritative Monthly CO2 Report for April 2010 discusses the panic among the climate-extremist faction as none of their predictions of doom comes to pass – plus lots more. For the Full Report in PDF Form, please click here. [Illustrations, footnotes and references available in PDF version] The authoritative Monthly CO2 Report for April 2010 discusses the panic among the climate-extremist faction as none of their predictions of doom comes to pass – plus lots more (SPPI)
Great Debate Part III – Glikson accidentally vindicates the skeptics! I am impressed that Glikson replied politely, rose above any ad hominem or authority based arguments, and focused on the science and the evidence. This kind of exchange is exceedingly rare, and it made it well worth continuing. Links to Part I and II are at the end.Depending on flawed models by Joanne Nova For a sentence, I almost think Dr Glikson gets it. Yes, it’s a quantitative question: Will we warm by half a measly degree or 3.5 degrees? It’s not about the direct CO2 effect (all of one paltry degree by itself), it’s the feedbacks—the humidity, clouds, lapse rates and other factors that amplify (or not) the initial minor effect of carbon. Decades ago, the catastrophe-crowd made guesses about the feedbacks—but they were wrong. Instead of amplifying carbon’s effect two-fold (or more!) the feedbacks dampen it. Dr Glikson has no reply. He makes no comment at all about Lindzen [1], Spencer [2] or Douglass [3] and their three peer reviewed, independent, empirical papers showing that the climate models are exaggerating the warming by a factor of six. (Six!) He’s probably unaware that the assumptions about positive feedback are wrong, and all the portents of disaster were built upon those guesses. Everything else is just an error cascade flowing from a base assumption that is implicit and essential (and wrong). Don’t expect the IPCC to explain it in an easy-to-read brochure though. More » (Jo Nova)
Recommended Reading – The Hartwell Paper As posted on my son’s weblog today, there is a proposal to reform how climate policy is conducted. His post is titled The Hartwell Paper. There is a Nature post on this important new contribution at New, ‘relentlessly pragmatic’ approach to climate change needed? The Hartwell Paper can be viewed at http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/mackinderProgramme/theHartwellPaper/. The concepts presented are similar to what we recommend in our article Pielke Sr., R., K. Beven, G. Brasseur, J. Calvert, M. Chahine, R. Dickerson, D. Entekhabi, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, H. Gupta, V. Gupta, W. Krajewski, E. Philip Krider, W. K.M. Lau, J. McDonnell, W. Rossow, J. Schaake, J. Smith, S. Sorooshian, and E. Wood, 2009: Climate change: The need to consider human forcings besides greenhouse gases. Eos, Vol. 90, No. 45, 10 November 2009, 413. Copyright (2009) American Geophysical Union (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Every Silver Lining Has A Cloud Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach I noted on the news that there is a new plan afoot to cool down the planet. This one supposedly has been given big money by none other than Bill Gates. The plan involves a fleet of ships that supposedly look like this: Figure 1. Artist’s conception of cloud-making ships. Of course, the first storm would flip this over immediately, but heck, it’s only a fantasy, so who cares? SOURCE The web site claims that:
What could possibly go wrong with such a brilliant plan?
There is a new paper by David Parker Parker, David E. , 2010: Urban heat island effects on estimates of observed climate change. Climate Change 2010 1 123–133 The abstract reads
The paper, however, has serious flaws. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
There is a new paper which adds to the literature of the role of land surface processes within the climate system. It is Pongratz, J., C. H. Reick, T. Raddatz, and M. Claussen (2010), Biogeophysical versus biogeochemical climate response to historical anthropogenic land cover change, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L08702, doi:10.1029/2010GL043010. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
In the National Research Council report National Research Council, 2005: Radiative forcing of climate change: Expanding the concept and addressing uncertainties. Committee on Radiative Forcing Effects on Climate Change, Climate Research Committee, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division on Earth and Life Studies, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 208 pp (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Barack Obama plans to punish BP with tax hike as Gulf spill worsens Oil companies face an immediate tax rise of 1 cent per barrel to help to pay for the clean-up in the Gulf of Mexico under proposed legislation rushed out by the White House
yesterday.
Louisiana Warns Of Over-Reaction To Gulf Spill Any effort to limit off-shore drilling in the wake of the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill would be a "gross over-reaction" that would further batter the Louisiana
economy, the state's treasurer said on Friday.
U.S. to Split Up Agency Policing the Oil Industry WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday proposed breaking up the agency responsible for both policing the oil industry and acting as its partner in drilling
activities, seeking to end a decades-old relationship between industry and government that has proved highly profitable — and some say too cozy — for both.
More mandated waste and inefficiency: Australia Parliament Debates Amended Green Power Laws Laws to overhaul Australia's renewable energy scheme were introduced into parliament on Wednesday in a move that should reassure industry and underpin billions of dollars in
investments.
Camelina: The Next Biofuel Wonder Crop or the Next Jatropha We do love our wonder-crops. We want plants that yield large amounts of biofuel, and can do it on marginal soil. We want them to be drought resistant and require little fertilizer. And when one fails to deliver per the hype, we move right on to the next one without having learned the lessons of the last one. [Read More] (Robert Rapier, Energy Tribune)
Building the Internet of Energy Supply The electricity industry is spending billions on building new, transnational power lines to harness electricity from renewable energy sources. The intelligent grid is designed to make distribution more reliable and efficient, but are consumers playing along? (Spiegel)
Subsidized Green Jobs Still Destroy Jobs Elsewhere Last month Politico reported that the alternative energy sector had upped its lobbying efforts from $2.4 million in 1998 to $30 million in 2009. So what is the renewable power industry getting for its investment? Studies like this one by Navigant Consulting, Inc. for the Renewable Electricity Standard-Alliance for Jobs. The RES Alliance study found that “that a 25% by 2025 national RES would result in 274,000 more renewable energy jobs over no-national RES policy.” Which is great news if you own a renewable electricity business. But what if you’re not? What if you manufacture widgets and you need inexpensive power to stay in business? The RES Alliance study tells you nothing about what happens to those jobs. It never even tries. The reality is that Renewable Electricity Standards will cause energy prices to go up and that those higher energy prices will lead to job losses throughout the economy. Just ho many jobs will RES destroy on net? The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis crunched the numbers and found that an RES would reduce employment by more than 1,000,000 jobs. Continue reading...
Once you've carpeted the wilderness with wind-farm turbines, and crushed any guilt about the birds you're about to kill, prepare to be underwhelmed and underpowered.
The Price of Wind: The 'clean energy revolution' is expensive. The ferocious opposition from Massachusetts liberals to the Cape Wind project has provided a useful education in green energy politics. And now that the Nantucket Sound wind
farm has won federal approval, this decade-long saga may prove edifying in green energy economics too: Namely, the price of electricity from wind is more than twice what
consumers now pay.
Mexico Eyes Up To 10 New Nuclear Plants By 2028 Mexico may build up to 10 new nuclear power stations by 2028 under one scenario being evaluated by the state electricity monopoly, the company said in a presentation on
Wednesday.
North Korea boasts thermonuclear energy Three weeks ago, North Korea celebrated the Earth Day: Phys Org, Reuters, Google NewsThe official Korean Central News Agency said: The successful nuclear fusion by our scientists has made a definite breakthrough towards the development of new energy and opened up a new phase in the nation's development of the latest science and technology.Congratulations, comrades. They may have burned the last piece of pork that was left in the country and decided that there was some hydrogen in it, too. Technically, it was easy to achieve fusion: they chose the right day, the birthday of the holy founder of the state, Kim Il-Sung, also known as the "Day of the Sun". Because the holy communist father is the Sun and there's fusion in the Sun, He gave them the gift of fusion, too. Your humble correspondent is laughing but let me be honest: I feel pretty uncertain. They may have found something, after all. What do you think? ;-) Hat tip: Olda Klimánek (The Reference Frame)
WHO panel to review H1N1 pandemic status GENEVA - An expert panel advising the World Health Organization on pandemics will review the status of the H1N1 virus later this month or in early June to decide whether the
swine flu pandemic is over.
If you have Chinese drywall in your house, what are you supposed to do? According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and other agencies, it is a no-brainer. "All" you have to do is tear out all the drywall in your house, and
rebuild it. Doing this will cost the affected homeowner about $35/square foot ($377/square meter). The quoted price includes a treatment to the remaining surfaces, which, even
though not mentioned by the Feds, is clearly necessary. Without this, your new drywall will get contaminated by what's left in the studs and concrete.
Review of the Department of Defense Enhanced Particulate Matter Surveillance Program Report Soldiers deployed during the 1991 Persian Gulf War were exposed to high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and other airborne pollutants. Their exposures were largely
the result of daily windblown dust, dust storms, and smoke from oil fires. On returning from deployment, many veterans complained of persistent respiratory symptoms. With the
renewed activity in the Middle East over the last few years, deployed military personnel are again exposed to dust storms and daily windblown dust in addition to other types of
PM, such as diesel exhaust and particles from open-pit burning. On the basis of the high concentrations observed and concerns about the potential health effects, DOD designed
and implemented a study to characterize and quantify the PM in the ambient environment at 15 sites in the Middle East. The endeavor is known as the DOD Enhanced Particulate
Matter Surveillance Program (EPMSP).
Blood lead levels tied to ALS risk NEW YORK - A new study strengthens evidence linking long-term lead exposure to the risk of developing the fatal neurological condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Effects of weight on kids' heart rate vary by income NEW YORK - Overweight children from lower- and middle-income neighborhoods may fall short of their thinner peers in one measure of cardiovascular fitness -- but the same may
not be true of those from more affluent areas, a new study suggests.
US obesity task force urges action WASHINGTON - Economic incentives to provide inexpensive healthy food and insurance coverage for prevention are among a list of 70 immediate steps that can reduce U.S.
childhood obesity, a White House task force recommended in a report on Tuesday.
US urges doctors to report misleading drug pitches WASHINGTON - U.S. health officials will encourage physicians to report misleading promotions from pharmaceutical salespeople who pitch medicines in doctors' offices or over
dinner.
Stronger evidence pollution damages heart: report WASHINGTON - The evidence is stronger than ever that pollution from industry, traffic and power generation causes strokes and heart attacks, and people should avoid
breathing in smog, the American Heart Association said on Monday.
Memo to boss: 11-hour days are bad for the heart LONDON - People working 10 or 11 hours a day are more likely to suffer serious heart problems, including heart attacks, than those clocking off after seven hours,
researchers said on Tuesday.
USDA looks to reduce foodborne illnesses in poultry WASHINGTON - The Agriculture Department announced on Monday new standards to reduce the levels of salmonella and campylobacter in poultry, which the government said if
successful, could prevent an estimated 65,000 illnesses each year.
Unfortunately not... National parks look toward fast food future NEW tourism laws could pave the way for supermarkets, rifle ranges, car race tracks, and even fast food chains to be built in national parks across NSW, environment groups
have claimed.
Must be the recession... Destruction of ancient forests at lowest level for 20 years, says UN The destruction of ancient forests has fallen to its lowest level for 20 years as countries finally begin to deliver on their commitment to protect animal and plant species, according to a UN report. (The Times)
World Health Organization Moving Ahead on Billions in Internet and Other Taxes Source: FOXNews.com [SPPI Note: The UN is a world socialist organization with a penchant for massive corruption and theft, wasteful mismanagement, and an agenda for transnational legal and financial frameworks (world governance) financed through compulsory wealth transfers from Americans to it itself and its constituency of "developing" nations and third world dictators. The following story is yet another example.] By George Russell The World Health Organization is moving full speed ahead with a controversial plan to impose billions of dollars in global consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online — while its spending soars and its own financial house is in disarray. The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations’ public health arm, is moving full speed ahead with a controversial plan to impose global consumer taxes on such things as Internet activity and everyday financial transactions like paying bills online — while its spending soars and its own financial house is in disarray. Read the rest of this entry » (SPPI Blog)
MILLOY: Tree ring circus: Global-warming hysteria might be a crime Are academics some special subspecies of humans who are be- yond suspicion and above the law? That's the question being played out in a drama between Virginia Attorney
General Ken Cuccinelli and the dead-end defenders of global warming's poster junk scientist, Michael Mann.
Peer-Reviewed Research: Unprecedented Global Warming During Medieval Period, Boreholes Reveal Read here, PDF, here, here and here. Way back in 1997, researchers published a paper that was based on data from 6,000 plus borehole sites from all the continents. The reconstructed temperatures clearly showed a Medieval Period warming that was, and is, unprecedented. The data also makes clear that subsequent warming began well before the growth of human CO2 emissions and this natural rebound would obviously lead to temperatures similar to the Medieval Period. A year later, the infamous Mann hockey-stick temperature chart was published to wild acclaim by the IPCC and AGW-centric activists. So popular did the Mann chart become, the 6,000+ borehole chart was completely ignored since its data refuted the Mann study. The borehole scientists then decided to re-publish their study with primarily only the blue-side (the typical AGW-favored data cherry-picking) of the chart below. This repackaged borehole study became accepted by the AGW-centric scientists as it seemed to support their cause and the Mann's hockey-stick. (click on image to enlarge) The
authors searched the large database of terrestrial heat flow measurements compiled by the International Heat Flow Commission of the International Association of Seismology and
Physics of the Earth's Interior for measurements suitable for reconstructing an average ground surface temperature history...Based on a total of 6,144 qualifying sets of heat
flow measurements obtained from every continent of the globe, they produced a global climate reconstruction, which, they state, is "independent of other proxy
interpretations [and] of any preconceptions or biases as to the nature of the actual climate history."...From their reconstruction of "a global climate history from
worldwide observations," the authors found strong evidence that the Medieval Warm Period was indeed warmer than it is now." More historical charts here. Other climate history postings here. Modern temperature charts. (C3 Headlines)
Leak of the day! Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill Most of the world will learn tomorrow about the Kerry-Lieberman cap-and-trade bill. But you can check out the bill summary and section-by-section analysis today! Who loves ya baby? (Green Hell Blog)
Senate Climate Bill Unveiled; Fate Uncertain A U.S. Senate compromise bill aimed at battling global warming would cut emissions of greenhouse gases 17 percent by 2020, according to a summary given to senators and
obtained by Reuters on Tuesday.
And the wrong view: Why it's worth passing an inadequate climate bill David Roberts explains why the US climate bill backed by John Kerry and Joe Lieberman is worth passing (David Roberts for Grist, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
Read here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. That's a lot to read but represents only a small portion of the articles written about "green" corruption, especially regarding activities involved with cap and trade schemes. The cap and trade dollar potential is gigantic, and as it turns out, can easily be leveraged and manipulated with a variety of corrupt tactics. What do organized crime, Goldman Sachs, Gore, and Soros all have in common? If you think it's their desiring a better planet, you've definitely got your head up your arse with blinkers on. If you prefer viewing instead of reading, take the time to watch these videos about what 'cap and trade' is really about. (C3 Headlines)
Oh dear... General election 2010: hung Parliament could strengthen environmental policy A hung Parliament could mean tougher policies on climate change, with parties agreed on building more wind turbines and insulating homes. (TDT)
Sigh... Connie Hedegaard seeks 30% carbon cuts target for Europe European climate commissioner says stronger target would help push up the price of carbon and kick-start green investment (The Guardian)
Power Sector Helps Drive Jump In India CO2 Emissions India's greenhouse gas emissions grew 58 percent between 1994 and 2007, official figures released on Tuesday showed, helped up by a largely coal-reliant power sector that
nearly doubled its share in emissions.
IPCC’s Chairman Pachauri Conflicted, Says SPPI A new paper by the Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI) explores recent revelations of the commercial links and associations of IPCC Chair Dr Pachauri, including his direct involvement with carbon trading as advisor to the Chicago Climate Exchange and as chairman of its Indian subsidiary. SPPI is a Washington, D.C. non-profit research and education organization. (TransWorldNews)
Academics urge radical new approach to climate change A major change of approach is needed if society is to restrain climate change, according to a report from a self-styled "eclectic" group of academics.
Tree-ring patterns are intellectual property, not climate data Ancient woodland would not have the same response to climate factors, such as temperature or rainfall, as oak trees today
Norway Should Limit Arctic Soot To Slow Warming Norway should limit soot from emerging Arctic industries such as oil or shipping that risk accelerating a thaw of ice around the North Pole caused by global warming, a
report said on Tuesday.
“Ocean Acidification” is New Climate Scare, Says SPPI “Ocean acidification is the new climate scare,” writes Dennis Ambler in a recent paper for the Science and Public Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. non-profit research and education organization. (TransWorldNews)
Harvard astrophysicist dismisses AGW theory, challenges peers to ‘take back climate science’ Source: Seminole County Environmental News Examiner by Kirk Myers In the following interview, Dr. Willie Soon, a solar and climate scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, questions the prevailing dogma of man-made global warming and challenges his peers to “take back climate science.” His remarks are his personal opinion based upon 19 years of scientific research. (SPPI blog)
Rudd throws more billions down a hole in the ground It seems Rudd has wasted yet more billions on his green folly:
UPDATE The brilliant young Israeli astrophysicist Nir Shaviv, a charming man I met last year, explains why cosmic rays may be more important than man in influencing our climate. Shaviv also features in a beautifully filmed new Danish series on cloud theory, which stars Henrik Svensmark and starts here: (Via Chiefio. Thanks to readers John and Rick.) (Andrew Bolt)
Steve Goddard wrote two research articles about Venus's climate for WUWT: After some unthoughtful early criticism, your humble correspondent endorsed the arguments. Most of the excessive warmth on Venus is not due to the greenhouse effect - even though I used to parrot this meme just a week ago myself. Titian's Venus Tamino didn't like the conclusion so he decided to dismiss Goddard's arguments: Goddard's follyGrant Foster's counter-arguments are remarkably simple: I’ll leave that to others to dissect Goddard’s arguments.Given the well-known estimate that Tamino is a relatively smarter alarmist, i.e. that most alarmist readers' IQ is about 30 points below Tamino's IQ, that will be pretty hard a task for them to fulfill! ;-) » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
From CO2 Science Volume 13 Number 19: 12 May 2010 Editorial: Subject Index Summary: Journal Reviews: Floods of the Guadalentin River, Southeast Spain: How have they varied over the past millennium? The Future of East Africa in a CO2-Enriched and Warmer World: It's not as bad as you might think. In fact, it's not even bad at all. In fact, it's looking good! High Northern Latitude Carbon Balance Over the 21st Century: Will it be positive, extracting carbon from the atmosphere and reducing global warming? ... or will it be negative, releasing carbon to the atmosphere and thereby enhancing global warming? Orchid Responses to Super-High Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment: Are the CO2-induced increases in plant growth equally super high? Plant Growth Database: Medieval
Warm Period Project:
Over the weekend BP learned that its latest effort at stanching the Deepwater Horizon oil spill — placing a huge metal dome over the leak — had failed. With the oil slick now washing up on the Louisiana shore, the Op-Ed editors asked five experts for their thoughts on what should be done now — and how we can avoid future catastrophes. (NYT)
Clean-up chemicals pose their own problems Deepwater Horizon was operating at the outer limits of the industry’s technology, which is why capping the leaking well is proving fiendishly difficult.
Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects Although significant steps have been taken over the last 15 years to reduce the size and frequency of oil spills, the sheer volume of petroleum consumed in the United States and the complex production and distribution network required to meet the demand make spills of oil and other petroleum products inevitable. Approximately 3 million gallons of oil or refined petroleum products are spilled into U.S. waters every year. Oil dispersants (chemical agents such as surfactants, solvents, and other compounds) are used to reduce the effect of oil spills by changing the chemical and physical properties of the oil. By enhancing the amount of oil that physically mixes into the water, dispersants can reduce the potential that a surface slick will contaminate shoreline habitats. Although called for in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 as a tool for minimizing the impact of oil spills, the use of chemical dispersants has long been controversial. This report reviews the adequacy of existing information and ongoing research regarding the effectiveness of dispersants as an oil spill response technique, as well as the effect of dispersed oil on marine and coastal ecosystems. It includes recommended steps to be taken to better support policymakers faced with making hard choices regarding the use of dispersants as part of spill contingency planning efforts or during actual spills. (NAP)
Drilling Oil Execs For Answers The BP Spill: Tuesday on Capitol Hill, oil executives were subjected to the Senate's latest show trial. Senators did not say the accident in federal waters was a federal
responsibility or that nature spills more oil every day.
Executives Shift Blame As Oil Gushes Into Gulf Of Mexico Executives from BP Plc and other companies involved in a deadly Gulf of Mexico offshore oil well blowout blamed each other in Washington on Tuesday as troops and prison
inmates rushed to shore up Louisiana's coast against a huge oil slick.
Gulf of Mexico oil spill costs hit BP shares BP has admitted that it dramatically underestimated the cost of its leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well – sending shares in the oil giant lower despite a 5pc rise in the FTSE. (TDT)
Wrong from the get-go: How Can The U.S. Wean Itself Off Oil? How can the U.S. reduce its dependency on oil -- both foreign and domestic?
by Vaclav Smil Editor’s note: This is Part III of a five part series that provides an essential basis for the understanding of energy transitions and use. The previous posts in this series can be seen at: Part I – Definitions Part II – Coal- and Wood-Fired Electricity Generation Boilers of electricity-generating stations burning coal can be converted to burn liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons (fuel oil, even crude oil, and natural gas) and such conversions were fairly common during the 1960s and the early 1970s. Burning natural gas rather than coal has clear environmental advantages (it generates less, or no, sulfur dioxide and no fly ash) but the overall conversion efficiency of the boiler-steam turbogenerator unit changes little. In contrast, gas turbines, particularly when coupled with steam turbines, offer the most efficient way of electricity generation. This results in much higher power densities than is the case with coal-fired plants. Overall densities of the fuel extraction and electricity generation process are also kept high because of the relatively high power densities of natural gas production (depending on the field they vary by more than an order of magnitude, with minima around 50 W/m2, maxima well over1 kW/m2) and even more by the fact that new gas-powered generation often does not need any major new infrastructure as it can tap the supply from existing fields and pipelines. Gas turbines were first commercialized for electricity generation by Brown Boveri in Switzerland during the late 1930s but in the US their installations became common only during the late 1960s, spurred by the November 1965 US Northeast blackout that left 30 million people without electricity for up to13 hours. Nationwide capacity of gas turbines rose from just 240 MW in 1960 to nearly 45 GW by 1975, a nearly 200-fold rise in 15 years. This ascent was interrupted by high hydrocarbon prices (as well as by stagnating electricity demand) but it resumed during the late 1980s. By 1990 nearly half of the 15 GW of all new capacity ordered by the US utilities was in gas turbines and by 2008 almost exactly 40% of the US summer generating capacity (397.4 GW) was installed in gas-fired units, either single- or combined-cycle gas turbines (CCGT). Unlike a single gas turbine that discharges its hot gas, CCGT uses the turbine’s hot exhaust gases to generate steam for a steam turbine, boosting overall efficiency. While the best single gas turbines can convert about 42% of their fuel to electricity, CCGT convert as much as 60% and are now the most efficient electricity generators. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Solar Can Provide 22 Percent World's Power By 2050: IEA Solar power can provide up to a quarter of the world's electricity by 2050, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday, but it needs government lifelines in the next
decade until it can compete with conventional power.
Offshore Energy's Headwinds Could Cost Europe Dearly A boom in offshore wind power sparked by the European Union's espousal of the technology runs the risk of becoming a bubble unless installation, running and repair costs are
more clearly defined.
Obama touts healthcare in new bid to ease doubts WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Saturday touted the benefits of his healthcare overhaul, renewing a bid to counter Republican criticism and ease public doubts more
than a month after he signed reform into law.
Side Effects: Get Ready to Lose Your Doctor Remember the White House’s insistence that, under Obamacare, you keep your insurance plan if you like it? We didn’t believe it then. Turns out we were right. CNN reports that AT&T, Verizon, John Deere and others may well drop the health care coverage they now offer their employees. Obamacare makes it much cheaper for these companies to dump their workers into the government-controlled health exchanges and pay a penalty for NOT insuring them. From CNN: Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Health insurers seek weaker reforms: US senator WASHINGTON - Health insurance companies are trying "to water down" critical spending rules being implemented under the recently passed health reform law, U.S.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Rockefeller warned the Obama administration on Monday.
The Amazing Carelessness Of ObamaCare As more details emerge about the massive 2,700-page health overhaul law, even those who supported its passage are shocked by its sweeping implications and reach into every corner of our lives and society. (Grace-Marie Turner, IBD)
A 'Duty To Die' In An Advanced Civilization? One of the many fashionable notions that have caught on among some of the intelligentsia is that old people have "a duty to die," rather than become a burden to
others.
A Businessman Defends Free Markets Politicians are stirring up hatred of Wall Street to pass their latest plans for big-government intrusion. Consider this press release from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: “Reid Leads Fight Against Wall Street Greed and Protects Nevadans” Or this, from Nancy Pelosi’s blog: Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan support more regulation. That’s why its refreshing to hear from Cliff Asness, who runs the AQR hedge fund, a rare businessman publicly making the case for freedom. In an open letter to Congress titled “Keep the Casinos Open”, he argues against banning “derivatives” and other financial assets. He points out that market activity is good for society, and that there should be a high burden of proof before government acts: (John Stossel, FBN)
Bailout: When the federal government plays mad scientist, it doesn't destroy the monster it realizes it's built. Instead, after wreaking global economic havoc, Fannie Mae
gets the taxpayers' blank check.
No-More-Bailouts Bill Springs a Leak: Fannie and Freddie Ask for More Supporters of Sen. Chris Dodd’s financial regulation bill say it will end financial bailouts. In fact, the Senate — anxious to reassure Americans on that fact — even added an amendment last week, with a stated purpose “To prohibit taxpayers from ever having to bail out the financial sector.” But someone forgot to tell the folks across town at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Freddie last week announced it had lost $8 billion in the first quarter of the year, and would be asking for another $10.6 in taxpayer help. And today, its twin Fannie announced a $11.5 billion loss, and asked for a further $8.4 billion in aid from taxpayers. That’s in addition to the nearly $145 billion in aid to Fannie and Freddie have already received. So did the two government-sponsored enterprises slip this bailout in under the wire before Congress stopped them? Not quite. In fact, the plan does nothing to reform either Fannie or Freddie. That apparently is not a priority. Sen. Mark Warner, in fact, said that a plan for reform of these out-of-control firms will have to wait until next year. Sens. John McCain, Richard Shelby and Judd Gregg are planning to introduce an amendment to the Senate legislation to require action to address Fannie and Freddie. It’s not expected to pass. This is a serious hole in the USS Dodd. And it’s the American taxpayer who will be drenched as a result. (The Foundry)
Developmental Neurotoxicity Study of Dietary Bisphenol A in Sprague-Dawley Rats Abstract: This study was conducted to determine the potential of bisphenol A (BPA) to induce functional and/or morphological effects to the nervous system of F1 offspring from dietary exposure during gestation and lactation according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for the study of developmental neurotoxicity. BPA was offered to female Sprague-Dawley Crl:CD (SD) rats (24 per dose group) and their litters at dietary concentrations of 0 (control), 0.15, 1.5, 75, 750, and 2250 ppm daily from gestation day 0 through lactation day 21. F1 offspring were evaluated using the following tests: detailed clinical observations (postnatal days [PNDs] 4, 11, 21, 35, 45, and 60), auditory startle (PNDs 20 and 60), motor activity (PNDs 13, 17, 21, and 61), learning and memory using the Biel water maze (PNDs 22 and 62), and brain and nervous system neuropathology and brain morphometry (PNDs 21 and 72). For F1 offspring, there were no treatment-related neurobehavioral effects, nor was there evidence of neuropathology or effects on brain morphometry. Based on maternal and offspring body weight reductions, the no-observed-adverse-effect level (NOAEL) for systemic toxicity was 75 ppm (5.85 and 13.1 mg/kg/day during gestation and lactation, respectively), with no treatment-related effects at lower doses or nonmonotonic dose responses observed for any parameter. There was no evidence that BPA is a developmental neurotoxicant in rats, and the NOAEL for developmental neurotoxicity was 2250 ppm, the highest dose tested (164 and 410 mg/kg/day during gestation and lactation, respectively). (Oxford Journals Toxicological Sciences)
Cancer report energizes activists, not policy WASHINGTON - A cancer report that concludes Americans are under constant assault from carcinogenic agents has heartened activists, who hope that finally government and
policymakers will pay attention to their concerns.
From total Looney Tunes Sam Epstein: American Cancer Society Trivializes Cancer Risks: Blatant Conflicts Of Interest CHICAGO, IL, May 7, 2010 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The May 6 report by the President's Cancer Panel is well-documented. It warns of scientific evidence on avoidable causes of cancer from exposure to carcinogens in air, water, consumer products, and the workplace. It also warns of hormonal risks from exposure to Bisphenol-A (BPA) and other toxic plastic contaminants, says Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition (CPC).
and, for good measure: Protect Children's Health From Toxic BPA CHICAGO, IL, May 7, 2010 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Chairman of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, Samuel S. Epstein, M.D. is urging public support for the recently introduced Toxic Chemicals Safety Act of 2010, which establishes a program to review and protect children from risks of toxic exposures, including Bisphenol-A (BPA), a common contaminant in consumer goods.
see also: Cancer Prevention Coalition Urges Support Of The Safe Chemicals Act CHICAGO, IL, May 4, 2010 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- The Cancer Prevention Coalition is encouraging people to support the Safe Chemicals Act of 2010, introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on April 15 this year. The bill amends the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act by requiring manufacturers to prove the safety of chemicals before they are marketed.
Diabetes in your genes makes you more likely to gain weight IN AN Australian first, researchers have shown that people with a family history of diabetes gain more weight from overeating than those with no family history of the disease. (SMH)
Bottle-fed babies may eat more, study hints NEW YORK - Babies who are bottle-fed early on may consume more calories later in infancy than babies who are exclusively breastfed, a study published Monday suggests.
WHO sees good progress on UN health goals for poor LONDON - Far fewer children are dying and rates of malnutrition, HIV and tuberculosis are declining thanks to good progress on health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.
Tripling crop yields in tropical Africa Between 1960 and 2000, Asian and Latin American food production tripled, thanks to the use of high-yielding varieties of crops. Africa can follow suit, but only if depletion of soil nutrients is addressed. (Nature Geoscience)
Loss of wildlife threatens food supplies – UN The 'collective failure' of the world to stop environmental degradation could cut off water supplies, push up food prices and even cause wars, the United Nations has warned. (TDT)
Seaweed kills coral, scientists find Common species of seaweed can devastate coral reefs, scientists have discovered.
Plotting the world's water is expensive – a satellite designed for the job cost £280m. Holly Williams explains why its findings will be worth the investment (The Independent)
Kerry-(Graham)-Lieberman: a monstrous collection of payoffs to big business by Myron Ebell The chance that the Senate will pass a comprehensive energy-rationing (a k a climate) bill this year remains close to zero. BP’s big oil spill in the Gulf changes very little. The global warming movement peaked last June 26 when the House passed the Waxman-Markey bill. When members went home for the Fourth of July, many who voted for it discovered that their constituents were angry and mobilized. Seeing the public reaction, Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) dropped plans to move a cap-and-trade bill before the August recess and turned to health care reform. It’s been all downhill since then. The Kerry-Boxer bill, which is very similar to Waxman-Markey, passed the Environment and Public Works Committee last fall, but it was clear… Read the full story (Cooler Heads)
Americans are growing skeptical about the threat of global warming because “they don’t get” the complex information that scientists deliver, according to Rep. Emanuel
Cleaver (D-Mo.). Perhaps we can help:
The 'arguments of these 255 scientists is based on pure speculation... Speculation is not covered by any scientific standard' (Climate Depot)
How Many NAS Members Does It Take… …to chip away at the integrity of climate science? It’s either 255, or they ran out of memory on the Z80. Never mind that a Google search on Peter Gleick, the main signatory of the (May 6) open letter from 255 members of the US National Academy of Sciences in defence of climate research, reveals the guy as author of a book published (as luck would have it) on May 3 (sales will surely plunge due to his name becoming ever better known). Just compare the following statement from the letter
to Mr Gleick’s reaction (him again, publicity-shy as usual!!) on the Huffington Post and SFGate when people pointed out that the original caption of the accompanying picture on Science magazine reads “This images [sic] is a photoshop design” (in case you wonder, the text was already there on May 3)
As it is apparent, when errors are pointed out, they are not corrected before a paranoid rant gets published. And what about “fame still awaits anyone who could show these theories to be wrong“? I don’t think so: in the case of climate science, that’s abuse and organized bullying what awaits them. (Maurizio Morabito, OmniClimate)
Revkin, Gleick and Olson on the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight [Update
#3: The image above is the one originally published by Science and since removed, as discussed in Update #2. Peter Gleick's response
is discussed here.]
There are real mistakes in the IPCC and real problems in the institutions of climate science. They are not excused by a need to counter the
most extreme voices opposed to action.] In response to my making hay of this blunder, many scientists will say, “So what. The editors made a trivial mistake, there’s no need to call further attention to it. The point is the climate attacks need to be stopped.” They will label me as the enemy for even engaging in criticism of the science community. . . it matters if you publish a letter of outrage, complaining about being smeared as dishonest, and yet your article is accompanied by a photograph that is tainted by the word “Photoshop” which virtually EVERYONE in today’s society knows symbolizes one big thing — WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH.Also, Science magazine has removed the image, which they chose (not the letter's authors), and brought the letter out from behind their paywall.] At DotEarth, Andy Revkin provides a thoughtful discussion of the issues associated with the use of a photoshopped image (shown above) to accompany a sign-on letter on climate policy published in Science last week. The comments of Peter Gleick, lead author of the letter, and Randy Olson, a close observer of scientific communication, are worth a read and are excerpted below. (Roger Pielke Jr)
In
the comments Peter Gleick, lead author of the sign-on letter in Science takes aim at Randy Olson and me for our criticisms of the use of
the photoshopped polar bear image that Science magazine originally used to accompany the letter. Presumably the
following comment is directed at Randy Olson: Oh, and what do you know? Science has replaced the photoshopped image of the polar bear on an ice floe, with what? A real picture of a polar bear on an ice floe.He has some strong words for me in another comment: Roger, sometimes you offer good, thoughtful pieces here. Not this time -- this one is outrageously off the mark: indeed, a cheap and misdirected shot. Of course scientist must try to get the facts as right as possible, and be willing to acknowledge and admit mistakes. And of course the photoshopped photo is a metaphor for the problem.In response, I think Gleick protests too much. I never accused him or his collaborators of "fudging the facts." Here is what I wrote in context: The general lesson here should be that no matter the virtues of the "cause" it does not justify cutting corners or fudging the facts. When errors are found, the proper response is not to shoot the messenger or ask people to ignore mistakes in the context of larger truths, but rather, to just get things right.It was clearly Science that "fudged the facts" and I said as much, which is why it is a "general lesson." And I did post something on the substance of the letter (to which Gleick responded) well before the polar bear flap erupted. Sorry Peter, Randy Olson is right when he writes, . . . it matters if you publish a letter of outrage, complaining about being smeared as dishonest, and yet your article is accompanied by a photograph that is tainted by the word “Photoshop” which virtually EVERYONE in today’s society knows symbolizes one big thing — WE DON’T CARE ABOUT THE TRUTH.Remember, you are protesting that "the ART does NOT matter" to someone whose peer reviewed research has been ignored, downplayed and misrepresented by the mainstream climate science community, presumably in service to the greater good. Where were you when that happened? Getting things right matters, especially in Science, but really everywhere. You'll have a hard time convincing me otherwise. (Roger Pielke Jr)
Himalaya claim significantly used by IPCC vice chair in November 2009 The ppt presentation Policy-relevance of the Working Group II Contribution to IPCC AR4 (Fourth Assessment Report) by Jean-Pascal van Ypersele (IPCC Vice-chair) "with the kind collaboration of Chris Field, IPCC WGII Co-chair, and the IPCC Secretariat" at a UNFCC conference in Barcelona, 3 November 2009, contains "cases studies on impacts", among them on page 5 an assessment of the Glacial retreat in the Himalaya
The reason for having this [disinformation] still on the web may be an attempt for keeping the documents historically in order - the talk has seemingly given in this way,
and the original, unchanged material is provided on the IPCC web-site. This reason would have to be applauded. However, it shows that the false claim of a consensus view in
this matter was not just somewhere hidden in a technical document, but used prominently by leading IPCC persons, namely a vice chair of AR4, and - as it seems - the new chair
of WG 2.
Cutoff Dates, What Cutoff Dates? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) may be a science body. But it is also an organization. Organizations have
rules. When they refuse to abide by their own rules we learn they cannot be trusted. When they flout their rules outrageously - yet insist they've followed them religiously -
their chances of regaining our confidence are minuscule.
As I observed shortly afterward, the above statement is false. The
Stern Review, a UK government document, was first released on October 30, 2006. It was by no stretch of the imagination completed prior to January of that year. Yet
the AR4 cites it 26 times in 12 different chapters. Dasgupta, P., 2006: Comments on the Stern Review’s Economics of Climate Change. <http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/faculty/dasgupta/STERN.pdf> accessed 15. December 2006. [see it in the list here]If one follows the link provided in the above reference one arrives at a 9-page PDF dated November 2006. That same AR4 chapter cites another document which challenges parts of the Stern Review: Nordhaus, W.D., 2006: The Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change. National Bureau of Economic Research, Working Paper 12741. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. [see it in the list here]An abstract of the above paper reveals that it wasn't released until December 2006. (And please note that not one of these documents was published in a peer-reviewed academic journal - despite the IPCC chairman's repeated claims that the AR4 is based solely on peer-reviewed literature.) But this is only the beginning. In Chapter 2 of Working Group 1's report, six papers are cited that weren't published prior to January 2006 - despite Pachauri's assurances to the contrary. Nor were they published prior to January 2007. Rather, they all appeared sometime during the 2007 calendar year (see them in the list here):
Is there any rule the IPCC's inner circle did follow? And has chairman Pachauri ever read this report? (No Consensus)
Pachauri to Arabs: "Convert oil wealth into soil wealth" DOHA//Professor Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the Nobel prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, thinks Arab states should shore up their food security
as global warming places stress on the world's agricultural resources.
Carbon Offsets and Organized Crime “The clean carbon folks have recently discovered that they’ve been in bed with organized crime. Scotland Yard and Europol, among numerous other law enforcement agencies across Europe, are hot on the trail of scam artists believed to have made off with 1 billion pounds by illicitly trading carbon credits,” reports Lawrence Solomon. ( Jack Dini, Hawaii Reporter)
Eye-roller: Academics urge radical new approach to climate change A major change of approach is needed if society is to restrain climate change, according to a report from a self-styled "eclectic" group of academics.
International Climate Science Coalition Launches Register of Climate Realists In the aftermath of the failed Copenhagen Climate Conference, revelations of serious corruption in IPCC science, and unseasonable weather in much of the world, the general
public and increasingly more media are starting to take a more meaningful view of climate change. Opinion polls in many countries show that an increasing fraction of the public
now regards the past century’s warming as being primarily due to either natural or unknown causes, and that a human-induced, or ‘anthropogenic,’ global warming (AGW)
catastrophe is improbable. Not surprisingly, there has also been a related erosion in public support for expensive ‘greenhouse gas’ reduction policies.
War, Pestilence, Famine: That’s Climate Change … When It’s Cold Ignore the warnings of a warming planet — the worst eras for humanity occurred during periods of cold weather.
May 10, 2010 Climate: The Counter-Consensus by Bob Carter is due for publication in the UK in May, and release in Australia in June. The
counter-consensus to quasi-scientific hype and induced panic on climate change is at last assembling. The argument is not in the first place as to whether or not climate change
has been taking place, but whether any recent warming of the planet is appreciably due to human activity and how harmful it will prove. Tom Stacey, in his eloquent and provocative introduction, investigates our tendency to ascribe this and other perceived planetary crises to
some inherent fault in ourselves, be it original sin or a basic moral failing. Climate Change goes on to examine, with thoroughness and impartial expertise, the so-called facts of global warming that are churned out and unquestioningly accepted, while the scientific and media establishments stifle or deride any legitimate expression of an opposing view. In doing so, the book typifies the mission of Independent Minds to replace political correctness and received wisdom with common sense and rational analysis. Source Stacey International See Bob Carter talking about his new book here... (Quadrant)
There are two problems with Al Gore. First, he's a demagogue who lacks an appreciation for the ethics and methods of science. Second, he's a not a scientist, but a celebrity and politician who does not understand the technical aspects of science. Put succinctly, the man simply doesn't know what he's talking about. But Gore is now advising the world on complex technical issues related to energy and climate. That's a problem for the human race. (David Deming, American Thinker)
Bill Gates, the Microsoft gazillionaire, is funding a geo-engineering project that aims to form white clouds to reflect the Sun’s rays and ‘reduce global warming.’
Artificial white clouds will do what the scientists expect them to do, research into the effects of volcanic ash in the stratosphere show that cooling can be promoted by particles. What gives Gates the right to mess with everyone’s planet? If global warming science is as shoddy as it appears to be and dire predictions of doom are wrong, what damage might this geo-engineering do? Some IPCC ’scientists’ suggest that Earth is entering an extended cool period:
Reckless lone wolf solutions could well make a bad situation worse, crop yields are sensitive to temperature in a simple way: warm is good, cold is bad. Gates might well believe in global warming and think his solution a good one, but if he’s wrong there could be a high body count. Even warmists are worried about geoengineering:
Someone needs to sit the world’s richest nerd down and explain that the planet doesn’t come with a Ctrl-Alt-Delete option. (Daily Bayonet)
Cooler Heads Digest 7 May 2010 by William Yeatman In the News Are We Listening Yet? Drill, Baby, Still A Positive Human Influence on Global
Warming? A Sudden Acceleration of Regulation A Gush to
Judgment EU Investigates Cap-and-Trade Fraud Keep The Lights On The Costs of Carbon Controls Gore: From Sanctimonious to Ridiculous News You Can Use American CEOs consider California to be the worst place to do business in the country, according to a new poll by Chief Executive Magazine. Not… Read the full story (Cooler Heads)
Be afraid — melting sea ice causes infinitesimal sea level rise! New Scientist doesn’t have enough column space to tell you that Briffa’s Yamal tree ring series depends heavily on just one freak 8-standard deviation tree in Northern Russia, and that multiple temperature reconstructions use that highly dubious series, but they do have time to warn the world about the effect of melting sea-ice on global sea levels. Melting icebergs boost sea-level rise Because sea ice is fresh water, it has a lower density than salty ocean water, so even though floating ice won’t raise water levels by melting, the fresh water in the ice blocks can apparently make a small difference. “Small” being the word.
Watch out for that extra twentieth of a millimetre. Literally 0.049 mm per year. Imagine, at this rate, in just one hundred years, sea levels could be… five millimeters higher. Would New Scientist take part in reporting naked speculation based a wild extreme?
And what are the chances that all the worlds sea ice will melt? All 16 – 22 million square kilometers. And if millions of square kilometers of sea ice did melt, you’d suppose we had more to worry about than the 5 cm extra on top of the usual high tide. (Jo Nova)
Taiwan sinking: Subsidence or Global Warming Induced Sea Level Rise? This news story about Taiwan has been making the rounds with the usual alarming news outlets. My view is clearly on subsidence, caused by poor land use practice. See below the Continue Reading line for the easily found reasons. Excerpts: from AFP via Yahoo News Rising sea levels threaten Taiwan TUNGSHIH, Taiwan (AFP) – When worshippers built a temple for the goddess Matsu in south Taiwan 300 years ago, they chose a spot they thought would be at a safe remove from the ocean. They did not count on global warming. Continue reading (WUWT)
In the National Research Council report National Research Council, 2005: Radiative forcing of climate change: Expanding the concept and addressing uncertainties. Committee on Radiative Forcing Effects on Climate Change, Climate Research Committee, Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Division on Earth and Life Studies, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 208 pp it is written
and
Unfortunately, the 2007 IPCC inadequately considered this perspective that was presented in the 2005 NRC study. There is a new article, however, that reaffirms the NRC conclusion and recommendations. It is Don Wuebbles, Piers Forster, Helen Rogers, Redina Herman, 2010: Issues and Uncertainties Affecting Metrics for Aviation Impacts on Climate. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Volume 91, Issue 4 (April 2010). While the paper is specifically with respect to aircraft contrails, their findings and recommendations apply to all heterogeneous climate forcings. The article has a very effective summary table on page 494 that is titled “A comparison of the metrics and modeling tools that can be used for the evaluation of aviation’s climate impact”. Extracts from this table list the disadvantages of several climate metrics including radiative forcing where it is reported that
With respect to global warming potential, they write
This study illustrates the continued awakening by the climate research community of the diverse range of influences of humans within the climate system that we presented in our paper Pielke Sr., R., K. Beven, G. Brasseur, J. Calvert, M. Chahine, R. Dickerson, D. Entekhabi, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, H. Gupta, V. Gupta, W. Krajewski, E. Philip Krider, W. K.M. Lau, J. McDonnell, W. Rossow, J. Schaake, J. Smith, S. Sorooshian, and E. Wood, 2009: Climate change: The need to consider human forcings besides greenhouse gases. Eos, Vol. 90, No. 45, 10 November 2009, 413. Copyright (2009) American Geophysical Union, as well as further evidence that the 2007 IPCC report failed to adequately consider the role of all of the first order human climate forcings. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: An Accident Waiting to Happen The oil slick spreading across the Gulf of Mexico has shattered the notion that offshore drilling had become safe. A close look at the accident shows that lax federal oversight, complacency by BP and the other companies involved, and the complexities of drilling a mile deep all combined to create the perfect environmental storm. (John McQuaid, e360)
'It Is Too Early to Talk about Liabilities' Oil giant BP has accepted responsibility for cleaning up the oil spill from the sunken rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which could be the biggest environmental catastrophe in American history. In an interview with SPIEGEL, BP CEO Tony Hayward says that, while his company is ready and able to pay for containing the damage, the spill does not mean the end for deep water drilling. (Spiegel)
BP ignores fears: chemical dispersants pumped into oil leak BP on Monday restarted operations to stream dispersants directly into the main Gulf of Mexico oil leak despite fears the chemicals could themselves be harmful to the
environment.
Can One Spill Shut Down Gulf Drilling? Never letting a crisis go to waste, liberals have advanced the idea that all drilling in the ocean should be stopped and no new drilling allowed. (AWR Hawkins, PJM)
U.S. Says No Deepwater Rigs Shut After Inspections U.S. government inspectors have completed checking out some 30 deepwater drilling rigs searching for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and found no safety problems that would
require any rigs to temporarily cease operations, a government spokesman told Reuters on Monday.
We need only to recap the experience of the 1970s and 1980s to understand why massive public national deficit financing of Keynesian-type spending to restore global economic growth will almost surely end with a 1970s style oil shock. [Read More] (Andrew McKillop, Energy Tribune)
In
today's NYT, Keith Bradsher has an interesting and sobering article about China's coal
consumption. Here is an excerpt: The nation’s ravenous appetite for fossil fuels is driven by China’s shifting economic base — away from light export industries like garment and shoe production and toward energy-intensive heavy industries like steel and cement manufacturing for cars and construction for the domestic market.The article also foreshadows a possible revision in China's energy consumption data, with surprises perhaps to come: The article also included a statement from Rajendra Pachauri, head of the IPCC, who seems to be in complete denial about what is actually going on in China: The article is accompanied by the following graphic, which pretty much tells the story itself: (Roger Pielke Jr)
Pentagon Focused On Developing Alternative Energy The Pentagon is working hard to promote development of biomass fuels that could power future fighter jets and other warplanes, but defense officials say it could take years to get a full-fledged industry on its feet. (Reuters)
Government-funded Study Shows Net Loss of Jobs From CO2 Policies For his sake, let’s hope that Bruce Arnold at the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t get the Gabriel Calzada treatment from the American Wind Energy Association and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To freshen your memory, Gabriel Calzada is the economist at the King Juan Carlos University who got out his calculator and analyzed the green job situation in Spain—the same Spain whose job-crushing subsidies are supposed to be a model for our green recovery. The professor found that subsidizing green energy costs more traditional jobs than are created in the green sector. More than two jobs were lost for every single green job created by subsidies. Because his scholarship raised important red flags, it caused quite a stir in the policy debate. Such a stir that it appears the American Wind Energy Association (funded by the wind-power industry) helped coordinate a smear job on Calzada by the tax-payer-funded National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Electricity will cost twice as much as power plants
Spain's Nuclear Plants Seen Running For Decades Spain may join Germany in relaxing a pledge to scrap nuclear power and let plants run on for decades, softening an anti-nuclear stance that was one of the firmest in Europe.
German parliament slashes solar subsidies US solar shares tumble as Germany finally approves cuts to solar incentives (Jessica Shankleman, BusinessGreen)
US cancer costs double in nearly 20 years ATLANTA — The cost of treating cancer in the United States nearly doubled over the past two decades, but expensive cancer drugs may not be the main reason why, according
to a surprising new study.
CHURCHVILLE, VA—The newly published President’s Cancer Report puts this quote in bold type:
Pig virus DNA found in Merck rotavirus vaccine WASHINGTON - Pieces of DNA from a pig virus were found in Merck & Co Inc's vaccine against a diarrhea-causing infection, but U.S. health officials said on Thursday there
was no evidence of a risk to people.
Benefits trump risks of rotavirus vaccine-US panel GAITHERSBURG, Md. - The benefits of rotavirus vaccines from GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Merck & Co Inc outweigh any risk from recently discovered contamination with a pig
virus, members of a U.S. advisory panel said on Friday.
Coffee and sodas not tied to colon cancer NEW YORK - You can keep on chugging coffee without worrying about whether your java will increase your risk of colon cancer, according to new research.
Study finds what makes calorie-burning "brown fat" Scientists have found out how some fat cells are turned into calorie-burning brown fat known as brown adipose tissue rather than into the white fat associated with obesity.
One study, two conclusions: Losing weight quickly is harmful Obesity has become a common issue in urban areas. This tendency is becoming a headache to the society. People are adopting various weight loss techniques to stay it and
slim.
Rapid weight loss best way to keep it off GAINESVILLE, Fla., May 7 -- The best way to keep weight off long term is to lose it quickly, not gradually, in the initial stages of obesity treatment, U.S.
researchers said.
Doctor: Weight a Factor in Obesity Treatment Could what you weigh punish the doctor and the hospital where you are treated? A Johns Hopkins doctor says yes.
Um, r i g h t ... Popcorn ruined my lungs: suit A Queens woman's 16-year popcorn habit left her with permanent lung damage, a lawsuit charges.
It's only a few orders of magnitude... Math error blamed for raising alarm on toxins in creeks Reports of an alarmingly high level of a banned pesticide in Meadow Creek and Schenk’s Branch were the result of a mathematical error, according to state officials.
Alex, I’ll take “What’s going on here? for $1,000.”
Modified bacteria seek out and metabolize a harmful pollutant.
Third of all plants and animals face extinction ANIMAL and plant species are being killed off faster than ever before as human populations surge and people consume more, a United Nations report is expected to say this
week.
Media: What does it say when 11 men who perish on an exploding oil platform, or 30 poor souls who die in a 1,000-year Tennessee flood, get less coverage than two oil-soaked
birds? It says news is driven from the left.
It is odd, really more like eerie, how similar many of the fetishes of dead totalitarian systems of the last century are to the curiosities of modern leftism. The Nazi war
on tobacco, for example, mirrors modern jihads against smoking, which invariably portray tobacco companies as evil. Mussolini, the leader of Fascism, prided himself on not
smoking or drinking, just as Hitler, the leader of Nazism did, who was also a vegetarian. (Winston Churchill, by contrast, drank, smoked, and ate copiously.)
Biotech in Africa: High hopes and high stakes Machakos, Kenya - Fog shrouds the terraced hills, and a stream is swollen from the rain that fell overnight, but the damage of a drought that left 10 million Kenyans
dependent on food aid is still evident. On many of the small farms, the ground is bare at a time when corn crops should be several feet tall.
Testimony of The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley Before Congress May 6, 2010 The Select Committee, in its letter inviting testimony for the present hearing, cites various scientific bodies as having concluded that
Graham Calls for ‘Pause’ in Pursuing Energy Bill WASHINGTON — Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the chief sponsors of a nascent plan to address energy and climate change in the Senate, said Friday that the proposal had no chance of passage in the near term and called for a “pause” in consideration of the issue (NYT)
White House Says Time Right For Climate Bill The White House said on Friday the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed the need for climate change and energy legislation, dismissing calls from a Republican
backer of the bill to hold off.
Lieberman Predicts Support for Climate Bill Despite Losing Key GOP Backer Sen. Joe Lieberman said Sunday that he and Sen. John Kerry are pressing forward with climate change legislation despite losing the support of a key senator, telling "Fox News Sunday" the bill has a "real shot" at passing. (FOXNews.com)
Big Asian powers sceptical on climate deal India and China said it would be very difficult to achieve a strong international agreement on climate change at the summit in Mexico later this year that will be the follow-up to the Copenhagen conference last December. (Financial Times)
China Says New Global Climate Deal Still Far Away China's top climate negotiator said on Saturday although progress had been made in negotiations for a new accord to combat global warming, there was still some distance to go before a binding deal could be secured. (Reuters)
Expect no climate deal this year: Indian minister BEIJING — The chance of a climate change agreement this year is remote because the United States and China are unwilling to make more commitments during the talks, India's environment minister said Sunday. (AP)
China needs reasonable carbon emission quotas to maintain growth: official BEIJING, May 9 -- China needs more reasonable carbon emission quotas to buoy the nation's fast economic development amid the progressing industrialization and urbanization,
said an official with the nation's top economic planner Sunday.
Another "whoops!" Fake photo used in Science article COMMENT: ABC recently reported on a letter signed by 250 scientists published in the journal Science. The letter is accompanied by a photo of a lone Polar Bear on an ice berg credited to ISTOCKPHOTO.COM. The photo is a fake with the following note in the photo caption at Istockphoto: "This images is a photoshop design. Polarbear, ice floe, ocean and sky are real, they were just not together in the way they are now." The same background is also available with one emperor penguin (HERE) or three (HERE) What does the use of a faked photo say about the scientific credibility of the journal in question?
Increasingly deranged Revkin thinks false impressions are just fine: Sweating the Details in Climate Discourse By ANDREW C. REVKIN
Another Global Warming Scientist Slates Legal Probe Since the Climategate scandal establishment figures have relentlessly stymied unwelcome scrutiny by legal experts. The latest wagon-circler is Dr. Judith Curry, an esteemed
member of NASA’s Climate Research Committee for over three years. Now Curry has become a self-appointed apologist for the unethical and some say, fraudulent, conduct of Penn.
State University’s climate professor, Michael Mann.
Michael Mann's infamous "hockey stick" graph, which purported to show steady temperatures on Earth for around a millenium until the 20th century, is the source of
much of the misguided hysteria that surrounds the global warming movement. Mann achieved the hockey stick through mathematical errors or mathematical tricks, take your pick.
Recently Virginia's Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, filed a Civil Investigative Demand for documents from the University of Virginia relating to the work done by Mann while
he was at the University. Cuccinelli wants to know whether taxpayer funds were used to help Mann perpetrate a hoax.
It is a remarkable fact that warmists claim the right to keep their data secret and avoid any critical assessment of their work, while at the same time demanding that every country in the world fashion its energy policies on the basis of their alleged findings. No doubt there is a precedent, somewhere, for such arrogance. But I am not sure there is any precedent, anywhere, for governments being stupid enough to accede to such unreasonable demands. (Power Line)
Was Nashville's flood caused by global warming? Apparently, head of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Kevin Trenberth thinks so. However, according to the US Climate Extremes Index for precipitation, there has been no trend in US precipitation over the past 100 years: Above graph from the US Climate Extremes Index shows the sum of the percentage of the United States with a much greater than normal number of days with precipitation plus the percentage with a much greater than normal number of days without precipitation. Five year mean is shown in green. Climate scientists frequently like to have it both ways, claiming that anthropogenic global warming causes both increased precipitation and increased droughts. Did anthropogenic global warming also cause the highest recorded flood in Nashville in 1926 & 1927 according to the US Army Corps of Engineers? And severe Nashville flooding in 1937, 1975, and 1977? (Hockey Schtick)
Media and "leading scientists" telling porkies: Climate scientists cross with Abbott for taking Christ's name in vain TONY ABBOTT is under pressure to justify telling students it was considerably warmer when Jesus was alive after leading scientists said his claim was wrong.
Gasp! Egad! Greenland Glacier Slide Speeds 220 Percent In Summer A glacier in Greenland slides up to 220 percent faster toward the sea in summer than in winter and global warming could mean a wider acceleration that would raise sea
levels, according to a study published Sunday.
Global warming fears seen in obsessive compulsive disorder patients A recent study has found that global warming has impacted the nature of symptoms experienced by obsessive compulsive disorder patients.
Take 769... Small Islands Urge Action at UN Oceans Meet PARIS, May 7 , 2010 - Faced with rising sea levels, dying coral reefs and decreasing fish stocks, small island developing states (SIDS) are feeling the effects of ocean decline, and they want wealthier countries to do more to ensure the survival of the world’s seas and other waterways. (IPS)
Oh dear... Bill Gates pays for ‘artificial’ clouds to beat greenhouse gases The first trials of controversial sunshielding technology are being planned after the United Nations failed to secure agreement on cutting greenhouse gases.
Oh puh-lease! Save the planet on the low-carbon diet At Otarian, menus have a feelgood global-warming index. A gimmick, or the next step in ethical eating?
May 10, 2010 Bob Carter on climate change - Part One: Bob Carter on climate change - Part Two: Barry Brill on NZ’s ETS: (Quadrant)
Large portions of the globe rely on the seasonal monsoon for water. Across much of Asia, agriculture depends on the coming of the monsoon rains. One scare tactic employed by global warming extremists is to claim that human caused climate change will keep the monsoon from coming, causing drought, failed crops and famine. In truth, science does not fully understand the complex interactions of ocean, atmosphere, and land that influence the monsoon, or how it impacts climate in other parts of the world. Now, a new Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas (MADA) provides reconstructions of summer moisture for the region going back to 1300 AD. It documents a long sequence of droughts so persistent that scientists call them “megadroughts.” These megadrought events, the worst of which may have toppled ancient kingdoms, show that unreliable monsoon seasons have afflicted mankind throughout history—long before the clamor over climate change arose. Drought is not an unusual occurrence. For several years, the American South had suffered under a long-lasting severe drought, until this year's wet El Niño driven winter and spring. Half a world away, the southwestern corner of Australia was in the grip of a devastating drought since the 1970s. These events have naturally been blamed on global warming by publicity seeking researchers. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Deserts may absorb up to 1/2 of CO2 emissions I need to get rid of a bookmark on my toolbar. So let me make a small posting about these two papers. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Steve Goddard in WUWT, May 7, 2010? Luboš Motl in the reference frame, same date? Sure, but what about Omniclimate’s 4-part series starting Feb 27, 2008? (Here parts 2, 3 and 4) Or Omnologos’ now ancient Aug 17, 2007 post? Alas, there was some mention of it in a July 2007 Elsevier book. But who cares? What is important is that the stale orthodoxy about Venus’ “runaway greenhouse effect” is starting to dissipate. As forecasted in “Venus Forecast” 35 months ago: “In a few years, the old ideas of Fred Singer will come back into fashion.“
UPDATE May 10: WUWT has a new post on Venus. Among the comments, a link to another blog making a similar point (Oct 7, 2009) and to a brief communication by Carl Sagan in the pages of the Astrophysical Journal (1967) estimating the surface temperature without a single mention of the “runaway greenhouse effect”. (Maurizio Morabito, OmniClimate)
Republicans’ Calls for Offshore Drilling Have Grown Quieter WASHINGTON — Two years ago, feisty Republicans commandeered the darkened House chamber during the summer recess to loudly demand that oil companies be allowed to “drill
here and drill now.”
By Lawrence Solomon Washington laid the groundwork for the Gulf oil spill by letting the offshore oil industry dodge its liabilities BP deserves to be excoriated for contaminating the Gulf of Mexico. Preoccupied with phony multi-million-dollar PR campaigns to cast itself as
green and “Beyond Petroleum,” it failed to focus on the actual multi-billion-dollar environmental catastrophe that could come of a worst-case blow-out.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says oil spill puts survival of BP at stake As a high-stakes operation to shut off a blown-out oil well unfolded on the seabed and a 130-mile wide slick menaced the coastline of four US states, a top US official was warning that the survival of BP as a company was under threat. (The Times)
For BP, a History of Spills and Safety Lapses After BP’s Texas City, Tex., refinery blew up in 2005, killing 15 workers, the company vowed to address the safety shortfalls that caused the blast.
Browne’s legacy of cost cutting stored up barrels of trouble EVEN before taking over BP from Lord Browne, Tony Hayward admitted to a group of employees in America in 2006 that the group needed to restore the company’s core skills in
engineering to reverse his predecessor’s drastic cuts.
Shell’s Alaska Oil Drilling Plan Draws New Scrutiny ANCHORAGE — An ambitious plan to drill for oil off the northwest coast of Alaska has been moving ahead despite the spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but the project is now
facing new questions from federal regulators.
Is Alaska prepared for a big oil spill? There is a huge inventory of oil spill response equipment around the state and companies have to prepare viable contingency plans
by Vaclav Smil
Energy transitions – be they the shifts from dominant resources to new modes of supply (from wood coal, from coal to hydrocarbons, from direct use of fuels to electricity), diffusion of new prime movers (from steam engines to steam turbines or to diesel engines), or new final energy converters (from incandescent to fluorescent lights) – are inherently protracted affairs that unfold across decades or generations. Many factors combine to determine their technical difficulty, their cost and their environmental impacts. A great deal of attention has been recently paid to the pace of technical innovation needed for the shift from the world dominated by fossil fuel combustion to the one relying increasingly on renewable energy conversions, to the likely costs and investment needs of this transitions, and to its environmental benefits, particularly in terms of reduced CO2 emissions. Inexplicably, much less attention has been given to a key component of this grand transition, to the spatial dimension of replacing the burning of fossil fuels by the combustion of biofuels and by direct generation of electricity using water, wind, and solar power. Perhaps the best way to understand the spatial consequences of the unfolding energy transition is to present a series of realistic power density calculations for different modes of electricity generation in order to make revealing comparisons of resources and conversion techniques. Detailed calculations will make it easy to replicate them or to change the assumptions and examine (within realistic constraints) many alternative outcomes. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
by Vaclav Smil Editor’s note: This is Part II of a five part series that provides an essential basis for the understanding of energy transitions and use. The previous post in this series can be seen at Part I. Baseline calculations for modern electricity generation reflect the most important mode of the U.S. electricity generation, coal combustion in modern large coal-fired stations, which produced nearly 45% of the total in 2009. As there is no such thing as a standard coal-fired station I will calculate two very realistic but substantially different densities resulting from disparities in coal quality, fuel delivery and power plant operation. The highest power density would be associated with a large (in this example I will assume installed generating capacity of 1 GWe) mine-mouth power plant (supplied by high-capacity conveyors or short-haul trucking directly from the mine and not requiring any coal-storage yard), burning sub-bituminous coal (energy density of 20 GJ/t, ash content less than 5%, sulfur content below 0.5%), sited in a proximity of a major river (able to use once-through cooling and hence without any large cooling towers) that would operate with a high capacity factor (80%) and with a high conversion efficiency (38%). This station would generate annually about 7 TWh (or about 25 PJ) of electricity. With 38% conversion efficiency this generation will require about 66 PJ of coal. 1 GW x 0.8 = 800 MW Assuming that the plant’s sub-bituminous coal (energy density of 20 GJ/t, specific density of 1.4 t /m3) is produced by a large surface mine from a seam whose average thickness is 15 m and whose recovery rate is 95%, then under every square meter of the mine’s surface there are 20 t of recoverable coal containing 400 GJ of energy. In order to supply all the energy needed by a plant with 1 GWe of installed capacity, annual coal extraction would have to remove the fuel from an area of just over 16.6 ha (166,165 m2), and this would mean that coal extraction required for the plant’s electricity generation proceeds with power density of about 4.8 kW/m2: 15 m3 x 0.95 x 1.4 t = 19.95 t A much larger area has to be occupied by the plant itself, but in a mine-mouth power plant without coal storage yard, with once-through cooling and with the disposal of fly ash into the excavated area the station’s complete infrastructure (boiler and turbogenerator halls, electrostatic precipitators, maintenance buildings, offices, roads, parking) could cover as little as 600,000 m2. This means that the total area whose other uses would be preempted every year by coal extraction and the permanent infrastructure of a coal-fired power plant would be roughly 766,000 m2 and the power density of the entire extraction-generation enterprise would be about 1,000 W/m2: 800 MW/766,000 m2 = 1,044.4 W/m2 An even larger area would be needed by a plant located far away from a mine (supplied by a unit train or by barge), [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Three years ago, automakers' support was crucial for the passage of the Energy Independence and Security Act which mandated massive increases in ethanol for the Nation's gasoline . But back then automakers hadn't gone into the abyss financially and were looking for ways to sell more flex-fuel vehicles while securing government bailouts. Detroit needed the support of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and the political support of Big Ethanol. [Read More] (Nicholas E. Hollis, Energy Tribune)
Well duh! Electric car drivers fear being stranded with flat battery The era of carefree motoring may soon be over, according to a study which reveals that drivers of the new generation of electric cars are plagued by nagging fears of being
left stranded by a flat battery.
No kidding: Jonathan Dimbleby the eco-warrior admits he needs more puff Jonathan Dimbleby, the Any Questions? chairman, says his expensive wind turbine is failing to deliver. (TDT)
Green families' heating subsidy means big bills for all A proposed subsidy for green central heating will lead to a sharp rise in energy bills, threaten the manufacturing recovery and drive companies abroad, consumer watchdogs
and business groups say.
What? Americans "bombarded" with cancer causes - report WASHINGTON - Americans are being
"bombarded" with chemicals, gases and radiation that can cause cancer and the federal government must do far more to protect them, presidential cancer advisers said
on Thursday.
Ideologues, maybe? Eat organic, cancer panel urges A government report claims that the way Americans farm could be putting the public at risk for cancer and recommends people eat more organic products.
ObamaCare: A NICE Kettle Of Fish With the presidential ink not quite dry on the health overhaul legislation, Republicans and their conservative allies promise to repeal it. That could prove a long battle,
one that could stretch out for years.
Kids not getting enough sunshine: Low vitamin D common even among southern teens NEW YORK - Most black adolescents have insufficient amounts of the sunshine vitamin in their blood, even those living in the sunny southeastern US, new research shows.
Surgery should be "last resort" for obese children LONDON - Weight-loss surgery should only be used in the most severely obese of children, and then only with extreme caution due to the risks and the fact its effectiveness
remains unknown, health experts advised on Thursday.
Tap that water: Controversy surrounds the argument for dam-building in Africa AFRICA is the “underdammed” continent. It is the least irrigated and electrified, yet it uses only 3% of its renewable water, against 52% in South Asia. So there is
plenty of scope for an African dam-building boom. Ghana long ago dammed the River Volta, Egypt the Nile, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique the Zambezi. But there are new projects
aplenty.
Conflicts of Interest Affect Conservation Science In a perfect world, scientific research is supposed to be completely objective and free of conflicts of interest. But University of South Florida researchers say that
politics can overtake facts, with potentially detrimental effects for the integrity of science and the health of ecosystems.
Atrazine paper’s challenge: Who’s responsible for accuracy? Study claims to have turned up many dozens of errors and misleading statements in a review of published data.
UN food agency urges Africa to invest in farming Under-investment in agriculture has left many governments across Africa struggling to feed their people, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
director-general Jacques Diouf said on Thursday.
Can drip irrigation break Africa's hunger cycles? As the world's aid agencies scramble, yet again, to feed millions of hungry in Africa's Sahel, some smallholders in the semi-arid region are reporting bumper harvests of
onions, potatoes and tomatoes.
The human cost of the EU's fishing failure The European Commission has finally admitted that the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy has failed. (Bruno Waterfield, TDT)
More unsafe assumptions: Leading international climate change experts focus on how to build food security in the face of climate change - 06.05.2010 Climate and agricultural researchers, policy makers, donors, and development agencies, both governmental and non-governmental, from all over the world have just met in Nairobi for a one-day conference, ‘Building Food Security in the Face of Climate Change’. The conference was an important part of a big international Mega Programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). The programme’s secretariat is based at LIFE- Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen. (Press Release)
Neanderthals live on in DNA of humans The first comparison of the complete genomes of humans and Neanderthals reveals that up to 4% of our DNA is Neanderthal (The Guardian)
It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad: Climate change deniers accused of McCarthyism Climate change experts face a "McCarthy-like" persecution by politically-motivated opponents, some of the world's leading scientists have claimed.
Leading scientists condemn 'political assaults' on climate researchers Open letter defends the integrity of climate science and hits out at recent attacks driven by 'special interests or dogma' (The Guardian)
Louise Gray’s latest article in the Daily Telegraph suggests that climate scientists caught in the Climategate and other scandals are feeling picked on. In fact they ‘likened the situation to the ‘McCarthy era’ in the US where anyone suspected of communist links was threatened with persecution.’ Specifically, members of the US National Academy of Sciences said:
Where was the National Academy of Sciences and Louise Gray when skeptical scientists were being threatened with violence, prosecution and even execution? Or is it only a matter of concern when warmists are feeling the heat, so to speak? Here are TEN very real threats issued to skeptics: Heidi Cullen, of The Weather Channel ‘is advocating that the American Meteorological Society (AMS) revoke their “Seal of Approval” for any television weatherman who expresses skepticism that human activity is creating a climate catastrophe.’ Talking Points Memo pondered the question ‘at what point do we jail or execute global warming deniers?’ Death threats were made against Tim Ball and others. The United Nations kicked skeptic scientists out of press conferences. Professor Stephen Schneider, an IPCC member, called armed security to have a skeptic removed from his presence. CBS’s Scott Pelley compared skeptics to holocaust deniers. Greenpeace uttered a threat to skeptics, ‘we know where you live’ David Suzuki called for politicians who questioned global warming science to be jailed. Joe Romm wanted to strangle skeptics in their beds. NASA’s James Hansen suggested skeptics be tried for high crimes against humanity. Notice the difference between the skeptics being threatened and the warmists crying McCarthyism is that in the first instance, many prominent warmists were performing the McCarthyism. I guess it would asking too much for Louise Gray to try and do a journalist’s job. Even once. (Daily Bayonet)
Correctly: U.-Va. plans to comply with Cuccinelli subpoena It looks like the University of Virginia does not plan to resist a subpoena from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) asking for documents related to the work of climate
scientist and former professor Michael Mann, despite requests from some advocacy groups that it does so.
Although the editorial board is desperate to prop up the gorebull warbling scam: U-Va. should fight Cuccinelli's faulty investigation of Michael Mann WE KNEW Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R) had declared war on reality. Now he has declared war on the freedom of academic inquiry as well. We hope that Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) and the University of Virginia have the spine to repudiate Mr. Cuccinelli's abuse of the legal code. If they do not, the quality of Virginia's universities will suffer for years to come. (WaPo)
Climate bill unveiling possible next week A long-awaited bill to reduce pollution that contributes to global warming could be unveiled in the Senate next week, but likely without the public backing of an influential Republican lawmaker, Senator Joseph Lieberman said on Thursday. (Reuters)
Climategate: Sensenbrenner Report Challenges EPA Greenhouse Finding (PJM Exclusive) Rep. James Sensenbrenner today releases a report calling the science behind the EPA's endangerment finding for carbon dioxide into question.
Oh dear Lord! The EPA is still up to its nonsense: North America seeks agreement on tough greenhouse gas The United States, Canada, and Mexico have proposed to amend a landmark global pact protecting the ozone layer to fight emissions of a refrigerant chemical thousands of
times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the U.S. EPA said on Thursday.
One in three voters against paying for climate change 'myth' AUSTRALIANS are rebelling against the idea they should pay to fight global warming, entrenching the Federal Government's woes on the issue.
Initiative To Suspend Calif’s AB 32 Global Warming Law Likely To Make Ballot Backers of a state initiative to suspend California’s global warming law, AB 32, say they’ve turned in nearly twice the number of signatures needed to qualify for the
Nov 2. ballot.
Chinese lash PM on emissions inaction A leading Chinese government adviser has criticised the gap between Kevin Rudd's action and rhetoric on climate change, saying he has reduced the chance that the world can
curb global warming before it is too late.
How about some useful development, ya dopey beggars! Europe development agencies to launch climate fund A group of European development agencies will launch a joint climate change fund to promote low-carbon and sustainable investments in emerging countries, the agencies said
on Thursday.
South African tourism minister favourite to replace Yvo de Boer Marthinus van Schalkwyk tipped as likely successor as UN looks to developing country with rising influence in UN climate talks (Reuters)
Europe's Carbon Mafia, And Ours Corruption: The carbon trading system being pushed here has spawned crime and fraud across the pond. Cap-and-trade is not about saving the planet. It's about money and
power, and absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Small investors could be big losers under federal climate change legislation Small investors could be big losers if a greenhouse gas reduction plan known as cap and trade becomes law and accounting standards for carbon credits have not been
established, according to a new study released today by a University of California, Davis, professor.
Here's a nightmare scenario: Could CO2 be the green fuel powering tomorrow's cars? Imagine a green fuel that could power our cars, keep the wheels of industry turning, and wean us off our addiction to oil - a fuel called CO2 (Duncan Graham-Rowe for Green Futures, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
A Positive Human Influence on Global Climate? Robert Mendelsohn, Meet Gerald North! by Robert Bradley Jr.
Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published my letter-to-the-editor rebutting Kerry Emanuel’s letter, which, in turn, was critical of his fellow MIT climatologist Richard Lindzen’s op-ed, “Climate Science in Denial.” My arguments opposing those of Professor Emanuel (see entire letter below) are fairly straightforward, but I end with this challenge:
Is this challenge rash, or is it backed by the facts? Well, let’s consider the views of an esteemed climate economist and an esteemed climate scientist. They are, respectively,
Dr. North’s long held sensitivity estimate of 2ºC for a doubling of atmospheric greenhouse concentrations is one-third below the “best guess” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (or the IPCC’s best guess is one-half greater than that of Dr. North). That is a big difference, and if you believe Mendelsohn et al. that a 2ºC for 2x results in net positive benefits for the world, then voila! Is it radical to believe that the human influence on climate, on net, has more positives than negatives for many decades out and even beyond a century or more? After all, the CO2 fertilization effect is a strong positive, and warmer and wetter is going in the right direction for the biopshere… Perhaps CO2 as the green greenhouse gas is ‘closet’ mainstream, if North’s (private) views are considered. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Global Warming Hoax Weekly Round-Up, May 6th 2010 UK voters head to the polls today to choose any new government they want, as long as it comes in green. The EPA does some Californication to farmers and the Guardian continues its countdown to the end of the world (you have about 6.5 years left, in case you were interested). (Daily Bayonet)
Name-calling fairy dust: “Conspiracy Theorist” Ad hominem Unleashed on the ABC On our ABC there’s lots of talk “about evidence” but next to nothing of actual evidence. (The empty homage to “evidence” is handy though, it keeps the pretense alive that it’s a scientific conversation). Stefan Lewandowsky is still doing his Picasso-brain-best to search in all the wrong places for enlightenment. Is the planet warming from man-made CO2? Lewandowsky “knows” it is. Why? Because the 9/11 truthers are conspiracy theorists (and conspiracies are always wrong). O’ look, a few people ask odd questions about an accident in a building years ago, and sometimes those people are also the species Homo Sapiens Climata Scepticus (!). So it follows (if you are insane) that because some people still doubt the official story of an unrelated past event, man-made global warming will contribute 3.7W/m2 in the year 2079, and we’ll all become souffles in the global Sahara. I’m not making this stuff up. I’ve tallied up the obvious errors from both articles. His power to confuse himself with red herrings is … “impressive”. Lewandowsky scorecard for logic and reason Argument from authority 4 Baseless Assertion 3 Unsubstantiated Name-calling 1 Ad hominem 2 Red Herring 6 Total
– 16 Lewandowsky uses his Magic Fairy Debating Dust to preemptively stop discussions of climate science evidence. If anyone complains against any mainstream position on anything, he can define whatever it is as a “conspiracy theory”. Then his omnipotent powers as a cognitive scientist kick in. I quote: “The nature of conspiracy theories and their ultimate fate is reasonably well understood by cognitive scientists”. He who knows can foresee the ultimate fate of all conspiracy theories. A handy talent which could save us doing expensive Royal Commissions, or Supreme Courts, or heck, we could just use this talent to save us the bother of any courts or commissions or investigations at all. So God and Lewandowsky, apparently, can always tell the difference between a whistle-blower and conspiracy theorist. (Too bad some conspiracies have turned out to be right. And who cares if a lot of skeptics don’t think it’s a conspiracy in any case). Lewandowsky uses the name-calling to “poison the well” against people who don’t even believe in a conspiracy, but happen to also be skeptical… More » (Jo Nova)
Curious... British summertime arriving early It might not feel like it, but summer in Britain now arrives 18 days earlier than half a century ago, according to a new study. (TDT)
U.S. NOAA says chance of La Nina hitting in 2010 A La Nina weather phenomenon, the lesser-known cousin of the more famous El Nino weather anomaly, will most likely develop in the second half of 2010, the U.S. Climate
Prediction Center said Thursday.
Hotness is in the eye of the beholder I’ve mentioned before how chosen color schemes greatly influence how people see surface temperature data. Frank points out that sea surface temperature presentations suffer from the same problem. – Anthony Guest post by Frank Lansner This is no news – but still needs to be told. NOAA can in many contexts come up with the hottest temperatures available. Here we take a look at the European Sea Surface Temperatures as of 3 may 2010. NOAA vs. UNISYS, SST, Europe. When I look at this compare, again and again I have to check if these SST are from the very same date, 3 may 2010. But they are. Differences
are immense to an extend where it hardly makes sense to look after the European SST?
Still starting from a flawed premise: Ancient leaves help researchers understand future climate Potential climate change caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide might be better understood by examining fossil plant remains from millions of years ago, according to
biogeochemists. The types of carbon within the leaves can serve as a window into past temperatures and environmental conditions.
By Steve Goddard The classic cure for hyperventilation is to put a paper bag over your head, which increases your CO2 levels and reduces the amount of Oxygen in your bloodstream. Global warmers have been hyperventilating over CO2 on Venus, ever since Carl Sagan made popular the idea of a runaway greenhouse effect. That was when he wasn’t warning about nuclear winter. Sagan said that marijuana helped him write some of his books. I bought off on the “runaway greenhouse” idea on Venus for several decades (without smoking pot) and only very recently have come to understand that the theory is beyond absurd. I explain below. Continue reading
Dick Lindzen has succinctly summarized how climate science has deteriorated into a tool for political action. As I reported in my post Comments On Numerical Modeling As The New Climate Science Paradigm Dick has written
Today I present a clear example of the use of the National Academy of Sciences [as represented by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences- PNAS] to promote a particular set of policy actions, where climate science, as percieved by the authors of the PNAS, is used as the reasoning. The article is Ramanathan, Veerabhadran and Yangyang Xu, 2010: The Copenhagen Accord for limiting global warming: Criteria, constraints, and available avenues. PNAS. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1002293107 The abstract reads
The text in the abstract highlights the advocacy nature of this article; i.e.
The authors present the problem with the climate system as a result of the human emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, and then discusses the “Policy Makers’ Dilemma”. The next section in the paper, titled “Challenges for Policy Makers”, further illustrates that the two authors recommend policy. This section reads in part
I have posted on this recommendation by Dr. Ramanthan in the past and conclude that ANY attempt not to enforce existing air pollution laws is a serious mistake with respect to human health; e.g. Misconception And Oversimplification Of the Concept Of Global Warming By V. Ramanthan and Y. Feng However, regardless of the merits of the policy recommendations of Ramanathan and Xu, 2010, the National Academy of Sciences publication is being used to lobby for a particular set of policy actions, which they justify by their presentation of the climate science issue. Since Dr. Ramanthan is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, he is able to straightforwardly publish in this journal. Readers of my weblog can decide for themselves if this is the proper use of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. However, it is clear that advocacy is being framed using climate science, as the authors perceive it, as the justification for their policy prescriptions. The confirmation of Dick Lindzen’s issues with respect to the lack of scientific objectivity also is evident in the news release on the Ramanathan and Xu,2010 paper. The news release by Brian Moore of Scripps is titled Scripps researchers outline strategy to limit global warming and has the text
Thus, as Dick Lindzen wrote
Clearly, NSF itself has become an advocate for particular policy actions. I will have more examples of how the NSF is limiting research in upcoming posts on my weblog. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
Deep trouble: America’s distorted energy markets, not just its coastline, need cleaning up THE explosion that claimed 11 lives and sent the Deepwater Horizon, a billion-dollar oil rig, to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, was bad enough. But for the inhabitants of America’s Gulf coast, for BP, the huge British firm that owns the well, and for the oil industry as a whole, the bad news is flowing as relentlessly as the oil gushing from ruptured pipes a mile below the waves (see article). Efforts to close an emergency shut-off valve have failed. BP is trying to drop huge domes over the leaks and siphon off the oil they collect. But if that fails, it could be months before a second well is completed, reducing the pressure in the first and thus stemming the flow. (The Economist) Black storm rising: The Deepwater Horizon disaster will affect everyone from pelicans to politicians DRILLING for oil is a balancing act. If the pressure of the working fluids in the well, or the strength of concrete holding the piping in place, cannot balance the immense pressure of the oil down below, then things get very bad, very quickly. On April 20th, for some reason as yet unknown, the pressure in a well that had been drilled by the Deepwater Horizon, a rig that BP, one of the world’s largest oil companies, was using to explore a new field in the Gulf of Mexico, got out of balance. The well blew its top, causing an explosion and subsequent fire which claimed the lives of 11 of the rig’s crew of 126 and eventually sent the rig itself to the bottom of the ocean, a mile below the surface and some 40 miles (64km) off the Louisiana coast. (The Economist) WHEN the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989 and dumped its oily cargo into Alaskan waters, it killed hordes of beautiful creatures and cost billions to clean up. The current spill in the Gulf of Mexico could prove even worse. A tanker can leak its load, but no more. A broken pipe connected to an oilfield may continue leaking until it is fixed. And since fixing it involves sending remote-controlled submarines a mile below the surface to tinker with mangled machinery in the dark, that could take a while. Small wonder that Barack Obama sounds so grave. (The Economist) BARACK OBAMA’S administration has promised to keep its boot firmly applied to BP’s neck. Many people would be happier if the boot were a blade. Fishermen who worry that their livelihoods are in peril; shareholders who have seen the value of BP’s shares plunge; local Democratic politicians who want to make sure they cannot be blamed for reacting too slowly: the list of boot-and-blade wielders is growing longer by the day. (The Economist)
In Gulf of Mexico, Chemicals Under Scrutiny As they struggle to plug a leak from a ruptured oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, BP and federal officials are also engaging in one of the largest and most aggressive
experiments with chemical dispersants in the history of the country, and perhaps the world.
The Bear Growls a Bit More Softly Now: New Adventures in Pipelinestan by Donald Hertzmark In the wake of the BP well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico and the attempted terrorist bombing of New York’s Times Square, the broadcast media have been full of the sackcloth and ashes crowd pronouncing once more the end of the hydrocarbon era and the vital need for the U.S. to “break our oil addiction” ASAP. Their soundbites start with a half-truth and end with a fallacy. We are told that “60 percent of U.S. energy supplies still come from oil and gas,” with the implication that (i) all of that is imported; and (ii) the pittance that we produce domestically all comes from offshore facilities. It is true that 60 percent (actually 62.5%) of our energy comes from oil and gas. But the portion that comes from natural gas, about 24% of total U.S. energy supply, is 85 percent domestically sourced. With oil and liquids, about 45% is domestically sourced. Sure, we use a lot of oil and gas, and most of it, more than 60%, comes from the U.S. More than two-thirds of that domestic production comes from onshore production facilities. The fallacious recommendation that emanates from the incomplete data is that the U.S. has no chance to remain a viable society and economy if we continue to rely on all this foreign (onshore, Alaska, ethanol, Saudi Arabia, Russia, what’s the difference?) and offshore supply. “Therefore, we have no alternative but to turn to . . . wind, solar, biomass?” The agenda pushers never want to let a good crisis go to waste. But very quietly, mostly out of sight of the energy policy crowd in Washington, we have seen the emergence of major new sources of domestic energy production – natural gas from coalbeds and shale formations. So great has been the rise in domestic gas production that it has weakened gas prices worldwide, benefitting users in homes and industry. Moreover, the US example is setting off emulation in Australia, Canada and China, as well as Europe, promising still further major gas production increases. Without this production the major conventional gas powers – Russia, Qatar, Algeria, Iran, Libya, Nigeria – would be able to garner ever-increasing market share, and with that monopoly rents and political power. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
BP's U.S. Gulf project exempted from enviro analysis U.S. regulators exempted BP Plc from a detailed environmental review of the exploration project that ultimately resulted in the deadly Gulf of Mexico explosion and
subsequent oil spill, documents show.
UK regulator warned Transocean on blow-out valves Britain's safety regulator criticized Transocean in 2005 and 2006 over blowout prevention equipment which did the same job as the gear which failed two weeks ago and caused
a huge oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf spill makes oilsands more appealing WASHINGTON — The safety benefits of importing Canadian oil by pipeline should be a consideration in formulating United States energy policy in the wake of the BP oil spill
currently polluting the Gulf of Mexico, a senior State Department official said Thursday.
Brazil seeks offshore oil safety review on BP spill Brazil will ask oil companies operating its offshore fields to provide information on well control systems and to review their emergency response protocols in the wake of
the BP Gulf of Mexico spill, the ANP energy regulator said late Wednesday.
Energy: After BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, federal and state governments moved quickly to shelve plans to drill off the U.S. coast. But a new poll taken after the
spill suggests Americans still support drilling.
Today, few countries are as honest about their energy present and future as China. While American pundits and politicians have been praising China’s solar and wind forays, Han Xiaoping, an energy expert from the China Energy Net, said that “the so-called ‘new energy’ such as wind power and solar energy can never support China’s civilization process.” [Read More] (Michael Economides and Xina Xie, Energy Tribune)
Methane hydrate: a future clean energy source? This strange substance could provide vast quantities of natural gas; no surface targets, where warming could release methane into atmosphere
Renewable Energy: Free as the Wind? The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met this morning and, among other things, discussed a national renewable electricity standard (RES). The RES, which mandates that a certain percentage of our nation’s electricity production come from wind, solar, biomass and other renewable energies, already passed out of committee but is likely to be a part of any energy agenda this year. A new Heritage Foundation study analyzing the costs of an RES finds that a national mandate for pricier, less reliable electricity would be harmful to American families, American businesses and the American economy. The Heritage analysis models the effects of an RES that starts at 3 percent for 2012 and rises by 1.5 percent per year. This profile mandates a minimum of 15 percent renewable electricity by 2020, a minimum of 22.5 percent by 2025, and a minimum of 37.5 percent by 2035. It looks solely at onshore wind, which is currently the cheapest renewable energy source that can be scaled in significant fashion. While some studies have attempted to model the economic effects of an RES and found only marginal price increases, they fail to take into account the true cost of renewable sources. Wind is not dependable, it cannot be stored and it must be built in geographically disadvantageous locations that require significant new build for transmission lines. A detailed analysis of this can be found in the study. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis projects that an RES would: Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Germany approves solar power incentive cuts Germany's Bundestag lower house of parliament approved on Thursday controversial cuts for solar power incentives to take effect from July.
Health Care: The Democrats' overhaul was going to boost the number of insured Americans, wasn't it? And everyone who liked his own plan could keep it. Except for the 14 million who will lose their coverage at work. (IBD)
A Snake Oil Sales Pitch for President Obama’s Bank Tax It must not be easy being Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, these days. His latest task is to sell a skeptical Congress on the Obama Administration’s $90 billion bank tax with something of a convoluted snake oil sales pitch. He tried to make his argument to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. You see, Geithner explained, “Banks should bear the costs for bank failure,” and the tax is really a “too-big-to-fail tax” designed to recoup funds used to bail out banks under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Unfortunately for Geithner, that went over about as well as trying to sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. And with good reason. Here’s why. The banks who received bailout funds already repaid the government, so the very premise of the tax is null and void. Then there’s the fact that those who haven’t repaid their bailout funds – Fanny Mae, Freddie Mac, General Motors and Chrysler – don’t have to pay the tax. And the worst feature? Consumers will bear the brunt of the tax, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
High Corporate Income Tax Rate Driving Jobs Overseas The United States has the second highest corporate tax rate of any of the 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) – a collection of the most economically developed countries in the world. The federal rate is 35 percent. Add on the average state corporate income tax and United States businesses pay a top rate over 39 percent. This is just below Japan which has a rate slightly over 39.5 percent. The average corporate income tax rate in the OECD is about 25 percent. The United States’ rate is almost 15 percentage points higher. Of the 30 countries in the OECD, 27 of them have cut their corporate income tax rates since 2000. By standing still, the United States has fallen behind. The top marginal tax rate is the tax rate a business will pay on new investment, so it is an important determinant for businesses when they make decisions about where to locate new facilities. The high U.S. corporate income tax rate is driving jobs overseas as businesses work to remain as competitive as possible in the global marketplace. It doesn’t help that the United States is the only country in the world that taxes its businesses on the income they earn in foreign countries. Every other country only taxes businesses on the income earned within their borders. A reduction of the corporate income tax rate down to at least the average 25 percent rate in the OECD is long overdue. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
More With Dementia Wander From Home ASHBURN, Va. — For generations, the prototypical search-and-rescue case in America was Timmy in the well, with Lassie barking insistently to summon help. Lost children and
adolescents — from the woods to the mall — generally outnumbered all others.
William Watson: Making meaning of CSR Unfortunately, CSR may be most effective before it’s a big deal By William Watson When BP says it will pay the whole cost of the Gulf of Mexico clean-up, even when its maximum legal liability may be much less, is it making a virtue of necessity? After
all, the U.S. government is promising to “stand on its throat” to make it pay. Might as well volunteer for what is going to happen anyway. Or is it trying to salvage
whatever glimmer of good publicity it can from the oily sludge? Or, finally, is it exhibiting “corporate social responsibility” and being a good “corporate citizen.”
(Many people who object to the idea that corporations can be legal persons nevertheless want them to be good citizens.) Click here to read more... (Financial Post)
African leaders launch push against malaria DAR ES SALAAM - African leaders from 26 countries have launched a fresh drive to eliminate malaria using a combination of bed nets, insecticides and medication, Tanzania's
President Jakaya Kikwete said on Wednesday.
Vaccine may trigger early start of infant epilepsy HONG KONG - Childhood vaccines may trigger early onset of a severe form of infant epilepsy, but researchers say the disorder is ultimately caused by defective genes and
lifesaving vaccines should not be withheld from these children.
Light drinking after heart attack may have benefits NEW YORK - Moderate drinkers who continue the habit after suffering a heart attack may fare better than their counterparts who give up alcohol, a new study suggests.
Sleeping for less than six hours may cause early death, study finds Researchers find 'unequivocal' link between lack of sleep and increased risk of premature death (The Guardian)
Think you're lactose intolerant? You might be wrong NEW YORK - If you've cut down on milk because you think your gut can't tolerate the sugar in it -- called lactose -- you might be doing your health a disservice, a new study
suggests.
Evidence of increasing antibiotic resistance A team of scientists in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are reporting disturbing evidence that soil microbes have become progressively more resistant to antibiotics over the last 60 years. Surprisingly, this trend continues despite apparent more stringent rules on use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, and improved sewage treatment technology that broadly improves water quality in surrounding environments. Their report appears in ACS' bi-weekly journal Environmental Science and Technology. (American Chemical Society)
I call BULLSHIT! The chance discovery that averted ecological disaster Steve Connor on how the hole in the ozone layer was discovered by UK scientists a quarter of a century ago Let's look at a few of the facts first:
Fear And Timidity No Friends Of Science (comment posted to Jonathan Wolff’s “The journals are full of great studies, but can we believe the statistics?“, The Guardian, May 4 2010) There are two big issues with Mr Wolff’s article. (1) The “fear of looking foolish” seems a particularly childish approach to Science. Insofar as one is able to argue the reasons for a particular choice in an “unsettled” scientific field, there is of course no foolishness to speak of. In fact, looking at this the other way around, the fact that one was “very right” once, means nothing about being right in the future. Otherwise, all we would have to do would be to listen to former Nobel Prize winners. Sadly, after the trip to Stockholm very few of them are capable of achieving anything remotely important as their acclaimed feat. (2) There is little hope for Science really, if the goal is to hold on until an orthodoxy develops, and then sheepishly hang on to that. We can’t simply evolve into separate tribes showing no critical thinking of what happens in other fields. And orthodoxies are meant to crumble, otherwise it is not “Science”. By the time they become widespread enough for the likes of Wolff to take them as “Truth”, they will likely be ripe for destruction by the next generation of scientists. Come to think, a certain guy called Galileo would have failed on the Wolff strategy left, right and centre. Luckily he wasn’t afraid, and didn’t look the other way. (Maurizio Morabito, OmniClimate)
Go Aussie! We're in the top 10 of worst polluters Australia has earned the dubious honour of being in the top 10 countries with the worst environmental impact on the planet, according to a major international study of more than 200 nations. (SMH)
Climate change and mountain building led to mammal diversity patterns ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Travel from the tropics to the poles, and you'll notice that the diversity of mammals declines with distance from the equator. Move from lowland to mountains, and you'll see diversity increase as the landscape becomes more varied. Ecologists have proposed various explanations for these well-known "biodiversity gradients," invoking ecological, evolutionary and historical processes. (UMich)
U.S. Targets Invading Carp With Poison, Nets, Shocks Looking for Asian carp that could pose a dire threat to billion-dollar Great Lakes fisheries, U.S. authorities announced plans on Wednesday to poison, net and shock any
invaders in Chicago-area rivers.
Dispatch: Revenge of the Superweeds Several species of weeds have developed resistance to the herbicide glyphosate (a.k.a. Roundup), threatening crop yields in sections of farmland across the country. According
to the New York Times, “The National Research Council [NRC], which advises the federal government on scientific matters, sounded its own warning last month, saying
that the emergence of resistant weeds jeopardized the substantial benefits that genetically engineered crops were providing to farmers and the environment.”
How Cronyism Is Infesting Cap-And-Trade Conflicts Of Interest: Supporters of suspending California's climate-change law submit signatures for a November ballot initiative. Among the initiatives' opponents is an
administration energy official who stands to profit from its defeat.
Barack Obama, Al Gore, Goldman Sachs, And The Greatest Swindle In Human History “It is the Responsibility of the Patriot to protect his country from its government” ~Thomas Paine $10,000,000,000,000 Ten trillion dollars. That’s the conservative estimate of the amount of money Barack Obama, Albert Gore Jr., and a whole cast of criminals stand to make yearly (gross) off of the greatest scam in human history: “global warming.” If you have ever sat back, scratching your head and wondering why the Marxists are pushing for a “cap and trade” bill that would not only make energy costs “necessarily skyrocket,” to quote Barack Obama, but do absolutely nothing to effect fictional “climate change, ” one way or the other, you are about to find out. We have long known this Marxist idea was nothing more than a continuation of the communist desire to “spread the wealth” by forcibly stealing from those who create and earn, and giving to those that don’t. This is an inbred mental defect that can’t be cured, only contained, the most effective way being: not to elect these evil, corrupt people in the first place! When we first learned of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) we smelled a rat. No one has been more radical than Barack Obama when it comes to pushing the “global warming” hoax, and the “cap and trade” scheme. Being based in Chicago, common sense told us that Obama was somehow involved, and it was as corrupt as the day is long. It took Glenn Beck to put it all together, and he has done a remarkable job of spelling it all out. In the videos below, Glenn documents Obama’s ties to the multi-trillion dollar carbon trading scam, Goldman Sachs, the Joyce Foundation, domestic terrorist Bill Ayers’ brother, Al Gore, George Soros, Maurice Strong and a whole cast of ne'er-do-wells. Beck does a great job of connecting the dots here, as well as spelling out the scam itself. It’s quite interesting to note that all of the Marxist-democrats were pounding Goldman Sachs in their “show trial” for their handling of derivatives, a “synthetic” financial product, created out of thin air. Never mind it was the Marxist-democrat Party controlled Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac who were involved in the creation of this product, and President Bill Clinton who sanctioned it. (Cyprus Times)
Barton, Burgess Ask GAO to Review Quality Control at UN Global Warming Panel WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. Joe Barton, R-Texas, ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Michael Burgess, R-Texas, ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, today asked the Government Accountability Office to review the U.S. funding for, and the scientific integrity and reliability of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s assessments. (Press Release)
Oh boy... Power struggle over Canada's 'dirty oil' sands The normally dull company AGM has become an unlikely battleground as green-minded pension fund members take on the energy giants exploiting the controversial tar sands of
western Canada.
I like this: PepsiCo’s Lobbying for Cap and Trade to be Hit at Annual Meeting NLPC is sponsoring a PepsiCo shareholder proposal asking for a report on the company’s lobbying priorities. At the PepsiCo annual tomorrow in Plano, Texas, I will argue
that the company’s lobbying priorities are seriously out of whack.
But this is simply idiotic: Kerry predicts broad industry support, offers allowance details Sen. John Kerry is predicting widespread support from electric utilities, chemical companies and Big Oil as he enters his seventh month of closed-door negotiations on a
comprehensive energy and climate bill that still hasn't made its way into public view.
How China and India Sabotaged the UN Climate Summit What really went on at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen? Secret recordings obtained by SPIEGEL reveal how China and India prevented an agreement on tackling climate change at the crucial meeting. The powerless Europeans were forced to look on as the agreement failed. (Spiegel)
U.N. Forecasts Less Than 1 Bln Kyoto Offsets By 2012 A United Nations agency on Wednesday cut its forecast for pre-2012 Kyoto Protocol carbon offsets, estimating for the first time that less than 1 billion tonnes will come to
market before the climate pact expires.
Too stupid for words: Higher Energy Bills, Wind Power Push Likely After U.K. Election May 5 -- U.K. consumers can expect higher utility bills no matter which party wins tomorrow’s election, with all three pushing to get more electricity from renewable
sources and from plants that burn coal more cleanly.
Volcano to boost airlines' emissions trading costs Europe's cash-strapped airlines could be saddled with mounting costs to buy emissions certificates after a volcanic ash cloud that swept across Europe cut the number of free
certificates they stand to receive.
Epic fail: U.S. Carbon Emissions Fell Record 7 Percent In 2009: EIA U.S. emissions of the main greenhouse gas from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas fell a record 7 percent in 2009 due to the recession and more efficient use of
fuels, the Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday.
Junior, meanwhile, prattles about "decarbonization": US Emissions Reductions: Business as Usual Joe
Romm is all excited that US energy-related emissions dropped by about 7% in 2009. However,
the drop represents little more than a small, marginal change from historical trends in the relationship of emissions and the economy, as shown by the graph above.
Team of Scientists Counter U.S. Gov't Report: 'Global warming alarm will prove false' -- Climate fears 'based on faulty forecasting procedures' 'The forecasting procedures described in the IPCC 4th Assessment Report violated 81% of the 89 principles relevant to climate forecasting' (via Climate Depot)
Spectacularly dumb: U-Va. faculty senate: Cuccinelli actions 'directly threaten academic freedom' The Executive Council of the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia has now weighed in on Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's civil investigative demand, which sought a wide range of documents dealing with the work the climate scientist Michael Mann. Mann's former colleagues write that the "unusual" request appears to be motivated by a difference of opinion with Mann's findings and threatens academic freedom: We maintain that peer review by the scientific community is the appropriate means by which to identify error in the generation, presentation and interpretation of scientific data. The Attorney General's use of his power to issue a CID under the provisions of the Virginia [Fraud Against Taxpayers Act] is an inappropriate way to engage with the process of scientific inquiry. Read the whole statement, issued in the name of Faculty Senate Chair Ann B. Hamric, here. (WaPo)
Does Hickman actually not see the difference? Sarah Palin's outrage over hacked emails showcases stunning hypocrisy Former vice-presidential candidate's tormentor may get 20 years - but Palin was happy to make use of leaked UEA emails (Leo Hickman, The Guardian)
Climate Policies Based on Distorted Temperatures A speaker from Natural Resources Canada followed me at a conference on “Global Climate Change: Forest Industry Impacts and Responses.” He was speaking in a section titled, “Science and Climate Change Modeling” presumably providing the official government position. Did the Minister approve his position? Government employees doing research almost guarantees a compromise with science. Worse, they have the entire power of government to impose their views. It is at the heart of the problems with climate science because Maurice Strong promoted the bad science through the bureaucracies of the UN and then weather agencies in every country. Instead of disproving the Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) hypothesis following normal scientific procedure they worked to prove it. The conference tells the story. It was more about dealing with government policies than with the validity of the science on which those policies were based. (Tim Ball, CFP)
APRIL 2010 UAH Global Temperature Update: +0.50 deg. C
The global-average lower tropospheric temperature continues warm: +0.50 deg. C for April, 2010, although it is 0.15 deg. C cooler than last month. The linear trend since 1979 is now +0.14 deg. C per decade. Arctic temps (not shown) continued a 5-month string of much above normal temps (similar to Nov 05 to Mar 06) as the tropics showed signs of retreating from the current El Nino event. Antarctic temperatures were cooler than the long term average. Through the first 120 days of 1998 versus 2010, the average anomaly was +0.655 in 1998, and +0.602 in 2010. These values are within the margin of error in terms of their difference, so the recent global tropospheric warmth associated with the current El Nino has been about the same as that during the peak warmth of the 1997-98 El Nino. As a reminder, two months ago we changed to Version 5.3 of our dataset, which accounts for the mismatch between the average seasonal cycle produced by the older MSU and the newer AMSU instruments. This affects the value of the individual monthly departures, but does not affect the year to year variations, and thus the overall trend remains the same as in Version 5.2. ALSO…we have added the NOAA-18 AMSU to the data processing in v5.3, which provides data since June of 2005. The local observation time of NOAA-18 (now close to 2 p.m., ascending node) is similar to that of NASA’s Aqua satellite (about 1:30 p.m.). The temperature anomalies listed above have changed somewhat as a result of adding NOAA-18. [NOTE: These satellite measurements are not calibrated to surface thermometer data in any way, but instead use on-board redundant precision platinum resistance thermometers (PRTs) carried on the satellite radiometers. The PRT's are individually calibrated in a laboratory before being installed in the instruments.] (Roy W. Spencer)
Kind of, a little bit, maybe... Stream water study detects thawing permafrost ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Among the worrisome environmental effects of global warming is the thawing of Arctic permafrost---soil that normally remains at or below the freezing
point for at least a two-year period and often much longer. Monitoring changes in permafrost is difficult with current methods, but a study by University of Michigan
researchers offers a new approach to assessing the extent of the problem.
Climate Policy ≠ Energy Policy [At Least It Shouldn't!] There continues to be confusion that controls on the emissions of CO2 and other human of greenhouse gases is the main response that is needed with respect to climate policy. That is, if we can control these emissions, we can prevent a dangerous intervention into the climate system. Unfortunately, the climate system is not that simple. The need for a broader perspective was summarized in our paper Pielke Sr., R., K. Beven, G. Brasseur, J. Calvert, M. Chahine, R. Dickerson, D. Entekhabi, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, H. Gupta, V. Gupta, W. Krajewski, E. Philip Krider, W. K.M. Lau, J. McDonnell, W. Rossow, J. Schaake, J. Smith, S. Sorooshian, and E. Wood, 2009: Climate change: The need to consider human forcings besides greenhouse gases. Eos, Vol. 90, No. 45, 10 November 2009, 413. Copyright (2009) American Geophysical Union. where we wrote
In 2008, I discussed the relationship of climate policy with energy policy which I reproduce below [from Roger Pielke Sr.’s Perspective On Adaptation and Mitigation]
The take home message is
The use of a narrow focus on climate (as represented by the emphasis on just one human climate forcing type – CO2 and few other greenhouse gases) as the vehicle to effect energy policy changes is very seriously flawed. [see also the post from yesterday - http://rogerpielkejr.blogspot.com/2010/05/reality-check.html]. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
BP Oil Spill Could Happen Anywhere: Norway An oil spill similar to the one in the Gulf Mexico could easily happen in Norway, said the country's environment minister, while Statoil's chief said the Nordic oil nation
could learn lessons from the accident.
Giant Dome, Fires Aimed At Huge U.S. Oil Spill Workers toiled above and below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday to plug a gushing oil leak and protect the U.S. shoreline in one of the biggest spill
containment efforts ever mounted.
Li Ka-Shing Eyes Israel For Oil-Sands, Water Tech Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa is keen on investing in Israeli technology companies specializing in oil-sands and water technologies, Israel's Finance
Ministry said on Tuesday.
Forget about corruption and cover-up scandals in the energy industry. Europe’s renewable sector is specializing in perjury. They have begun claiming that all of Europe’s fossil fuel needs can be replaced with renewable sources by 2050. [Read More] (Andres Cala, Energy Tribune)
Why Our Current Budget Situation Is a Crisis There is no precedent for reducing the ratio of debt to GDP by simply growing our way out of it.
So what is the VAT anyway? Will it really resolve the deficit?
Stossel: Big Government is Harmful FBN’s John Stossel on the growing control of big government.
Overregulation: As California's pumped-up governator prepares to push a costly cap-and-trade law on the state's manufacturers, CEOs are sending a not-so-subtle message to
him: Your state stinks.
The Use of Title 42 Authority at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: A Letter Report At the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the present letter report evaluates the effectiveness of EPA's Title 42 program. Title 42 authority was
granted to EPA for 5 years, from 2006 to 2011. As that period draws to a close, it was thought that a review of the current program would be appropriate.
Does working nights cause breast cancer? NEW YORK - Whether breast cancer should be labeled as an occupational disease is still unclear, researchers behind a new study from China suggest.
Study shows vitamin A doesn't cut maternal deaths LONDON - Giving vitamin A to women 15 to 45 years old living in poor nations does not cut maternal death rates, scientists said Tuesday in a study that contradicts earlier
research showing a dramatic drop in death rates.
Lack of Sleep in Teen Boys Linked to Obesity Teens might be tempted to stay up late, cramming for an exam or text messaging with friends. But the lack of shut eye could lead to expanding waistlines, particularly for
boys, a new study finds.
Air passengers face a summer of disruption from Icelandic volcano Airline passengers can expect disruption from the volcanic ash cloud throughout the summer, aviation regulators warned yesterday, after continued eruptions in Iceland grounded hundreds of flights once again. (The Times)
Ash could disrupt air travel for a year, says government adviser Air passengers could face further random disruption from volcanic ash in the coming weeks, a Government adviser warned yesterday.
City to cut idling limit to 1 minute 'Should Be Easy'
Eye-roller of the moment: Farmers Cope With Roundup-Resistant Weeds DYERSBURG, Tenn. — For 15 years, Eddie Anderson, a farmer, has been a strict adherent of no-till agriculture, an environmentally friendly technique that all but eliminates
plowing to curb erosion and the harmful runoff of fertilizers and pesticides.
Today’s NYTimes features yet another scare story about industrial chemicals.
Beekeepers turn away from chemical cash deals after safety fears The British Beekeepers’ Association is moving away from cash sponsorship deals with pesticide manufacturers after concerns that the chemicals may be harmful to bees.
Benefits of organic food a 'myth' ORGANIC food does not have greater nutritional value than conventionally grown food, a major University of Sydney study has found.
Organic farming not better for all birds and the bees, say researchers Birds such as the skylark and lapwing are less likely to be found in organic fields than on conventional farms, according to a study that contradicts claims that organic
agriculture is much better for wildlife.
RSPB to convert old landfill sites and shooting ranges into nature reserves The nature reserves of the future will be ‘multifunctional green spaces’ on old landfill sites or round the back of supermarket car parks under RSPB plans to revolutionise wildlife conservation in Britain. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) fear the UK is in danger of becoming a barren urban landscape with a few tiny pockets of wildlife fenced-off in old
fashioned reserves.
Review of the WATERS Network Science Plan One of the most critical issues facing the United States today is the proper management of our water resources. Water availability and quality are changing due to increasing
population, urbanization, and land use and climate change, and shortages in water supply have been increasing in frequency in many parts of the country. The National Science
Foundation (NSF) has entertained the Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network as one possible initiative whereby NSF could provide the advances in the basic
science needed to respond effectively to the challenge of managing water resources.
Falling in popularity, Rudd is accused of pulling a 'mini-Chavez' By Peter Foster This week the increasingly unpopular Australian Labour government of Kevin Rudd announced a new “super profits tax” on the mining industry, starting in 2012. Who couldn’t be in favour of taxing super profits? They sound awfully unfair. But what “super” means to the Ruddites is apparently any return above that of government bonds, which will be dinged at a rate of 40%. If there were ever a definition of punishing risk-taking, this is it. According to the government, the tax will haul in US$11-billion over its first two years. The problem is that it has knocked more than that off the value of mining stocks so far this week. While this doesn’t exactly rank with Canada’s infamous 1980 National Energy Program, which not only hoisted taxes but also set prices and sought to promote Canadian ownership, it comes into the same category of no-consultation, populist, them-and-us, grab-the-windfall, damn-the-consequences political grandstanding. If one were to seek a more recent Canadian parallel, it would be Alberta premier Ed Stelmach’s hoisting of petroleum royalty rates three years ago in the name of “fairness.” We all know what happened next. Investment went elsewhere, the province was hit particularly hard by a drop in oil and gas prices, and two months ago Mr. Stelmach was forced to reverse the decision, thus further imperiling his own tenuous political future. Behind an appeal to “soak the fat cats,” Mr. Rudd’s move is a naked tax grab on behalf of a cash-strapped government. The Australian mining sector has been booming, thanks significantly to buoyant demand from Asia in general and China in particular. Spot iron ore prices in China are up some 70% this year alone, and the value of iron ore exports seems certain to smash the 2008-2009 record of US$34-billion. So what better time for a tax assault backed by suggestions that big mining companies are not “fair dinkum Aussies” anyway?
BHP, which has more than half its activities in Australia, calculates that its tax rate under the proposal would increase from 43% to 57%. Analysts have estimated the super tax could reduce BHP’s earnings by 17% and those of Rio Tinto by 21% by 2013. The proposed hike has already caused one company to halt exploration in Western Australia, and may also endanger U.S.-based Peabody Energy’s bid for Macarthur Coal. According to the government, the tax grab will go to funding “good things,” such as lowering other business taxes, boosting retirement benefits, and building
infrastructure. Significantly, its role in helping pay down the hefty debts piled up in the name of “stimulus” has not been highlighted. Under Mr. Rudd’s floundering
regime, government spending as a percentage of GDP has been rising. The impact of higher taxes is always to reduce economic activity and drive investment to lower-taxed jurisdictions. Indeed, Canada should be a beneficiary of this move. Meanwhile its impact goes beyond mining. It makes all investors more nervous. There are already rumours that the banks might be next. Having announced the tax without negotiation, the government is now delivering mixed messages about whether it might be prepared to negotiate, at least on existing projects. The mining industry has inevitably come out swinging against the new tax and the perverted statistics used to sell it. The government claims it has suffered a US$35 billion tax shortfall during the boom of the past decade. While mining profits have grown by $80-billion, it says, state royalties have increased by “only” $9 billion. But those figures exclude corporate taxes. BHP’s chief executive Marius Kloppers has vigorously refuted the notion of the industry not paying its “fair share.” He pointed out that mining generates more taxes for Australia than any other sector. “Clearly,’ said Mr. Kloppers, “this higher tax will make investing in Australia less attractive and in the end this means less investment and less wealth for all Australians.” Mr. Rudd, however, is far more concerned with his own plummeting popularity and an election later this year. His government has just slipped behind the opposition Coalition in the polls, and his own approval rating has recently taken a nosedive. Mr. Rudd came into office trumpeting climate change as his number one issue but suffered a humiliating defeat when his emissions trading scheme was deep sixed. Again, this was a scheme that would have done only harm to the Australian economy. One critic this week accused Mr. Rudd of pulling a “mini Chavez,” referring to the business-bashing and economy-wrecking president of Venezuela. That may be a bit strong, but Mr. Rudd’s new tax will undoubtedly damage Australia’s reputation. Mr. Rudd has presumably calculated that the spoils -- and the popular appeal -- will be worth the cost. But only to him and his government. (Financial Post)
None other than Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said that one should never let a good crisis to go waste. In that spirit, one ecotard used the Gulf oil crisis to boast that the BP spill will make oil ‘the DDT of our era’. Douglas Brinkley appeared Monday Night on CNN’s AC360 and directly compared BP to DDT. His point is that the public outcry over the Gulf spill will be a catalyst to anti-oil activism much as Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring kick-started radical environmentalism. The transcript (below) contains the full mind-bending logic of equating a bad ecological situation with the green movement’s dirty little secret, the needless deaths of millions of third-world adults and children. I’ll add video if/when it becomes available from CNN. (Daily Bayonet)
by William Griesinger
A hallmark of the “sustainable development” mantra is the notion that business’s pursuit of profit maximization must necessarily lead to environmental degradation and the depletion of “non-renewable resources,” and that such activities must be closely regulated by government. However, this assessment does not square with the historical environmental record of market-based industrial progress and it ignores basic economic concepts. Pierre Desrochers, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Toronto, maintains, “It is unfettered governments that are no friend to the environment.” An expert in economic geography with specialization in the study of the history of technology, Desrochers provides an abundance of historical evidence to substantiate his position. North American and British industrial history is replete with examples of profit maximizing firms practicing “sustainable development” long before the term was in vogue and distorted by modern day environmentalists, he documents. It was through the discipline of free market competition and the profit motive that a lengthy history of “green” innovations were realized, significantly predating the modern environmental movement. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
The loons: The Degrowth Movement Is Growing More than 300 people gathered in Vancouver to envision a healthy society without an expanding economy.
I believe the political stars are aligning right now for the opening of a new front in the battle against our gun rights, via the election and work of an anti-gun president,
the disarmament passions of the Washington elite and the United Nations, the appointments of gun prohibitionists in the White House and Supreme Court, and the funding of an
anti-Second Amendment movement by billionaire progressives, such as George Soros.
If you think that environmentalists are lamenting the Gulf oil spill, think again.
Ezra's on the job: Why isn't Obama talking about climate change? I've been thinking a lot about David Roberts's argument that the administration's response to the Deepwater oil spill shows it's not committed to pushing energy legislation
this year. "If he was looking for an opportunity to drive home the clean energy message, this was it," Roberts writes. "The Katrina of fossil fuels. Yet all he's
done is blandly reaffirm his support for offshore drilling. I haven't heard a word about clean energy alternatives or, God forbid, efficiency, which if pursued seriously could
save more oil than offshore rigs could produce, at a net savings rather than a cost, and with the added bonus feature of not occasionally leaking out and destroying entire
American ecosystems and industries."
Markey panel to address 'deniers' head-on Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will seek to further restore the public credibility of climate science this Thursday by hosting several top American researchers in an explanatory
hearing that, his office promises, "will address the claims of deniers head-on."
Another Oldie But Goodie: Mark Mills 1998 CO2 Compliance Burden Study by Marlo Lewis In the interest of ensuring public access to climate-related documents that may be hard to find, I am posting here the original, June 1998 study by technology analyst Mark P. Mills of the sprawling compliance burdens of EPA regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) as an air pollutant under the Clean Air Act (CAA). The study, entitled A Stunning Regulatory Burden: EPA Designating CO2 As A Pollutant, estimated that applying CAA permitting requirements to CO2 would compel EPA to regulate over 1 million small- and mid-size businesses. In September 2008, Mills and his daughter Portia updated the study for the Chamber of Commerce in a report entitled A Regulatory Burden: The Compliance Dimension of Regulating CO2 as a Pollutant. Although superceded by the later report, the June 1998 report remains highly relevant to the climate policy debate. A Stunning Regulatory Burden was a direct response to the April 1998 Memorandum by then EPA General Counsel Jonathan Z. Cannon asserting EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate CO2 and other greenhouse gases (GHGs). Petitioners in Massachusetts v. EPA partly relied on the Cannon memorandum to press their claim that EPA had a statutory obligation to issue an endangerment finding and regulate GHG emissions from new motor vehicles under Sec. 202 of the Act. Most importantly, the June 1998 Mills study reminds us that EPA had to know all along that a victory for petitioners in Massachusetts v. EPA would dramatically expand its regulatory reach beyond any plausible delegation of regulatory authority from Congress. Yet during all the years when the case was being litigated (Sep. 2004 - April 2007), EPA never pointed out the regulatory ramifications of a victory for petitioners. Only long after losing case, in its Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (July 2008) and Tailoring Rule (October 2009), did EPA acknowledge that the endangerment finding tees up the very sorts of regulatory excesses Mills warned about a decade earlier. The 5-4 majority in Mass v. EPA decided in favor of petitioners partly in the belief that an endangerment finding would not lead to ”extreme measures” (p. 531). But according to the Tailoring Rule, unless EPA “tailors” — that is, amends — the CAA, the endangerment finding will lead inexorably to a host of “absurd results” that conflict with and undermine congressional intent. The question arises: Why didn’t EPA explain this when it really mattered? Why did EPA pull its punches in Mass. v. EPA? Why didn’t EPA make the case that the endangerment finding sought by petitioners would lead a regulatory cascade that Congress never intended and would not approve? I think the answer is obvious. For EPA, losing the Massachusetts case meant gaining the power to regulate fuel economy for the auto industry and, more importantly, the power to determine climate and energy policy for the nation. Strong circumstantial evidence suggests that EPA wanted to be thrown into the greenhouse briar patch all along. (Cooler Heads)
States prepare to rise to CO2 challenge as Senate climate bill collapses Climate proposals due to be unveiled before the Senate would strip 23 US states of their power to act on climate change
Yuks: Cuccinelli urged to rescind subpoena; U-Va. urged to resist it The Union of Concerned Scientists has sent a letter to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, asking him to rescind his demand for documents from the University of Virginia
related to the research of a climate science professor.
Waving Goodbye to the 2°C Threshold: The Post-Copenhagen Reality by Chip Knappenberger If your goal is keeping the earth’s temperature rise below 2°C, the only thing you have left is hope. Hope that the climate sensitivity—how much the global temperature rises from an increase in greenhouse gas concentrations—is far beneath what the climate models calculate it to be. When it comes to trying to use emissions cuts to achieve the 2°C goal, the cat is already out of the bag—maybe not in terms of emissions-to-date, but almost certainly so for emissions-to-come. Such is the conclusion implicit in the recent analysis by Joeri Rogelj and colleagues published in a recent issue of Nature magazine. Rogelj et al. did yeoman’s work in collecting all the varied (non-binding) efforts pledged by all of the various countries of the world to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions under the Copenhagen Accord that came out of last December’s big United Nations Climate Conference. From these pledges (which only extend to the year 2020 and of which Rogelj et al. commented “It is amazing how unambitious these pledges are”), Rogelj and colleagues kludged together a set of emissions pathways into the future. Since some countries had a range of pledges emissions reductions, Rogelj et al. developed both an “optimistic” and a “pessimistic” emissions scenario to the year 2020. What is supposed to happen after 2020 is anybody’s guess. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Australian polls have plummeted, and the credibility gap I mentioned earlier has already translated into votes. Whether people agree or disagree with the Emissions Trading Scheme, no one is impressed when a leader hypes something in the most hyperbolic and inflammatory terms, then bails suddenly, as if it was not a big deal. The front page of The Australian today:
Curiously, while the Labor Party dropped 8%, the Greens primary vote (10%) didn’t pick up a single point. The Coalition (the main opposition) gained just 3% (to 43%), so most of the rest of the disillusioned voters went to “others and independents”. All the commentators are writing it up to the “Climate” issue. It may have taken a long time to come, but eventually things based on bullying and bluster crash to Earth. Both sides of politics could have stood taller in this if they had bothered to get a forum of advocates and skeptics together in the same room (perhaps a Royal Commissioner’s room) to politely explain both sides of the story, and it should have been done in John Howard’s time when Kyoto was being floated. It’s not that they would have necessarily become skeptics, but they would have been informed–they would have realized that very little was as certain as the IPCC described–and that it was precipitously dangerous to base their own reputations on the one-sided propaganda material coming from there. More » (Jo Nova)
Westpac Targets NZ Foresters In Carbon Trade Australia's Westpac bank has begun buying carbon offsets from New Zealand forest owners with the aim of selling them to big polluting firms as part of the country's
emissions trading scheme, the bank said on Tuesday.
<GUFFAW!> From the fantasy realms of "climate models": Researchers find future temperatures could exceed livable limits WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Reasonable worst-case scenarios for global warming could lead to deadly temperatures for humans in coming centuries, according to research findings
from Purdue University and the University of New South Wales, Australia.
Unlocking Secrets from the Ice In a Rapidly Warming Region Earlier this year, climatologist Ellen Mosley-Thompson led an expedition to drill into glacial ice on the Antarctic Peninsula, one of the world’s fastest-warming regions. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Mosley-Thompson explains what the Antarctic ice cores may reveal and describes what it’s like working in the world’s swiftly melting ice zones. (e360)
Witnesses of Earlier Climate Change Tuesday, 04 May 2010 08:53 Alex Reichmuth, Die Weltwoche The retreat of the Alpine glaciers is considered to be dramatic and threatening. Wood and peat findings, however, prove that the Alps were generally greener in recent millennia than today. The results of a scientist’s research are tempering the fears about global warming. Glaciologist Christian Schlüchter was shaken when he first recognized what his own research actually means: "Up to now we were convinced that the Alps always had great ice fields with magnificent glaciers. Now you can see that this picture was wrong.” Switzerland’s glaciers covered less area for at least half the time during the last 10,000 years than they covered in 2005. (via GWPF)
Crumbling, crumbling... Update To Andy Revkin’s Question In 2005: “Is Most Of The Observed Warming Over The Last 50 Years Likely To Have Been Due To The Increase In Greenhouse Gas Concentrations”? In 2005, I posted an answer to Andy Revkin’s question on climate change; Response to Andy Revkin’s Science Question of August 26, 2005
My answer in 2005 started with the text
There is new information, however, that prompts me to update my answer. This is based on insight provided by Roy Spencer, as summarized in his post of April 20 2010 titled The Great Global Warming Blunder: How Mother Nature Fooled the World’s Top Climate Scientists where he presented his new book with the same title published by Encounter Books. The text in his April 20th post that provides this perspective of the natural climate system is
Other colleagues whose studies, in combination, have convinced me of a larger natural variability with respect to global warming and cooling, include as examples, the following papers, blogs and presentations Baldwin, Mark P. and Timothy J. Dunkerton, 2001: Stratospheric Harbingers of Anomalous Weather Regimes. Science 19 October 2001:Vol. 294. no. 5542, pp. 581 – 584 DOI: 10.1126/science.1063315 Posts by Joseph D’Aleo on http://www.icecap.us/ [see http://icecap.us/index.php/go/about-climate-change] Compo, G. P., and P. D. Sardeshmukh, 2009: Oceanic influences on recent continental warming. Climate Dynamics, 32,333-342. [see my post on this paper in 2008] R.S. Lindzen, M.-D. Chou, and A.Y. Hou (2001) Does the Earth have an adaptive infrared iris? Bull. Amer. Met. Soc. 82, 417-432 W. M. Gray, 2009: Climate change: Driven by the ocean – not humans. The Steamboat Institute Conference, Steamboat Springs, Colorado, August 29, 2009. Stephens, Graeme at the August 2009 GEWEX meeting in Melbourne Australia in a talk titled “Earth observations and moist processes”. Sun, D.-Z., Y. Yu, and T. Zhang, 2007: Tropical Water Vapor and Cloud Feedbacks in Climate Models: A Further Assessment Using Coupled Simulations. J. Climate [a powerpoint talk of this research was completed for my class in 2007 Human Impacts on Weather and Climate(see Validating and Understanding Feedbacks in Climate Models). Thompson, D. W. J. and J. M. Wallace, 1998: The Arctic Oscillation signature in the wintertime geopotential height and temperature fields. Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1297-1300. Trenberth, K. E., D. P. Stepaniak, and J. M. Caron 2002: Interannual variations in the atmospheric heat budget J. Geophys. Res., 107, D8, 10.1029/2000JD000297. A.A. Tsonis, K.L. Swanson, and S. Kravtsov, 2007: A new dynamical mechanism for major climate shifts. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L13705, doi:10.1029/ 2007GL030288. A.A. Tsonis and K.L. Swanson, 2006: What do networks have to do with climate? Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. doi:10.1175/BAMS-87-5-585. Marcia Wyatt, Ocean Heat, April 27 & May 4, 2007 in my class on Human Impacts on Weather and Climate [natural climate variability is currently her Ph.d. dissertation topic working with A. Tsonis and S. Kravtsov]. I am also further convinced based on the recognition that there is “missing heat” in the climate system (e.g. see the recent set of posts on this topic starting with this one). The long term variations in atmospheric and ocean circulation features, with resulting global average changes in radiative forcing, can explain at least part of the reason for this “missing heat”. In 2005 I wrote a post What is the Importance to Climate of Heterogeneous Spatial Trends in Tropospheric Temperatures?. Roy’s perspective, bolstered by such colleagues as listed above, provides convincing further evidence that such variations in regional heating and cooling can alter significantly the global average heating more than has been indicated by the IPCC-type multi-decadal global climate model simulations. The solar influence also appears to be larger than was understood in 2005, as illiustrated by these papers Scafetta N., R. C. Willson (2009), ACRIM-gap and TSI trend issue resolved using a surface magnetic flux TSI proxy model, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L05701, doi:10.1029/2008GL036307. Lean, J. L., and D. H. Rind (2009): How Will Earth’s Surface Temperature Change in Future Decades?, The 2010 answer to the question by Andy Revkin
remains NO. The added greenhouse gases from human activity clearly have a role in increasing the heat content of the climate system from what it otherwise would be. However, there are other equally or even more important significant human climate forcings, as I summarized in my 2005 post and in the 2009 article Pielke Sr., R., K. Beven, G. Brasseur, J. Calvert, M. Chahine, R. Dickerson, D. Entekhabi, E. Foufoula-Georgiou, H. Gupta, V. Gupta, W. Krajewski, E. Philip Krider, W. K.M. Lau, J. McDonnell, W. Rossow, J. Schaake, J. Smith, S. Sorooshian, and E. Wood, 2009: Climate change: The need to consider human forcings besides greenhouse gases. Eos, Vol. 90, No. 45, 10 November 2009, 413. Copyright (2009) American Geophysical Union. We now know, however, that the natural variations of atmospheric and ocean circulation features within the climate system produces global average heat changes that are substantially larger than what was known in 2005. The IPCC models have failed to adequately simulate this effect. The answer to Andy’s question from 2005 is an even more clearly No. That is a signficant fraction of the observed warming over the last 50 years is NOT due to the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations”? (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
New Article “Is There A Missing Low Cloud Feedback In Current Climate Models? By Graeme Stephens On October 9 2009 I posted regarding a GEWEX presentation by Graeme Stephens in A published version of his August presentation has appeared in the February 2010 GEWEX Newsletter. It is titled Is There a Missing Low Cloud Feedback in Current Climate Models? The article by Graeme is headlined on the front cover of the Newsletter with the text
The summary of his findings include the text
and
This study further supports the finding that I reported early today that natural radiative forcings and feedbacks are more significant than concluded in the 2007 IPCC assessment. (Roger Pielke Sr, Climate Science)
From CO2 Science Volume 13 Number 18: 5 May 2010 4th International Conference on Climate Change: Editorial: Subject Index Summary: Journal Reviews: Conflict and Climate Change in the Tropical Pacific: How were they related over the past millennium? Carbon Dioxide, Ozone and Soybean Diseases: How are they related? Grassland Root Biomass Response to Atmospheric CO2 Enrichment: How does the response from sub-ambient to ambient CO2 concentrations compare with that from ambient to super-ambient concentrations? Seed Production and Quality in CO2-Enriched Loblolly Pine Trees: How do they compare with analogous seed responses of herbaceous plants? Plant Growth Database Medieval
Warm Period Project
Gulf Oil Spill Is Bad, but How Bad? WASHINGTON — The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is bad — no one would dispute it. But just how bad?
Gulf of Mexico oil spill: Dissent grows on US oil drilling as BP slick spreads A band of US politicians has effectively killed oil companies' hopes that vast swaths of coastline will be opened to new deepwater drilling, amid concerns about BP's
catastrophic spill.
U.S. Oil Spill Hurting Energy Moves In Congress The massive, uncontrolled oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is roiling President Barack Obama's carefully laid plans to open up America's coasts to drilling again, while
rattling Congress to a point where the oil industry's exploratory plans could face a big shake-up.
Shell Not Told To Halt Drilling After BP Oil Spill: CEO Royal Dutch Shell has not been directed to stop Gulf of Mexico oil drillings and it is too early to say what the U.S. government will do about future drillings after a BP
offshore well ruptured two weeks ago, Shell's CEO said on Tuesday.
We’re mastering the oil slick, says BP chief facing flood of lawsuits The British executive at the centre of the Gulf Coast oil disaster hit back yesterday against accusations that BP had reacted too slowly, telling The Times that the company
would have a giant steel hood in place over the worst leak by tomorrow.
Caution Required for Gulf Oil Spill Clean-up With millions of gallons crude oil being spewed into the Gulf of Mexico from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the focus now is on shutting down the leak. However, in the
cleanup efforts to come, “extreme caution” must be exercised so as not to make a bad situation even worse, says a leading bioremediation expert with the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).
Georgia professor patents device that separates bitumen from oil sands Ben de Mayo’s idea for improving oil sands production began with potato chips.
India Feeds Its Hunger for Coal
India is hungry for coal and domestically there is neither the quantity nor the quality to feed the country’s needs. The situation is exacerbated because coal consumption has soared in the construction and power generation sectors. Given ongoing high demand, the problem is expected to become even more pressing. [Read More] (Priyanka Bhardwaj and Michael Economides, Energy Tribune)
Gregor
Macdonald asks the following question: The United States is the second largest consumer of coal in the world. Sitting just behind China, but ahead of India, Japan, Russia, South Africa, and Germany, the US consumes about 560 mtoe of coal each year. (million tons oil equivalent). US coal consumption has been largely flat the past 10 years, as the rest of the world has raced ahead. In 2008, the most recent year for available global coal use data, total world consumption of coal reached 3303.7 mtoe. Thus, the US accounted for nearly 17.00% of total world coal use. Within the US, coal accounts for nearly half (48.7% ) of all power generation. To give up coal completely would be impossibility but let’s imagine for a moment such a circumstance. Question: if the United States stopped using coal today, given current coal consumption trends, how many years would need to pass before the rest of the world (ROW) replaced the lost consumption from the US?Here is his answer, based on the graphs that he presents above: Based on current trends, and using a conservative 4.00% annual growth rate in global coal consumption (when in truth it is currently closer to 4.7 -5.00%), I project that the world could replace 100% of lost US demand in 5 years. The force behind this trend of course is not the 2 billion people in the developed world, but the nearly 5 billion people in the developing world.These numbers suggest that the driving issue behind what is called "climate policy" is really "energy policy." Further, the challenge is not, as many in the rich world would have things, simply about stabilizing concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but doing so while simultaneously and dramatically expanding energy supply around the world, especially among the 5 billion people in what are often called "developing countries." The world faces an energy challenge of enormous magnitude. Climate policy discussions too often ignore or minimize the energy challenge. (H/T FT Energy Source) (Roger Pielke Jr)
Myths Associated with the ‘Smart’ Electrical Grid There is no national "grid." And a "smart" grid will not "vastly improve" electric power generation or efficiency.
Hmm... Unlocking The Promise Of Nuclear Energy Even with modest signs of economic recovery, many Americans in 2010 are focused on the here and now: making a living and surviving the worst recession in decades. But most
also want a better future, including a secure, clean energy future — one that helps our country improve the environment while maintaining its competitive edge. And despite
the other pressing issues at hand, we must take definitive steps in planning for that future today.
Radiation death in India raises nuclear safety concerns NEW DELHI - The radiation-related death of a scrap metal worker has raised concerns over nuclear safety in India, at a time when the Asian power is wooing foreign players to
its $150 billion civilian nuclear market.
Vans, Light Trucks Face Speed Limiters In EU: Draft Vans and light trucks should be fitted with mandatory speed limiters in the European Union to prevent them exceeding 120 km per hour and improve their fuel efficiency,
according to an EU report.
EU rules may mean silent electric cars must make Star Wars noises The vision of tranquil modern cities, with inhabitants gliding by silently in electric cars, may be shattered by European plans to introduce artificial warning sounds to the
new generation of zero-emission vehicles.
French Wind Sector Fears It Will Be Blown Away France could see its nascent wind power sector blown off its feet if amendments to a recent French green law are voted, the renewable energy sector body said.
More Inconvenient Obamacare Truths Last week the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final cost projections for Obamacare, finding that, contrary to White House claims, the legislation will increase national health spending by $311 billion over the next decade and will cause 14 million Americans to lose their current employer-based health coverage. President Barack Obama unleashed his staff to attack Foster’s work. Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer downplayed and criticized Foster’s analysis on the White House website. As Heritage’s Rob Bluey reports this was not the first time the author of the report, Medicare and Medicaid chief actuary Rick Foster, had been attacked by a White House: Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Standing Up To Obamacare: What The States Can Do Due to the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the nation’s health care system is on its way to undergoing a tremendous overhaul. The impact of the implementation process will be felt by all, but state and local governments will play a significant role. As former Heritage senior fellow Dennis Smith writes in a recent paper, “While the White House would like to give the impression that the debate on health care is over, the truth is that it has just begun. Like welfare reform legislation in the past, there are really three phases to reform. An act of Congress is just the first; now reform passes to the state level and eventually to the local level, and it is at the state and local levels that the real impact on the country’s citizens will become apparent.” Continue reading... (The Foundry)
VIDEO: GM Repaid Taxpayers with Tax Dollars
You probably have seen that new General Motors ad were CEO Ed Whitacre claims his company has repaid their taxpayer bailout “in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule.” Don’t believe it for a second. Nick Gillespie explains why in the video to the right. The New York Times is also calling out the Obama administration for signing off on GM’s Enron-style accounting:
Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Development is the new green? We certainly hope so! Turning to Greener Weapons In the Battle Against Malaria Insecticides such as DDT have long been used to combat the scourge of malaria in the developing world. But with the disease parasite becoming increasingly adept at resisting the chemical onslaught, some countries are achieving striking success by eliminating the environmental conditions that give rise to malarial mosquitoes. (Sonia Shah, e360)
Mission Creep Causes Amnesty International to Lose Focus Charities have bureaucratic imperatives to grow, and they do so by moral imperialism. Amnesty is no exception.
Dopey buggers are at it again: NRDC releases new atrazine report today For our new 2010 report on atrazine water contamination, I have reviewed the studies on the environmental impacts and health effects of atrazine and many other agriculture chemicals. The findings confirm our 2009 report that showed widespread water contamination, but also provide a summary of the new science showing harmful impacts from atrazine. I have included studies of wildlife, of lab science, and of human epidemiology. The evidence just keeps growing. Atrazine shouldn’t be in our rivers, streams, or tap water. (Press Release)
Dispatch: Re-re-evaluating Atrazine An editorial in today’s Wall Street Journal notes, “With the headlines full
of oil spills and immigration, the Obama Administration's regulatory agenda is getting little attention. That's a mistake. Consider the Environmental Protection Agency's effort
to revive an assault on atrazine, one of the oldest, most well-established agricultural chemicals on the market. Just this past week, the EPA held its third ‘re-evaluation’
hearing on atrazine.”
What about fixing those Chinese drywall-contaminated houses? I was down in Florida last week, where the subject of Chinese drywall is never far from anyone's thoughts. Outside the Sunshine State, though, media coverage has been a bit spotty, for two reasons: The victim group is wrong, being comprised mostly of middle class white people; and the extent of this environmental and financial disaster has proven (if such proof were even needed these days) that the Feds are far better at collecting tax revenue than actually solving the problems these tax dollars are supposed to solve. Upwards of 60,000 homes are affected in Florida alone, with one of the hardest hit cities being Cape Coral. I spent three days there last week to observe the situation first hand. For most of the trip, I tagged along with Michael Foreman of Foreman and Associates, the state's leading purveyor of remediation for Chinese drywall problems. Given that Florida is already home to countless scam artists, there are probably hundreds offering a panacea to this problem. Let me assure you: Foreman is the real deal, and he's racking up the successfully treated homes to prove it. Remediation consists of removing all the drywall, insulation, wiring, ducting, and furring strips, cleaning the place up, and then treating all remaining surfaces with a proprietary chlorine dioxide solution from AbissoCleanse, Inc. After this treatment, core samples are taken from block and wood, and only after these pass muster does reconstruction of the house begin. This is all good news, but it is overshadowed somewhat by the fact that so far, anyone who wants to clean up his tainted house is doing it on his own dime. That's right. Currently, there is no help whatsoever for those poor souls, who—through no fault of their own—got stuck with a contaminated house. Foreman and others are working to change this. Thousands are hoping that they will succeed. Check out my HND article, that covers this in more detail. (Shaw's Eco-Logic)
Krugman loves pollution as a social engineering tool: BP oil spill: A very visible disaster If Obama can seize the moment, this oil spill could help reverse the slide of US environmentalism
But: Obama's Katrina Media Bias: As the Gulf Coast faced ecological disaster, the president yukked it up with White House correspondents. His Saturday radio address didn't even mention the oil
spill. President Bush, call your office.
“Taxing the Heart out of Australia.” The Carbon Sense Coalition today claimed that the Rudd Resource tax was just another in a long line of taxes helping to depopulate rural Australia.
Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies did not survive the winter
UN: No comprehensive climate deal this year KOENIGSWINTER, Germany (AP) — Outgoing U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer shot down expectations of a climate treaty this year, saying Monday that a major U.N. conference in
December would yield only a "first answer" on curbing greenhouse gases.
Kyoto Risks Collapse; U.N. Urges Government Action Governments must confront risks that the U.N.'s Kyoto Protocol for fighting climate change will collapse because of splits about a successor treaty, the U.N.'s top climate official said on Monday. (Reuters)
Interacademies panel announced H/T to Marcel Crok, who has noted the announcement of the Interacademies Panel, the group appointed by the UN to look at management and organisational issues at the IPCC in the wake of Climategate. There is a dedicated website for the review here. Click to read more ... (Bishop Hill)
State attorney general demands ex-professor's files from University of Virginia RICHMOND -- Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II is demanding that the University of Virginia turn over a broad range of documents from a former professor to
determine whether he defrauded taxpayers as he sought grants for global warming research.
Virginia vs Michael Mann: Ken Cuccinelli is right Virginia
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has begun an investigation of Michael Mann who was working at University of Virginia between 1999 and 2005 - right after he became famous
for the his main "brainchild", the hockey stick graph - and who has received a substantial amount of the public money as a result of his hockey stick graph claims. » Don't Stop Reading » (The Reference Frame)
Thanks to Glenn Beck, we get bit more insight into the tangled web that The House of Global Warming was built on. Who would have thought? Goldman Sachs has been working hard to save the environment for years. Generation Investment Management (GIM) was founded by Al Gore, and a few friends, which included David Blood (former Goldman executive), Mark Ferguson (Goldman) and Peter Harris (Goldman). They are the fifth largest shareholder in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX). Then in 2006, when the CCX needed some extra funding, who should step up to buy 10% of the company – Goldman Sachs. CCX is an exchange that won’t be doing a heck of a lot if carbon trading doesn’t become mandatory. All of these players have a vested interest in Cap N Trade legislation. More » (Jo Nova)
Goldman & Gore cash out of CCX? ICE buys Chicago Climate Exchange An Atlanta-based competitor to CME Group Inc. said Friday it has agreed to pay $604 million for Climate Exchange PLC, the London-based operator of the Chicago Climate
Exchange and Chicago Climate Futures Exchange -- pioneers in emissions trading. The deal by IntercontinentalExchange, known as ICE, also includes the European Climate Exchange.
Dr Rajendra Pachauri and the IPCC - No Fossil Fool Written by Dennis Ambler Monday, 03 May 2010 11:40 Much has been written over recent months about the enigmatic Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, (IPCC), Dr Rajendra K Pachauri. He has been labeled a crook and a fraudster by some, because of his extensive interests in companies that stand to benefit from carbon trading, but those searching for direct and actionable evidence of wrong-doing will be disappointed. What they will find is someone who has used his position as IPCC Chairman to attract major funding to his own organization, The Energy and Resources Institute2 (TERI), known previously (and concurrently by some), as the Tata Energy Research Institute. Read more... (SPPI)
No change at the Royal Society Under the leadership of Lord Rees, the Royal Society's reputation has sunk dramatically, with this once august body now widely seen as a political body and a surrogate arm of the government, more interested in the next tranche of funding than truth. Their role in Lord Oxburgh's whitewashing may well hang over them for a long time to come. Click to read more ... (Bishop Hill)
Lots of Ice—But No Media Coverage The global warming crusade was delighted to report that the Great Lakes ice cover from the late 1990s to the mid-to-late 2000s was much lower than normal. The reason?
Clearly the ongoing buildup of greenhouse gases. Now, however, they are troubled and keeping quiet. The reason is that the “Great Lakes experienced extensive ice cover during
the 2008-2009 winter.
Lawrence Solomon: Arctic ice sets records in April, could auger global cooling The Arctic ice set 30 records in April, one for each day. According to satellite data received by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, the Arctic was more ice bound each day of April than it had been any other corresponding day in April since its sensors began tracking the extent of Arctic Ice in mid 2002. Click here to see this tracking on the Japan Aerospace website, run jointly with the International Arctic Research Center. While Arctic ice has always varied greatly, expanding and contracting during the course of a year and also from year to year and decade to decade, the expansion of the Arctic ice this decade is significant in one respect: It acts to disprove the models that had predicted that the Arctic ice in this century would not recover as it had in previous centuries. The expansion of the Arctic ice also acts to support a growing number of reports that Earth could be in for a period of global cooling. In one recent example, on April 14 New Scientist in an article entitled “Quiet Sun Puts Europe on Ice” warned its readers as follows: “BRACE yourself for more winters like the last one, northern Europe. Freezing conditions could become more likely: winter temperatures may even plummet to depths last seen at the end of the 17th century, a time known as the Little Ice Age. That's the message from a new study that identifies a compelling link between solar activity and winter temperatures in northern Europe.” New Scientist, a widely respected magazine that until recently had blamed human activity for the global warming, is now advising its readers that climate scientists may have had their blinders on in ignoring a dominant role for the Sun. New research, the article explains, “is helping to overcome a long-standing reticence among climate scientists to tackle the influence of solar cycles on the climate and weather.” The new study that New Scientist refers to, which appears in Environmental Research Letters, a journal of the Institute of Physics, is entitled “Are cold winters in Europe associated with low solar activity?” (Financial Post)
Species Safe Even If World Warms, By: Dennis T. Avery Churchville, VA—Biologists are again predicting massive species losses as the world warms. But where are the corpses? There have been few findings of extinctions among
continental bird and mammal species over the past 500 years. The species extinctions have been virtually all on islands, as humans have brought such alien predators as rats,
cats, and Canadian thistles to places where they had no natural enemies.
Eye-roller: CO2 effects on plants increases global warming Palo Alto, CA— Trees and other plants help keep the planet cool, but rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are turning down this global air conditioner.
According to a new study by researchers at the Carnegie Institution for Science, in some regions more than a quarter of the warming from increased carbon dioxide is due to its
direct impact on vegetation. This warming is in addition to carbon dioxide's better-known effect as a heat-trapping greenhouse gas. For scientists trying to predict global
climate change in the coming century, the study underscores the importance of including plants in their climate models.
Dying Shell Fish Larvae: The Story of a Scam Written by Dennis Ambler Monday, 03 May 2010 13:28 Jane Lubchenco, NOAA Administrator, is keen to expand her role, get more funding and enlarge her organization. She sees “Acid Seas” as a suitable vehicle and has given interviews claiming that the oceans are becoming more acidic and “threatening much of the life in the oceans.” Read more... (SPPI)
Oh dear... NASA, Purdue study offers recipe for global warming-free industrial materials WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Let a bunch of fluorine atoms get together in the molecules of a chemical compound, and they're like a heavy metal band at a chamber music festival.
They tend to dominate the proceedings and not always for the better.
Sigh... Scripps researchers outline strategy to limit global warming Fulfilling Copenhagen Accord will require variety of efforts ranging from 'Herculean' to the readily actionable, scientists say Major greenhouse gas-emitting countries agreed in December climate talks held in Copenhagen that substantial action is required to limit the increase of global average
temperature to less than 2 degrees C (3.6 degrees F).
Review of Mike Smith’s Book “Warnings” – A Truely Exceptional Contribution To Meteorology About two weeks ago I was sent a copy of the book Warnings: The True Story of How Science Tamed the Weather by Mike Smith (Hardcover – May 1, 2010) [Mike's weblog is http://www.mikesmithenterprises.com/blog.cfm]. I was asked to review, and, as a courtesy to a professional colleague, I agreed to do that. I did not expect, however, that I would be riveted to such a truly outstanding contribution to the history of meteorology! His autobiographical discussion of his experiences, as well as others, with tornados, microbursts from severe thunderstorms, and hurricanes, and the development of improvements in the monitoring and dissemination of their threats that the public and commerce face with this weather feature is as interesting as the best fiction novel! He presents the plot, provides the (real world) characters, and builds each story in the book to its climax event, whether it is a tornado, a microburst or a hurricane. After reading, you learn quite a bit about not only the science of forecasting, but also the people who were involved. Mike also candidly illustrates serious issues with bureaucratic involvement with the development of the improvements in forecasting and the distribution of weather information, including examples from the National Weather Service, the Air Force, Federal Emergency Management Agency and others. He presents an effective, and very well written, evolution of how the work of the National Weather Service, private corporations and others has prevented thousands of deaths. Ted Fujita (who I was also fortunate enough to know also) was appropriately recognized for his seminal contributions to severe thunderstorm knowledge. The Greensburg, Kansas tornado of 2007 is presented at the end of the book to illustrate how far the meteorological community has come in alerting us to the deadly threat of F4 and F5 tornadoes. Mike was (and remains) a major contributor to why we have made so many improvements to severe thunderstorm forecasting and why so many lives have been saved. I highly recommend this exceptional book. (Climate Science)
Touched a nerve? Massive capacity for CO2 storage exists in the UK We are sure that carbon capture and storage can stall the effects of climate change
Uh-oh... Carbon dioxide capture and cancer. Full stop at Mongstad This is a guest post by Geir Hasnes. In 2006, the Norwegian government embarked on the world’s most ambitious carbon capture project – a system that would capture the CO2 produced at gas-fired power stations. The system had a projected cost of 27 billion NoK, roughly equivalent to US$5 billion. The two power stations concerned are situated at Mongstad near Bergen on the west coast and Kårstø, somewhat further to the south. Mongstad had been chosen as the starting point. Click to read more ... (Bishop Hill)
Michael McCarthy: So far BP has said the right words – but its actions will be measured now BP's statement yesterday obeyed PR rule No.1 for a firm which, directly or not, has outraged the public: don't quibble (The Independent)
BP Moves to Fix a Leak as Obama Warns of Damage NEW ORLEANS — BP prepared Monday to install a shutoff valve on one of three leaks gushing from an oil spill off the coast of New Orleans, in a bid to stem what President Obama called a "potentially unprecedented environmental disaster." (NYT)
BP Reels As Spill Advances, Fallout Widens Energy giant BP Plc was under siege on Monday over the catastrophic oil spill from its ruptured Gulf of Mexico well, as its shares fell and the U.S. government pressed it to
try to limit a major environmental disaster.
Hmm... They wait for oil. But the sea brings death instead A dead sea turtle lies on a beach in the small town of Pass Christian, Mississippi, approximately 55 miles east of New Orleans. Twenty dead turtles were washed up on beaches
in the state at the weekend. Five of the seven species of sea turtle live in the Gulf of Mexico ? leatherback, hawksbill, green, loggerhead and Kemp's ridley. All are
threatened or endangered.
Terence Corcoran: Why BP should pay spill’s full cost Short of outright prohibition, the most effective accident-prevention mechanism is to enforce property rights and make sure that companies know in advance and under law that they are fully and directly responsible for whatever havoc their activities cause By Terence Corcoran By some merciful force or just good luck, the giant BP oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday remained the greatest environmental disaster that hasn’t happened.
Fishing banned in Gulf of Mexico for 10 days The US government has banned for 10 days all commercial and recreational fishing in parts of the Gulf of Mexico due to health risks from the massive crude oil spill. (TDT)
Obama Says Oil Drilling Must Be Done Responsibly President Barack Obama said on Friday that domestic oil drilling remains an important part of energy policy and is important to U.S. security, but must be done responsibly.
Oil Spill: Focus on Containment, Clean Up, Causation The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is an unfortunate and terrible accident that poses economic and environmental challenges to the Gulf coast. The fact that the explosion took eleven lives is regrettable and condolences to friends and families who lost their loved ones. Many questions are yet without answers; the most general and pressing being: what went wrong? Along with stopping the leak and containing the oil slick to minimize, the imperative concern is to figure out what went wrong. There will be lots of finger pointing and calls for action but Members of Congress and the White House should refrain from making any rash political decisions. Despite accusations that BP cut corners on preventative measures, BP America Inc. President Lamar McKay maintains that’s not the case saying, “My belief is that that does not have anything to do with it. I believe we’ve got a failed piece of equipment. We don’t know why it failed yet in this contracted rig.” Whether that’s the case remains to be seen and will require a thorough investigation. The company is spending $6 million a day to reduce the environmental impact with burnoffs, oil booms, chemical-filled barriers and other dispersant chemicals and is attempting to activate the blowout prevention mechanism that was supposed to go into effect when the rig exploded. Answering this question must be at the top of the priority list. After the “what happened and why” questions follow the “who’s to blame” ones. The obvious responsible party is BP and the company has vowed to pay for the clean up costs for “legitimate and objectively verifiable claims for other loss and damage caused by the spill.” This should include reimbursing the taxpayers for government resources allocated towards the problem, which thus far includes the Coast Guard, the Navy, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Minerals Management Services. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
by Richard W. Fulmer April saw two devastating disasters in the energy industry: a methane explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, West Virginia that claimed 29 lives, and another explosion at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which took 11 more. The latter incident, because of the tens of thousands of gallons of oil now pouring from the ocean floor each day, will impact the Gulf region for years if not for decades to come. These tragedies are a terrible reminder of the trial-and-error nature of life. Humans have accomplished many wonders over the millennia – wonders that ended the vicious cycle of crushing poverty that has been mankind’s lot throughout most of history. But these accomplishments have often come at a very high price. Because it is in our nature to strive to better our condition and that of our children, life will never be without risk. As terrible as the consequences of failure can be, it brings with it the seeds of hope. Hope that we can learn from our mistakes and, if not succeed next time, at least not fail in the same way. From such tragic lessons come knowledge and strength. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Factually Incorrect With Bill Maher
During the weekly round table discussion on ABC’s This Week, Bill Maher made an astonishing claim. He claimed that Brazil has “gone off oil” in the last 30 years. He said:
Well, Mr. Maher certainly has an odd view of what constitutes “getting off oil” because according to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Brazil is the 13th largest producer of oil in the world, pumping out 2.4 million barrels a day. A lot of Brazil’s oil comes from offshore drilling sites. Since the discovery of the offshore oil in 2008, Brazil has aggressively tried to extract that oil. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Energy innovation needs investment, not taxation Few issues currently before Congress are more hotly debated and critical to the future health or our economy than climate change legislation.
UK expects to win reprieve on EU emissions plans Lobbying by Britain looks set to have secured a key concession in EU plans to cut power station emissions due to be voted through the European Parliament this week.
An average US citizen or corporate entity who kills an endangered animal can be in big trouble with the law. Birds, eagles in particular, are zealously protected by nature lovers in America and around the world. Yet a July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, California, estimated that an average of 80 golden eagles were killed there by wind turbines each year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, estimated that about 10,000 other protected birds were being killed along with the eagles every year at Altamont. Where is the outrage over this slaughter? It would seem ecologists have a blind spot when it comes to the wind energy industry. As a result, the carnage caused by wind turbines, the “Cuisinarts of the Air,” is getting greenwashed. And birds are not the only creatures wind turbines kill—they kill bats and people as well. In the US, birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. Over the past two decades, the federal government has brought hundreds of cases against energy companies for killing wild birds in the operation of their businesses. For example, in July 2009, the Oregon based electric utility PacifiCorp paid $1.4 million in fines for killing 232 eagles in Wyoming over a period of two years. The birds were electrocuted by poorly-designed power lines. At the same time, wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds each year yet their owners are not being prosecuted. While the total number of birds killed in the US each year fluctuates, Michael Fry of the American Bird Conservancy estimates that US wind turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds per year. Yet the Justice Department is not bringing cases against wind companies. “Somebody has given the wind industry a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Fry said, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “If there were even one prosecution,” he added, the wind industry would be forced to take the issue seriously (see “Windmills Are Killing Our Birds”). A dead white-tailed eagle killed in the Smøla wind-farm, off the Norwegian coast. Photo Espen Lie Dahl. According to the American Wind Energy Association, each megawatt of installed wind-power results in the killing of between one and six birds each year. If environmentalists, lobby groups and some government officials have their way, the U.S. will be producing 20% of its electricity from wind by 2030. Meeting that goal will require about 300,000 megawatts of wind capacity, a 12-fold increase over 2008 levels, according to the DOE. If that target is achieved, at least 300,000 birds will be killed each year by wind turbines. Even so, wildlife enforcement officials do not expect to see any prosecutions of the politically correct wind industry. America isn't alone in creating avian carnage, people across Europe have started to take notice of the true cost of “environmentally friendly” wind power. An energy company has admitted that endangered Red Kites are at significant risk from its planned new wind farm complex in South Wales. Other reports place the kestrel and plover in danger from wind turbines as well. Martina Carrete, and colleagues from the Doñana Biological Station in Seville, recorded the number of Egyptian vulture carcasses with collision injuries found around 675 wind turbines in southern Spain between 2004 and 2008. Using a computer model containing information about turbine locations and nesting sites, the researchers estimate the rare Egyptian vulture will go extinct ten years sooner than expected, even if no more wind farms are built in Spain. The Spanish conservation group, Gurelur, places the current yearly damage at 409 vultures, 432 birds of prey, 671 bats and 6152 other bird species. While some experts have downplayed the danger to birds it seems that bats are taking a greater hit—often in a literal sense. Bats, being a rather unloved species compared to birds, do not seem to carry as much weight with the eco-conscious. Two separate sets of researchers have reported two different ways that wind farms, with their rotating turbine blades, are dangerous, even deadly to bats. One report shows that bats, with their amazing flying and hunting abilities, are none the less being struck down by slashing turbine blades. It is hard to believe that these adept, acoustic radar-equipped flying mammals simply fly into the blades, but a surprising number of bats are being killed by wind turbine farms. A study was prompted by recent finding that forest-dwelling bats are often found dead beneath operating wind turbines at wind energy facilities. Thermal infrared video cameras were used to record the flight behavior of bats at night near these turbines in an attempt to understand the cause of these fatalities. Quoting from the study report:
This followed previous research that showed that bats can have their lungs ruptured from the sudden low pressure of passing turbine blades: the bats are actually drowning in mid-air. It is not necessary for the bats to collide with the turbines, bats don't even need to come in physical contact with the turbine blades. A blade passing close by is enough to be fatal—an unexpected hazard that was previously unsuspected. For more on the bat deaths, including infrared video footage, see “Wind Turbines Spread While Bats Take Beating.” Earlier this year, Judge Roger W. Titus of the US District Court of Maryland has “reluctantly” enjoined construction of a West Virginia wind farm under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect the Indiana bat. “Like death and taxes, there is a virtual certainty that Indiana bats will be harmed, wounded, or killed imminently by the Beech Ridge Project,” Titus wrote in a 74-page opinion. “The development of wind energy can and should be encouraged, but wind turbines must be good neighbors.” The threatened Indiana bat halted construction of a wind farm. Wind power projects in a large part of the US may now need to add Fish and Wildlife Service permits to development financing and cost estimates. Greens may be about to do to wind power what they have previously done to the nuclear industry, creating red tape and legal barriers to green energy deployment. It seems that some greens oppose any energy project supporting the “unsustainable” Western lifestyle. Wind power, like every other source of power, has its hazards and negative effects on nature. There is no free lunch, ecologically speaking. Every action by man—or any other species for that matter—affects the environment in some way. We are all for wind power where it is appropriate and can operate economically. If appropriate means not along known bird migration routes, near nesting sites or areas with a lot of bat activity the potential for wind power may be a lot smaller than even moderate estimates. It may, however, be impossible to avoid the impact widespread use of wind power could have on the environment. Analysis from MIT researchers suggests generating electricity from large-scale wind farms could influence climate—and not necessarily in the desired way. Scientists have discovered that directly interfering with wind on a sufficiently large scale affects the climate of the atmosphere. In a paper published online February 22, 2010, in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, MIT researchers Chien Wang and Ronald Prinn suggest that using wind turbines to meet 10% of global energy demand in 2100 could cause temperatures to rise by 1°C in regions where land based wind farms are installed, with a smaller increase in surrounding areas. Their analysis indicates the opposite result for wind turbines installed in water: a drop in temperatures by 1°C over those regions. According to the paper:
What the true impact of widespread, large scale wind turbine deployment will be is uncertain. What is certain is that the environment will be affected. The MIT researchers also suggest that the intermittency of wind power could require significant and costly backup options, such as natural gas-fired power plants. For more information about the reliability of wind power and the costs associated with its intermittency, see my previous post, “Energy Answer Not Blowin' In The Wind.” An Ill Breeze In January 2008, two giant Vestas wind turbines in the UK collapsed within weeks of each other. An executive from Vestas Wind Systems gave reassurances after it emerged that one of its turbines had fallen in Scotland just weeks before an incident near Caldbeck in Cumbria. The global manufacturer has produced about 35,000 turbines since being formed in the 1970s. These were the first such incidents in the 29-year history of wind energy in the UK, and have prompted safety fears to be raised by anti-windfarm campaigners. This, and similar incidents around the world have raised questions regarding the safety and durability of wind turbines. Wind power is usually thought of as being totally safe and benign, not a source of industrial accidents or even death. The truth is rather startling: since the 1970s there have been 482 reported accidents resulting in 49 deaths. Of the known deaths, 35 were wind industry workers—installers, maintenance engineers, etc—and one farmer attempting to maintain his own turbine. The most common cause is falling from turbines. Working on wind turbines is a dangerous profession. It begins with a climb up the supporting tower, as much as 300 ft (90 m) straight up. A fit maintenance worker can make the climb from ground to turbine in perhaps five minutes. Wind turbine failure in Cumbria, UK. Source CLOUD. At the top awaits a room the size of a small bus, filled with a large generator, motors, gears and electronics. A typical turbine contains 8,000 parts, and the largest models can generate 3 MW of electricity. The turbine technician works in a cramped space, filled with complicated machinery and high voltage circuitry. A gentle wind at ground level can be a near gale 27 stories above the surface. Like a ship at sea, the top of a wind turbine can sway from side to side, with the generator housing constantly shifting to keep its blades facing into the wind. Under strong winds, technicians have been known to vomit. In all, not a job for the weak or faint of heart. Outside of wind industry workers, there were 14 public fatalities reported over the past four decades, three of which were from road accidents attributed by police to drivers being distracted by the turbines. One was from a road accident collision with a turbine transporter in which a driver was killed, while in another, the road collapsed and a transport driver drowned. Among the stranger circumstances was an aircraft accident where a pilot flew into a new, unmarked anemometer (a device used for measuring wind speed) that was mounted atop a turbine. Four people died in another aircraft accident when a plane collided with a turbine in fog. A 16-year old boy strangled after his necktie became tangled around an unprotected turbine shaft and a farmer killed himself because of public opposition to his proposed wind turbines. Perhaps the strangest incident of all was when a German skydiver drifted into an operating wind turbine on her first unassisted jump. In doing so she became the first woman killed by wind energy. A further nineteen accidents resulting in human injury are documented. Thirteen accidents involved wind industry or construction workers, and a further five involved members of the public: one lost a leg in a transport accident, one was hit by thrown ice, one suffered spinal injuries from a falling turbine part, one fell from 100 m tower during an accompanied visit, and another flew his aircraft into a wind farm site. One 2003 accident resulted in two industry workers receiving appalling burns. By far the largest number of incidents are due to blade failure. Blade failure can arise from a number of possible sources, and results in either whole blades or pieces of blade being thrown from the turbine. A total of 122 separate incidents have been documented. Pieces of blade are known to have landed over 1300 feet (400 m) from the turbine. Most of these were from older turbines that are much smaller than those being built today. Short circuits, friction or lightening strikes can cause wind turbines to go up in flames. Photo Der Spiegel/DPA. In Germany, blade pieces have gone through the roofs and walls of nearby buildings. Safety experts believe that there should be a minimum distance of at least 3000 ft (1 km) between turbines and occupied housing. European countries mandate at least 6500 ft (2 km) in order to address other problems such as noise. Surprisingly, fire is the second most common accident cause in incidents found. Fire can arise from a number of sources and some turbine types seem more prone to fire than others. The biggest problem with turbine fires is that, because of the turbine height, the fire brigade can do little but watch it burn itself out. While this may be acceptable in reasonably still conditions, in a storm it means burning debris being scattered over a wide area, with obvious consequences. In dry weather there is obviously a wider-area fire risk, especially for those constructed in or close to forest areas and/or close to housing. A total of 104 fire incidents have been reported. Structural failure, like the incident in Cumbria, is the third most common accident cause, with 58 reported instances. Structural failure implies major component failure under conditions which the turbine should be designed to withstand. This mainly occurs during storms, which can damage turbines and even cause tower collapse. Dramatic footage was captured of a Danish wind turbine collapsing during a storm in February, 2008. The blades and generator housing practically exploded under the strain. While structural failure is far more damaging than blade failure, the accident consequences and risks to human health are most likely lower, as risks are confined to within a relatively short distance from the turbine. However, as smaller turbines are now being placed on and around buildings, including schools, the accident frequency is expected to rise. A related type of incident is ice being thrown from the rotating blades, with distances of up to 450 ft (140 m) being reported. Aftermath of Danish wind turbine structural failure. The wind power industry is fond of showing tranquil scenes with contented cows munching grass underneath soaring turbine blades in a wind park. Little did we know that the cows were in such danger. Being an engineer as well as a scientist, I accept that humans will have an impact on nature and other living things. What I cannot abide are those sanctimonious, greener-than-thou conservationists who are mindlessly devoted to “green power” while becoming apoplectic at the mention of building new nuclear power plants. I am all for clean energy, but only if it is safe energy. So let's be realistic here, birds and bats do not get hacked from the air by nuke plants. And I know from personal experience, living on Chesapeake Bay near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, that fish love the warm water outlets from such installations. Over the past 40 years there have been more deaths attributed to wind power than to nuclear power, yet nuclear power is the one always called “unsafe” by conservationists. It's time to grow up children—if you want to save the birds, the bats and the humans, embrace the power of the atom. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. Green energy done right, the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. [ Note: most of the information presented in this post was taken directly from our new book, The Energy Gap. Look for The Energy Gap on Amazon later in May, 2010. ] (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Constitution Offers No Haven to ObamaCare’s Individual Mandate Posted by Michael F. Cannon With multiple lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of ObamaCare’s “individual mandate,” the law’s backers have proffered two principal arguments in its defense. First, they claim that Congress has the power to require U.S. residents to purchase health insurance under the Constitution’s grant of power “to regulate Commerce…among the several States.” Second, they claim the measure is authorized by the taxing power. Regarding the commerce power, Cato senior fellow Randy Barnett explains in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal:
Barnett also explains that the text of the law precludes ObamaCare’s defenders from claiming that the individual mandate is authorized by the taxing power. The individual mandate defines a minimum level of coverage and then imposes a penalty on people who do not purchase such coverage. Barnett notes that the law invokes the commerce power (not the taxing power) to justify the mandate, and refers to the penalty for non-compliance as a “penalty” (not a tax):
At National Review Online, Cato chairman Bob Levy explains, “even if the penalty for noncompliance is deemed to be a tax rather than a fine, it does not meet the constitutional requirements for income, excise, or direct taxes,” and would be an unconstitutional tax. That leaves ObamaCare’s supporters to defend the individual mandate as an (unprecedented) use of the commerce power. Barnett writes:
Levy concludes, “Legal refinements aside, the insurance mandate is an affront to personal liberty that will exacerbate our health-care problems. For those who care, it’s unconstitutional as well.” (Cato at liberty)
The Debt Commission and Obamacare The president’s debt commission had its first meeting this week, and all of the talk was of getting serious about putting our fiscal house in order, with everything “on the table” for consideration. There’s no arguing with the need to get serious. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), if the Obama budget were adopted in full, just the interest on the national debt would exceed $900 billion in 2020 and consume one out of every five dollars in federal revenue. To put that in perspective, in 2007, before the financial crisis hit with full force, interest payments on debt stood at $237 billion, or just 9 percent of total tax collections. A sudden and steep rise in the percentage of governmental revenue dedicated to servicing past excess consumption is a clear warning sign to lenders and credit-rating agencies that a country’s finances are approaching the point of no return. Unfortunately, the timeline for taking corrective action may have shortened even in the past few weeks and days. What began as a slow-motion crumble of Greece’s economic house of cards is now threatening to become a serious global crisis. The flight from sovereign debt risk is now spreading to other vulnerable, highly leveraged countries, including Portugal, Ireland, and Spain. The implications for European economic recovery are ominous. And, if Europe’s economy slides backward again into a deep recession, no part of the global economy will be completely spared from the fallout, including the United States. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Europe's Bad Example On Science Policy Tens of thousands of flights were canceled in the Icelandic volcano scare, stranding millions and costing airlines almost $2 billion — proof of Europe's obsession with the
"precautionary principle."
The EPA opens a re-re-evaulation of a safe chemical.
The aftermath of the unintended acceleration hearings involving Toyota is moving to the front burner again as lawmakers are proposing legislation that would increase auto safety regulations to address all potential sources of unintended acceleration. The bill would also increase the budget of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well increase the maximum financial penalty Congress could impose on an automaker. Draft legislation titled The Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 2010 has been introduced in the House by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.). The Los Angeles Times reports that: “The bill is likely to face opposition from automakers, in particular over a provision that would remove the existing $16.4-million cap on civil penalties against vehicle manufacturers for violations of safety laws and boost the fine for each violation to $25,000, from the current $6,000. It would create a new tax of $9 per new vehicle after three years, payable by the manufacturer, to help fund NHTSA and some of the new requirements of the law. The tax could raise more than $100 million a year based on current sales figures. Continue reading... (The Foundry)
Lawrence Solomon: Shake that salt The sodium-is-dangerous theory is itself a danger By Lawrence Solomon Are you worried about congestive heart failure? Liver or kidney failure? Chronic fatigue? Pneumonia? Blood vessel health? Alzheimer’s or the loss of other cognitive
abilities? Do you experience muscle cramps or have high cholesterol? Perhaps you suffer from Gitelman’s syndrome or Type-2 diabetes, low libido or insomnia. Maybe your
glucose metabolism isn’t what it should be. We hear a lot from governments about the dangers to our health of consuming sodium. Governments are also subjecting us to an increasing array of sodium-related regulations, much of it geared to protecting those suffering from hypertension, a condition associated with heart attacks. This sodium-is-dangerous theory (it is only a theory because no proof for it has yet materialized) is credible and worth considering. But before the government’s regulatory apparatus expands, it and we should consider the far-reaching danger in cutting back on our salt, a danger that — ironically — fully applies to those who suffer from hypertension. Click here to read more... (Financial Post)
Spouses likely to share kidney disease NEW YORK - Spouses of patients on dialysis are likely to have chronic kidney disease themselves and should be screened for it, Taiwanese researchers reported on Friday.
Hmm... Sun-shy mothers may raise MS risk in babies: study HONG KONG - Children whose mothers had low exposure to sunlight during their first three months of pregnancy may have a higher risk of developing multiple sclerosis later in
life, a study in Australia has found.
Something Old, Something New: Biotech’s Enormous Potential Medical breakthroughs from using existing drugs in new ways await discovery—if manufacturers have an incentive to pursue them.
That's the trouble with zealots -- there's just no stopping them: Next ban for smokers: the great outdoors SMOKERS should prepare for the day when they are virtually confined to lighting up in their own backyards.
BMI Underestimates the Prevalence of Obesity More Accurate Standard for Obesity Measurement Needed, Researchers Say
Why the Neo-Malthusian Worldview Fails the Reality Check Posted by Indur Goklany Why does the Neo-Malthusians’ dystopian worldview — that human and environmental well-being will suffer with increases in population, affluence and technological change — fail the reality check? Why has human well-being improved in the Age of Industrialization despite order-of-magnitude increases in the consumption of materials, fossil fuel energy and chemicals? I offer some reasons in the last of a series of posts (1, 2, 3, 4) at MasterResource. I note that although population, affluence and technology can create some problems for humanity and the planet, they are also the agents for solving those problems. In particular, human capital and greater affluence have helped the development and adoption of new and improved technologies, which empirical data show have reduced risks faster than the new risks that may have been created — hence the continual improvement in human well-being in the era of modern economic growth. (Cato at liberty)
Seafood Industry Fights Public Perception As oil continued to leak uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico and toward the coast Saturday, the fishing industry in the region was trying to forestall another perilous
flow — of fear and misinformation.
Large amounts of nitrogen stored beneath selected agricultural areas A new model probes to new depths in search of nitrogen
Surfrider Sues to Protect Fish from California's First Big Desalination Plant SAN DIEGO, California, May 1, 2010 - The Surfrider Foundation has filed a lawsuit against the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, challenging a permit that allows Poseidon Resources to withdraw 300 million gallons of seawater a day for the state's first large seawater desalination plant. (ENS)
R i g h t ... Wildlife documentaries infringe animals' privacy, says report Humans assume other species have no right to privacy during 'intimate moments', says author of study
Environment ministers gather in Bonn to save climate talks More than three dozen environment ministers are to meet near Bonn this weekend in a bid to revive global climate talks left mangled and moribund after the UN summit in Copenhagen. (The Local)
World must move on from Copenhagen summit, says EU's climate chief Connie Hedegaard accepts global deal unlikely in Mexico and denies she blamed failure of talks on Guardian 'Danish text' story (Jonathan Watts, The Guardian)
The World Rethinks Climate Legislation Costly cap-and-trade system isn't the political winner it once was. It was always going to be an uphill battle for the U.S. Congress to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation in an election year. But with Senator Lindsey Graham's
likely decision to withdraw his support from the landmark bill, the prospects are now virtually zero.
EU Climate Policy Update: Italy Rethinks Kyoto by Carlo Stagnaro (Guest Blogger) Another breach in the badly aging Kyoto wall has been opened. After the failure of the Copenhagen meeting, the Italian Senate passed a motion calling for a re-assessment of European Union climate policies as well as a review of the IPCC process. The motion, presented by Sen. Antonio D’Alì (chairman of the Environment Committee) and Sen. Guido Possa (chairman of the Education Committee) as well as many other Senators, is a powerful sign of wide and growing dissent in many EU member states. The EU is the largest economy to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, under which it is committed to cut its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 8% below 1990 levels in 2008-12. The EU has subsequently adopted a package of directives, the so-called “20-20-20,” that mandates a 20% reduction of GHG emissions below 1990 levels by 2020 and that 20% of total energy consumption will be provided by renewable sources, with a non-mandatory target of a 20% increase in energy efficiency. In order to achieve such ambitious goals, Europe has created a large cap and trade program, called the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), under which over 12,000 industrial installations are required to surrender an amount of emission allowances high enough to cover their own annual emissions. Extra allowances can be bought and sold on the market. Theoretically, such a mechanism is supposed to create incentives for businesses to invest in clean technologies, reducing emissions through an economically efficient process. Despite the political success of cap and trade – easily sold to voters as a means to force “big business” to pay for the pollution that they supposedly cause – cap and trade is often criticized, even by mainstream economists, as inefficient and ineffective. The costs, it is argued, outweigh the benefits. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Oil Spill May Kill Climate Bill’s Chances As the spilled oil in the Gulf of Mexico oozes it way toward Louisiana, Democrats are rapidly backing away from their prior support for new off-shore drilling as part of a
compromise clean energy bill. Both the White House and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday they were re-examining the need for such drilling, citing the
April 20 explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 and began spilling crude oil into the waters as a reason.
Graham feared a gas-tax set-up Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) explained to the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein why he is no longer supporting the climate change bill that he helped to write. The long and the short of it is that Graham feared he was being set up. (E2 Wire)
Has Al Gore given up on global warming? (UPDATED) Al Gore’s purchase of a near nine million dollar Montecito mansion with an almost comical carbon footprint (nine bathrooms!) probably means that he has given up on the global warming movement and decided to become a Hollywood producer (not that he ever made much of a distinction between two). Montecito is where the creme of the Hollywood creme go when Beverly Hills gets too crowded and nouveau riche. Among others, Michael Douglas, Kevin Costner, Christopher Lloyd, Dennis Franz and Oprah have homes there – and they don’t even have Nobel Prizes. (Douglas and Costner do have Oscars though.) No word on whether Al is giving up his Nashville manse… or his houseboat. This is turning into opera bouffe. But Al always was a man of appetites. If, as La Rochefoucauld famously said, “hypocrisy is a sort of homage that vice pays to virtue,” then Al is paying more homage on the environment than all the sinners combined paid to all the medieval Popes for all their perversions, real or imagined. Well, maybe not quite that much, but Al is not alone and we could go down a long list of rich enviro-phonies who, added up, would easily reverse AGW, assuming you believe it. But I have a different suspicion. Most of them don’t believe it anymore. They won’t admit that, of course. But Lindsey Graham’s withdrawal from the latest iteration of cap-and-trade is just a signal of what’s ahead. Get out while the getting is good. And make sure you get out the side door, if possible. And for Al that means forgetting how things look anymore – not that he ever seemed to care that much in the first place – and cashing in. After all, his buddy Richard Sandor – one of the more, shall we say, complex figures of our time – has just sold his controlling interest in the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) for 606 million. According to the Chicago Sun-Times: Sandor will sell his 17 percent stake. ICE, which already owns 4.8 percent of Climate Exchange, said other large shareholders also have agreed to sell. Does that include Al Gore? Don’t know. Via Glenn Beck, a number of interesting figures are involved in CCX. In any case, Al has ponied up nine million (or some down payment thereof), not to mention whatever expenditure for all the “green” retrofitting he plans to do (at some point), on his new Italian mansion by the ocean. But who can blame Al? No offense meant to my Tennessee friends, but Montecito is paradise. Perfect weather, stunning views of the dolphins – and no humidity. UPDATED: It has been reported that CCX is a LLC registered on the Isle of Man, a noted tax haven. If this is true, Sandor’s 606 million was tax free – as would be any profits made by our former Vice President. This would make CCX one of the great rip-offs of all time. If there is anyone out there who can confirm this, please do so via “News Tips for PJM.” Anonymity will be respected. Evidence of Isle of Man registration here. The WSJ has a report of the sale of CCX here. MORE: One of the remaining questions is why ICE decided to buy CCX for six hundred and some million. Was this a fire sale price? It would seem so, but I don’t have the expertise to say so definitively. Perhaps some reader does. ICE seems to have a monopoly on European carbon exchanges, which have evidently become a cesspool of corruption. Incidentally, PJTV and PJM will be covering the Heartland Institute’s 4th International Conference on Climate Change, May 16-18 in Chicago. We will be looking into the affairs of the Chicago Climate Exchange at that time. AND MORE: This may be the new Montecito Gore digs. (Awaiting confirmation) (Roger L. Simon, PJM)
Left-Coast loons: Plan B: California Braces for Climate Change When it comes to environmental regulation, California doesn’t wait for the Feds to ride in and lay down the law. The Golden State led the way on mandating
emissions-control equipment in motor vehicles in 1961. It pioneered tailpipe-emissions standards in 1967 and ratcheted them up into the 1990s, prompting the federal government
to follow. When the Environmental Protection Agency proved reluctant to tighten fuel-economy standards, California outmaneuvered it in 2002 by limiting carbon dioxide from
cars. That decision achieved the same end — and was the first move in the United States to control greenhouse gases.
Drive to suspend AB 32 will submit voter signatures Monday Leaders of a drive to suspend California's landmark greenhouse gas emissions law claim they will submit enough voter signatures Monday to place the issue before voters.
Carbon Tariffs On Imports Risk Trade War: EU Study The European Union is considering border tariffs on imports from more polluting countries, but an initial assessment shows such levies could spark trade wars, draft reports
show.
Germany Arrests 4 In CO2 Probe, 50 More Suspects Frankfurt prosecutors said on Friday they had arrested four people in Germany and Britain in connection with suspected tax evasion in carbon permit trading and 50 more
people were being investigated.
Tax officers arrest 22 in UK carbon fraud probe A major cross-border investigation into alleged fraudulent trading of carbon credits has resulted in 22 UK arrests in a case linked to raids at Deutsche Bank.
Norway Delays Mongstad Carbon Capture And Storage Project Norway said it would delay the decision to finance a top carbon capture project to 2014, after the life of the present parliament, in a major setback for a technology seen
as key to mitigate climate change.
Inhofe to Address Global Warming Skeptics CHICAGO – U.S. Sen. James Inhofe—who has warned Congress that the threat of catastrophic global warming is "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American
people"—will keynote the Fourth International Conference on Climate Change next month in Chicago.
Not hot! Your sex life 'hit by global warming' You won't believe government's new claims about climate change
'Utter honesty' needed from climate scientists Albert Einstein spoke for all who view science as a noble profession when he said he was "trying to understand the mind of God."
The dark side of cloud computing: soaring carbon emissions Experts warn the electricity consumption and carbon footprint of cloud computing will more than double from 2007 levels by 2020 (Stephan Schmidt for OurWorld 2.0, part of the Guardian Environment Network)
Farmers not sold on climate change AUSTRALIAN farmers are sceptical about climate change and many do not believe it will affect agriculture during their lifetimes, a report says.
Global Tropospheric Temperature Variations Since 2002 over Land Versus Ocean While investigating cloud feedbacks over the ocean with the CERES Earth radiation budget instruments, I thought I would take a quick look to see how lower atmospheric temperature variations over land and ocean compare to each other. Part of my interest was the recent cold winter over the U.S. and Europe, which has seemed strange to some since our global-average temperatures are running quite warm lately. The following plot shows tropospheric temperature variations over land versus ocean since mid-2002 as measured by the AMSU instrument on the Aqua satellite. I’ve
restricted the averaging between 60N and 60S latitudes, which is 86.6% of the surface area of the Earth. These are daily running 31-day average anomalies (departures from the
average seasonal cycle). In the big picture, I was a little surprised to see that, on average, there is essentially no time lag between the land and ocean temperature variations. The correlation between the two curves is +0.63 at zero days time lag. I would have expected a tendency for oceanic changes to precede land changes, since we usually think of oceanic warming or cooling events driving land areas more than vice versa. We also see that the recent cold winter over the U.S. and Europe was not reflective of global land areas, which is not that surprising since those regions represent only about 5% of the surface area of the Earth. I have been particularly interested in the cause of the global cooling event of 2007-08, which I have circled in the plot above. I had assumed that this was primarily an oceanic phenomenon, but as can be seen, land areas were similarly affected. The difference between the land and ocean curves is shown in the next plot, along with a second order polynomial fit to the data. There seems to be a low-frequency change in
this relationship, with several years of land-warmer-than-ocean now switching to ocean-warmer-than-land. I have no obvious explanation to offer for this. And if you are wondering just how real the temperature fluctuations shown above are, I also computed the oceanic atmospheric temperature variations (blue curve, 1st graph) from the AMSU flying on a totally different satellite — NOAA-15 — and found that the curves from Aqua and NOAA-15 were virtually indistinguishable. [The reason why the above analysis is restricted to the period since 2002 is that Aqua is the first orbit-maintained satellite. Previous satellites had decaying orbits, which caused a change in the local observation time over the years which resulted in a long-term drift in over-land temperatures due to the strong day-night cycle in temperature.] (Roy W. Spencer)
Documentation Of Bias In The 2007 IPCC WG1 Report – Part II As I reported yesterday, there has been considerable discussion of the 2007 IPCC report and its errors and exclusion of peer reviewed scientific perspectives that differ from those of the lead author (e.g. see Judy Curry’s perceptive discussion of this topic). In 2007, I documented this clear bias in the IPCC reports in my second post on this subject in 2007 (Part I appeared yesterday). The 2007 post is Documentation Of IPCC WG1 Bias by Roger A. Pielke Sr. and Dallas Staley – Part II I have reproduced this demonstration of bias below, as it is directly relevant to the current well-justified concerns on the accuracy, balance and value of the 2007 IPCC WG1 report. (Climate Science)
(Desperately) Looking for Arctic warming First American Ann Bancroft and Norwegian Liv Arnesen trekked off across the Arctic in the dead of the 2007 winter, “to raise awareness about global warming,” by
showcasing the wide expanses of open water they were certain they would encounter. Instead, icy blasts drove temperatures inside their tent to -58 F, while outside the
nighttime air plunged to -103 F.
Actual Temps vs. IPCC Forecasts Ice Caps Melting! Temps warmest in a Kajillion Years! The sky is falling! The British are coming! Let's get real by looking at the IPCC forecast and what has actually happened. (Joe Bastardi, AccuWeather)
AR4 on “1998 was the warmest year” As most CA readers know, a few years ago, I wondered how they knew that 1998 was the warmest year in a millennium – a claim that you don’t see in AR4. Nor, at first
(second or even fifth) glance does the assertion, once so prominent, even seem to be addressed in AR4.
“Catastrophic” retreat of glaciers in Spitsbergen I’ve been given a report on glaciers and sea ice in the Arctic that I want to share with readers. There’s some compelling evidence of glacier melting and open water in the Arctic sea in this report that I haven’t seen before. There are also worrisome reports of significant temperature increases, with anomalies of several degrees. Also in the report is the mention of ice free open sea of almost 2 million square kilometers, which is termed as “unprecendented in the history of the Arctic”. It is shocking to read. I urge readers to have a look at some of the excerpts I’ve posted. Continue reading
Scientists Link Quiet Sun & Cold Winters Asking the somewhat obvious question, “are cold winters in Europe associated with low solar activity?” a group of scientists have announced that the answer is yes. While this may seem unsurprising, the finding is another indication that Earth's climate is not simply driven by greenhouse gas emissions. Even so, some scientists are only grudgingly accepting the finding, cautioning that this only applies in the central UK and refusing to admit that the Sun could affect global mean temperatures as well. Still, the researchers found that average solar activity has declined rapidly since 1985 and cosmogenic isotopes suggest a possible return to Maunder minimum conditions within the next 50 years. This could be a sign that climate science is starting to recover from its CO2 fixation. Writing in Environmental Research Letters, Mike Lockwood et al. have verified that solar activity does seem to have a direct correlation with Earth's climate—at least in the central UK. The reason that the scope of the study is limited to that area, or at most Europe, is that it is one of the few regions that there is a reliable, continuous temperature record going back to the Little Ice Age. The authors explain their work:
What is different about the CET data and other historical records is that it consists of direct temperature readings, not proxy data, as far back as 1850. “We show that cold winter excursions from the hemispheric trend occur more commonly in the UK during low solar activity, consistent with the solar influence on the occurrence of persistent blocking events in the eastern Atlantic,” the authors state. It is proposed that the reason for the cooling is the blocking of tropospheric jet streams, which help to maintain Europe's temperate climate. “Clearly any solar control is subtle and far from being the only factor causing variability,” they report. “We stress that this is a regional and seasonal effect relating to European winters and not a global effect.” Regional or not, 2010 was still darned cold. It is interesting that when claims are made for CO2 emissions acting through a multitude of murky and ill-defined feedback mechanisms are made, climate scientists quickly credit carbon dioxide with control of Earth's climate. When a link to solar activity is found, the possibility that it acts by causing jet stream flows to be rerouted is used as a way to diminish the Sun's importance to climate. It seems irrational to say that the Sun only affects the climate of Europe. In The Resilient Earth we quoted Thomas Jefferson, himself a scientist and naturalist. In response to remarks made by the Comte de Buffon, Jefferson said that it was foolish to think “that nature is less active, less energetic on one side of the globe than she is on the other ... as if both sides were not warmed by the same genial sun.” In the face of this recent work, it may well be that other mechanisms, which amplify the effects of solar variation, await discovery in other parts of the world. In fact, it is possible that the cited mechanism is not the primary reason for the link to the Sun, even in the UK. There was a time when climatologists credited the Sun with a much more dominant role in earthly climate. Some of the ups and downs of solar forcing has been presented in a perspective on the Lockewood et al. paper, written by Rasmus E. Benestad, of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute in Oslo, Norway. He describes the problems in past studies this way:
Notice that non-stationary data are again at the root of analytical problems with climate data. That, plus non-linearity caused by the chaotic nature of Earth's climate system, continue to cause headaches for researchers to this day (see “Econometrics vs Climate Science” and “Climate Science's Dirtiest Secret”). Little wonder that climate scientists turned to the easier to measure growth of CO2 levels in the atmosphere as the proximate cause of global warming. Undaunted, Lockwood et al. have proceeded with analyzing the available data. Measuring Solar Activity in the Past To quantify solar activity, the researchers used annual means of the open solar magnetic flux, FS, which they called “the total magnetic flux dragged out of the Sun by the solar wind flow.” This derivation of FS makes use of the fact that different measures of the fluctuation level in Earth's magnetic field correlate strongly with different combinations of solar wind parameters. Using a combination of these parameters allowed the reconstruction of past variations, including that in FS. Comparison with satellite observations shows that this method is extremely reliable, even during the current exceptional solar minimum. FS is highly anticorrelated with cosmic ray fluxes. It has been shown that cosmic rays are regulated by the activity of the Sun and display an inverse relationship with total solar irradiance (TSI), though with a lag of 1 year. These correlations are at the center of a relationship between TSI and solar-modulated cosmogenic isotopes, which is generally assumed in palaeoclimate studies. Many isotopes are generated by the interaction of cosmic rays with atoms of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, or the top layers of the lithosphere. These cosmogenic isotopes includes stable isotopes such as 3He, but most of the isotopes in question are radioactive. These include 10Be, 14C, 26Al, 36Cl, 41Ca and 129I. Levels of these isotopes can be used as proxy data for cosmic ray levels. The relationship of FS, derived from geomagnetic observations, with TSI and galactic cosmic ray fluxes (GCRs) over the past several decades is shown in Figure 1 from the paper, shown below. The relationship of open solar flux with total solar irradiance and galactic cosmic ray fluxes. The second figure shows the seasonal December/January/February (DJF) means, TDJF, of the CET record, which is representative of a roughly triangular area between Lancaster, London and Bristol. Annual means from the HadCRUT3v compilation of Northern Hemisphere observations, which is available for 1850 onwards, were extend these data back to 1659 using an ensemble of 11 reconstructions based on a wide variety of proxies. The data after 1974 were adjusted for urban warming by comparing the modern data from long-established stations with data sequences from stations in rural areas. To identify regional effects, the average temperature for the whole Northern Hemisphere was compared with the regional data. Variations since the mid-17th century of temperatures and FS. After much statistical analysis, including detrending to compensate for the nonstationarity of the data, the researchers reached the conclusion that, at least in Great Britain, an inactive Sun results in colder winters. In the authors' words: “The results presented in section 4 allow rejection of the null hypothesis, and hence colder UK winters (relative to the longer-term trend) can therefore be associated with lower open solar flux (and hence with lower solar irradiance and higher cosmic ray flux).” Those interested in the gory statistical details should refer to the paper. In his perspective article, Benstad notes that Crooks and Gray (2005) identified a solar response in a number of atmospheric variables, and Labitske (1987), Labitske and Loon (1988) and Salby and Callagan (2000) provided convincing analyses suggesting that the zonal winds in the stratosphere are influenced by solar activity. Furthermore, Baldwin and Dunkerton (2001) provided a tentative link between the stratosphere and the troposphere (perhaps not so tentative, see “Atmospheric Solar Heat Amplifier Discovered”). Still, for climate science to back away from AGW driven by human CO2 emissions is too bold a leap. It seems that many climate scientists—particularly those in thrall of computer climate models—do not like the idea of returning to the use of empirical data, the bedrock of all the hard sciences. “The physical picture they provide is plausible, yet empirical relationships between solar activity and any of the indices describing the north Atlantic oscillation, the Arctic oscillation or the polar vortex are regarded as weak.,” concluded Benstad, “my impression is nevertheless that the explanation provided by the Lockwood et al study reflects real aspects of our climate.” Trying to maintain a modicum of scientific open-mindedness, he added, “Thus, it is an example of incremental scientific progress rather than a breakthrough or a paradigm shift.” Perhaps not a breakthrough, but a return to an older, more correct path. Studies of cosmogenic isotopes show that the Sun has been exceptionally active during recent decades, compared to the previous 11,000 years. The recent solar maximum has persisted for longer than most previous examples in the cosmogenic isotope record and many scientists suspect the period of heightened solar activity is ending. “Recent activity has been abnormally high for at least 8 cycles,” state J. A. Abreu et al., in a 2008 paper. “We find that it is only expected to last for a further 15–36 years, with the more reliable methods yielding shorter expectancies, and we therefore predict a decline in solar activity within the next two or three cycles.” Indeed, Lockwood and others think that a new minimum may be in store. In previous work, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Lockwood stated: “Solar outputs during the current solar minimum are setting record low values for the space age. Evidence is here reviewed that this is part of a decline in solar activity from a grand solar maximum and that the Sun has returned to a state that last prevailed in 1924.” Citing this work, Lockwood et al. make a cautious prediction regarding future winters.
So will the Sun turn somnolent, lessening the amount of radiant warmth it showers on Earth? Could another Little Ice Age be in our immediate future? Predictions are for a less active Sun during the upcoming Cycle 24, but only time will tell. We have had decades of near hysterical warnings about rising temperatures, all of which may be negated by the unpredictable fluctuations of our local star. It will be interesting to see how long it takes climate science to change its doomsday predictions for the next several decades. Indeed, it has taken almost half a century for climate science to dig itself into its current hole, it may take as long to dig itself back out. Be safe, enjoy the interglacial and stay skeptical. (Doug L. Hoffman, The Resilient Earth)
Seven Thoughts on The Deepwater Horizon Disaster Exxon Valdez Will Be Eclipsed; More Oil Imports Are Certain; BP Stands for “Beyond Pathetic;” E15, More Wind Energy Projects Are Certain [Read More] (Robert Bryce, Energy Tribune)
I hope to elaborate later — I'm wrapping up two weeks on the road promoting Power Grab
— but it seems to me the issue with the recent oil-platform explosion and subsequent leak issue is BP, not offshore drilling.
Louisiana Spill: Big Oil's Chernobyl? Energy: The administration has banned new offshore drilling until the Gulf oil spill is investigated. Was its heart in it anyway? It seems environmental concerns apply only
to certain forms of energy.
Not exactly, just suspended pending investigation: US bans offshore drilling as Deepwater Horizon slick hits land The US today banned all new offshore drilling as crude oil from the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig began lapping at the shores of sensitive marshland at the mouth of the
Mississippi River.
Tax on Oil May Help Pay for Cleanup WASHINGTON — The federal government has a large rainy day fund on hand to help mitigate the expanding damage on the Gulf Coast, generated by a tax on oil for use in cases
like the Deepwater Horizon spill.
New Technique Holds Hope for Oil Spill Cleanup NEW ORLEANS — Officials in charge of the cleanup of a massive oil spill now approaching three Gulf Coast states said Saturday that a new technique in battling the leaks
5,000 feet beneath the sea showed promise.
How to stop the Louisiana oil slick Techniques to stop the Gulf of Mexico oil slick from wreaking damage to the ecology of the Louisiana delta coastline have become significantly more effective in recent years. (TDT)
Arctic Border Deal May Extend Norway's Oil Boom A major Arctic border deal between Norway and Russia this week gives Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg a chance to extend Norway's oil boom without splitting the
ruling government coalition.
Subsoil Oil and Gas Privatization: Private Wealth for the Common Good (Message for Latin America) by Guillermo Yeatts
The history of oil and gas production in Latin America has been characterized by a continuing tug of war between the state as owner of the subsurface (Spanish colonial tradition) and private producers in pursuit of profits. Private participation in the industry has been limited to brief periods and restricted to specific phases of oil and gas production. The typical pattern is that foreign oil and gas companies are allowed into a country to locate and initiate production. Once oil is flowing, governments nationalize the companies’ facilities – with or without compensation – and hand them over to government-owned and operated monopolies. Whether the oil or gas is produced by private corporations or by a government monopoly, it is almost always the government that receives most of the profits. All too often, the money is used to keep the heads of state in power. In the United States, by contrast, individuals own and control much of the nation’s subsurface rights to energy and other minerals. The results are starkly different. While the oil and gas industry in the United States expanded quickly, bringing prosperity to many areas that were once underdeveloped or deserted, oil revenues in other countries have propped up corrupt governments with little or no benefits to the general welfare. State ownership of the subsurface removes incentives for risk-taking, investment, and technological innovation. Farmers and ranchers are pitted against oil development. In Latin America, the prospect of an oil or gas discovery is a farmer’s worst nightmare. They reap no financial benefit from the discovery, but they do suffer land damage and the disruption to their lives from drilling and production operations. Consequently, a landowner’s incentive is to hide any mineral wealth his property might have and to fight any attempt to exploit such wealth. In the United States, on the other hand, landowners dream of oil being discovered on their property. If they own the mineral rights, they are compensated for the right to explore and receive a royalty for any minerals produced. This more than makes up for the inconvenience of oil and gas operations on their property. Spread of Oil Nationalism in Latin America Theories of political and economic nationalism espoused by Latin American intellectuals in 1920s provided the analytical framework for dissatisfaction with the distribution of wealth. Nationalists became convinced that the state had to play a major role in the operation and development of the oil and gas industry. This led to a domino strategy of government confiscations of privately owned energy facilities in both Latin America and the Middle East. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Petrobras Takes $920 Million Stake In Ethanol Group Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras said on Friday it would invest 1.6 billion reais ($920 million) in one of the country's largest sugar and ethanol groups, Acucar
Guarani, to expand in biofuels production.
Something rotten in the state of Denmark Robert Bryce's new book, Power Hungry, looks at green energy and concludes that it's rotten (H/T Matt Ridley). There's a summary of the main arguments here. The article is very interesting, although a commenter a Matt's reckons the security of supply arguments may be wrong. But how about this for killing off the argument that Denmark has shown us the way? (Bishop Hill)
The Cape Wind Approval: It’s Not Over Yet by Lisa Linowes Editor’s note: Notwithstanding some recent gains, e.g. Cape Wind’s Interior Department permit, the projected U.K. Thames Array, and the politically motivated Danish pronouncement of renewed offshore installations, global offshore wind has progressed very slowly, especially in Germany. This article by Ms. Linowes, founder of the Industrial Wind Action Group, provides some of the reasons why offshore wind is such an environmental and economic troublemaker. After nine years of debate and millions of public and private dollars, the decision to permit America’s first offshore wind project fell on the shoulders of one man, U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar. Hindsight notwithstanding, there was no chance Salazar could disapprove the Cape Wind application. Does anyone doubt the Obama administration would dare to ignore the tsunami of political favoritism already bestowed on the project, no matter how unjustified? And given the administration’s stated goal to nurse the U.S. economy back to health through the green movement, a denial of the permit would have unleashed a public firestorm virtually impossible to contain. Let’s face it, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound had an uphill battle in the message war from the beginning. As early as 2003, even before Windaction.org was organized, everyone knew about the wealthy ‘NIMBYs’ (”Not in my backyard”) on the Cape waging war against the one opportunity in the region to see renewables built in a substantial way. At the time, New England had less than ten megawatts of wind installed and most people were convinced Cape Wind represented an environmentally safe, low cost, economically beneficial development that could lead the nation in eliminating our reliance on fossil fuel. The NIMBYs, even those with the Kennedy name, were discredited in the press as little more than self-serving hypocrites unwilling to take one in the view for the betterment of the whole. This attitude still prevails today in some quarters but the realities of wind energy’s flaws are beginning to take hold and we believe the Alliance and its supporters will ultimately be vindicated. [Read more →] (MasterResource)
Maryland researchers turn poplar trees into biofuel In response to a national call for homegrown, Earth-friendly fuels to fill Americans' gas tanks, a couple of University of Maryland researchers are planting trees.
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