A monthly review of climate, energy, environmental, and political policy issues
Articles compiled by Jonathan DuHamel
You may post comments at the end of this post or send them to wryheat@cox.net
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” – H. L. Mencken
Climate policies are more dangerous than climate change.
CLIMATE SCIENCE BACKGROUND:
by Jonathan DuHamel
Geologic evidence shows that Earth’s climate has been in a constant state of flux for more than 4 billion years. Nothing we do can stop that. Much of current climate and energy policy is based upon the erroneous assumption that anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions, which make up just 0.1% of total greenhouse gases, are responsible for “dangerous” global warming/climate change. There is no physical evidence to support that assumption. Man-made carbon dioxide emissions have no significant effect on global temperature/climate. In fact, when there is an apparent correlation between temperature and carbon dioxide, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been shown to follow, not lead, changes in Earth’s temperature. All efforts to reduce emissions are futile with regard to climate change, but such efforts will impose massive economic harm to Western Nations. The “climate crisis” is a scam. U.N officials have admitted that their climate policy is about money and power and destroying capitalism, not about climate. By the way, like all planetary bodies, the earth loses heat through infrared radiation. Greenhouse gases interfere with (block) some of this heat loss. Greenhouse gases don’t warm the Earth, they slow the cooling. If there were no greenhouse gases, we would have freezing temperatures every night.
For more on climate science, see my Wryheat Climate articles:
A Review of the state of Climate Science
The Broken Greenhouse – Why Co2 Is a Minor Player in Global Climate
A Summary of Earth’s Climate History-a Geologist’s View
Problems with wind and solar generation of electricity – a review
The High Cost of Electricity from Wind and Solar Generation
The “Social Cost of Carbon” Scam Revisited
ATMOSPHERIC CO2: a boon for the biosphere
Carbon dioxide is necessary for life on Earth
Impact of the Paris Climate Accord and why Trump was right to drop it
Six Issues the Promoters of the Green New Deal Have Overlooked
Why reducing carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuel will have no effect on climate ☼
You may remember that early this summer the media were touting “the hottest day ever” but the data show otherwise. The graph below from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration show that the 1930’s and 2012 were warmer in the U.S.
Do We Really Know That Human Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cause Significant Climate Change?
by Francis Menton
It’s by far the most important scientific question of our age: Do human emissions of CO2 and other such “greenhouse gases” cause significant global warming, aka “climate change”? Based on the belief that an affirmative answer to that question is a universally accepted truth, our government has embarked on a multi-trillion dollar campaign to transform our economy by, among other things, eliminating hydrocarbon fuels from electricity generation (without any demonstrated workable plan for the replacement), outlawing the kinds of vehicles we currently drive, suppressing fossil fuel extraction, banning pipeline construction, making all your appliances work less well, and much more. Express any doubt about the causal connection between human activities and climate change, and you could very well get labeled as a “climate denier,” fired from your academic job, demonetized by Google or Facebook, or even completely ostracized from polite society. But is there actually any real proof of the proposition at issue? In fact, there is not. (Read more) ☼
New Study: ‘Atmospheric CO2 Is Not The Cause Of Climate Change’ … The Next Glaciation Has Begun
by Kenneth Richard
New research published in the MDPI journal atmosphere by Dr. Stuart A. Harris asserts past and modern climate changes are natural and not driven by variations in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Some key points from the paper include:
• Past and modern climate change is driven by solar cycle (Milankovitch) variations and their affect on ocean circulation and heat transport.
• Throughout the last hundreds of thousands of years, temperature changes precede the lagging changes in CO2.
• The UN IPCC position that atmospheric CO2 is the cause of the warming since the onset of the Industrial Revolution is only an assumption that is “not consistent with studies involving changes in temperature in rural areas of the northern [NH] hemisphere.”
• The natural 23 thousand year (23 ka) Milankovitch cycle has begun to reduce insolation in the NH “starting in 2020,” and this “heralds the start of the next glaciation.”
• CO2 is essential for life on Earth (photosynthesis), and a reduction in CO2 would be harmful to the biosphere. On the other hand, there “seems to be no connection between carbon dioxide and the temperature of the Earth.” (Read more) ☼
What Our Oceans Say about Global Warming
by Guy K. Mitchell, Jr.
[Oceans constitute 71% of Earth’s surface. Mitchell shows that the “greenhouse effect” does not warm the oceans because radiative heat from greenhouse gases can’t penetrate oceans. He also notes that “The primary heat transfer mechanism to cool the Earth’s surface is convection.” ]
(Read more) See also Mitchell’s article: Global Warming and the Earth’s Land Mass (link) discusses problems with data collection.☼
Climate Sensitivity to Carbon Dioxide
Spencer and Christy’s new climate sensitivity paper has been published – and its LOWER.
From Dr. Roy Spencer:
If we assume ALL *observed* warming of the deep oceans and land since 1970 has been due to humans, we get an effective climate sensitivity to a doubling of atmospheric CO2 of around 1.9 deg. C. This is considerably lower than the official *theoretical* model-based IPCC range of 2.5 to 4.0 deg. C.
https://www.drroyspencer.com/2023/09/our-new-climate-sensitivity-paper-has-been-published/
Via a Phys.org article:
Spencer and Christy’s climate model, based upon objective measured data, found carbon dioxide does not have as big of an effect of warming of the atmosphere when compared with other climate models.
“For over 30 years, dozens of highly sophisticated computerized climate models based upon theory have been unable to agree on an answer. That’s why we developed our own one-dimensional climate model to provide an answer,” says. Dr. Spencer. (Read more) ☼
New paper submission: Urban heat island effects in U.S. summer temperatures, 1880-2015
by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.
The bottom line is that an estimated 22% of the U.S. warming trend, 1895 to 2023, is due to localized UHI effects, not climate change. (Read more) ☼
New Studies: Dataset Selection Bias Advances False Narrative Sun Has No Climate Impact
by Thomas Richard
Solar forcing may have a 4 to 7 times greater effect on climate change than current climate models indicate, which may mean modern climate change is predominantly natural rather than anthropogenic. Anthropogenic global warming (AGW) attribution may be significantly dependent on the choice of dataset.(Read more) ☼
The fables about greenhouse gases, especially about methane
by Mark Adams
“Climate change” is in the news daily, with each featured story getting an attention-grabbing sensationalist headline. The frenzy is at its peak now because it’s the time of year for tropical storms and wildfires. However, to appreciate that these stories are pure narratives, it’s a good time to consider the facts behind the so-called “greenhouse gases.”
Several atmospheric gases, including carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor, absorb light in the infrared region. These are collectively known as the “greenhouse gases” because absorbing infrared energy warms up the air—hence the name greenhouse effect.
Carbon dioxide, on a per-molecule basis, is six times as effective an absorber as water is. However, that’s offset by the fact that carbon dioxide is only about 0.04% of the atmosphere (400 parts per million). This means that, overall, it’s much less important than water vapor in terms of its ability to warm the atmosphere.
And then there’s methane. Pound-for-pound methane can trap 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide. However, there are two reasons why scientists say it will never significantly contribute to global warming. Primarily, it is by far the rarest of the green house gases.
But there is another reason why we will probably never have to worry about methane being a major contributor to global warming: Methane’s narrow absorption bands, at 3.3 microns and 7.5 microns , perfectly match…water’s! Did you catch that? It’s worth emphasizing: “The ratio of the percentages of water to methane is such that the effects of methane are completely masked by water.” Nor is methane a cow problem that humans can remediate by going meatless. Instead, wetlands and termites are the real methane producers: “When it comes to methane, another greenhouse gas, termites are responsible for 11 percent of the world’s production from natural sources. Seventy-six percent comes from wetlands…” (Read more) ☼
The Full Judith Curry Interview: Climate Scientist Says World Isn’t Ending
Climate scientist Judith Curry bravely says climate change isn’t a “crisis.” She explains how the scientific community became corrupted by “fame and fortune.”
Watch full video, 40 minutes: https://youtu.be/U0PQ1cOlCJI ☼
IPCC Global Warming Reports Underestimated Role of Sun in Warming: Study
by Paul Homewood
Reports on global warming issued by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underestimate the role of the Sun in the warming process while falsely laying blame on human beings…(Read more) ☼
MORE ARTICLES:
Climate Models Wrong on East Pacific… “We Don’t Know Why This Cooling Is Happening” (link)
Greenhouse Gas Primer, 32 pages (link)
Stuff you’re not allowed to know #6: global greening (link)
How trees influence cloud formation (link) [emissions of VOCs – volatile organic compounds]
Solar researcher warns of solar activity decrease, imminent MINI ICE AGE and GLOBAL FAMINE by 2030 (link)
Climate Expert: ‘Decidedly Unscientific Justifications’ Used To Keep Worst-Case Scenario Alive (link)
CLIMATE MADNESS
Latest Climate Craze: Geoengineering The Sky (link)
Climate Activists Defend Spreading Computer Malware to Educate Skeptics
by Eric Worrall
It started a month ago, when a group of climate activists invited kids to deceive climate skeptic family members into downloading malware disguised as a cookie recipe. (Read more) ☼
10 Reasons Not To Own An Electric Vehicle (link)
Global warming will wipe out all mammals in 250 million years, new study claims (link)
UN’s Climate Porn Ignores Climate Reality of Empirical Evidence
from C3Headlines
In their effort to persuade the public that CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels are broiling the planet, UN chief, Antonio Guterres, and his globaltarian comrades spread a narrative of fringe climate porn, such as Climate Breakdown, Climate Chaos, or Global Boiling.
However, they are all ignoring actual scientific empirical evidence that powerfully contradicts this narrative propaganda.
Importantly, throughout the past 8+ years, climate expert projections and their climate models of the global warming trend have been grievously inaccurate. This incredible inaccuracy is hidden from the public by the UN, by the government-funded scientists, and by the mainstream legacy press. (Read more) ☼
THE SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY PROJECT REPORTS
[SEPP provides a weekly roundup of news available every Monday as The Week That Was (PDF) and reprinted as a blog post here as Weekly Climate and EnergyNews Roundup. Click on date for full reports.]
Calling this summer, the hottest summer in the US may have been a misinterpretation of data. The questioning of the goals of net zero (no increase in carbon dioxide emissions) appears to be increasing in the UK. Washington continues to clamp down on oil and electricity production and may lead to sharply increasing oil prices and inflation.
“A new research study from The University of Alabama in Huntsville, a part of the University of Alabama System, addresses a central question of climate change research: how much warming can be expected from adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere through fossil fuel burning and other activities as standards of living increase around the world? Spencer and Christy’s climate model, based upon objective measured data, found carbon dioxide does not have as big of an effect of warming of the atmosphere when compared with other climate models.
This TWTW will discuss the abrupt warming of the atmosphere as presented by the University of Alabama, Huntsville Global Temperature Report which is attributed to an El Nino event.
Contrary to many reports, there is no sudden increase in carbon dioxide concentrations. If not CO2, which is increasing gradually, what caused the sudden warming.? We do not know. Possibilities need to be sorted out. As Christy and Spencer write, the El Niño contributed, but the data are not sufficiently clear. The uncertainty allows for a good deal of speculation, and below TWTW will engage in some. See links under Measurement Issues – Atmosphere.
Speculating on Abrupt Atmospheric Warming: There is little question that strong El Niños in 1998 and 2016 put a large amount of water vapor into the atmosphere and were the dominant cause of atmospheric warming in those years, usually with a lag of 4 to 6 months. But the current El Niño has not peaked. Is there something else that can be contributing to the unusual warming?
The report goes on to discuss solar cycles which are ignored by the IPCC.
Scope: This TWTW discusses what Europe calls Net Zero, and what Washington calls the Green New Deal. Michael Kelly of the UK gives an analysis of the costs and feasibility for the US to implement the current energy transition undertaken by Washington. This fall, there are few alarming reports on Western wildfires or droughts. At the suggestion of reader Bud Bromley, TWTW addresses some of the problems of changing definitions in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases.
Scope: These items will be discussed below. The International Energy Agency [EIA] came out with a report questioning the ability of the western countries to meet their goal of Net Zero carbon dioxide emissions. Atomic, Molecular, and Optical (AMO) physicist Howard Hayden wrote an essay emphasizing the foolishness of claiming climate change causes X. Roy Spencer and John Christy submitted a paper estimating the Urban Heat Island effect on US surface temperature data from 1880 to 2015. There appears to be a conflict of visions among principal players in the UN upcoming Conference of Parties (COP 28). The problems of the storage of electricity are reviewed, with no affordable, reliable solution in sight. Francis Menton discusses the latest fashionable idea from the US Department of Energy, green hydrogen.
The International Energy Agency [EIA] said this week that 49.7 million miles of transmission lines—enough to wrap around the planet 2,000 times—will have to be built or replaced by 2040 to achieve the climate lobby’s net-zero emissions goal. The report goes on to discuss the money and metals needed for a “green energy grid.”
Bottom line: climate change is a result, not a cause.
ENERGY
Offshore wind turbines are proving to be an economic and environmental disaster, see these articles:
Update On Offshore Wind Projects Off The Mid-Atlantic And New England (link)
Offshore Wind Is A Dangerous Pipe Dream Costing Taxpayers Billions (link)
Offshore Wind is an Economic and Environmental Catastrophe (link)
Expensive Cheap Energy
Willis Eschenbach
Well, our beloved US Gummint, in the form of the Energy Information Agency, just released the latest data on the horrendously large taxpayer subsidies for unreliable, intermittent renewable energy. So I thought I should boil all the numbers down to make sense out of them. Here’s the result. (Read more) ☼
The Green Energy Subsidy Lie
by I&I Editorial Board
Environmentalists have long complained about oil and gas industry subsidies.
But we don’t hear from them regarding the subsidies paid out for politically favored renewable energy programs, even though the supposedly green sources are dining sumptuously on taxpayers’ dollars.
In fact, renewables are more heavily subsidized than fossil fuels, and it would be difficult if not impossible for them to exist without the support.
From 2016 to 2022, “energy-specific subsidies and support” totaled $183.3 billion, according to a U.S. Energy Information Administration report.
While “wind and solar power account for about 21% of domestic electricity production,” they nevertheless took in “a staggering $83.8 billion in subsidies, by far the largest share compared to any other category,” says Fox News.
The EIA says that over that period, “nearly half (46%) of federal energy subsidies were associated with renewable energy,” with “federal support for renewable energy of all types” more than doubling, from $7.4 billion in fiscal 2016 to $15.6 billion in fiscal 2022.
Meanwhile, “natural gas and petroleum-related tax expenditures” – which are not direct government spending nor tax loopholes – were $2.1 billion in fiscal 2022. (Read more) ☼
The dangerous delusion of a global transition to “just electricity”
by Ronald Stein
Eliminating crude oil, before a replacement is in place, would rid the world of planes, airports, ships, medical, social media communications, toilets, and more. Fossil fuels make products for humanity and support more bountiful harvests and a measure of food security that allowed time and energy for innovation and the onset of the Industrial Revolution that allowed the world to populate from 1 to 8 billion in 200 years because oil can be manufactured into thousands of usable, life-enhancing and life-saving products.
On the other hand, renewables can only generate occasional electricity but cannot manufacture anything for humanity, while fossil fuels manufacture everything for humanity. (Read more) ☼
Shifting Electricity Mix Will Challenge the Nation’s Power System, Says NERC
by Tim Benson
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) released the 2023 edition of its biannual ERO Reliability Risk Priorities Report, in August. The report aims to “identify key risks to the BPS [bulk power system] that merit attention and to recommend mitigating actions that align with those risks.”
The report highlights five “risk profiles” to the nation’s electrical grid’s resiliency and dependability, including “security risks,” “resilience to extreme events,” “critical infrastructure interdependencies,” “grid transformation,” and “energy policy.”
“Energy policy” was featured in this year’s report for the first time as a risk, “given the increased legislation focus and mandates on decarbonization, decentralization, and electrification.” A “changing resource mix,” that is, the continuing shift from nuclear- and fossil fuel-sourced electricity such as coal and oil to “renewable” sources like wind and solar, was ranked as the highest risk factor to the nation’s electric grid. (Read more) ☼
Biden’s Mad Dog EPA Gone Rogue
by Ron Clutz
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v. EPA last year was a historic defeat for the Environmental Protection Agency. Not only did the Court rule that the 2015 Clean Power Plan, President Obama’s signature climate regulation, was unconstitutional; it also dramatically limited EPA’s power to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act (CAA) moving forward.
That left the agency with two courses of action. It could take its lumps and focus on proposing regulations with a high chance of surviving federal court review. Or it could stake everything on a final desperate attempt to decarbonize America’s power sector, and go for the win in keeping with President Biden’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions.
On May 23, 2023, EPA chose the latter, proposing carbon emissions standards
for power plants far more ambitious than those struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
Like other EPA climate regulations, the proposed emissions standards under Section 111 of CAA are not designed to reduce emissions from standard power plants, but rather to force a rapid transition away from reliable and affordable sources of dispatchable power—natural gas and coal—to intermittent renewables and new kinds of power plants that don’t even exist yet. Together with EPA’s electric vehicle mandates, the proposed rule would be a train wreck for the American electricity grid and society as a whole, endangering economic competitiveness and energy security while yielding no measurable climate benefit. (Read more) ☼
Electric bus breakdowns cripple Wyoming transit
by Bonner Cohen, Ph. D.
By replacing its fleet of diesel-powered buses with sleek (and taxpayer-subsidized) electric buses, the transit system run by Jackson and Teton County, Wyoming, was set to transition to a green, “climate-friendly” future.
Instead, all eight electric buses purchased by Southern Teton Area Rapid Transit (START) have broken down, and when any of the vehicles will be up and running again is anyone’s guess. Help is not going to be on its way anytime soon because California-based Proterra, the company that manufactured the defective buses, has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Once a darling of the Biden administration’s vaunted “energy transition,” the company cannot say when – if ever – spare parts will come to the rescue. (Read more) ☼
MORE ARTICLES:
Biden’s Attack On Electricity Will Ruin America’s Power Grid, Hike Prices (link)
Report: The six ways renewables increase electricity bills (link)
Largest EV Charging Station In World Powered By Diesel-Powered Generators (link)
Biden WH Quietly Released Study Showing Green Energy Gets Far More Subsidies Than Fossil Fuels (link)
The Energy Transition is Social Vandalism (link)
EV Battery Factory Will Require So Much Energy It Needs A Coal Plant To Power It (link)
Extraordinary Costs Of Green Energy Creeping Slowly Into Public Awareness (link)
Reality Dawns On Lefty Outlet Over Biden Draining The Strategic Oil Reserves (link)
STATE OF THE UNION
“You know why there’s a Second Amendment? In case the government fails to follow the first one.” ~ Rush Limbaugh
The Democrats Broke The Constitution In 2020, But There’s An Upside (link)
Medical Examiner’s Office Source: “Only 1 to 2%” of “COVID Deaths” Were Really COVID (link)
The Federal Government Spent $3.3 Billion on Office Furniture as Employees Worked From Home (link)[DOD uses 23 percent of its office space.]
How Government Spending Causes Inflation
By David Lanza
The federal government, under both parties, has printed trillions of dollars to fund its “stimulus” packages and other projects. This spending greatly increased during the COVID era. Basic economics teaches that the government printing press is not only the cause, but the very definition of inflation. Over the past 30 + months, prices of all consumer goods have risen dramatically. Real estate has achieved similar highs. Prices have appeared to stabilize only after action by the Federal Reserve system to restrict the money supply. The supply of money has been the key both to inflation and to its temporary taming. Of course, raising interest rates is not the real solution. Only the end of government printing would stop inflation. (Read more) ☼
Goldwater Urges U.S. Supreme Court to Take Up Homelessness Case
by Goldwater Institute
The Goldwater Institute filed a brief in the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that—at least according to Phoenix city leaders—makes it harder for local governments to address the ongoing homelessness crisis. In its brief, we argue that the Supreme Court must overturn the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in order to take away Phoenix’s excuse for refusing to enforce the law in “The Zone,” the sprawling encampment of hundreds of homeless people in downtown Phoenix, which is riddled with violent crime, public drug use, and social instability. (Read more) See also more about “The Zone” ☼
Climate Coup Alert: CEQ Proposes to Transform NEPA
by Marlo Lewis
In recent comments to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), 24 state attorneys general led by Iowa AG Breanna Bird warn that CEQ’s July 31 Proposed Rule to revise National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations would unlawfully “turn an informational, procedural, outcome-neutral statute into a transformative tool to shape our economy and society to the Administration’s chosen policy goals.” (Read more) ☼
Do We Really Need DEI?
A comprehensive new study shows that focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion harms precisely the students it’s meant to help. (Read more) ☼
Thoughts to Ponder
“In climate research and modeling, we should recognize that we are dealing with a coupled non-linear chaotic system, and therefore that the prediction of a specific future climate state is not possible.” — Final chapter,Third Assessment Report, IPCC.
“Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definition of good government. It is essential to the protection of the community against foreign attacks; it is not less essential to the steady administration of the laws; to the protection of property against those irregular and high-handed combinations which sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; to the security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, of faction, and of anarchy.” —Alexander Hamilton (1788)
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”— Richard Feynman
END
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