The Week That Was: 2026-03-21 (March 21, 2026)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “If the man doesn’t believe as we do, we say he is a crank, and that settles it. I mean, it does nowadays, because now we can’t burn him..”— Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World (1898)
Number of the Week: 10 to 11 days
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: This TWTW begins with a push-back against Roger Pielke Jr.’s assertion that part of the Climate Change chapter in the new Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence was ghost-written. TWTW discusses new findings of the global cooling that occurred between 6 million and 3 million years ago independently of CO2 concentrations. TWTW discusses a paper questioning the ability of the Argo Floats to produce meaningful measurements of upper ocean temperatures and a critique of that paper. TWTW concludes with parts of a talk given by Kathryn Porter on why adding wind power to Scotland’s grid is increasing its vulnerability.
Push Back: Last week, TWTW covered an article in the Wall Street Journal citing the work of Roger Pielke, Jr. who asserted that part of the Climate Change chapter in the new Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence was ghost-written by Michael Burger, a colleague of the two authors, Randy Horton and Jessica Wentz. The Journal published a letter by Ms. Wentz who asserted that they did not commit academic misconduct. The letter stated in part [boldface added]:
“The editorial cites an assertion by American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Roger Pielke Jr. that parts of the chapter were ghost written by our colleague Michael Burger. None of the text was written by Mr. Burger. As disclosed in the chapter, we did excerpt and adapt some content from a 2020 law review article that we co-authored with Mr. Burger. All of that content came from scientific sections that were written by Mr. Horton and myself.
The editorial also describes the chapter as a “brief intended to influence judges to think every harm from climate change is the result of fossil fuels.” The chapter we wrote is objective and rooted in settled science. The chapter acknowledges that fossil fuel emissions add to climate change, which has negative impacts. These findings reflect scientific consensus and are based on multiple lines of evidence.
The chapter underwent an extensive and rigorous peer review process. The National Academies of Sciences has stood by its decision to keep the chapter in its version of the manual, even as the Federal Judicial Center bowed to pressure from Republican state attorneys general and removed the chapter from its version. The chapter has also received support from various scientific societies including the American Meteorological Society, which defended the chapter as “consistent with all other comprehensive, robust, and rigorous assessments of the science” with which AMS is familiar. The chapter also has the support of top legal and scientific experts and other contributors to the manual.”
Physical science is based on physical evidence and the physical science of climate change science is anything but settled. A brief list of what we do not know includes the following:
• We do not understand the changing sun, which dominates Earth’s climate.
• We do not understand Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events, periods of rapid warming followed by slow cooling. It has been suggested that they are volcanic, but the intervals seem too regular. Are they connected to the Bray Cycles and the Eddy Cycles that indicate changes in solar influence?
• We do not understand turbulence of fluids in the atmosphere and oceans – giving rise to Chaos Theory. Turbulence in the atmosphere limits the horizontal dimensions of grid boxes describing weather to about 100 km, or 60 miles. They cannot be smaller. Turbulence limits the vertical dimension to 1km or a few thousand feet.
• We do not understand the formation and dissipation of clouds in the atmosphere. They have a greater influence on climate than CO2.
• We do not understand plate tectonics, to include changes in volcanic activity. Changing plate tectonics changes with location of land masses which, in turn, changes the ocean currents. And the oceans are the vast storehouse of solar energy on Earth. Changes in underseas volcanos can cause significant local ocean warming.
Further, global climate models attribute to carbon dioxide a far greater influence on temperatures than what can be attributed when considering all the physical evidence. Often, the “settled science” is based on the omission of contradicting evidence such as the conclusions of the Westerhold et al. study published in Science (2020). When all the evidence is revealed, Earth had periods of millions of years when atmospheric carbon dioxide varied widely but temperatures were roughly stable.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has misled the public by limiting climate change to only since 1850 and only to human influence, ignoring massive natural changes. Earth’s history did not begin in 1850 and climate change began long before humanity existed. The greatest threat to civilization is another cold period, be it a D-O event or the onset of a major glaciation. “The science” Ms. Wentz defends is not a physical science but a political one.
See Article #1
Global Cooling: The July 15, 2023, TWTW discussed geoscientist Tom Gallager’s presentation that geological changes closing off the east-to-west equatorial current caused the dramatic changes in Earth’s temperatures over the past 67 million years. The data were strangely presented in a paper by Westerhold et al. published in Science (2020). Willis Eschenbach patiently unraveled the data that Gallagher used. As stated in the TWTW:
“…in themselves, the oceans currents do not cause warming or cooling. They are a means of transporting heat, just like the atmosphere.
Gallagher explains the four distinct periods in the Westerhold paper as Four Climate States:
• Hot house: 56 to 47 million years ago (Mya) more than 10 C above today
• Warm house: 66 to 56 Mya and 47 to 34 Mya
• Cool house 34 to 3.3 Mya Warmer than today
• Icehouse: 5 C below, with beginning of the Pleistocene (closing of the Panama seaway 3.3 million years ago).
In short, the changing land masses caused the current Thermohaline Circulation. He points to the age of the ice masses as evidence of the Icehouse Earth. The oldest ice found in various locations is:
• Rockies, Alps, New Zealand, Patagonia, and Alaska, mostly Little Ice Age (1000 years old)
• Canadian Arctic and Greenland, 120,000 years
• Himalayas 600,000 years.
• Antarctica 800,000 to 1.2 million years
It was not until the Panamanian Seaway [Caribbean Seaway] was blocked; that the Earth experienced dramatic changes in glaciation, coinciding with the Milankovitch Cycles. The ice record over the past 900,000 years shows that the dominant periods of the cycles have changed with maximum duration of severe ice stretching from about 41,000 years long to 100,000 years long.”
In her post, “BIG NEWS: 3-million-year-old ice cores flummox researchers — CO2 is irrelevant” Jo Nova reports:
“For the first time Antarctic ice core teams have got hold of ice that is 3 million years old and the results have confounded them.
The way CO2 responds in ice cores is canon to ‘the faith’ so this is more important than it seems at first glance. Believers are really struggling.
Three million years ago the world was warmer, and about to cool into the violent ice age cycles. The ice core experts were expecting to confirm that CO2 levels were about 400ppm, as other proxies had shown, and they thought that greenhouse gases might fall and lead the cooling shift. But instead of CO2 being at 400 parts per million, and then leading the cooling, the bubbles trapped in ice were only 250 parts per million to start with and they stayed constant through important temperature swings. Sacre Bleu! CO2 did not appear to have any role in causing the warmth that was, or the cooling that followed. And nor did methane. O’ the dilemma?
Some sacred cows have to be sacrificed. Either CO2 is not a major driver of climate change, or the ice cores are wrong (or both!).
Watch the last few addicts coping with this news. Follow the ‘reasoning’ — it still ‘might’ be worse than we thought, you know! I mean, it’s possible, that tiny changes in CO2 that are too small to measure could be affecting the Earth.”
Nova presents reactions in several publications [graphs omitted here]:
Ice core reveals low CO2 during warm spell 3 million years ago.
By Marissa Grunes, New Scientist
‘We definitely were a bit surprised,’ says Marks-Peterson. If correct, the findings may suggest that even small changes to greenhouse gas levels could trigger major shifts in climate. ‘Maybe the Earth system is even more sensitive to changes in CO2 than we have understood,’ she says. ‘That’s a little bit of a scary thought and something that I would say that our record can’t answer yet.’
‘Ultimately, any new data that suggests Pliocene CO2 levels were lower than previously expected means future climate change might be worse than previously expected,’ says Cristian Proistosescu at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who was not involved in the study. [Graph omitted]
But choosing sacred cows is quite the dilemma, because the ice cores are sacred too. The Vostok graphs were the core propaganda graph of climate change even before The Hockey Stick. Then they starred as a giant extravaganza in the Al Gore documentary. So, every other way we have of guesstimating ancient levels of CO2, like stomata and alkenones, are considered fine until they disagree with the ice cores, then everyone forgets they exist.
These proxies below in the graph — are all the estimates of the atmospheric levels of CO2 3 million years ago. Obviously, there is quite a lot of data suggesting that CO2 was 400ppm at the time. And since temperature causes CO2 to rise, we’d expect CO2 to be higher in a warmer world.
So maybe these proxies are right. Either way, CO2 is still a minor player. [Boldface added]
[Graph omitted]
For those wondering where they can find ice that’s up to 6 million years old — the cores were dug at Allan Hills where strong winds stop new snow from depositing on top of the ice core, preserving the really old ice somewhere near the surface.
But this study is quite the spanner in the works. When forced to choose between the ice cores and “CO2 as Earths control knob”, surprisingly the ice cores are more important to the believers. And the second Nature paper released actually considers whether CO2 is a driver rather than toss out the ice core graph — even wondering out loud if the power of CO2 was weak…
There are three possible explanations for this tight balance: (1) it reflects the CO2-thermostat responding to a decline in CO2 sources; (2) it reflects the CO2-thermostat responding to an increase in continental weatherability; and (3) the CO2-thermostat is weak and CO2 sources and sinks are invariant and constant over the past 3 Myr.
— Marks-Peterson (2026)
The Blasphemy…
At least one science writer got the idea that CO2 could be the main driver today, but not 3 million years ago. Those laws of physics you know, switch on and off:
Something Else Used to Drive Climate Changes, Ancient Ice Cores Reveal
By Jess Cockerill, ScienceAlert
The rapid climate change we are experiencing today is mainly driven by the greenhouse gases we humans keep releasing into the air.
But new evidence from ancient Antarctic ice cores suggests this wasn’t always the case for the past three million years of Earth’s changing climate.
According to the findings of two new papers published in Nature, at certain transition points ocean temperatures could have had a greater influence over Earth’s climate than greenhouse gases.
Lordy! Imagine the oceans being more influential than a trace gas at 0.04%?! What was she thinking….?”
The Allan Hills Blue Ice Area is in East Antarctica and contains tiny air bubbles revealing climate conditions over the past 6 million years. According to the NSF website:
“The US National Science Foundation Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (NSF COLDEX) is a Science and Technology Center formed in 2021 to explore Antarctica for the oldest possible ice core records of our planet’s climate and environmental history, and to help broaden participation in polar science.”
The physical evidence supports the assertions of Tom Gallagher and others that changes in Earth’s geology resulted in Icehouse Earth, not changes in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. It is important to note that the physical evidence discussed by Gallagher accumulates very slowly, its resolution is in thousands of years. The ice core data accumulates more quickly, but it is also very slow. Its resolution is in hundreds of years at best. The resolution of the blue ice cores is not clear.
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy for article and for an essay on ice core physics and https://coldex.org/ for information on the COLDEX project. For an effort to explain away the findings see link under Defending the Orthodoxy.
Argo Floats: According to its website:
“Argo is an international program that collects information from inside the ocean using a fleet of robotic instruments that drift with the ocean currents and move up and down between the surface and a mid-water level. Each instrument (float) spends almost all its life below the surface. The name Argo was chosen because the array of floats works in partnership with the Jason earth observing satellites that measure the shape of the ocean surface.” https://argo.ucsd.edu/
The journal Science of Climate Change published a controversial paper by Jonathan Cohler, et al. “IPCC’s Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment is Based on Physically Invalid Argo-Float-Based Estimates of Global Ocean Heat Content.” The abstract states [Boldface added]:
“Global ocean heat content (OHC) anomalies and derived Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) estimates, central to contemporary climate assessments including IPCC AR6, are constructed through processes that violate the scientific method. These metrics rely almost exclusively on temperature data from the Argo profiling float array. Their validity and reliability hinge on several critical but herein refuted assumptions about measurement representativeness, interpolation/extrapolation methods, the physical meaning of anomalies, and integration conventions. Core Argo and Biogeochemical Argo floats deliver discrete, point measurements of intensive properties like temperature along irregular, untracked three-dimensional trajectories during ascent from 2000 m to the surface. This samples only the upper ocean, excluding roughly 50% of total ocean volume and thermal energy. Horizontal positions are recorded only at surface intervals ~10 days apart, leaving subsurface locations entirely unknown. All data from each ascent are arbitrarily assigned to the surfacing position, introducing unknown horizontal offsets (up to 50 km) and temporal offsets (up to 10 hours) for the deepest measurements. Anomalies are computed by subtracting values from statistically derived reference climatologies based on sparse historical data over arbitrary baseline periods. Measured temperatures are then interpolated onto global 3D grids using pre- scribed covariance functions. These anomalies represent numerical differences without physical meaning as temperature deviations, because temperature, an intensive property, is not additive across non-equilibrium spatial or temporal domains (Essex et al., 2007; Essex & Andresen, 2018). The integrated OHC scalar depends heavily on arbitrary averaging and interpolation rules, producing computational artifacts rather than measures of actual ocean energy uptake or planetary radiative imbalance. Derived EEI values, such as the 0.7 ± 0.2 W m⁻² in IPCC AR6 Figure 7.2, inherit these biases and stem from circular methodology: CERES satellite top-of-atmosphere radiative flux measurements (absolute uncertainties ± 3–5 W m⁻² or higher) are adjusted via least- squares to match Argo OHC-derived estimates, rather than offering independent validation. We rigorously quantify major uncertainty sources, including unresolved mesoscale variability (± 0.9 W m⁻²), deep ocean ignorance bounds (± 0.35 W m⁻² from sparse Deep Argo), polar under- sampling (± 0.1 W m⁻²), Nyquist-Shannon aliasing in sparse deep ocean and polar sampling, sea- level budget closure discrepancy between satellite altimetry/gravimetry and Argo OHC (±0.33 W m-2), arbitrary baseline choices (± 0.2 W m⁻²), Eulerian-Lagrangian discrepancies (± 0.25 W m⁻²), and untracked trajectories and positional assignments. Although the concepts of OHC and EEI are thermodynamically well-defined physical quantities, the numerical values produced by cur- rent Argo-based methodologies are physically meaningless computational constructs that do not validly represent those quantities. We conclude that EEI uncertainties reach >± 1 W m⁻² at 95% confidence, roughly an order of magnitude larger than the uncertainty that IPCC AR6 reports, rendering current OHC change and EEI estimates statistically indistinguishable from zero.”
TWTW was disappointed to read: “CERES satellite top-of-atmosphere radiative flux measurements (absolute uncertainties ± 3–5 W m⁻² or higher) are adjusted via least- squares to match Argo OHC-derived estimates, rather than offering independent validation.” If the paper is independently verified, the findings do not necessarily invalidate the findings of the CERES project that 21st century warming of oceans is from sunlight, not CO2. However, clarification is needed.
In her article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, “A clarinetist, a high school student, and four climate deniers write a science paper, with a little help from AI,” Jessica McKenzie gives a typical response to such a paper – ignore the evidence, use ad hominem, a logical fallacy. She writes, in part:
“This paper is just one facet of a bigger problem. Researchers are increasingly using AI chatbots and other large language models to edit or even write scientific articles. Some uses may seem harmless, but AI tools can introduce errors and hallucinations. And it can be hard to distinguish between AI-finessed and fully AI-generated papers when they look and sound the same.
How serious of a problem is this one paper? After all, it seems likely Cohler is merely tweeting into an echo-chamber of likeminded people, who repost and reply with bot-like synergy. By drawing broader attention to it, I may do more harm than good.
But papers like this are like kindling for anyone just asking questions about climate change, or doing their own research, stoking the flames of climate denial. Climate misinformation isn’t new, but AI tools make it that much easier to produce—and it seems worthwhile to point that out.”
Given that Jessica Wentz defending her work on climate change claims it is “settled science” when it is clearly not; do the comments by Ms. McKenzie apply to Ms. Wentz as well? See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and for the article in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists see link under Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Reliability Is Not an Option: Spinning wind turbines can have great inertia, but they cannot add to the stabilizing inertia of the grid because their rotational speed is too inconsistent. In a talk in Edinburgh, Kathryn Porter addressed this and other issues to explain why adding wind power in windy Scotland has made Scotland one of the most technically fragile parts of the UK grid.
[The first clue that engineers have that the grid voltage is changing is a minuscule change in frequency. The response is to increase or decrease the current in the magnetic-field coils, so that at the same RPM, the same voltage is generated, but more current can be supplied. In this case, the rotational inertia of the machinery keeps the RPM (hence the frequency) constant. Now consider what happens with wind turbines. You can hold the RPM (hence the frequency of the AC voltage) somewhat constant by varying the pitch of the rotor blades. Alternatively, you can generate AC, rectify it to DC stored on huge capacitors, and use an oscillator to generate AC at the line frequency. Overall, this is more efficient, because maximum efficiency comes when the tip speed is directly proportional to wind speed. In any case, wind is regarded as the stepchild: the output voltage, frequency, and phase must be matched to the existing line voltage conditions. When the grid goes down (for whatever reason) the wind turbines automatically shut off (full feather of blades, full electrical shut-down.]
Parts of Porter’s speech include:
“Scotland is often described as an electricity superpower. Not only is that not true, the Scottish grid is actually extremely vulnerable, being held together by just two power stations: Peterhead [combined cycle gas turbines] and Torness [nuclear]. So critical is this dependence that the National Energy System Operator, NESO, will not allow both to go on maintenance at the same time. Yet within the next 5–6 years both could close.
These inverters are “grid following” i.e. they cannot create the current and voltage wave. There are some efforts to develop grid forming inverters that would do this but there are big challenges in their development and so far there are no such devices in operation anywhere in the world where they are actually forming the grid.
Batteries behave in a similar way, and while batteries and inverters can be used to provide synthetic inertia and voltage control, they cannot do this naturally. They require a control system to instruct them to act, and they take current away from powering loads to provide this service which makes it expensive because the income they lose must be compensated.
Reliability isn’t an optional extra, it’s the central objective.
Wind and solar can generate electricity, but they cannot replace the stability services provided by synchronous generators. The engineering to do this is years away from being proven, never mind implemented at scale into our power systems.”
“In a strong system, sudden changes in behavior from a grid fault or the loss of a large generator or load are absorbed smoothly. Voltages remain stable, equipment continues operating normally, and the system quickly settles back to equilibrium.
In a weak system, the same disturbance can produce large swings in voltage or frequency. Protection systems may operate unexpectedly, equipment including generators may disconnect to protect themselves, and instability can spread across the network.”
See link under Questioning European Green
Number of the Week: 10 to 11 days. In his post “How Far into the Future Do Weather Prediction Models Have Skill?” Cliff Mass writes:
30 years ago, providing a forecast of greater than 4-5 days would result in smirks from responsible forecasters.
But times have changed, and today there is substantial skill in the second week.
Mass presents a graph showing how the skill of the American Global Model over the Northern Hemisphere over time (from 1.0 to 0.1) and asserts that anything above roughly 0.6 indicates useful skill. He states:
So according to this measure, there is skill through 8 days! More than a week!
But it is better than that. Today, we have enough computer power to run many forecasts runs each cycle (called ensembles), and the average of these many runs is even more skillful.
The US ensemble (GEFS) has skill out to 10 days!
The European Center forecasts are even better, adding about another day of useful skill–11 days. Machine learning prediction adds another day.
So, what has contributed to the improved skill? The most important contribution is three dimensional observations over the entire planet! No data voids to ruin forecasting skill.
See link under Models v. Observations.
NEWS YOU CAN USE:
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-II/CCR-II-Full.pdf
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-fossil-fuels/
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming/
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy – Radiation Transfer
The Role of Greenhouse Gases in Energy Transfer in the Earth’s Atmosphere
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, Mar 3, 2023
https://co2coalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/The-Role-of-Greenhouse-Gases-in-Energy-Transfer-in-the-Earths-Atmosphere.pdf
Dependence of Earth’s Thermal Radiation on Five Most Abundant Greenhouse Gases
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, December 22, 2020
https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2020/12/WThermal-Radiationf.pdf?x45936
Net Zero Averted Temperature Increase
By Richard Lindzen, William Happer, and William A. van Wijngaarden, CO2 Coalition, June 2024
https://co2coalition.org/publications/net-zero-averted-temperature-increase/
Radiation Transport in Clouds
By W.A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Klimarealistene, Science of Climate Change, January 2025
https://scienceofclimatechange.org/wp-content/uploads/SCC-2025-vWijngaarden-Happer.pdf
Challenging the Orthodoxy
16th International Conference on Climate Change: Climate Realism Rising
By The Heartland Institute, Hotel Washington, WDC, April 8-9
https://climateconference.heartland.org/
BIG NEWS: 3 million year old ice cores flummox researchers — CO2 is irrelevant
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Mar 19, 2026
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/03/big-news-3-million-year-old-ice-cores-flummox-researchers-co2-is-irrelevant/
Link to one paper: Broadly stable atmospheric CO2 and CH4 levels over the past 3 million years
By Julia Marks-Peterson, et al., Nature, Mar 18, 2026
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-10032-y#citeas
Link to second paper: Global Ocean heat content over the past 3 million years
By Sarah Shackleton, et al., Nature, Mr 18, 2026
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10116-3#citeas
Blurring the Past: How Ice Core Physics Undermines ‘Unprecedented’ CO₂ Claims
By Peter Clack, Via Anthony Watts, WUWT, Mar 20, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/20/blurring-the-past-how-ice-core-physics-undermines-unprecedented-co%e2%82%82-claims/
Comparing a 20-year satellite trend to a 200-year ice core average is like comparing a high-definition photograph to a smudge of charcoal.
New Study Challenges Climate Establishment’s Key Warming Metric
The implications could be significant.
By Mark Keenan, American Thinker, Mar 18, 2026
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2026/03/new_study_challenges_climate_establishment_s_key_warming_metric.html
Link to paper: IPCC’s Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment is Based on Physically Invalid Argo-Float-Based Estimates of Global Ocean Heat Content
By Jonathan Cohler, Legates, Green, Humlum, Soon, and Soon, Science of Climate Change, Mar 10, 2026
https://zenodo.org/records/18936064
Scrap Net Zero: Dramatic New Ice Core Evidence Shows Current Century Warming Common Throughout the Last 400,000 Years
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Mar 16, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/16/scrap-net-zero-dramatic-new-ice-core-evidence-shows-current-century-warming-common-throughout-the-last-400000-years/
Link to paper: Is a 1.1°C Rise in a Century Unusual? A Study of Interglacials in the Epica-Vostok Dataset
By Les Hatton, Science of Climate Change, Accepted Jan 15, 2026
Microsoft Word – SCC-2026-Hatton.docx
What the Climate Issue Is All About
By Russell Cook, GelspanFiles.com, Mar 13, 2026
https://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=19585
Climate Change Weekly # 574— The Fight for an Honest Judicial Assessment of Climate Science Is Not Over
By Staff, The Heartland Institute, Mar 20, 2026
https://heartland.org/opinion/climate-change-weekly-574-the-fight-for-an-honest-judicial-assessment-of-climate-science-is-not-over/
Defending the Orthodoxy
New ice core studies expand histories of greenhouse gases and ocean temperature to 3 million years
Press Release, By Michelle Klampe, Oregon State University, Mar 18, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-ice-core-histories-greenhouse-gases.html?utm_source=nwletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily-nwletter
Using precise measurements of the ratio of different noble gases in air trapped in the ice, which reflect ocean temperature changes, Shackleton and colleagues showed that the average temperature of the ocean has declined by 2 to 2.5 degrees Celsius over the past 3 million years.
Using the same ice core samples, Marks-Peterson and her co-authors identified the first direct records of the levels of two of the most important atmospheric greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide and methane, over the last 3 million years.
The implications of the results are that the cooling of the last 3 million years probably involves, in addition to the key role of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, important contributions from other components of the climate system such as Earth’s reflectivity, variations in vegetation and/or ice cover and ocean circulation.
[SEPP Comment: Water vapor is the most important greenhouse gas, ozone is more important than methane.]
UN: “War-driven energy price spikes highlight value of renewables”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Mar 16, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/16/un-war-driven-energy-price-spikes-highlight-value-of-renewables/
Link to article: War-driven energy price spikes highlight value of renewables: UN climate chief
Press release, UN Climate and Environment, Mar 16, 2026
https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167135
[SEPP Comment; If no one can disrupt the wind and the sun, why do they fail to generate electricity so frequently?]
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Lancet: 0.5C Global Warming by 2050 will Turn Us All into Unhealthy Couch Potatoes
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Mar 17, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/17/lancet-0-5c-global-warming-by-2050-will-turn-us-all-into-lazy-couch-potatoes/
Link to paper: Effects of climate change on physical inactivity: a panel data study across 156 countries from 2000 to 2022
By Christian García-Witulski, et al., The Lancet, April 2026
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(25)00472-3/fulltext
From Worrall: The study authors have apparently never heard of swimming.
Rising global temperatures ‘eroding’ the world’s ability to exercise
Declining physical activity could lead to over half a million excess deaths a year by 2050, researchers say
By Sarah Neway, The Telegraph, Mar 17, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/rising-global-temperatures-eroding-ability-to-exercise/
[SEPP Comment: See links immediately above.]
Questioning the Orthodoxy
The Jevons Paradox Explains Why Net Zero is an Exercise in Futility
By Nick Rendell, The Daily Sceptic, Mar 16, 2026
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/16/the-jevons-paradox-explains-why-net-zero-is-an-exercise-in-futility/
English economist Jevons’s 1865 book The Coal Question set out to answer the question why, as steam engines become more efficient, does demand for coal increase rather than decrease?
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/tidbits-150/
But it doesn’t mean they’re hypocrites. On the contrary, it means they are very sincere egotists with a saviour complex. As with John Kerry who justified taking a private jet to Iceland to save the planet from carbon pollution by informing the insolent questioner that he was too important to travel steerage with the rest of us peasants, they honestly see themselves as doing such vital work that it’s well worth our sacrificing to facilitate it. Why they think these endless meetings are worth anything we do not know. But then, we’re not their kind, dahling.
Get lost
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/get-lost/
Because contrary to what you may have been told at the University of Paranoia about how corporations pull the strings and government puppets dance, it’s actually the state that has extraordinary arbitrary power to crush enterprise with a regulatory gesture. And companies have to grovel.
Energy & Environmental Review: March 16, 2026
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.masterresource.org/alliance-for-wise-energy-decisions/energy-environmental-review-03-16-2026/
Problems in the Orthodoxy
Hochul’s climate law delay confounds environmentalists, Dems
By Johan Sheridan, The Hill, Mar 17, 2026
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5786660-hochuls-climate-law-delay-confounds-environmentalists-dems/
Link to: Making Energy More Affordable in New York
By Pat Knight, et al., Synapse Energy Economics, For NRDC and Evergreen Collaborative, March 2026
https://www.news10.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/64/2026/03/Energy-Analysis-PDF.pdf
[SEPP Comment: Among the recommendations from Synapse are: Reduce return on equity (ROE) by one percentage point for electric and gas utilities; avoid large fossil investments; distributed solar; distributed storage; encourage customer-owned power. To make energy really affordable why not eliminate all return on equity?]
After Paris!
UN Urges Member States to Support the ICJ Ruling on Climate Change Obligations
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Mar 14, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/14/un-urges-member-states-to-support-the-icj-ruling-on-climate-change-obligations/
*The experts:
Elisa Morgera, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change
Astrid Puentes Riaño, Special Rapporteur on the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment
Marcos A. Orellana, the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes
Social Benefits of Carbon Dioxide
The effect of increased CO2 on Buffel Grass
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/the-effect-of-increased-co2-on-buffel-grass/
From the CO2Science archive: Did you know that the government of South Australia has a Buffel Grass Strategic Plan? It’s the sort of thing governments do, and if it’s anything like the strategic plans the government of Canada produces we fear for Buffel Grass’ future. Although it’s hard to tell if people want to encourage it or wipe it out.
Seeking a Common Ground
Extreme Cold in a Warming World
There is no contradiction between a warming global-average temperature and the occurrence of severe winter cold
By Roger Pielke Sr., Via Roger Pielke Jr., His Blog, Mar 18, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/extreme-cold-in-a-warming-world?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=191254336&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=172n5r&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Models v. Observations
How Far into the Future Do Weather Prediction Models Have Skill?
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Mar 18, 2026
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2026/03/how-far-into-future-do-weather.html
Changing Weather
The Revenge of Kona Hits BOTH Hawaii and Washington State
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Mar 20, 2026
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-revenge-of-kona-hits-both-hawaii.html
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
An Arctic sea ice surprise
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/an-arctic-sea-ice-surprise/
Link to paper: Minimal Arctic Sea Ice Loss in the Last 20 Years, Consistent With Internal Climate Variability
By M. R. England, et al., Geophysical Research Letters, Agu 5, 2025
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2025GL116175
[SEPP Comment: Corrected link.]
Changing Seas
February 2026 NH and Tropic SSTs Warm Slightly
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, Mar 20, 2026
https://rclutz.com/2026/03/20/february-2026-nh-and-tropic-ssts-warm-slightly/
Summary: The oceans are driving the warming this century. SSTs took a step up with the 1998 El Nino and have stayed there with help from the North Atlantic, and more recently the Pacific northern “Blob.” The ocean surfaces are releasing a lot of energy, warming the air, but eventually will have a cooling effect. The decline after 1937 was rapid by comparison, so one wonders: How long can the oceans keep this up? And is the sun adding forcing to this process?
[SEPP Comment: Increasing sunlight may be causing ocean warming?]
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/doedeepdive-sea-levels/
New Research: South Australia’s Mid-Holocene Sea Surface Temperatures Were 4°C Warmer Than Today
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Mar 18, 2026
https://notrickszone.com/2026/03/18/new-research-south-australias-mid-holocene-sea-surface-temperatures-were-4c-warmer-than-today/
Link to paper: Last Interglacial (MIS 5e) and Holocene sea surface temperature and environmental reconstructions from Yorke Peninsula, southern Australia
By Tsun-You Pan, et al., Marine Geology, April 2026
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322726000289
Be Not Alarmed about Sea Level Rise
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, Mar 18, 2026
https://rclutz.com/2026/03/18/be-not-alarmed-about-sea-level-rise/
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
AEP Wants North Sea Oil & Gas Now!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That< Mar 19, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/19/aep-wants-north-sea-oil-gas-now/
Poor AEP’s [Ambrose Evans-Pritchard] head must be spinning. After years of condemning fossil fuels to the Net Zero bin, the chance of a global shortage has made him realize how much we need them!
Check Your Facts, WTAE ABC, Activists Are Lying, Coffee Production Is Booming Amidst Climate Change
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, Mar13, 2026
https://climaterealism.com/2026/03/check-your-facts-wtae-abc-activists-are-lying-coffee-production-is-booming-amidst-climate-change/
WRONG, Chicago Tribune, Climate Change Isn’t Making Hailstorms Worse
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, Mar 17, 2026
https://climaterealism.com/2026/03/wrong-chicago-tribune-climate-change-isnt-making-hailstorms-worse/
Wrong, Daily Mail, Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier Isn’t on the Road to Collapse by 2067
By Anthony Watts, Climate Realism, Mar 19, 2026
https://climaterealism.com/2026/03/wrong-daily-mail-antarcticas-thwaites-glacier-isnt-on-the-road-to-collapse-by-2067/
Communicating Better to the Public – Make things up.
“Climate Whiplash” means BOM needs more of your money to be more wrong than ever before
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Mar 18, 2026
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/03/climate-whiplash-means-bom-needs-more-of-your-money-to-be-more-wrong-than-ever-before/
7 News:
“Australians are facing a new climate reality where traditional weather patterns no longer apply, with scientists warning that ‘climate whiplash’ is making seasonal shifts increasingly hard to predict and costly.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
A clarinetist, a high school student, and four climate deniers write a science paper, with a little help from AI
By Jessica McKenzie, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Mar 19, 2026
https://thebulletin.org/2026/03/a-clarinetist-a-high-school-student-and-four-climate-deniers-write-a-science-paper-with-a-little-help-from-ai/amp/
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Oil Price Hysteria
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 17, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/oil-price-hysteria/
[SEPP Comment: With inflation eliminated, prices remain significantly lower than previous peaks lasting for several years.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Any Cause, as Long as it’s Stupid
This time it’s important, I’m sure
By JIT, Climate Scepticism, Mar 20, 2026 [Bernie Kepshire[
https://cliscep.com/2026/03/20/any-cause-as-long-as-its-stupid/
First against the wall when the revolution doesn’t come
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/first-against-the-wall-when-the-revolution-doesnt-come/
Now on the subject of 360˚ pivots, another activist profiled in the story, Alex Connon, whose contribution to civil and intelligent debate was to block the doors of a bank while chanting, says shaming banks by calling them dirty names seems not to have won their hearts so now he has to shame their customers into dealing with other banks:
Questioning European Green
Scotland’s energy crisis
By Kathryn Porter, Net Zero Watch, Mar 13, 2026
https://www.netzerowatch.com/all-news/scotland-energy-crisis
We Need A Reality Check On ENERGY!–Craig MacKinlay
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 19, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/18/we-need-a-reality-check-on-energy-craig-mackinlay/
Eight-minute video
Questioning Green Elsewhere
Hormuz Choke Point Displays ‘Green’ Vulnerabilities and US Power
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, Mary 16, 2026
https://co2coalition.org/2026/03/16/hormuz-choke-point-displays-green-vulnerabilities-and-us-power/
The crisis also showcases America’s capacity to support allies and the poor. Long‑term LNG contracts with Asian and European partners, coupled with support for reasonable financing of oil and gas projects in developing countries, can reduce dependence on chokepoints like Hormuz and on coercive suppliers. Energy sovereignty for India, Southeast Asia and Africa aligns with U.S. strategic interests and moral stance.
The Political Games Continue
Democrats Retreat from Climate Activism (energy affordability, electability in play)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Mar 19,2026
https://www.masterresource.org/climate-politics-retreat/democrats-retreat-climate-stringency/
Litigation Issues
Energy producers join lawsuit supporting repeal of EPA’s 2009 greenhouse gas rule
Press Release, Pacific Legal Foundation, Mar 19, 2026
https://pacificlegal.org/press-release/energy-producers-join-lawsuit-supporting-repeal-of-epas-2009-greenhouse-gas-rule/
Energy producers urge courts to affirm the repeal of the EPA’s 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding
American Public Health Association v. Environmental Protection Agency
Press Release, Staff, Pacific Legal Foundation, No Date
https://pacificlegal.org/case/domestic-energy-producers-alliance-epa-endangerment-finding/
SCOTUS to Hear Colorado Climate Case, What’s at Stake
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, Mar 19, 2026
https://rclutz.com/2026/03/19/scotus-to-hear-colorado-climate-case-whats-at-stake/
Link to detailed essay: A Turning Point for Litigation Campaign: SCOTUS Takes Up Boulder Climate Lawsuit
By Kyle Kohli, Energy in Depth, Mar 11, 2026
https://eidclimate.org/a-turning-point-for-litigation-campaign-scotus-takes-up-boulder-climate-lawsuit/
SCOTUS Agrees to Hear Case on Colorado Dispute over Climate Change; (it should throw that case and all the others out)
By Russell Cook, The Gelbspan Files, Feb 28, 2026
https://gelbspanfiles.com/?p=19567
GAO Files Amicus Showing Endangerment Finding was Predetermined
By Staff, Government Accountability & Oversight, Mar 19, 2026
https://govoversight.org/gao-files-amicus-showing-endangerment-finding-was-predetermined/
New York AG sues to uphold national emissions rules
By Johan Sheridan, The Hill, Mar 20, 2026
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5793632-new-york-ag-trump-epa-emissions/
Energy Issues – General
The AI Race Isn’t Just About Chips. It’s About Power.
By David Hodges, Real Clear Energy, Mar 19, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/19/the_ai_race_isnt_just_about_chips_its_about_power_1171551.html
The AI race will not be decided by algorithms alone. It will be decided by whether we can build the physical backbone on which advanced computing depends -power plants, transmission, substations, cooling systems, and the teams that bring it all online.
The next chapter of AI will be measured in gigawatts.
Iran around in circles
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/iran-around-in-circles/
Consider this headline on David Blackmon’s Energy Additions Substack, reprinted from Kevin Killough at Just The News:
“As Iran war hits oil and gas shipping, green policies of Europe and California start to boomerang”.
You ain’t fooling. And they ain’t smart, because it’s the second such wallop in under five years after the Ukraine war.
US Energy Realism Pays Off in Iran Crisis
By Vijay Jayaraj, CO2 Coalition, Mar 16, 2026
https://co2coalition.org/2026/03/16/us-energy-realism-pays-off-in-iran-crisis/
What the current crisis proves is simple: Energy security resides in the ability to secure physical molecules – oil, gas, coal and uranium – when geopolitical storms hit. Europe, and much of Asia, chose to anchor their future to slogans instead.
Energy Issues – Europe
See EU later
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/see-eu-later/
If the EU is a democracy or gathering of same, what business have governments “pressing ahead” with disastrous policies voters reject? Or is self-government different there than in the Anglosphere?
Is Britain sitting on more gas? | Ed Conway analysis
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That< Mar 19, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/19/is-britain-sitting-on-more-gas-ed-conway-analysis/
[SEPP Comment: 16-minute video. In 1985, UK was the fifth largest producer of oil. In 2000, UK was exporting natural gas, now it imports both.]
Brits Told to Work From Home and Use Ovens Less Amid Energy Crisis – and [Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel]Reeves Can’t Help “Because She’s Maxxed Out Britain’s Credit Card”
By Will Jones, Daily Sceptic, Mar 20, 2026
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/20/brits-told-to-work-from-home-and-use-ovens-less-amid-energy-crisis-and-reeves-cant-help-because-shes-maxxed-out-britains-credit-card/
Govt To Go “Further and Faster”!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 16, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/16/govt-to-go-further-and-faster/
Talk about fiddling while Rome burns!
It’s Only Taxpayer Money!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 16, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/16/its-only-taxpayer-money/
Insulated Homes Don’t Use Less Energy.
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 16, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/16/insulated-homes-dont-use-less-energy/
It is something I have long argued – that people take advantage of insulation by having warmer homes, rather than saving money.
It’s human nature really!
Energy Issues – Australia
Aussie Security Experts Demand an Accelerated Renewable Transition
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Mar 15, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/15/aussie-security-experts-demand-an-accelerated-renewable-transition/
Aussie Miners are experimenting with electric, and this is one of the few areas where electric vehicles might work in some cases. Because of the high cost of transporting fuel to remote locations, and the high value of some ores, some mining companies would be able to afford as many lithium battery packs and solar panels as were required to keep their equipment running 24×7. But time will tell whether battery powered equipment prevails in the mining industry.
[SEPP Comment: Ask the “security experts” how they would run Sydney on wind, solar, and batteries. Australia has considerable oil and gas resources which the government is ignoring. “In 2023 Australia’s total demonstrated oil resources are estimated as 100,255 PJ (17,142 million barrels [MMbbl]), of which 7,551 PJ (1312 MMbbl) are classified as proven and probable (2P) reserves. Approximately 80% of these resources are associated with unconventional oil shale deposits…. Australia is a net importer of refined oil products, crude oil and other refinery feedstocks, and also exports a major share of its crude oil production, predominantly from Western Australia. About 97% of Australia’s domestically produced oil resources were exported in 2022-23.]
https://www.ga.gov.au/aecr2025/oil
How to solve the Australian Fuel Crisis — we could be self sufficient
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Mar 20, 2026
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/03/how-to-solve-the-australian-fuel-crisis-we-could-be-self-sufficent/
Energy Issues — US
A New Way to Measure U.S. Energy Security
By Iddo K. Wernick , Stephen D. Eule, Real Clear Energy, Mar 17, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/17/a_new_way_to_measure_us_energy_security_1170881.html
Link to press release: The Role of Energy in U.S. National Security
By Iddo K. Wernick, PhD & Stephen D. Eule, National Center for Energy Analytics (NCEA), Mar 11, 2026
https://energyanalytics.org/esi/?utm_campaign=National%20Center%20for%20Energy%20Analytics&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-826UfsR3zOvEh3X_0_Phv8XJ8uMqj4XRbmuWntOTFV0YRH_SPYezUUCgSf7YX2eVefs8YzPnNVuRhFDJhqKJzvsRFYWg&_hsmi=24935477&utm_content=24936614&utm_source=hs_email
Link to report: https://energyanalytics.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/2026-03-Role-Energy-US-National-Security-WernickEule.pdf
From press release: With this report, NCEA introduces its new project—the Index of Leading Energy Indicators. The Leading Energy Indicators will serve as a unique and eventually interactive tool to help assess the state and future of the nation’s energy supply system.
The U.S. Energy Security Index (ESI), the first of four planned components of the Leading Energy Indicators, addresses a critical question: Will current plans for the U.S. energy system improve or degrade national security?
Times of Conflict or War Remind Us of the Importance of U.S. Natural Gas
By Gary Abernathy, Real Clear Energy, Mar 18, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/18/times_of_conflict_or_war_remind_us_of_the_importance_of_us_natural_gas_1170987.html
As described in this space recently, despite the U.S. being technically energy independent – a net exporter – much of the oil produced by the U.S. is light oil produced from shale fracking. Most U.S. refineries are built to process heavier oil, much of which is imported. When a disruption in transportation occurs – such as imperiling the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf – oil prices will climb here, hopefully for only the short term.
[SEPP Comment: If its oil industry can be restored, Venezuela is a source of heavy oil; so is deep water drilling in the Gulf of America (formerly known as Gulf of Mexico).
Big Tech Needs Trump’s Energy Agenda
By Steve Milloy, Real Clear Energy, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/16/big_tech_needs_trumps_energy_agenda_1170695.html
But utilities don’t like the off-grid electricity generators that rob them of revenues. Greens don’t like new gas plants, keeping coal plants running or even nuclear power. The two powerful forces see eye-to-eye on in opposing off-grid power generation for data centers.
It’s Time to Embrace Energy Realism
By André Béliveau, Real Clear Energy, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/16/its_time_to_embrace_energy_realism_1170697.html
The United States needs a “best-of-the-above” approach that prioritizes reliability and affordability. The old “all-of-the-above” mantra that often wrote blank checks for politically favored energy sources without examining tradeoffs must go to the dustbin of history.
Energy Realists Saved the US Grid (Alex Epstein)
By Ron Clutz, His Blog, Mar 18, 2026
https://rclutz.com/2026/03/18/energy-realists-saved-the-us-grid-alex-epstein/
Utilities Efforts Would Undermine President Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge
By Todd Snitchler, Real Clear Energy, Mar 17, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/17/utilities_efforts_would_undermine_president_trumps_ratepayer_protection_pledge_1170882.html
Some utilities, like Exelon, want to re-establish monopoly systems where they own and operate the power plants that generate electricity, the long-distance transmission lines, and the local distribution infrastructure. Under this model, utilities would build generation with guaranteed returns and shift construction risk, cost overruns, and performance failures directly onto ratepayers. Unlike a monopoly system, competitive markets put the risk of investment on the power producers and their investors, not the end users.
If monopoly generation is so much better at meeting demand efficiently and affordably, why would a state like Virginia have to import nearly a third of its power while paying significantly higher capacity prices?
Electricity, Not Oil, Is the Real America-First Energy Strategy
By Paul Bledsoe, Real Clear Energy, Mar 19, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/19/electricity_not_oil_is_the_real_america-first_energy_strategy_1171245.html
This year it can dramatically reduce electricity costs by streamlining the current sclerotic energy permitting system for new interstate powerlines to bring renewable energy to customers who need it and new pipelines to lower rising natural gas and electricity prices. Then next year the new Congress should undertake more crucial reforms, helping cheaper electric power fuel a new generation of fast-charging, lower-cost EVs so more consumers can break free of high-cost oil. Even some leading Republicans like Mike Murphy now believe EVs are a big part of America’s energy strategy answer.
[SEPP Comment: Electricity needs to be reliable and affordable. Wind and solar are not reliable forms of electricity generation.]
Washington’s Control of Energy
Contentious Alaska oil, gas drilling rights sale generates record revenue
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Mar 19, 2026
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5792164-alaska-drilling-lease-sale-oil/
‘…interior held a landmark oil and gas lease sale today for the NPR-A [National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska] resulting in 187 leases and $163,696,722 in total receipts,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wrote in a social media post.
Pro-Mining Trump Administration Blocking Crucial Alaska Copper Project
By John Shively, Real Clear Energy, Mar 18, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/18/pro-mining_trump_administration_blocking_crucial_alaska_copper_project_1170989.html
Despite the president’s pro-mining stance, the Justice Department on Feb. 17 defended in court the 2023 preemptive veto by the Biden EPA that has halted the permit process for the Pebble mining project. This mineral deposit lies in a remote southwestern area on land owned by the State of Alaska and designated for mining.
Trump temporarily loosening shipping rules in bid to lower gas prices
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Mar 18, 2026
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5789557-iran-war-jones-act-gas-prices/
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Energy Dominance 2.0: Permian Basin Edition
By David Middleton, WUWT, Mar 20, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/20/energy-dominance-2-0-permian-basin-edition/
Russian Oil Poised To Flood World Markets As Trump Admin Lifts Sanctions
By Sean Hustedde, Daily Caller, Mar 17, 2026
https://dailycaller.com/2026/03/17/russian-oil-china-state-companies-india-trump-iran/
Return of King Coal?
Coal Needs Boots on the Ground
By Frank Clemente, Fred Palmer, Real Clear Energy, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2026/03/16/coal_needs_boots_on_the_ground_1170771.html
Despite their incredible hypocrisy these special interest groups are succeeding in closing down one of the most important industries in the U.S. By 2030, just four years from now, anti-coal groups will have eliminated 80% of coal’s electric generation capacity. Reliability will be lower, rates will be higher and the U.S. will be less competitive. Tens of thousands of well-paying jobs will be lost and businesses associated with coal industry will either go bankrupt or see their revenues greatly diminished.
Nuclear Energy and Fears
Energy Expert: Germany’s Nuclear Phaseout Was A “500 Billion Euro Mistake”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Mar 18, 2026
https://notrickszone.com/2026/03/18/energy-expert-germanys-nuclear-phaseout-was-a-500-billion-euro-mistake/
Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt looks at the high costs of green energy subsidies in Germany. In 2025, wind and solar operators received approximately €16.5 billion in government subsidies from the Climate and Transformation Fund. And due to fixed feed-in tariffs, investors end up benefitting twice: during oversupply (electricity prices near zero), the state pays the difference; during scarcity (high prices up to 40 ct/kWh), they pocket extra profits.
How Europe Undermined Its Own Energy Security
The revealing math behind Europe’s nuclear power blunder
By Roger Pielke Jr., His Blog, Mar 16, 2026
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/how-europe-undermined-its-own-energy
Bulgaria and Lithuania closed [nuclear] plants as conditions of EU accession. Germany shut eight reactors immediately after Fukushima in March 2011 and closed its last operating reactor in April 2023. Sweden shuttered four of its 12 commercial reactors. France began to walk back its commitment to nuclear power. By 2024 the EU-27 fleet stood at 100 reactors. Nuclear energy had fallen from a peak consumption of 10.1 exajoules (EJ) in 2004 to 7.1 EJ.
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Ed Miliband’s Wind Farms Could Cripple UK ‘Iron Dome’ Anti-Missile Systems and Leave Britain a “Sitting Duck”
By Richard Eldred. Daily Sceptic, Mar 15, 2026
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/15/ed-milibands-wind-farms-could-cripple-uk-iron-dome-anti-missile-systems-and-leave-britain-a-sitting-duck/
The RAF has also warned that the blades on Mr Miliband’s turbines reflect electromagnetic pulses pinged out by radar equipment to detect incoming aircraft and missiles.
This creates unhelpful background noise for system operators. Each blade on a turbine can generate a false return, meaning there is potential for disruption from several sites.
Oops: Wind farms provide good cover for incoming missiles and drones
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Mar 17, 2026
https://joannenova.com.au/2026/03/oops-wind-farms-provide-good-cover-for-incoming-missiles-and-drones/
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
Chicken Litter Biomass Plants May Shut When Subsidies End
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Mar 17, 2026
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/chicken-litter-biomass-plants-may-shut-when-subsidies-end/
Melton made £80 million from ROC subsidies, in addition to another £12 million from Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin and top ups from OGFEM from ROC recycling.
Total turnover was £169 million, so more than half of revenue comes from subsidies.
Little wonder they don’t want to give them up!
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Storing Green Energy To Last Germany 10 Days Would Require A 60-Million Tonne Battery
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Mar 14, 2026
https://notrickszone.com/2026/03/14/storing-green-energy-to-last-germany-10-days-would-require-a-60-million-tonne-battery/
The EIKE author concludes that batteries alone cannot guarantee a secure power supply. Even under massive expansion scenarios for 2030, gaps remain (especially in winter) that would strictly require a flexible power plant reserve (e.g., gas-fired plants) or imports.
Furthermore, lack of grid stability (missing rotating mass) is cited as a significant technical hurdle.
California Dreaming
The Many Benefits of Dredging the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
By Edward Ring, Californians for Energy and Water Abundance, Mar 18, 2025
https://abundanceca.com/134-the-many-benefits-of-dredging-the-sacramento-san-joaquin-delta/
New energy policies in California threatening America’s national security
By Ronald Stein P.E. and Mike Umbro, America Outloud News, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.americaoutloud.news/new-energy-policies-in-california-threatening-americas-national-security/
Other News that May Be of Interest
Animal’s knowledgeable inherited behavior
By David Wojick, CFACT, Mar 16, 2026
https://www.cfact.org/2026/03/16/animals-knowledgeable-inherited-behavior/
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Earth warming faster than the rest of the world
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Mar 18, 2026
https://climatediscussionnexus.com/2026/03/18/earth-warming-faster-than-the-rest-of-the-world/
In fact, Wikipedia says of the Younger Dryas that “Statistical analysis shows that the Younger Dryas is merely the last of 25 or 26 Dansgaard–Oeschger events (D–O events) over the past 120,000 years” all of which, again, saw dramatic changes over very short time periods. Almost as if it were, what’s that word, natural.
EXCLUSIVE: Half a Million Balsa Trees Illegally Logged in Amazon Rainforest Every Year to Feed Global Wind Turbine Demand
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Mar 17, 2026 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://dailysceptic.org/2026/03/17/exclusive-half-a-million-balsa-trees-illegally-logged-in-amazon-rainforest-every-year-to-feed-global-wind-turbine-demand/
‘Ever-wrong Ehrlich’s’ Greatest Hits (er, misses)
By Dave Burton with a postscript by Anthony Watts, WUWT, Mar 17, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/17/10449934/
The “Spiral of Silence” is Concealing Majority Support for Climate Action
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Mar 20, 2026
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2026/03/20/climate-activists-claim-supporters-are-staying-quiet-because-of-the-spiral-of-silence/
I guess it was inevitable that greens would lay claim to supporters who are too shy to speak up. I mean, anyone who claims we are in the midst of a climate emergency nobody can see has the capacity to imagine supporters who nobody can hear.
ARTICLES
- There’s No Judicial Climate Science Scandal
My co-writer and I didn’t commit academic misconduct in our chapter for a federal evidence manual.
Letter by Jessica Wentz, WSJ, March 20, 2026
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/theres-no-judicial-climate-science-scandal-ebfaebf0
TWTW Summary: Key points of the letter are discussed in the This Week section above.
- Keeping Up With the Jones Act
Trump may suspend the 1920 law that hurts the U.S. in war and peace.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Mar 21, 2026
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/jones-act-donald-trump-iran-war-oil-prices-shipping-8ec6c862?mod=hp_opin_pos_6
TWTW Summary: After discusses what the administration may do, the editorial states:
“The law requires goods shipped between American ports to be transported on vessels that are U.S.-built, -flagged and -owned. Congress intended to boost the U.S. ship industry, but the protectionism has helped to ruin it instead. There are few Jones Act-compliant oil tankers, and they command higher shipping prices than foreign vessels.
America’s shale fracking bounty means the U.S. isn’t hurt as much by oil supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz as are Asia and Europe, which depend on the Middle East. Nonetheless, the Northeast and California import much of their oil. California imports about 15% of its refined fuel and 60% of its crude. About 30% of the latter comes from the Middle East.
The Jones Act is a major reason, in addition to California’s anti-fossil fuel policies that have reduced in-state oil production and shuttered refineries. As we recently reported, some shippers are circumventing the Jones Act by routing gasoline from the Gulf Coast to California through a pit-stop in the Bahamas. That’s not fuel or cost efficient.
Waiving the Jones Act could reduce oil shipping costs and fuel prices at the margin in the Northeast and on the West Coast. If President Trump wants to improve affordability, how about calling on Congress to repeal the law, which increases prices during peacetime too?”
