The Week That Was: 2023-04-29 (April 29, 2023)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “If we could create the universe from scratch, we’d all make sure that no one ever suffered misfortunes or disadvantages. The problem is that we don’t get to create the universe from scratch.” ― Thomas Sowell
Number of the Week: Over 19,000
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: The following topics will be discussed. Ron Clutz posted a video and the text of an interview of atmospheric scientist Richard Lindzen by BizNews. Lindzen discusses the departure of climate science from physical science (using physical evidence) and how politized climate science has become. Lindzen criticizes specific parts of climate science commonly used that are not physical science supported by physical evidence (data).
Roy Spencer uses a simple model to demonstrate how small increases in population increase temperature readings in areas with low population density more than such population increases increase temperature readings in areas with high population density. Of particular note, is that the bulk of the increase is on minimum (nighttime) temperature. This is particularly important in considering projections made using average temperatures.
Researcher Andy May has a series of essays discussing equilibrium climate sensitivity and transient climate sensitivity, concepts arising in the reports of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Different studies have produced different results on these concepts. TWTW suggests several alternative approaches not considered by Mr. May.
Net Zero Watch has a post (likely by David Whitehouse) discussing the increase in sea surface temperatures that impact reported average global temperatures which is used by the IPCC and its followers. TWTW has suggestions of causes unrelated to carbon dioxide.
Jo Nova brings up the discovery of thousands of subsurface sea mounts not previously recorded. Since physical climate research is the study of the interaction of two dynamic fluids (atmosphere and oceans) against an uneven surface on a spinning globe unevenly heated by the sun, changes in subsurface land change the dynamics of the oceans. Of course, this will be ignored by global climate modelers.
Without any Congressional authorization, the White House announced an Office of Environmental Justice. This is such a vague concept that it can be used to justify just about any action. Environmental Justice fits into generic “justice” that Thomas Sowell describes in his book, The Quest for Cosmic Justice. An essay by Sowell of the same title is discussed.
Francis Menton continues to explore which political jurisdiction will hit the green wall first. That is when the public realizes that, contrary to political promises, wind and solar plus needed storage cannot deliver affordable, reliable electricity. The political claims are false. In discussing South Africa, Menton brings up the lending policies of the World Bank, which may be considered as a result of Environmental Justice.
In two separate hearings, one by the Senate and one by the House, different members of the administration were asked pointed questions on matters that should be understood. From the answers, it is difficult to determine if the respondents are ignorant or if they deliberately muddle.
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What Global Climate? Richard Lindzen begins the interview by BizNews with answering the question: “Briefly walk me through your career and what it was about climate change that captured your attention.” Lindzen responds: [Boldface added by Clutz. BN is BizNews]
“It’s a peculiar question. I mean, do you think things only become interesting once they’re political? With the general circulation of the atmosphere, you want to know why you have the current climate. You have dozens of regimes throughout the Earth, so when you speak about the climate of the earth what the hell are you talking about?
“South Africa is a very different climate from New England. The Pacific has many climate regimes, and you have the monsoon regimes in India. So, there are a lot of things to understand. And it had nothing to do with environmentalism; it was to understand how nature is on carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect.
“BN: You’ve claimed that believing that increased carbon dioxide is the largest driver of climate change is akin to believing in magic. What evidence supports this argument and what are the actual effects of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?
“RL: Well, you’re asking a complex question. Carbon dioxide is a relatively minor greenhouse gas. But the question arises when you speak about what controls climate, and you’re speaking about dozens of different climate regimes.
“Saying there is one knob that controls the whole works makes no sense, and that is belief in magic.
“But you know greenhouse effect is useful for one climatic index namely: Why is the Earth different from Venus or Mars or Mercury? Those are huge differences. They depend on basically the mean radiative picture, which includes the greenhouse, the distance from the Sun, the amount of radiation you get and so on. So, within a given planet, in particular the Earth, our primary concern, we refer to the differences in climate that like the Ice Ages and the very warm period 50 million years ago. These are really pretty tiny compared to the differences between the planets. And those ‘tiny’ differences that we obsess on for good reason are not due to the greenhouse effect.
“They’re due to the transport of heat between the tropics and the high latitudes. And they are part of the Dynamics of the system which depends on a number of factors.
“So primarily, what does carry the heat? Well, the ocean carries some heat but, in many respects, the most important thing is the so-called highs and lows. If you look at a weather map, it’s a little bit different in the southern hemisphere, but here you have the highs and lows going from west to east carrying weather. When you have the wind blowing from the north it’s cold, from the South it’s warm. And this oscillates and gives work to your weathermen. In any event those same things carry heat to the pole. And many things determine them, but mainly it’s the differential heating between the tropics and the pole.
“So, you have a system which has these features, and all of a sudden you obsess on the greenhouse effect. You end up having people saying really stupid things. So, we’ve increased the temperature one degree or 1.1 in the last 100 years 120 years 150 years. And it’s been accompanied by the greatest improvement in human welfare in the history of the Earth, while some claim one-half degree more will be curtains. Only a politician could come up with something quite that absurd. But on the other hand, when you get to the U.N. and other things, it’s politicians that run it. And they’ve enabled this hysteria, frightening children, their lives are going to be finished in short order. The UN IPCC has a working group that deals with science (Working Group 1). Even there in a thousand pages they don’t speak about an existential threat.
“So, you have other reports from the U.N. that are not scientific that say: Oh yes, it’s coming to the end of the world. And politicians say, well this is what we have to go by. I don’t know what you do, but it’s an evil movement, and it’s causing immense damage. It is trying to condemn people in Africa in the developing world to perpetual poverty. And yet I have to ask: Why would this be a goal? I don’t know.
“BN: One of the cornerstones of this, let’s call it an agenda, is the constant bombardment to the public of reports on the rise of extreme weather events. Are these reports patently false or are they due to climate change?
“RL: Well, you’re pointing to something very important. Even if it were occurring how do you relate it to this one number? But it’s not even true. Again, going back to the IPCC, in the UN report they say there is virtually no evidence of a relationship between extreme events and climate change. Now they say that, but that doesn’t fit the politics, so they say something else. If you know of the American comic of years ago, Groucho Marx; he said, ‘I have my principles. If you don’t like them, I have others.’”
The interview then goes into the use of fossil fuels that has led to the most prosperous, healthy period known to civilization, which gives the opportunity to get rich (and politically popular) even if one is trying to destroy industry. Lindzen’s comment about renewable energy was clear:
“What about the tools that extract energy from this, they’re not renewable. |They involve slave labor and that sounds pretty good doesn’t it. Now you have material usage, you have destruction of Landscapes. It’s almost as though the environmental movement has decided to commit suicide and go all in for things that destroy the environment. What you’re doing with the solar panels and windmills and so on, you’re killing birds you’re destroying the environment. These have lifetimes of 10, 20 years, and you don’t know how to dispose of them. So, this has nothing to do with the environment, it’s a power play.”
The interview continues with more specifics on the power play including how people are now called climate scientists even when they have no knowledge of physics and received a grant to find out whether diabetes was related to climate. Clutz concludes with summarizing points made in a 2009 article by Lindzen: “Climate Science: Is it Currently Designed to Answer Questions?” https://www.globalresearch.ca/climate-science-is-it-currently-designed-to-answer-questions/16330
See link under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Minimum Temperature: Roy Spencer continues his research on the effects of population increases on temperatures, this time emphasizing the different effects on minimum temperature and maximum temperature. Previously he has shown that average temperatures increase quickly as urbanization begins but the increase tapers off quickly as population density grows.
Spencer uses the NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network database. Unfortunately, NOAA stopped reporting minimum and maximum temperature in 2010 and only reports averages today. Does NOAA think that computers of today are incapable of storing that much information?
Since the global warming fear is promoting high temperatures, Spencer reports on summertime temperatures (May to July) from 1880 to 2010. He finds that increases in population densities have a significant impact on minimum (nighttime) temperatures but a far smaller impact on high (daytime) temperatures. Since average temperatures do not show this difference, using average temperatures for calculating future daytime highs is misleading.
TWTW considers the same applies for the greenhouse effect. Using early spectroscopy, John Tyndall discovered what is called the greenhouse effect to understand why the Earth remained warm enough at night to support life as we know it. It is the nighttime low temperatures that is important for considering the greenhouse effect. Not understanding this leads to significant deficiencies in many climate studies such as “The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves.” The abstract states: “In 31% of regions examined, the observed daily maximum temperature record is exceptional. Climate models suggest that similar behavior can occur in any region.” Using average temperatures is misleading. Modern humanity is thought to have evolved in equatorial Africa, known for its high temperatures.
See links under Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science and Measurement Issues — Surface
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Differing Views: In four essays appearing in Watts Up With That, researcher Andy May gives a good description of the status of climate science as presented by the UN IPCC and various commentators. In one essay, he discusses that no one has presented a generally accepted model of cloud formation and dissipation, which changes the Earth’s albedo (ability to reflect solar energy back to space). This alone is sufficient to make any long-term predictions from global climate models unreliable. In his essays on Planetary Heat Balance, Howard Hayden asserted that the inability to predict albedo is one reason why his model is not predictive.
In his third essay, May presents various estimates of Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) and Transient Climate Sensitivity (TCS). He does not discuss the recent estimates by van Wijngaarden and Happer or by global climate modeler Tim Palmer in The Primacy of Doubt. Both estimates are about 1°C, 2°F, without positive feedback assumed by Palmer. Since precise estimates are impossible, TWTW appreciates using an upper bound analysis proposed by the Right Climate Stuff Team, 2 °C. Thus, the estimate for ECS for a doubling of CO2 is about 1 °C and certainly below 2 °C. This is not enough to stop a future “Ice Age” glaciation period that is sure to come. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and http://www.sepp.org/science_papers.cfm?whichyear=2022
A Puzzle? Net Zero Watch had an interesting post on sea surface temperatures: It states:
“Scientists are puzzled by a rapid increase in the temperature of the world’s oceans. The daily surface temperature between 60°N and 60°S reached a record high on March 31st – the highest temperature in the NOAA record that started in 1981.”
After presenting a chart for March 31, 2023, the post continues:
“It occurs as we are moving from persistent La Nina into El Nino conditions which could later this year increase global ocean temperatures by more than half a degree Celsius.
“Many factors have been postulated to be a contribution to this temperature spurt. Sunspots are set to reach a high maximum sooner than expected this solar cycle. In 2022 the Tonga submarine volcano eruption added a huge amount of water vapor into the atmosphere. Also, in 2022 the International Maritime Organization issued a ban on pollution from ships reducing their sulfur emissions. This reduced the blanket of reflective aerosol particles reflecting sunlight back into space before it reached the oceans, thereby potentially heating it.
“The temperature of the North Atlantic has been at a record high for some time surpassing 20°C at the end of March. This is curious because at this time of the year North Atlantic sea surface temperatures are usually at their annual low. Sea surface temperatures are also high in the Pacific presaging a coming El Nino.
“Because of its speed scientists are not yet linking this to the steady movements of climate change seen so far in the oceans. It might be natural variability, but whatever its explanation it is not replicated in most climate models.”
Since infrared radiation that is given off by atmospheric greenhouse gases cannot penetrate water to a depth of one inch (25 mm), it is highly unlikely that the increase is from greenhouse gas warming. The reduction in sulfur emissions, increasing absorption of solar energy, and changing sunspots are possibilities. Also, an increase in subsurface volcanic activity as described by Professor Wyss Yim is a strong possibility. Such activity gave rise to the Tonga eruption, which is part of the Tofua Arc, which has 12 confirmed submarine volcanoes and is part of the much larger Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone, one of the fastest subduction zones known.
See link under Changing Seas and https://www.sepp.org/twtwfiles/2022/TWTW%2010-29-22.pdf for TWTW’s discussion of Professor Yim’s findings.
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Better Techniques: Jo Nova brings attention to a better mapping of the sea floor using high-resolution radar on satellites. In the past twenty years, two US nuclear submarines hit uncharted seamounts, damaging the vessels. Seamounts are large, submerged landforms that do not reach the surface and are usually formed by volcanoes. They may rise from 1,000–4,000 m (3,300–13,100 ft). New mapping techniques have found thousands of previously uncharted sea mounts. These change the deep ocean currents that transport heat (cold) well below the surface. See links under Changing Earth.
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Cosmic Answers? A White House Press Release announced: “FACT SHEET: President Biden Signs Executive Order to Revitalize Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All.” It went on to state:
“During his first week in office, President Biden launched the most ambitious environmental justice agenda in our nation’s history. To continue delivering on that vision, today the President will sign an executive order further embedding environmental justice into the work of federal agencies to achieve real, measurable progress that communities can count on.”
This announcement prompts the question: What is Environmental Justice? Perhaps Thomas Sowell answered the question as clearly as anyone when he wrote: The Quest for Cosmic Justice (1999). In an essay of the same title the following January he wrote:
“If we could create the universe from scratch, we’d all make sure that no one ever suffered misfortunes or disadvantages. The problem is that we don’t get to create the universe from scratch.”
Sowell begins: [Boldface added]
“One of the few subjects on which we all seem to agree is the need for justice. But our agreement is only seeming because we mean such different things by the same word. Whatever moral principle each of us believes in, we call justice, so we are only talking in a circle when we say that we advocate justice, unless we specify just what conception of justice we have in mind. This is especially so today, when so many advocate what they call ‘social justice’—often with great passion, but with no definition. All justice is inherently social. Can someone on a desert island be either just or unjust?”
He goes on to explain many thinkers deplored social inequalities, including Adam Smith, the father of laisse-faire economics. Sowell explains:
“The late Nobel Prize–winning economist and free-market champion Friedrich Hayek, for example, declared, ‘the manner in which the benefits and burdens are apportioned by the market mechanism would in many instances have to be regarded as very unjust if it were the result of a deliberate allocation to particular people.’ The only reason he did not regard it as unjust was because ‘the particulars of a spontaneous order cannot be just or unjust.’ The absence of personal intention [intervention] in a spontaneous order—a cosmos, as Hayek defined it—means an absence of either justice or injustice. ‘Nature can be neither just nor unjust,’ he said. ‘Only if we mean to blame a personal creator does it make sense to describe it as unjust that somebody has been born with a physical defect, or been stricken with a disease, or has suffered the loss of a loved one.’”
Sowell goes on to explain:
“With people across virtually the entire ideological spectrum being offended by inequalities and their consequences, why do these inequalities persist? Why are we not all united in determination to put an end to them? Perhaps the most cogent explanation was that offered by Milton Friedman:
“’A society that puts equality—in the sense of equality of outcome—ahead of freedom will end up with neither equality nor freedom. The use of force to achieve equality will destroy freedom, and the force, introduced for good purposes, will end up in the hands of people who use it to promote their own interests.’
“Whatever the validity of this argument—and one need only think of the horrors of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot to realize that painful possibilities are not mere fantasies—it rejects direct political equalization of economic results because the costs are judged to be too high. Still, it finds no positive virtue in inequality. But what of those who do not reject the cost as too high? Do they simply have a different assessment of those costs and risks? Or do they proceed with little or no attention to that question?”
Near the end of his essay Sowell writes:
“One of the crucial differences between political and non-political ways of dealing with undeserved misfortunes is that the non-political approaches do not acquire the fatal rigidities of law nor require either the vision or the reality of helplessness and dependency. Nor do they require the demonization of those who think otherwise or the polarization of society. Moreover, the amount of help and the circumstances of help can be tailored to the individual circumstances of the recipients in a way that is not possible when the rigidities of law create ‘rights’ to what others have earned, independent of one’s own behavior or the role of that behavior in the misfortunes being suffered.
“Most important of all, attempts at bettering the lot of society in general, as well as the unfortunate in particular, need not take the form of direct aid at all. Rather, these efforts can more effectively take the form of creating economic and other circumstances in which individuals can themselves find ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ Such an approach does not seek to feed the hungry but to establish conditions in which no one has to be hungry in the first place, circumstances in which there are jobs available for those willing to work. Its emphasis is not on helping those in poverty but on getting them out of poverty and preventing others from falling into poverty.
“We need to understand the distinction between establishing prospective rules for the behavior of flesh-and-blood human beings toward one another and trying ad hoc to retrospectively adjust the cosmos to our tastes.
“Economic development has been the most successful of all anti-poverty policies. It was not very long ago, as history is measured, when such things as oranges or cocoa were the luxuries of the rich and when it was considered an extravagance for the president of the United States to have a bathtub with running water installed in the White House. Within the twentieth century, such things as automobiles, telephones, and refrigerators went from being luxuries of the rich to being common among the general population, all within the span of one generation.”
Modern society and the use of fossil fuels have brought on the most successful anti-poverty era ever. And now Washington is attacking it in the name of Environmental Justice? See links under
Change in US Administrations and Seeking a Common Ground.
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South Africa: Suggesting political jurisdictions about to hit the Green Energy Wall, Francis Menton writes:
“As an example of what is occurring in the realm of Western aid for electricity infrastructure, the World Bank stopped financing coal power plants in 2013 and stopped financing oil and gas extraction projects in 2017.”
“According to CNN, any individual home or business [in South Africa] is getting hit with about 12 hours a day without power, generally coming in increments of about 4 hours at a time, and often without notice. “
“Funny how all that ‘free’ electricity and near-daily blackouts don’t lead to rapidly increasing per capita GDP. Instead, it’s the further impoverishment of already-poor people.”
Is unreliable electricity included in the World Bank’s vision of Environmental Justice? See link under Questioning Green Elsewhere.
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Don’t Ask Me! Several Washington “experts” testified before Congressional Committees and could not answer relevant questions. For example, representatives of the Department of Transportation could not answer the question “What Percent of our atmosphere is CO2?” The Secretary of Energy was asked “Do you support the military adopting that EV fleet by 2030?”
Her response cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and how the US needs to have energy security. Apparently, she is oblivious to the fact that the US and North America can be energy independent using fossil fuels. Such people will be determining Environmental Justice?
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy and Below the Bottom Line
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SEPP’S APRIL FOOLS AWARD – THE JACKSON
SEPP is conducting its annual vote for the recipient of the coveted trophy, The Jackson, a lump of coal. Readers are asked to nominate and vote for who they think is most deserving. Senators Schumer and Manchin won in 2022.
The voting will close on June 30. Please send your nominee and a brief reason why the person is qualified for the honor to Ken@SEPP.org. The awardee will be announced at the annual meeting of the Doctors for Disaster Preparedness on July 7 to 9.
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Number of the Week: Over 19,000. The new sea floor mapping discussed above showed over 19,000 previously uncharted seamounts. It shows the futility of trying to estimate climate millions of years ago based on atmospheric composition without understanding ocean currents. See links under Changing Earth.
Commentary: Is the Sun Rising?
Solar Variability Linked To Climate Change…CO2 Not ‘The Primary Driver For Nearly All Of Earth’s History’
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Apr 24, 2023
Link to paper: Overview of the Spectral Coherence between Planetary Resonances and Solar and Climate Oscillations
By Nicola Scafetta and Antonio Bianchini, Climate, Mar 27, 2023
https://www.mdpi.com/2225-1154/11/4/77
Censorship
Former New Zealand PM Joins Global Climate Skeptic Censorship Push
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 26, 2023
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
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/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/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
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
Climate Sense and Nonsense (Lindzen 2023-04-20)
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Apr 23, 2023
Video and Text
The Mysterious AR6 ECS, Part 4, converting observations to ECS
By Andy May, WUWT, Apr 27, 2023
The Mysterious AR6 ECS, Part 3, What is Climate Sensitivity?
By Andy May, WUWT, Apr 26, 2023
The Mysterious AR6 ECS, Part 2, the Impact of Clouds
By Andy May, WUWT, Apr 25, 2023
Have We Already Solved Climate Change?
No. But you wouldn’t know that from research using outdated scenarios
By Roger Pielke, Jr., His Blog, Apr 26, 2023
https://rogerpielkejr.substack.com/p/have-we-already-solved-climate-change?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=119454&post_id=117422320&isFreemail=true&utm_medium=email
[SEPP Comment: Not only are the scenarios outdated, but the data is outdated.]
The Misuse of RCP4.5
By Roger Pielke Jr. Via WUWT, Apr 26, 2023
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“Or those “experts” who guessed before a U.S. Congressional panel that the atmosphere was between 5 and 8% CO2. Gotta love ‘following the science’ and getting a free pass from the free press.”
Alan Longhurst’s “Doubt and Certainty in Climate Science”
Book Review by Kip Hansen, WUWT, Apr 25, 2023
Defending the Orthodoxy
UN WMO Hits the Climate Change Panic Button
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 25, 2023
Link to: WMO annual report highlights continuous advance of climate change
By Staff, UN World Meteorological Organization, Apr 21, 2023
https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/wmo-annual-report-highlights-continuous-advance-of-climate-change#:~:text=Global%20mean%20temperature%20in%202022,or%206th%20warmest%20year.
“The State of the Global Climate 2022 shows the planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean and in the atmosphere caused by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. For global temperature, the years 2015-2022 were the eight warmest on record despite the cooling impact of a La Niña event for the past three years. Melting of glaciers and sea level rise – which again reached record levels in 2022 – will continue to up to thousands of years.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Here’s where extreme heat could be devastating in coming years
A new study found that heat waves intensified by climate change, combined with existing socioeconomic issues, will create potentially devastating vulnerabilities.
By Denise Chow, NBC News, Apr 25, 2023
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/extreme-heat-devastating-upcoming-years-rcna81309
Link to paper: The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves
By Vikki Thompson, et al., Nature Communications, Apr 25, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37554-1
Questioning the Orthodoxy
All climate all the time
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“The funny thing is, these are the sort of people who also take for granted that they and their like-minded cohort are outside-the-box thinkers.”
Steve Hilton: The left’s energy policy is incoherent and destructive
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Video includes President Biden calling for a clean energy revolution.]
Absolute Zero plan means no new normal cars, most airports gone, and half the beef by 2030!
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 27, 2023
Leading German Politician Warns Proposed Climate Policies Could Lead To “Uprisings” And “Riots”
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 26, 2023
Fossil Fuels: The Big Picture
Video by Alex Epstein, Via WUWT, Apr 23, 2023
Energy and Environmental Review: April 24, 2023
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, April 24, 2023
Biden establishes Office of Environmental Justice, blasts GOP attempts to roll back IRA
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 21, 2023
Press Release, The White Hours, Apr 21, 2023
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/04/21/fact-sheet-president-biden-signs-executive-order-to-revitalize-our-nations-commitment-to-environmental-justice-for-all/
James Comer threatens ‘unchecked’ John Kerry with China climate talks subpoena
By Caitlin Doornbos, New York Post, Apr 25, 2023
https://nypost.com/2023/04/25/james-comers-john-kerry-subpoena-threat-for-china-climate-talks/
“’Yet Envoy Kerry and his office are refusing to be transparent about their activities, spending and staffing with the Committee — and the American people.’”
Problems in the Orthodoxy
China’s coal boom accelerates as Beijing strengthens energy security
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
China ramps up coal power despite carbon neutral pledges
Local governments approved more coal power in first three months of 2023 than all of 2021
By Amy Hawkins, The Guardian, Apr 23, 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/24/china-ramps-up-coal-power-despite-carbon-neutral-pledges
Heat waves in India drive leading clean-energy state back to coal
BY Roli Srivastava, Japan Times, Apr 15, 2023
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/04/25/asia-pacific/science-health-asia-pacific/heat-waves-india-clean-energy-coal/
“But to tackle this year’s hot, energy-guzzling summer, with city-dwellers ramping up their use of air-conditioners and farmers their water pumps to combat heat waves and above-normal temperatures, the coal-fed plants are now running full throttle.”
India’s power output grows at fastest pace in 33 years, fueled by coal
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
The Quest for Cosmic Justice
By Thomas Sowell, Hoover Digest, Jan 30, 2000
https://www.hoover.org/research/quest-cosmic-justice
In Honor of Earth Day, Two New Exclusive WUWT Features are Now Online
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 22, 2023
Whales and Offshore Wind: The Verdict Was in Before the Coroner’s Report
By Nikki Martin & Erik Milito, Real Clear Energy, April 23, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/23/whales_and_offshore_wind_the_verdict_was_in_before_the_coroners_report_895372.html
Urbanization Effects on GHCN Temperature Trends, Part IV: UHI Effects on Tmax and Tmin
By Roy Spencer, His Blog, Apr 28, 2023
Australia-wide assessment: climate change or instrument change?
By Jennifer Marohasy, Her Blog, April 23, 2023
“In the five years following the installation of probes in automatic weather stations (AWS) as they replaced mercury thermometers across Australia, the annual frequency of extremely hot days increased by an average 18.7%.”
[SEPP Comment: It’s not global warming; it’s the change in instruments.]
#CoolClimateData: Climate4You.com and the comparison of surface temperatures
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“The IPCC and climate science crowd see nothing wrong with all the adjustments and manipulations of the temperature record, even when the apparent warming trend turns out to be mainly a result of fudging the numbers.”
Measurement Issues — Atmosphere
Hitting pause on the acceleration of tropospheric warming
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Commentary on McKitrick’s analysis in last week’s TWTW]
Changing Weather
No, Great Britain News, 20°C Temperatures Will Not Cause Britons to ‘Bake in a Heat Wave’
By Anthony Watts, WUWT, Apr 23, 2023
Experimental water release to continue Lake Mead rise
By Duncan Phenix, The Hill, Apr 25, 2023
“Monday’s water release from the Glen Canyon Dam is known as a High Flow Experiment (HFE) by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. “
“The last time Reclamation conducted an HFE was in November 2018 and has been doing them sporadically since 1996. Lake Powell, much like Lake Mead, has seen its water level rise and subside over the years, but the last time it was full was the summer of 1983.”
Reclamation says this year’s record snowpack melt from the Colorado Rockies will bring both Lake Powell and Lake Mead from being 23% full to 26% full. It’s going to take more than one good year to refill the Colorado River basin bucket.
April 24, 1908 Tornado Outbreak
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Apr 23, 2023
April 25, 1929 Tornado Outbreak
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Apr 25, 2023
1903 Ulysses Storm among windiest ever in British Isles
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 24, 2023
“Storm Ulysses shows why it is difficult to make direct comparisons with storms in the past.”
Changing Climate
Two thousand years of dust deposition in the Aral Sea
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
From the CO2Science Archive: “Based on the four researchers’ detailed graphs of their wind intensity/dust storm data, we note that the minimum values of these inverted measures of annual temperature during the Roman Warm Period, the Medieval Warm Period and the Current Warm Period were all about the same.”
Study: Northern Greenland Was Ice Free, Forested ~125k Years Ago, Adding 3 Meters To Sea Levels
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Apr 27, 2023
Link to latest paper: Retreat and Regrowth of the Greenland Ice Sheet During the
Last Interglacial as Simulated by the CESM2-CISM2 Coupled Climate–Ice Sheet Model
By Aleah N. Sommers, et al. Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 2022
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2021PA004272
From article: “In other words, there is no past or present evidence to suggest the Greenland ice sheet is climatically responding to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.”
Massive iceberg discharges during the last ice age had no impact on nearby Greenland, raising new questions about climate dynamics
Press Release, Oregon State University, Apr 24, 2023 [H/t WUWT]
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/986970
Link to paper: Bipolar impact and phasing of Heinrich-type climate variability
By Kaden C. Martin, et al. Nature, Apr 24, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-05875-2
Rapid ocean temperature rise puzzles scientists
By (likely) David Whitehouse, Net Zero Watch, Apr 26, 2023
Great Barrier Reef in record coral cover but 97% of Australians don’t know it
By Jo Nova, He Blog, Apr 24, 2023
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Awkward way to break the ice
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“If you also discovered that it [Arctic ice] had been much lower around 1900, then increased, then decreased, then increased, then decreased, the increased again, well, they’d throw you in the cooler.”
Earth Day sea ice habitat during critical spring season for Arctic seals, polar bears, and walrus
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Apr 22, 2023
The Geothermal Paradox: How the Earth’s Second Largest Heat Source May Be Driving the Most Recent Warming
By Staff, Friends of Science, Mar 29, 2023
The science is settled but we just found 19,000 new volcanoes
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 23, 2023
Link to article: New seamount maps could aid in studies of ecology, plate tectonics, and ocean mixing
By Paul Voosen, AAAS Science, Apr 19, 2023
https://www.science.org/content/article/it-s-just-mind-boggling-more-19-000-undersea-volcanoes-discovered
Link to paper: Global Distribution and Morphology of Small Seamounts
By Julie Gevorgian, et al. Earth and Space Science, Apr 6, 2023
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2022EA002331
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
UCLA’s Daniel Swain and NPR’s David Romero Collude to Flood Our minds with a River of Climate Fear Mongering
By Jim Steele, A Walk On The Natural Side, Apr 8, 2023
https://perhapsallnatural.blogspot.com/2023/04/s-daniel-swain-and-nprs-david-romero.html
“NPR finished with an interview with Denia Escutia, a high school senior. ‘I think Pajaro deserves climate justice. I call this my home, but is it really my home if they don’t want to help us?’ Her final reply to NPR was her future is gone. Then NPR closed with one last scare tactic blaming broken levees on climate change by saying, ‘gone because the climate the levees were designed for no longer exists.’
“And once again climate alarmists obscure the real problems and real solutions. It is disgusting!”
[SEPP Comment: From “permanent drought” to “megafloods” in one season! Boldface aded]
Communicating Better to the Public – Exaggerate, or be Vague?
EM-DAT Miss The Great North Sea Floods Of 1953
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
“We are told that weather disasters are now much more common, something which is apparently confirmed by the official disaster database, EM-DAT. What the UN don’t tell you is that many disasters in the past were never officially logged.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Do a Poll?
What the data says about Americans’ views of climate change
By Alec Tyson, Cary Funk and Brian Kennedy, Pew Research Center, Apr 18, 2023
[SEPP Comment: No discussion of costs or the extent of “climate change” or feasibility of alternatives.]
Majority of adults have been personally affected by extreme weather, climate change: poll
By Julia Shapero, The Hill, Apr 22, 2023
Link to poll report: Attitudes toward climate change continue to be divisive
While a majority of the public report personal impacts from extreme weather, attitudes and behaviors related to climate change continue to be highly partisan.
By Staff, AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research., April 2023
“Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,230 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.9 percentage points.”
[SEPP Comment: What percentage of the calls were answered, what percentage hung up?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Claim: Anti-ESG Investment State Leaders Have Conflicts of Interest
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 27, 2023
“Since the green revolution is inevitable, and renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels, surely people who invest in fossil fuels are simply dooming their personal finances to inevitable deep losses, when all their fossil fuel assets are stranded by the inexorable rise of unreliable, intermittent green energy.”
[SEPP Comment: Research by Oreskes and Mann?]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Did You Get Your Climate Emergency Alert?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 24, 2023
Your Taxes at Work: ‘Eco-Anxiety’ Counseling
By Paul Driessen, WUWT, Apr 22, 2023
“Climate doomsayers and cancel culture work to justify counseling for bureaucrats’ climate grief”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
How Much Has The Climate Changed During Children’s Lives
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 23, 2023
“It’s time that schools taught children the facts about climate change, instead of filling their heads with scaremongering propaganda.”
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Children for Propaganda
Dead Wrong, Fanatical and Fully Funded
By Tony Thomas, Quadrant, Apr 28, 2023
EPA: 2 degrees of global warming could cause thousands of additional pediatric emergency visits
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 25, 2023
Link to press release: EPA Releases Report Showing Health Impacts of Climate Change on Children in the United States
EPA, Apr 25, 2023
https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-releases-report-showing-health-impacts-climate-change-children-united-states
“The signs of climate change are all around us, and children are uniquely vulnerable to its impacts.”
“Climate-driven temperature increases are projected to result in 4% to 7% reductions in annual academic achievement per child. These learning losses can affect future income, with potential losses across cohorts of graduating students reaching billions of dollars annually (and in the thousands of dollars per individual).”
[SEPP Comment: Does EPA “science” verify that Southerners are “slow? EPA HQ is south of the Mason-Dixon line.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Protest
Guerilla Style Ad Campaign: SAVE-WHALES-STOP-WINDMILLS.ORG
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Apr 24, 2023
Letter To MPs.
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 23, 2023
“The Government’s statements on the falling cost of offshore wind power are false and have disgracefully misled the British public.”
Expanding the Orthodoxy
SEC Seeks to Impose Costly, Ideologically-Driven Climate Regulations on U.S. Corporations
By Jerome Corsi, American Thinker, Apr 26, 2023
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2023/04/sec_seeks_to_impose_costly_ideologicallydriven_climate_regulations_on_us_corporations.html
ANU Climate Scientists Wargame UN Martial Law and A Global Military Coup
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 22, 2023
Australian National University’s College of Asia & the Pacific
Bringing climate risk home, one property at a time
By Saul Elbein, The Hill, Apr 26, 2023
Link to paper: Unpriced climate risk and the potential consequences of overvaluation in US housing markets
By Jesse D. Gourevitch, et al. Nature Climate Change Feb 16, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01594-8
[SEPP Comment: When flood plain maps were established in the 1970s, in some political areas homes 50 feet in elevation above small creeks were classified as in floodplains.]
The Case For Making Earth Day a Religious Holiday
By Paul Greenberg and Carl Safina, Time, Apr 23, 2023
https://time.com/6273684/earth-day-religious-holiday/
[SEPP Comment: Celebrate misanthropy?]
Questioning European Green
Inflation, Net Zero, and the Bank of England
A central banker tiptoes toward the inflationary consequences of Net Zero.
By Rupert Darwall, Real Clear Energy, April 27, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/27/inflation_net_zero_and_the_bank_of_england_896276.html
“Unfortunately for Britain and the rest of Europe, Vladmir Putin and Gazprom have a much better understanding of how energy markets work than Western politicians who made their continent vulnerable to surplus extraction through the myopic pursuit of net zero.”
“Climate is worse than a distraction: misjudgment and misanalysis of climate-change policy is a key factor in the Bank of England losing control of inflation.”
The Infrastructure Overload of Renewable Energies
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, April 25, 2023
Link to paper: Spatial energy density of large-scale electricity generation from power sources worldwide
By Jonas Kristiansen Nøland, et al. Nature, Dec 8, 2022
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-25341-9
From the abstract: “Based on the provided meta-analysis results, this paper challenges the common notion that solar power is the most energy-dense renewable fuel source by demonstrating that hydropower supersedes solar power in terms of land use in certain regions of the world, depending on the topography.”
Questioning Green Elsewhere
And Socrates thought he knew nothing
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“Not to our environment minister, who blathered ‘We won’t stop fighting climate change while we figure out reporting methodologies. We are moving full steam ahead with an ambitious climate plan.’ But outside the suffocating world of computer models and press releases it’s extremely important that they don’t know what their plan is doing, or why, or what it might do next, or how to fix it, or any of that tedious bourgeois rubbish.”
South Africa And The Green Energy Wall
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Apr 24, 2023
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-4-25-south-africa-and-the-green-energy-wall
The inhumanity of the green agenda
The ‘sustainability’ regime is impoverishing the world.
By Joel Kotkin, Spiked, Apr 24, 2023
“The Unpopular Truth” Trues Up “Clean” Energy
By Allen Brooks, Master Resource, Apr 28, 2023
“By viewing the energy-system transition exclusively through the prism of carbon emissions, policymakers embrace more expensive renewables that use more land and resources and leave the electricity system less reliable. Those weaknesses harm the policymakers’ constituents.”
Non-Green Jobs
12 Largest Coal Mining Companies in USA
By Ty Haqqi, Yahoo, Fri, April 21, 2023
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/12-largest-coal-mining-companies-142640651.html?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFNzP9Y-CPMOSVIgICB1VbT7XvJ3XCo8j-135K3CVPmo6XD-S5x4fOlYYm7baVJuI1JPKXqS7UlEmbj7hImMzVAS4RRn6nYx5QrKi8ZuEDjbyBPiIO66aSFh1n7VpSpizMdh_FzcHd66AemgHslgyphMrddvshAh2vqBegcuF02n&guccounter=2
“In 2019, coal production had fallen 40% from the peak achieved in 2008, while in the last century, coal employees have fallen from nearly 900,000 to just 43,000..”
Litigation Issues
Texas v. EPA could save the day for cars that go vroom
By Marlo Lewis, Jr., CEI, Apr 20, 2023
https://cei.org/blog/texas-v-epa-could-save-the-day-for-cars-that-go-vroom/
Supreme Court declines Exxon, Chevron push to move state lawsuits to federal court
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Apr 24, 2023
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
Carbon Pricing: Lessons from a Global Energy Crisis
By Kelsey Grant, Real Clear Energy, April 28, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/28/carbon_pricing_lessons_from_a_global_energy_crisis_896486.html
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
That’s all, Volks
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
“We finally got the figure for that Volkswagen battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario, and it’s a nosebleed-inducing $13 billion, or possibly more. Since it’s in Canada, mere citizens may not see the details.”
EPA and other Regulators on the March
Bipartisan lawmakers call for the EPA to move faster on ‘forever chemical’ releases
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Apr 25, 2023
[SEPP Comment: “Forever chemicals do not react, therefore they are hazardous to health?]
NOAA proposes hammering 208% of vanishing Right Whales
By David Wojick, CFACT, Apr 24, 2023
https://www.cfact.org/2023/04/24/noaa-proposes-hammering-208-of-vanishing-right-whales/
DOE vs. Gas Cooking: A Review of Critical Comments
By Mark Krebs, Master Resource, Apr 27, 2023
Energy Issues – Non-US
Big Brother: German Bundestag Approves Law To Accelerate Installation of Smart Meters
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 23, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Turn off electric furnaces on cold still nights?]
Are Heat Pumps Cheaper To Run? Don’t Believe Octopus!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
“Finally, there is one issue that Octopus has failed to mention – hot water. Heat pumps are not sufficient on their own for supplying the hot water we need every day.”
Face The Facts, Lord Callanan–Nobody Wants A Useless Heat Pump
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
Energy Issues – Australia
Vale Liddell coal: given away for nothing and destroyed by predatory capitalism and a screwed Green market
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Apr 29, 2023
Brickworks Closes West Australia Branch, Cites Energy Costs and Planning Delays
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Apr 28, 2023
Energy Issues — US
Another Non-reassuring Report On New York’s Energy Future
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Apr 22, 2023
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-4-22-another-non-reassuring-report-on-new-yorks-energy-future
“If you were to start reading this Report, the first thing that will strike you is that the authors are at pains to let you know that they are making no commitments here as to anything important, like exactly how much new stuff needs to be built, how much it will cost, and whether it will work. Rather, they’re just tossing out some ideas on how to get started.”
Environmental Bootleggers and Baptists Fleece Consumers
By Gordon Tomb, Real Clear Energy, April 24, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/24/environmental_bootleggers_and_baptists_fleece_consumers_895571.html
“Testifying last year in a state Senate hearing, boilermaker Sean Steffee said Pennsylvania building trades had constructed $14 billion in new gas-fired power plants in the decade prior to RGGI’s introduction in 2019. ‘We have not built one since and, under the RGGI tax, it is highly unlikely we will build another in Pennsylvania,’ he said.”
50 Years After the Oil Embargo Crisis of 1973, No American Policy for Energy Independence
By Ronald Stein, The Heartland Institute, Aper 21, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Washington considers dependency on unreliable wind and solar energy independence.]
Washington’s Control of Energy
US Department of Energy to Clamp Down on LNG Export Project Extensions
By Valerie Volcovici, Reuters, qCaptain, Apr 21, 2023
“The DOE has been working on setting standards for certified natural gas, a form of the fuel that producers’ market as climate friendly.”
[SEPP Comment: It does not burn?]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
France’s struggle to deliver a second nuclear era
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 26, 2023
Nuclear Energy Is a Game Changer, But Not for Climate Reasons!
By Vijay Jayaraj, Real Clear Energy, April 24, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/24/nuclear_energy_is_a_game_changer_but_not_for_climate_reasons_895506.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind Power Has A Profitability Problem
By Felicity Bradstock, Oil Price.com, Apr 19, 2023
https://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Wind-Power/Wind-Power-Has-A-Profitability-Problem.html
“Some of the world’s biggest wind energy companies are making huge losses despite their economies of scale.”
Right, OilPrice.com, Wind Power is Unprofitable
By Linnea Lueken, Climate Realism, April 21, 2023
The Renewable Capital Cost Green Trick
By Douglas Pollock, WUWT, Apr 26, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Hiding the costs of unreliability. Extending the article immediately above.]
Column: North America wind power sector needs cost cuts and supply-chain revamp
By Gavin Maguire, Reuters, Apr 21, 2023
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/n-america-wind-power-sector-needs-cost-cuts-supply-chain-revamp-maguire-2023-04-20/
“Wind power may generate roughly 40% of North America’s electricity by 2050, and solar power another 32%.”
[SEPP Comment: How much will it cost consumers and taxpayers?]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Other
‘Impossible to keep track’: Spain’s gamble on green hydrogen
By Valentin Bontemps, Puertollano, Spain (AFP) April 26, 2023
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Impossible_to_keep_track_Spains_gamble_on_green_hydrogen_999.html
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
Demand for electric cars ‘booming’: IEA
By AFP Staff Writers, Paris (AFP), April 26, 2023
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/Demand_for_electric_cars_booming_IEA_999.html
Link to: Global EV Outlook 2023
By Staff, IEA, 2023
https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2023
“Electric car markets are seeing exponential growth as sales exceeded 10 million in 2022. A total of 14% of all new cars sold were electric in 2022, up from around 9% in 2021 and less than 5% in 2020.”
[SEPP Comment: Will the growth rate continue, or taper off rapidly? How long will government subsidies last?]
5 Hidden Costs of Electric Vehicles
By, Andrew Lisa, Yahoo Finance, Apr 23, 2023
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-hidden-costs-electric-vehicles-120044343.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFgvgJns3EkL21gzh63JZNs4l6kwa2SErgLC5SVA2AZ58vd7WEKiUKwgsm9sB6frq00b0EBsZZooioE4fF9j5fbBB9figjnLiktQnllFXJNx_pTPTQkcMJomKDMpj_KRGyHwHjDG-OTtZfBTuEfONObx29WSD2cl5Y59hnvlcgVe
“Most Drivers Will Change Cars Before an EV Pays Off”
“A U.S. Department of Energy report found that, when factoring in the long-term ownership expenses, a small electric SUV costs $0.4508 per mile compared to $0.4727 per mile for a comparable gas car. That’s a difference of just $0.0219 per mile. The report concludes that it would take 15 years for the average EV to make up for its higher purchase price.”
Big-selling electric models are among the most depreciating used cars
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
Boulder Buys A Toy Truck
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Apar 25, 2023
From press release: “The RTX is considered a Range Extended Electric Vehicle (REEV), meaning it has an all-electric drivetrain and pump with a diesel energy backup system.”
“The estimated cost of this engine is currently at approximately 1.78 million.”
[SEPP Comment: The average cost of a basic Engine/bush truck (simply pumps water) is $100,000 to $300,000. No discussion of range of the electric pumper.]
California Dreaming
Electricity Progressive Income Tax: California’s Answer to High Rates?
By Kennedy Maize, Master Resource, April 26, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Adding to the benefits of tax credits to the wealthy.]
Health, Energy, and Climate
Capitalism ate my health care
By John Robson, Climat4e Discussion Nexus, Apr 26, 2023
Link to: Perspectives on Climate Change and Public Health in Canada
Supplementary report for the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada’s Report on the State of Public Health in Canada 2022
“Mobilizing Public Health Action on Climate Change in Canada”
By Castleden, H,, et al., Public Health Agency of Canada, 2023.
From Robson: “’Fundamental changes in our socioeconomic structures are needed to rebuild our relationships with each other and with our planet’. And you just know what kind: ‘These core drivers of climate change – extraction, capitalism, and colonialism – were also described as the root of polarization and fragmentation witnessed recently in public health.’”
[SEPP Comment: Celebrating subsistence living as a healthy lifestyle?]
Other News that May Be of Interest
Entrepreneurs Don’t Meet Needs, They Lead Needs
By John Tamny, Real Clear Wire, Apr 25, 2023
https://www.realclearwire.com/articles/2023/04/25/entrepreneurs_dont_meet_needs_they_lead_needs_895622.html
Netflix polar bear star dies in Svalbard days after being tranquilized; her orphaned cub is shot
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Apr 23, 2023
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Joe Biden Wants Every US Military Vehicle To Be Climate Friendly
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 27, 2023
Fighting Climate Change, Winning on Food Security, and Saving Our Broccoli
By Mary Anna Mancuso, Real Clear Energy, April 25, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/04/25/fighting_climate_change_winning_on_food_security_and_saving_our_broccoli_895809.html
“Food security is only one reason we take action to reduce our carbon emissions and slow the pace of the climate crisis by transitioning to renewable energy sources, promoting energy efficiency, and supporting policies that incentivize sustainable practices across all sectors of the economy.”
[SEPP Comment: CO2 is nasty stuff for plants?]
Europe’s Prince Of Private Jets: EU Council President Charles Michel’s 700,000 Euros For Flights
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 25, 2023
Loony Science: German Mainstream Media Blame Riots At Public Pools On Climate Change
By P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Apr 22, 2023
Germany Abandons Nuclear Power (Unless It Is French!)
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Apr 23, 2023
Cartoon
ARTICLES
1. The ‘Hurtful’ Idea of Scientific Merit
Ideology now dominates research in the U.S. more pervasively than it did at the Soviet Union’s height.
By Jerry A. Coyne and Anna I. Krylov, WSJ, April 27, 2023
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-hurtful-idea-of-scientific-merit-controversy-nih-energy-research-f122f74d?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The professors begin:
“Until a few months ago, we’d never heard of the Journal of Controversial Ideas, a peer-reviewed publication whose aim is to promote ‘free inquiry on controversial topics.’ Our research typically didn’t fit that description. We finally learned of the journal’s existence, however, when we tried to publish a commentary about how modern science is being compromised by a de-emphasis on merit. Apparently, what was once anodyne and unobjectionable is now contentious and outré, even in the hard sciences.
“Merit isn’t much in vogue anywhere these days. We’ve seen this in the trend among scientists to judge scientific research by its adherence to dominant progressive orthodoxies and in the growing reluctance of our institutions to hire and fund scientists based on their ability to propose and conduct exciting projects. Our intent was to defend established and effective practices of judging science based on its merit alone.
“Yet as we shopped our work to various scientific publications, we found no takers—except one. Evidently our ideas were politically unpalatable. It turns out the only place you can publish once-standard conclusions these days is in a journal committed to heterodoxy.
“The crux of our argument is simple: Science that doesn’t prioritize merit doesn’t work, and substituting ideological dogma for quality is a shortcut to disaster. A prime example is Lysenkoism—the incursion of Marxist ideology into Soviet and Chinese agriculture in the mid-20th century. Beginning in the 1930s, the U.S.S.R. started to enforce the untenable theories of Trofim Lysenko, a charlatan Russian agronomist who rejected, among other things, the existence of standard genetic inheritance. As scientists dissented—rejecting Lysenko’s claims for lack of evidence—they were fired or sent to the gulag. Implementation of his theories in Soviet and, later, Chinese agriculture led to famines and the starvation of millions. Russian biology still hasn’t recovered.
“Yet a wholesale and unhealthy incursion of ideology into science is occurring again—this time in the West. We see it in progressives’ claim that scientific truths are malleable and subjective, similar to Lysenko’s insistence that genetics was Western ‘pseudoscience’ with no place in progressive Soviet agriculture. We see it when scientific truths—say, the binary nature of sex—are either denied or distorted because they’re politically repugnant.
“We see it as well in activists’ calls to ‘decolonize’ scientific fields, to reduce the influence of what’s called ‘Western science’ and adopt indigenous ‘ways of knowing.’ No doubt different cultures have different ways of interpreting natural processes—sometimes invoking myth and legend—and this variation should be valued as an important aspect of sociology and anthropology. But these ‘ways of knowing’ aren’t coequal to modern science, and it would be foolish to pretend otherwise.
“In some ways this new species of Lysenkoism is more pernicious than the old, because it affects all science—chemistry, physics, life sciences, medicine and math—not merely biology and agriculture. The government isn’t the only entity pushing it, either. ‘Progressive’ scientists promote it, too, along with professional societies, funding agencies like the National Institutes of Health and Energy Department, scientific journals and university administrators. When applying for openings as a university scientist today, job candidates may well be evaluated more by their record of supporting ‘social justice’ than by their scientific achievements.”
But scientific research can’t and shouldn’t be conducted via a process that gives a low priority to science itself. This is why we wrote our paper, which was co-authored by 27 others, making for a group as diverse as you can imagine.
They describe the diversity of the co-authors, then conclude:
“But this was too much, even ‘downright hurtful,’ as one editor wrote to us. Another informed us that ‘the concept of merit . . . has been widely and legitimately attacked as hollow.’ Legitimately?
“In the end, we’re grateful that our paper will be published. But how sad it is that the simple and fundamental principle undergirding all of science—that the best ideas and technologies should be the ones we adopt—is seen these days as ‘controversial.’”
Mr. Coyne is a professor emeritus of ecology and evolution at the University of Chicago. Ms. Krylov is a professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California.
