2018 Sagan Prize winner, Peter Gleick, has written a review of Michael Shellenberger’s new book, Apocalypse Never and it’s been getting a lot of links from Shellenberger’s critics. He starts out with a description of the two opposed philosophies of Cornucopianism and Malthusianism and how they apply to environmentalism. The review is illustrated with side by … Continue reading
Category Archives: renewables
From Skeptoid: Wind Turbines Save Birds
I just ran across a January episode of Skeptoid about wind turbines and birds. It claims they save (or will save) more birds than they harm — says so right in the conclusion: Wind turbines and birds are a perfect example of how statistics can be misused. When we trumpet only the number of bird lives lost, … Continue reading
Met Office Hadley Centre Celebrates 30 Years Of ‘Science Advocacy’
‘They think it’s all over; it is now’. After 30 long years of meticulous and dedicated research, the Met Office has kicked the doubters into the back of the net and proudly announces that: The first 30 yearsThe impacts of climate change are already evident both in the UK and worldwide, through rising temperatures, diminishing … Continue reading
Mythbusting the Oil Libel
[This is a lazy, boilerplate response to the even lazier notion that Big Oil is behind climate skepticism. I’m sick of copying and pasting it for their edification. It’s a work in progress and some links are missing. —BK] Dear Oil Linkers, Your Logical Fallacy is: Boring Me. I know you think you’re smearing skeptics, … Continue reading
Mark Jacobson and the Legalistic Scientific Method
There are a lot of analogies that can be drawn between science and law. They both have their respective (if not respectable) practitioners, scientists and lawyers. Scientists present their work to scientific journals, where it is evaluated, usually with a process called peer review, and hopefully becomes science. Peer review is not the only … Continue reading
Planet of the Humans—Is This the Best They’ve Got?
I have learned that “include” is p.r.-ese for “here is everything we’ve got, and then some.” — Andrew Tobias, The Funny Money Game The Michael Moore documentary, Planet of the Humans, has now got over five million views, and the exasperated debunkings have been pouring … Continue reading
‘Smart’ Energy National Grid Goes Full Retard
I actually thought I’d seen it all in the climate emergency fantasy world and that nothing could shock me any more, that we rational human beings had probably witnessed Peak Stupid or something close in the faux debate about ‘climate breakdown’ and what we as a society should be doing to ‘stop’ it. But … Continue reading
Electric cars crash
Globally, SUVs are swamping car sales and here’s the point: as fast as governments bribe or wrangle people into low-emission electrics, the popular shift to SUVs more than cancels the emissions cuts. In the forced march of folly towards net zero emissions, electrics are as much a lost cause as windmills. Tony Thomas 30 November … Continue reading
Maths is Hard for the Green-Minded
(Also at Quadrant.) Politicians and climate alarmists are running what amounts to a promises auction about getting the world to zero net emissions in ten to thirty years’ time. It’s easy to bid as you will never be held accountable, you look virtuous and bids cost nothing, at least for the time being. The best … Continue reading
Climate Change Committee Says Homes Should Be Heated 2C Below What Most People Find Comfortable
In order to not save the world from supposedly dangerous anthropogenic global warming (because UK GHG emissions are tiny – and going downwards – in comparison to emissions from China and India, which are huge, and increasing), the UK climate change committee has recommended that householders set their central heating thermostat to 19C. … Continue reading
