A place for you to point to climate and related news, introduce yourself to other Cliscep contributors, and suggest topics for new posts.

77 Comments

  2. We need a proper grown-up debate about this sort of thing:

    “How retrofitting the UK’s old buildings can generate an extra £35bn in new money
    Heritage and property groups outline plan to boost energy efficiency at historical sites to create jobs, cut emissions and meet net-zero targets”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/06/retrofitting-old-buildings-uk-energy-efficiency

    Retrofitting the UK’s historical buildings, from Georgian townhouses to the mills and factories that kickstarted the Industrial Revolution, could generate £35bn of economic output a year, create jobs and play a crucial role in achieving climate targets, research has found.

    Improving the energy efficiency of historical properties – those built before 1919 – could reduce carbon emissions from the UK’s buildings by 5% each year and make older homes warmer and cheaper to run, according to a report commissioned by the National Trust, Historic England and leading property organisations.

    Nearly a quarter of all UK homes, 6.2m properties, were built before 1919 and almost a third of commercial properties, about 600,000, are also historical sites. They are responsible for about a fifth of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, with old buildings accounting for a significant proportion…

    …Bob Kerslake, chair of Peabody, said: “Making these buildings energy efficient will stimulate spending in the construction industry, support about 290,000 jobs in supply chains and boost heritage-related tourism and hospitality.

    “And where needed, making older homes more energy efficient will transform the lives of the people who live and work in them, reducing household energy bills and improving health and wellbeing.”..

    Will it generate £35bn of economic output a year, or will it cost the taxpayer £35bn a year? Do we want to create jobs for the sake of it, at the public expense, or do we want jobs to be meaningful? If net zero creates jobs, is that a benefit, or an on-cost? Will that make things better for everyone, or worse?

    Arguments about government spending having the effect of “pump-priming” the economy are nothing new; ditto arguments that in bad times, government spending can be beneficial to the economy, whereas cuts drive a downwards spiral. But please, let’s discuss this in rational terms, and stop pretending that throwing money at net zero is an unadulterated good thing, with no potential down-side.

    Like

  3. “The Guardian view on Dutch farmer protests: a European test case
    Editorial
    Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock is vital. But the politics is fraught”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/05/the-guardian-view-on-dutch-farmer-protests-a-european-test-case

    Until relatively recently, Dutch farming prowess was hailed as one of the wonders of the global economy. In 2017, a National Geographic article headlined “This tiny country feeds the world” encapsulated a sense of national pride at the Netherlands’ status as the second-biggest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the United States.

    These days, Dutch farmers are in the headlines for less upbeat reasons. As the climate emergency and a related biodiversity crisis belatedly take centre stage in policymaking, the prime minister, Mark Rutte, has committed to halving the country’s overall nitrogen emissions by 2030. A large proportion of these are generated by the manure and urine produced by more than 100m cattle, pigs and chickens. To reach the target, and protect biodiversity in the polluted countryside, the government has announced plans to reduce livestock numbers by a third. Reluctant farmers have been warned they could be subject to compulsory buyouts.

    That, at least, is the policy. Turning it into a reality is proving a challenge. As other European countries also look to overhaul their agriculture sectors, Dutch farms have become a test case in navigating the vital politics of the green transition. Last week, protesting farmers confronted the finance minister, Sigrid Kaag, with burning torches. Tractors have blockaded roads, and slurry has been dumped at the home of the minister for nature, Christianne van der Wal. Meanwhile, the far right has successfully co-opted the farmers’ cause, and promoted a toxic conspiracy theory that targeted farmland is being sequestrated in order to build homes for asylum seekers.

    The intimidation tactics used by elements of the farmers’ protest movement have been rightly condemned….

    Oh, Guardian, oh double standards. You would never use such language about the behaviour and tactics of XR, JSO etc. But it’s all there – “toxic” conspiracy theories, allegations of “far right” involvement. It couldn’t simply be that the policy protested against is barking mad, illiberal and authoritarian, could it?

    Liked by 1 person

  4. A lesson in irony:

    Yesterday I was browsing my bookcase and I came across a book that I had completely forgotten I had bought and was still sitting there unread. Its title:

    ‘The organised mind: thinking straight in the age of information overload’

    Time to stop buying so many books, perhaps.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. “Climate change: Warming could raise UK flood damage bill by 20%”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64866058

    Actually, the headline on the clickbait front page of the BBC website is “UK costs from flood damage could rise by 20%”, with a small narrative of “Cutting greenhouse gas emissions could save millions of pounds in flood damage costs”. Of course, the causal surfer of the BBC website, who doesn’t read beyond the headlines and associated narrative, might assume this means that the UK’s cutting of greenhouse gas emissions will do good for the citizens of the UK by warding off climate change, thereby avoiding flooding, thereby saving money. Which isn’t true, since unless the rest of the world follows suit the UK’s GHG emissions reduction plan will make absolutely no difference to the climate.

    And perfectly reasonably the BBC article doesn’t say that UK emissions cuts will avoid increased flooding in the UK, but then it doesn’t need to, since the initial soundbite leaves the causal reader with impression – job done. And even if one reads on, one might still draw the incorrect inference. If money spent on reducing GHG emissions in the UK doesn’t save money by reducing flooding, why quote something like this:

    “And every pound we spend on flood risk mitigation is a pound that could be spent on teachers, nurses, hospitals, schools, so it’s really important that it’s grounded in accurate science.”

    Note, although the article is largely about modelling to assist with adaptation, that quote is about mitigation, with the implication that cutting GHG emissions in the UK is worthwhile, despite the fact that every pound we spend on it is a pound that isn’t available to be “spent on teachers, nurses, hospitals, schools”. It’s just wrong.

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  7. Oh, that pesky climate crisis:

    “Australia: Crop exports set for record high after heavy rains”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64871164

    Heavy rains, which were blamed for some food shortages in Australia, have also given crop exports a boost.

    The country’s farmers are predicted to see their most valuable year ever.

    Agricultural exports are forecast to hit a record $75bn (£62.3bn) in the year to the end of June, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARES).

    The Ukraine war has pushed up the price of goods including wheat, Australia’s biggest agricultural export.

    “We have been incredibly lucky. That high level of production is certainly due to rains, but also having rains at the right time,” Tony Bacic, director of the La Trobe Institute for Agriculture and Food in Melbourne, told the BBC.

    “The stars were aligned. If the rains had come a bit later or hadn’t dried out in time, we could have lost a major crop,” he added.

    “Once again, we’re seeing record levels of production, driven by exceptional growing conditions and high commodity prices,” ABARES’ Jared Greenville said in a statement on Tuesday.

    “National winter crop production has driven much of these results, with the winter crop estimated at a new record of 67.3 million tonnes in 2022-23,” he added….

    Like

  8. “Non-native plants outnumber British flora, major report finds”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64842402

    It seems fairly clear that this is due to lots of reasons, and it seems likely that climate change is well down the list in terms of responsibility for the changes. It doesn’t stop climate change being given a prominent role in the BBC article, and indeed the World At One piece on it on Radio 4 today mentioned climate change several times, as though it was obviously the main factor.

    Like

  10. “More snow to sweep across UK as Arctic blast hits”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-64875441

    …To prepare for the cold spell, two old coal-fired power plants have begun generating again to help prevent potential shortfalls.

    The plants in West Burton in Lincolnshire were due to close last September, but the government requested they stay open for an extra six months because of fears of possible power shortages….

    Like

  11. “Stoke-on-Trent residents to sue council over ‘mis-sold’ solar power contracts
    More than 230 people are to launch a class action lawsuit after some say they feel ‘lied to’”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/08/stoke-on-trent-residents-class-action-lawsuit-council-mis-sold-solar-power-contracts

    More than 230 residents in Stoke-on-Trent are to launch a class action lawsuit against the city council after they claim they were “mis-sold” 25-year solar power contracts which have left some with faulty panels and unexpected bills.

    Council house tenants in the city said they feel “lied to” after being signed up to the contracts without realising, and facing years of what they believe is poor quality customer service and installation.

    Community Energy Scheme (CES) was launched in 2018 by the city council in conjunction with Solarplicity Energy, which sent staff door to door to encourage residents to sign up to the solar panel scheme. It now has 4,800 customers in the city.

    Tenants signed up to contracts on the spot with a signature on an iPad, but many residents said they thought they were only agreeing to have their home assessed for its suitability for solar panel installation…

    …The Conservative-run Stoke-on-Trent city council gave Solarplicity Energy exclusive rights to install the panels on its housing stock, initially handing over the details of more than 1,000 homes it thought would be suitable, in return for £100 for each installation.

    Solar panels were also installed on empty council house properties, meaning prospective tenants had to sign up to the solar energy scheme as a condition of tenancy…

    …The Stoke-on-Trent Labour councillor Desiree Elliott said the scheme had been “a failure and a scandal from the beginning”. She said: “The company involved has demonstrated time and again that it is not up to delivering a project of this size with any semblance of professionalism.”

    Residents said they were promised the solar panels would come with batteries, allowing them to store surplus solar energy to use in the evenings and on darker days, but these have only recently started being rolled out…

    …In 2019 Solarplicity Energy ceased trading after criticism from Ofgem and the Energy Ombudsman, who received 3,324 complaints about the company, and tenants have been switched to a different supplier, while still remaining part of the 25-year CES contracts.

    A Stoke-on-Trent city council spokesperson said the scheme was designed to support tenants “in lowering their energy bills and reducing carbon emissions”…

    Like

  12. “National Grid pays high price for gas-generated power during UK cold snap
    Electricity system operator struggled to keep lights on during one of the coldest weeks”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/09/national-grid-pays-high-price-for-gas-generated-power-during-uk-cold-snap

    National Grid paid some of the highest prices this winter for gas-generated power on Tuesday night as it scrambled to keep the lights on during one of the coldest weeks of the year.

    Data from the electricity system’s administrator, Elexon, showed the Coryton power station in Essex had bids accepted to produce power at £1,950 per megawatt hour (MWh) on Tuesday evening.

    The sums are well above average prices of between £200 and £400 per megawatt hour, although they remain below those paid on 12 December, when National Grid paid £27m in a single day to get power stations to crank up supply. In December, Rye House power station in Hertfordshire received a record £6,000 a MWh.

    In total, the cost of balancing the system on Tuesday this week was estimated at between £5m and £10m.

    One industry source said the price of sourcing power from gas peaking plants had “raised eyebrows”.

    The cold, still weather reduced wind power and pushed up demand this week, while strikes at EDF’s nuclear plants in France also put a strain on the grid.

    To counter this, National Grid called on coal plants that were put on standby for the winter into action for the first time…

    Like

  13. What’s going on with rainfall observations ?
    During the summer hot period the TV would tell me there was zero rain
    yet my eyes and the waterbutt showed it had rained
    Then I could use the Met Office WOW website to grab tables/graphs
    also showing rainfall
    I used the Scunthorpe and Scampton sites
    but now as I check a BBC story about “East of England drought”
    and when I went to Wow the Norwich sites either first told you “no observations”
    or even if you went to another by the time I jumped through steps.. it too held no rainfall data
    Then I check the Scunthorpe and Scampton sites and they too are withholding it.

    So I went to meteoBlue it does immediately gives graphs
    https://www.meteoblue.com/en/weather/historyclimate/weatherarchive/cambridge_united-kingdom_2653941
    but the local stats for Scunthorpe seem undercounted
    With the rain butt here all full I keep draining then a bit, but they still top up.

    Liked by 1 person

  15. “Renewable sources produced half of NI electricity in 2022”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-64894566

    I’m glad that they acknowledged this:

    2021 was a relatively poor year for renewable generation across Europe due to lower-than-average wind speeds.

    On the other hand, it’s a pity that they don’t balance the reporting on the highs and lows associated with the average figure of 51% over the year. We are told the best month (February, “accounting for 76.5% of electricity consumption”) but we are left in the dark as to the worst month, which I’m guessing would be in the 20s per cent. Perhaps they hope that we just won’t stop and ask the obvious questions about unreliability and unpredictability.

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  16. What with coal power stations being kept running, and now this:

    “Extended life for two UK nuclear power stations”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64906179

    it looks as though reality might just be dawning – somewhere a penny has dropped.

    Energy giant EDF has announced plans to extend the lives of two of the UK’s five remaining nuclear power stations.

    Heysham 1 and Hartlepool had been due to close in March next year, but they will now be kept open until early 2026.

    The company says the move will support energy security, reduce demand for imported gas, and reduce carbon emissions.

    About 1,400 people work at the two sites, with hundreds more in the supply chain.

    Heysham 1 and Hartlepool began operating in 1983. Each has two Advanced Gas Cooled reactors, which were originally scheduled for closure in 2014. Two previous lifetime extensions had taken the closure date to March 2024.

    The two power stations currently account for about 5% of the country’s electricity.

    The announcement comes at a time when the country’s energy security has been coming under intense scrutiny…

    …Renewable generation, from wind and solar power for example, has been growing rapidly in recent years. But the amount available to the grid can vary according to the time of day and the weather…

    You don’t say?

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  17. As for wind turbines:

    And this:

    “Wind turbine failure rates are rising – has the industry gone too big, too fast?”

    https://reneweconomy.com.au/wind-turbine-failure-rates-are-rising-has-the-industry-gone-too-big-too-fast/

    Unexpected and increasing wind turbine failure rates, largely in newer and bigger models, are savaging the profits of some of the world’s biggest manufacturers, as Siemens Gamesa, GE and Vestas report heavy repair and maintenance losses.

    Faulty components created a €472 million ($A28 million) hole in Siemens Gamesa’s December quarter result, making up more than half of the nearly billion-euro loss for the period. Of that total, €187 million was due to a reduction in revenue with the remainder due to warranty provisioning.

    The wind turbine maker said a “negative trend” of failure rates from turbines are causing higher than expected maintenance costs and warranty call-outs. It did not specify which components are affected.

    Siemens Gamesa ended the year with a quarterly loss of €884 million ($A1.4 billion), more than double that of the same period the prior year, and net debt of €1.9 billion.

    Write-downs in goodwill and the inclusion of integration and restructuring costs come as the company prepares to delist and integrate with Siemens Energy.

    “The group’s financial performance in Q1 23 was materially impacted by the outcome of the company’s periodic monitoring and technical failure assessment of its installed fleet,” the company said in its quarterly results.

    “The expected cash impact during FY23 amounts to a mid-double-digit euro million figure.”

    Vestas has added €210 million in warranty provisions for repairs in the December quarter, as rising call outs and higher upgrade costs bite at the Danish company, too….

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Mark; That report also says:
    “Vestas also said its lost production factor is rising towards 4 per cent due to the number of “extraordinary” repairs and upgrades.”
    I take that to mean a reduction in the capacity factor. As they were around 40%, that reduction represents a 10% shortfall in output which will really hurt the bottom line.

    Like

  19. Given how difficult it is for owners of listed buildings to persuade the authorities to grant permission for any changes at all, this all seems a little too easy – obviously net zero is a key card to play:

    “York Minster solar panels plan approved by council”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-64905283

    Solar panels are to be fitted to the roof of York Minster in a bid to tackle rising energy bills.

    Plans to install 199 solar panels on the roof of the South Quire Aisle were approved by City of York Council and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission.

    The project is part of plans for York Minster to become carbon net zero…

    There must be an argument that this is completely inappropriate development of an iconic building in an iconic ancient city. But what do we get?

    …The Dean said the Minster had consulted key stakeholders such as Historic England and the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England to ensure the panels were “sensitive to the area’s historic architecture”.

    Alex McCallion, Director of Works and Precinct at York Minster, said the “exceptional architectural and cultural value” of the Minster underpinned the international reputation of York as a city.

    Mr McCallion said that was why the Minster was “so committed to delivering important decarbonisation projects such as this one, in turn setting a leading example for other heritage institutions to follow”.

    Where the new religion meets the old, I suppose.

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Lozza Fox ..there was only one death in London from pollution
    .. That’s true just one recent person had it on their death certificate in recent years

    Jim Dale “No air pollution kills millions around the world and 50K per year in London”
    The first part is true (from cooking indoors over wood fires etc)
    The London one is false and is a zombie stat
    9 millions Londoners lives are shortened by air pollution but by days

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  25. R4 FooC “South Africa Rolling Blackouts, load shedding is getting ever more common”
    “Eskom people shout”
    “as a result the private solar power sector is booming”

    “Country’s economy is shrinking even more than predicted”

    Like

  26. It seems that CO2 emissions are now “pollution”, despite being harmless to health (at current atmospheric levels), and beneficial to plants:

    “Climate change: Big polluters set out £30bn plan to cut emissions”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-64929468

    Some of Wales’ biggest greenhouse gas-emitting firms have set out a £30bn plan to effectively cut their carbon emissions completely.

    About 40 bodies in south Wales want to reach net zero by 2040 and lower Wales’ CO2 emissions by 40%.

    The South Wales Industrial Cluster (Swic) claims the plan will safeguard more than 100,000 jobs, but will require £30bn of investment.

    It is the result of a two-year, £40m collaborative project.

    South Wales is currently the second-biggest polluting region in the UK due to its heavy industry.

    The group, made up of steelworks, oil refineries, chemical plants, ports, universities and local authorities in the region, said a greener electricity grid and hydrogen and carbon capture infrastructure was urgently needed….

    Note that although these industries may well emit real pollution, the article is referring to – and seems to be concerned about – only CO2.

    Like

  27. It’s bizarre at how much charity grants are available
    I’ve just been sent a list it includes
    eg Energy Redress Scheme – Energy Saving Trust
    https://energyredress.org.uk/apply-funding

    Climate Action Fund – The National Lottery Community Fund
    This funding aims to help communities across the UK to address climate change.
    They’re looking for projects that focus on the link between nature and climate
    tnlcommunityfund.org.uk

    Like

  28. A blue tick tweeted this about @horton_official the Guardian Climate journo
    “The journalist has been named in a scientific paper about misinformation.”

    If you search twitter for : @horton_official misinformation a few things come up but not that thing

    Like

  30. That URL on the BBC Live Budget page works but the text is now fuller:

    Nuclear power will be classed as “environmentally sustainable” which will give it access to the same investment incentives as renewable energy.

    He also launches “Great British Nuclear” aimed at bringing down the costs of producing nuclear power.

    He says he is launching a competition for small modular reactors – and says the government will co-fund the technology if it is found to be viable.

    Hopefully a real sea-change underway. He said this is the only way for the UK to realise Net Zero, because “even under the Conservatives” the sun doesn’t always shine and the wind doesn’t always blow.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Rather worrying letters at the Guardian website today:

    “Climate activists must target power structures, not the public
    Dr Laura Thomas-Walters, Tim Williamson and Paul Chandler respond to Jack Shenker’s article that asked if the disruptive tactics of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil are working”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/15/climate-activists-must-target-power-structures-not-the-public

    I am an environmental social scientist and climate activist. As Jack Shenker describes in his article (The existential question for climate activists: have disruption tactics stopped working?, 6 March), Extinction Rebellion’s recent decision to stop disrupting the public caused quite a fuss. Some people applauded the move as they thought it would favourably shift public opinion, while others insisted public disruption needs to remain a primary tactic to garner wider attention.

    Unfortunately, both camps are missing the point – once you have enough dedicated activists, the public is largely irrelevant to achieving political change. It is not the opinion, or even attention, of the public that matters, it is whether or not you are disrupting structures of power. Historical social movements have shown this repeatedly.

    Despite what we may like to believe in a democracy, public opinion is only one small influence on the government. It may theoretically give governments a mandate to act, but real change must first overcome powerful opposition from the structures that support governments, such as business and the legal and financial systems. The role of activists is to change the cost-benefit equation for these structures until it is more beneficial for them to accept change than to carry on with the status quo.

    For climate activists, the real question is not about the efficacy of disruptive tactics, it needs to be about targets. And the answer is power, not the public.

    Am I wrong in thinking that is arguing that climate activists can ignore the views of the public and get what they (a very small minority of the electorate) want by targeting “the structures that support governments, such as business and the legal and financial systems”?

    The second letter concludes:

    A democracy should allow voters to choose how their country is governed. There should be a constitutional requirement for those of us seriously concerned about the climate crisis to have our views expressed in government. This obviously doesn’t happen. Our government consists only of Tory MPs representing a minority of voters. Yes, we have offshore wind generation, but otherwise their response is desperately inadequate.

    As a result, we have to resort to any kind of protest we feel might make a difference. If our civilisation truly wants a route to survival, we need a representative democracy with proportional voting.

    To which I would answer, when was the electorate given any say about adopting net zero, with the many, many problems and great expense that it entails?

    Like

  32. And read this and weep:

    “Jeremy Hunt accused of ‘£20bn gamble’ on nuclear energy and carbon capture
    Campaigners say chancellor is in the grip of the fossil fuel and nuclear lobbies and is ‘squandering taxpayers’ money’”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/15/jeremy-hunt-accused-of-taking-a-20bn-gamble-on-nuclear-energy-and-carbon-capture

    £20Bn of our money (on top of all the rest of it) committed to yet more net zero policies, and it’s lambasted by the climate alarmists. They got one thing right, however – net zero is certainly squandering taxpayers’ money.

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  33. Keir Starmer accuses Tories of turning Britain back into ‘sick man of Europe’
    bit sexist, but I can take it if backed up with any facts.
    my guess is he will never mention what net zero policy will do to cripple/bring this country to it’s knee’s.

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  35. I suppose it depends on your point of view whether you think the following article which appeared out of the blue 3 hours ago is part of its obligation to “educate and inform” or whether it’s part of its ongoing climate propaganda programme:

    “What is climate change? A really simple guide”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24021772

    The self-same article first appeared on 2nd November 2022. They seem to have decided to regurgitate it
    just now for no obviously apparent reason.

    Like

  36. Vinny – thanks for the above link, liked this partial smear quote –
    “Commentator Ben Coates described the result as “something of an earthquake in Dutch politics”.
    Although their policies are very much focused on opposing the government’s environmental policies, he told the BBC most people would characterise them as a right-wing, populist party that was quite anti-EU, anti-immigration and in favour of banning burkas for Muslims.”

    Like

  38. Yet again it’s like rainfall observations are being hidden

    I start with the Met Office last 24 hours observation page
    https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/observations/gcxdqnhwn
    Yet their table doesn’t give rainfall
    Yet the rainfall radar map accessed through the same page shows there was rain.

    Then I use the same location name in WOW
    private users observations
    https://wow.metoffice.gov.uk/sites/search
    Yet when I go through the click almost every site won’t give me a rainfall graph

    Like

  39. BTW I’m looking at water levels in Roadford Lake which is 60%
    but is it actually only filled up by rain
    It seems that rain is ending up in rivers like the Lydd
    and southwest Water are making a choice not to pump it into the lake

    Like

  40. A hopeful tweet:

    Liked by 1 person

  41. dfhunter: Quite a smear. It’s full of terms that woke authoritariansthe righteous use as insults.

    Some of the views that Coates claims ‘most people’ have about BBB are half-true (eg, ‘anti-EU’: BBB wants to bring back the EEC) but when your summary of something is full of wokely authoritarianrighteous buzzphrases, it’s intended as a smear. Naughty Auntie Beeb.

    *

    Here’s a less partial Beeb in 2018 discussing how ‘populist’ had become an insult in recent decades:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-43301423

    It included a short video by Lionel Shriver.

    *

    And here’s a map of recent nitrogen pollution in the EU plus an excellent explanation of what has been going on in The Netherlands:

    https://landgeist.com/2023/03/13/livestock-density/

    NL definitely has a big nitrogen problem.

    How to fix it?

    Dunno. But democracy shouldn’t be excluded.

    Liked by 1 person

  43. 15 Mar 2023 · The LABOUR mayor of Bristol has defended his plans to build an underground railway network expected to cost between £7 billion and £18 billion.

    That’s a lot of CO2

    Like

  45. Ah, Jeff Sparrow. He is supposed to be one of Austalia’s leading intellectuals, don’t you know. I was sorely tempted to write an article challenging this view after I came across this:

    https://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article/the–kettle-logic–of-climate-denial-cultists

    I’d even thought of a possible title: “Pot logic calling kettle logic black”

    The point is that Sparrow is a particularly scornful writer who lacks self awareness.

    Liked by 1 person

  46. This Labour Green Policy tweet is ratioed
    and gets a right kicking in the quote comments

    BTW saying “One country will” is natural English
    saying “Some country will” is what a non-native speaker might say

    Saying “why not ? ” or “it’s a no brainer” for a complicated policy usually just shows you haven’t thought properly
    cos there are negatives to most policies.
    She has form ..she forgot to factor Winter into her Energy Bills plan
    .. https://twitter.com/MeganWi90287242/status/1576558541263208448

    full video tweet https://twitter.com/RachelReevesMP/status/1636691350702923777

    Liked by 2 people

  47. Why not Britain? Because Britain’s electricity is going to be too expensive to cost-effectively manufacture anything that could instead be imported from China.

    Liked by 1 person

  48. My money’s on this one not being acted upon, just like all the others. Then, a little way down the road, there’ll be another final warning:

    “Scientists deliver ‘final warning’ on climate crisis: act now or it’s too late
    IPCC report says only swift and drastic action can avert irrevocable damage to world”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c

    Although it’s always going to be too late if we don’t act now it seems it’s never too late for another warning and another chance.

    Liked by 1 person

  55. Mike,

    T’was always going to go this way. Firstly, the scientists were always going to say that the actions already taken are the reason why the apocalyptic projections no longer apply — despite the fact that co2 emissions are not actually falling yet.

    Secondly, they were always going to claim higher impact for a given temperature rise once they twigged that the rises were not going to be so great. There is a basic problem with all of this, however. The scientific ‘breakthrough’ would be lot more convincing if it had not coincided with the point when an apocalyptic narrative needed rescuing. Breakthroughs are not usually so obliging.

    Liked by 2 people

  56. I need to qualify the above. It isn’t actually ‘the scientists’ that are playing funny buggers. I am not claiming a scientific hoax. It’s just that we are now politically anchored to a given risk calculation and we no longer have the wherewithal to free ourselves from it.

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  57. “IPCC’s Increasingly Shrill Climate Armageddon Fantasies Gain Little Traction in Media”

    https://dailysceptic.org/2023/03/23/ipccs-increasingly-shrill-climate-armageddon-fantasies-gain-little-traction-in-media/

    I particularly liked this paragraph:

    IPCC reports are funded by national governments and every line is signed off by the funding parties. At times, the obvious compromises made to satisfy all the parties are almost comical. For instance, climate change is said to have reduced food security. But it is noted that “although overall agricultural productivity has increased, climate change has slowed this growth over the past 50 years”. The problem here, of course, is that useful scare stories about diminishing food supplies are easily debunked by graphs showing often near vertical production rises in many grains, fruits and vegetables over the last 70 years. The IPCC gets around this by accepting an obvious scientific fact, but opines without evidence that climate change has slowed the increase.

    Liked by 1 person

  58. Robert Bryce does an interview with Jeff Gibbs, the producer and narrator of Planet of the Humans. He has a lot of great insights as well as a bit of infuriating Malthusianism:

    Liked by 1 person

  60. SouthWest Water are still claiming drought and a hosepipe ban in Cornwall
    Since they have had days or rain I’m waiting for stats to be updated
    They clearly have LIVE stats but the ones they publish are now 5 days delayed
    That sounds like the Climate loving PR dept are driving policy
    The graphs were tending to show reservoir levels 20% below 2022’s but the gap seemed to be narrowing every week

    Like

  61. ITV local NewsPR had a “Remember Beeching” item
    then in the middle they suddenly shoehorned this in
    as if the climate activist is the producers girlfried
    “Environmental concerns weren’t a factor for Beeching
    but this Climate Charity say they must be today”
    Cue Apaar Mangat of Hope For The Future “blah blah cars air pollution”

    BTW air pollution is a different issue to Climate Change CO2
    Generally the activists are MORE anti car than they are pro low-CO2

    Then she continued “To fight Climate change we need a rail network ..tickbox, tickbox, tickbox”
    .. em rail system have so much infrastructure and concrete they are inherently high CO2 even if electric,
    and inherently high cost.

    Like

  62. stewgreen,

    I can’t speak for Cornwall, but after a dry and very pleasant February, it’s been a wet March in Cumbria, and almost every day in the 14 day weather forecast (taking us well into April) is wet. The drought that they’re pushing doesn’t look on the cards to me – it’s all part of the relentless climate change propaganda.

    Liked by 1 person

  63. As a regular critic of the BBC, may I give it credit for the Radio 4 programme “AntiSocial”. To date I have heard only a couple of episodes, but it is well and calmly chaired, and it allows a debate to take place, with both sides being allowed plenty of space to make their case without being shouted down or excluded. It’s a shining example of what the BBC can be when it tries, and should be a model for the rest of its output, IMO. Yesterday included Brendan O’Neill, who was as good as ever, and he (and the person he disagreed with) both performed well. There was also good input from David Spiegelhalter. A grown-up programme, at last!

    Liked by 1 person

  64. Lawyers pledge not to prosecute Climate Activists
    Mad solicitor Monika Sobiecki 💚@CyberSobiecki of @BindmansLLP is on TalkTV
    she is leading a campaign for two tier justice
    Saying that
    #1 lawyers should represent all kinds of baddies like bullies
    #2 lawyers should NOT represent fossil fuel guys, cos they are such baddies
    #3 Climate protesters should NOT be prosecuted even if they BREAK the law, cos they are peaceful.

    “When we first started gathering signatories for Lawyers Are Responsible (@LawyersAreResp) did we expect to rile ppl up so much we’d be front page Daily Mail news”

    She’s not actually a criminal lawyer
    keeps shouting “please read the IPCC report”
    just said lawyers have made £1.1 trillion from new fossil fuel work (made up number

    An opposing barrister Andrew Eborn is pushing back

    presenter asks shouldn’t anti-war protesters
    have the same special treatment
    “If Mr X goes o a Climate protest on Monday and spraypaints the bank walls, you won’t prosecute him (for criminal damage)
    If Mr X goes on a stop the war protest on Tuesday and spraypaints the bank walls, you WILL prosecute him”
    Principle : Rule breaking “It’s OK when we lefties do it”

    Like

  67. Mike,

    I gather that Willard has also got himself banned from Judith Curry’s blog. I suspect it was as a result of a particularly exhausting trollathon he recently engaged in. He is, of course, still welcome to post here if he is willing to engage in an adult debate on the nature and impact of uncertainty. It’s just an offer. No expectation is implied.

    Liked by 1 person

  68. Headline:

    “Weather tracker: Spain edges towards record March heat”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/27/weather-tracker-spain-edges-towards-record-march-heat

    Fair enough, so far as it goes:

    It has been hot across south-eastern parts of Spain this weekend with temperatures reaching the high-20s Celsius. Murcia reached 31.9C and Alicante 30.8C on Sunday. This was close to the March record: 33.3C for Murcia and 32.6C for Alicante.

    The heat is expected to build through the week with temperatures more widely reaching close to or just over 30C. If these temperatures are achieved, the March temperature record could be exceeded. Highs of 28C are forecast for Madrid this Wednesday, threatening the March temperature record of 27.1C. The equivalent record for Málaga is 31.4C with weather models forecasting 31C on Thursday and Friday….

    But the tendency is always to emphasise heat, while not headlining cold, thus building a false narrative. The article continues:

    …However, the high temperatures are only expected to last until Friday, with temperatures falling back towards average over the weekend.

    At the other side of the Mediterranean, the opposite is the case, with warm temperatures over the weekend plummeting through the course of this week. Weekend temperatures reached 15C to 25C across Turkey but in Ankara are forecast to reach just 4C on Wednesday. This is nearly 10C colder than expected for this time of year. Parts of Scandinavia, especially Norway and Finland, are also expected to be widely 5C to 10C below the seasonal norm, as colder air moves in from the north….

    Like

  70. calm JRM vs the hysterical Phoebe Plummer
    She made some over the top claims about wheat/potato crop loss for 2022, then
    “People will be fighting over the loaves at Lidl”

    Like

  71. The comments went way against her
    and actually there was a first tweet with more comments
    but after 10 mins GBnews deleted it and put up the 100% identical one above

    Like

  72. “UK ‘strikingly unprepared’ for impacts of climate crisis
    Government’s official advisers point to ‘lost decade’ in efforts to protect lives and livelihoods”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/uk-strikingly-unprepared-impacts-climate-crisis

    Two observations from me:

    1. The UK is probably one the countries least at risk from climate change.

    2. If (as sceptics have long urged) we had spent more time and money on adaptation, and less on the fool’s errand of net zero, whereby we spend a fortune and disrupt everyone’s lives, while making no net difference to the climate, we would be much better placed. The CCC is in many ways the villain of the piece in this regard, since it has spent so long agitating for mitigation ahead of adaptation.

    Like

  73. Mark, as friend of the channel Steven Mosher says, and I paraphrase slightly because I can’t remember exactly what he said: “Of course we don’t plan for tomorrow. We don’t plan for today.”

    The BBC version of the story at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65099546/ notes that last year temperatures hit 40C for the first time and 25,000 wildfires “broke out”. I didn’t know that fires spontaneously start at 40C. “Celsius 40” doesn’t have quite the same ring as “Fahrenheit 451”. The entire article is hysterical blather.

    Liked by 1 person

  75. @Mark Hodgson: 27 MAR 23 AT 6:50 PM
    “However, the high temperatures are only expected to last until Friday, with temperatures falling back towards average over the weekend.”
    I sometimes wonder if they know what “average” means. we seem to get this with rainfall in the UK over the last few years as well.

    Like

  77. March has been cold, wet, grey, miserable and oft times quite windy. Basically, an extension of winter. I expect the Met Office will no doubt be telling us in a day or two that it has been the ‘nth warmest March on record’.

    Like

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