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

406 Comments

  2. Seen Recently 1

    Jim Steele as an interesting blog post where he reviews various papers that have estimated sea level rise (SLR). While he is mainly concerned about Pacific islands, he does make the point that mean long term SLR is likely in the range of < 1mm per year.

    So, if institution such as the Danish National Bank base their policies on the idea that their country's coastlines are in imminent danger of inundation could they be challenged in court for misrepresentation if it becomes plain that there has been only minimal SLR?

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  3. Bill, interesting point, but to sue someone successfully you generally have to show a loss. I wouldn’t like to try suing Danish National Bank on the grounds that their warnings are rubbish, but it would be nice if somebody did!

    Like

  4. “Schoolboy to take on 200-mile climate change walk”

    At 16.20 today:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment

    “An 11-year-old boy from Hebden Bridge is planning to spend his summer holiday walking from his home in West Yorkshire all the way to Westminster to raise awareness of climate change.

    Jude wants to raise awareness of a campaign to introduce a “carbon tax” on companies that create the most greenhouse gasses.

    He has spent the last few weeks sending letters to MPs along the route.

    He said: “Pretty much all of the MPs have responded. Some said they’re on holiday and can’t meet me but a few of them say they’re going to.

    “My local MP is Craig Whittaker and we’ve already met up and I’ve told him about my walk.”

    Jude’s mum, Sarah, told BBC Radio Leeds she is “really proud” of him and is looking forward to supporting him on his challenge.

    Jude says he expects the walk to take about two weeks and says he has been doing a number of practice walks to prepare.”

    Like

  6. A welcome – and surprising – change of tone here:

    “Offshore wind farm compensation ‘sounds like bribery'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-57931760

    “Paying communities compensation for hosting offshore wind farms “sounds like bribery”, says a campaigner.

    It follows a recent think tank report that called for action to avoid a “local backlash” against onshore work needed to support developments, such as pylons, cabling and substations.

    Policy Exchange said “offshore wind wealth funds” should be introduced.

    UK government officials said they wanted communities to benefit from wind farm developments.

    The think tank said without support, offshore wind farms would experience opposition similar to that faced by onshore wind farm and fracking developments in the UK.

    John Lawson-Reay, who chaired a campaign group against the £2bn Gwynt y Mor farm off Llandudno, said the report “sounds very much like bribery” and “it actually sounds like sugar-coating the pill”.

    He said: “They’re proposing this so that so-called communities – whatever they are – are going to get some sort of funding for something or other. But it’s all so vague, and there’s no way you can actually object to the wind farms at all.

    “They’re suggesting that somehow, somebody is going to get some money out of this, but I just can’t see it happening.”

    He said one of the problems was defining communities.

    “Which little block of people are a community and how is it going to be administered?” he asked.Despite being out at sea, each offshore farm currently still needs to be connected to the onshore electricity network grid.

    This can require significant infrastructure such on the land side, with substations, digging up the countryside for laying cables, and new pylons. According to the think tank report, that can equate to an area of land the size of a football stadium.

    Planned new wind farms are already causing concern in East Anglia, and could lead to similar concerns in north Wales, Humberside and the east coast of Scotland, as more offshore wind farms are developed, it said.”

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  7. Meanwhile, the Guardian continues with the pre-COP 26 hype:

    “COP26 will be most important summit ever, but the UK’s leadership is already falling short
    Kate Blagojevic
    From fossil fuels to carbon offsetting, the British government must practise what it preaches if it is to inspire others to step up”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/23/cop26-summit-uk-fosil-fuels-carbon-offsetting

    “Cop26 is our last best chance of tackling the worst effects of the climate crisis.”

    My guess is that in one year’s time somebody writing at the Guardian will say “Cop27 is our last best chance of tackling the worst effects of the climate crisis”, and so on year after year, ad nauseam.

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  9. XR screw up
    They use a hashtag “media #TellTheTruth about the Climate Emergency”
    In the new project Nottingham XR have been handing out a tabloid newspaper
    Page 5 labelled 3 press barons “The Lord of The Lies”
    ..only XR used the Name Patrick Barclay and his photo.
    When they actually meant not that sports reporter, but rather Frederick Barclay co-owner of Telegraph group.
    Guido reports PB accepted an apology

    …. https://twitter.com/XRebellionUK/status/1418485945960222728

    Like

  10. You’ll note in that thread Occupy-London tweet support
    In fact since they used the same hashtag before XR began
    it seems they are the same people
    ie XR is a new name for OL

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  13. #activism tweet from @annaholligan Foreign correspondent @bbcnews Journalist.

    The destructive power of water is often underestimated… until it’s too late.

    I witnessed the worry – as well as the wreckage – on the ground.

    Wasn’t easiest week, these stories so important to share

    Blurb: The destructive power of water is often underestimated until it’s too late.
    Large areas of Europe and China are still reeling from the damage left by some of their worst floods for decades. Across Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, there were over 200 deaths and billions of Euros of damage done.
    Now there are questions over whether this disaster will make voters more concerned about the effects of climate change.
    Although the Netherlands was least affected by the latest floods, water management is an existential threat for such a low-lying country.
    Anna Holligan has seen the worry – as well as the wreckage – on the ground there and in Germany.

    Like

  14. interesting, she’s now deleted that tweet
    Why ? well I replied straight away, politely and gave a link to NotrickZon’e debunking

    What she has done, is deleted her tweet, then made a new tweet the same
    changing the final line from “Wasn’t easiest week, *these stories so important to share*”
    ..ie removing a clear activism line
    but then added the hashtag #climate

    Destructive power of water is often underestimated… until it’s too late.
    I witnessed the worry – as well as the wreckage – on the ground.
    On @BBCRadio4 in a moment. Or listen later https://bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000y5sl
    #climate

    but now an alarmist activist’s tweet is the only reply
    .. https://twitter.com/annaholligan/status/1418879904075108352

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  15. Fri BBC “Children in Withernsea are aware of coastal erosion and Climate Change ”
    … dingaling false equating there ..they are 2 different issues.
    “The kids have made a video”
    Ah the teachers are teaching properly that Withernsea is a natural erosion area.

    Another item is about using Theddelthorpe gas terminal for nuclear waste storage
    … All public said …2but you keep telling us that the lincolnshire coast will be all flooded is 2 years time”

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  17. More COP 26 propaganda, based on “100 days to save the planet”. Expect another burst in 7 weeks or so, when it will be “50 days to save the planet”.

    “The Guardian view on the climate summit: 100 days to save the world
    Editorial
    Floods, fires and droughts show the global urgency. But the prospects are not looking good for the COP26 conference”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/23/the-guardian-view-on-the-climate-summit-100-days-to-save-the-world

    “…A hundred days now remain before the nations gather in Glasgow at the United Nations Cop26 climate conference on 31 October. More than 190 world leaders are expected. The UK government calls the summit the world’s last best chance. That is true. Yet words are cheaper than actions and sustained effort, especially when Boris Johnson is involved, and the last best chance is at serious risk of being lost. As things currently stand, the governments of the world, the UK included, are heading to Glasgow without having made the ambitious strategic decisions and collective sacrifices that might enable Cop26 to mark a genuine turning point that is needed in the battle to contain and reverse global heating.

    This week, environment ministers from the G20 powers – representing more than 90% of the world’s economic production – have been meeting in Naples. This gathering ought to have provided a tremendous springboard towards Cop26. But the meeting has been short on concrete joint policy commitments of the kind that might create the necessary new political momentum. At the heart of the problem is the failure of the G20 to agree on actions and timetables to achieve global net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This is umbilically linked to the similar failure to set the more ambitious global goal of restricting global heating to an increase of 1.5C in the same period. Reports suggest that the ministers will recognise that 1.5C is preferable to 2C but not do enough about it….”.

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  18. Oh look, there’s another one:

    “Beware summer! As climate crisis deepens, attitudes to season shift”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/24/as-the-climate-crisis-deepens-the-uks-attitude-to-summer-begins-to-shift

    “Beware summer! The season we used to anticipate as the lightest, brightest, balmiest time of the year now comes with a health warning.

    For the first time in the UK, the Met Office issued an extreme heat advisory this week. The warning was very staid, very British, but a clear shift away from the ethos of Keep Calm and Carry On. The amber alert urged precautions against adverse health effects for vulnerable populations, pressure on water resources, potential power cuts and increased likelihood of transport delays. Given the temperatures were only a little over 30C for a few days, this might seem risible to people living in far hotter parts of the world, but it is part of a growing global conversation that is fundamentally challenging how we think about summer in a climate-disrupted world.”

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  19. From 2nd December 2009:

    URL:www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/climate-change-special-twelve-days-to-save-the-world-1832067.html

    Climate change special: Twelve days to save the world

    We face a threat as terrible as the rise of fascism, says Johann Hari.

    The Independent suspended Hari for plagiarism 587 days later.

    Liked by 1 person

  21. That’s all right then:

    “Climate change: Israel to cut 85% of emissions by mid-century”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-57965028

    “Israel will cut carbon emissions by 85% from 2015 levels by the middle of the century, its government says.

    Its prime minister said the decision would help the country gradually shift to a low-carbon economy.

    Targets include cutting the vast majority of emissions from transport, the electricity sector and municipal waste.

    But critics want more ambitious targets for renewable energy and bigger economic incentives for change.”

    I wonder how much CO2 the Israeli armed forces emit? Controversial point, maybe, but it underscores a serious one, I think. Armed forces around the world – and wars in particular – must emit huge amounts of emissions, yet nobody seems much bothered about them, except for the occasional story suggesting we can convert our tanks to electric, or some such nonsense. The air force regularly overfly the Lake District when I’m out walking. Every time one of their jets goes screaming past, I think to myself “well, that’s my emissions for the year multiplied many times over.” Politicians are keen to bang on about emissions reductions, yet they also seem very keen to despatch armed forces here there and everywhere and to fight pointless wars.

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  23. “Climate change: Researchers begin discussions on vital report
    By Matt McGrath
    Environment correspondent”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57944015

    I wonder what it will say? I think we can guess:

    “This is the first time that the IPCC has attempted an approval session remotely. These gatherings are usually a week long and often involve quite vigorous discussions between government representatives and scientists.

    With just a few months left before the COP26 climate conference, the stakes for the participants are perhaps higher than at any time in recent history.

    Given the scale of weather-related disasters we are witnessing around the world, the public and politicians are now more attuned to the issue of climate change than ever before.

    All this will add to the pressure on the IPCC. There are likely many long nights ahead for the participants.”

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  24. What a good idea:

    “The repair shop trying to fix throwaway culture”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-57785498

    It’s quite a lengthy article, which nowhere mentions the climate or climate change. It appears somebody at BBC Towers has noticed, so we also get this:

    “‘If it’s broken, fix it’ – The shop trying to fix throwaway culture”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-57945907

    “Could embracing repair culture be a solution to reducing our impact on the climate?

    Earlier this year, grassroots social enterprise Remade Network opened a repair shop in Glasgow, aiming to tackle the growing mountain of broken and unwanted household items in society.

    The project is the brainchild, of Sophie Unwin, who says to protect the environment “radical change” is needed in the way we use and consume everyday items.”

    Like

  26. The Guardian article’s trickery
    – No photo of the perp
    – no open comments
    Tweetwe said in 2018
    “Johann Hari appears to have air-brushed his plagiarism and sock-puppetry out of history.
    His articles for the Independent, some of which contain the plagiarised passages,
    are STILL up on the Independent website all these years after the scandal.”

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  27. The Hari article says we know Global warming is real cos in Darfur
    \\ in the Nineties, the water started to vanish.
    As one refugee put it to me: “The water dried up, and so we started to kill each other for what was left.”//

    Twitter search shows that since then there have been fairly regular floods in Darfur

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  28. The tiny but well-connected climate justice* org PIRC is looking for someone to help them get more money from dead billionaires’ trust funds.

    URL:publicinterest.org.uk/fundraiser

    Initially, the contract would be for about 50 days’ work over 6 months. Pay: £300 a day if living in London (that equates to ~62k a year for a full-time job), £250 a day if living outside London (£52k). The work can be done remotely.

    They’re looking for someone who, among other things, has…

    ‘Experience researching trusts and foundations’ (just about everyone at CliScep, but perhaps especially Ben Pile)

    ‘Interest in the programme of narrative work we’re fundraising for’ (ditto)

    ‘Understanding of our work, or keenness to understand it in order to communicate it effectively’ (ditto)

    There are no formal educational requirements for this role. As long as you can show us you have the necessary skills outlined above, we don’t mind where you got them from.

    We are committed to providing equal opportunities for everyone regardless of their background. We acknowledge that people from certain backgrounds are underrepresented in civil society organisations and we’re committed to doing what we can to correct this. We are particularly keen to receive applications from Black, Asian and minority ethnic people; people with experience of migration or seeking asylum; Disabled People; people who identify as LGTBQIA; people who have a mental health condition; people who are part of a faith group; and people who identify as working class (or have done so in the past).

    Perhaps not-so-ditto.

    But don’t be put off. PIRC almost certainly won’t end up hiring a disabled BAME LGTBQIA psychotic illegal immigrant who is part of a faith group (a wot?) and once identified as working-class. That’s just boilerplate. (Or should that be groundsourceheatpumpplate?)

    Get your applications in soonest! Deadline: 2nd August.

    ===
    *As far as I can tell, PIRC has yet to define what it means by ‘climate justice’. It says that climate change will hurt the world’s poorest hardest, but the link from that platitude to anything that might be called justice is absent. You have to fill in the dots yourselves.

    As far as I can tell. Happy to be corrected.

    Liked by 2 people

  29. “An opportunity to tell climate change stories with the BBC”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57921487

    “The BBC is looking for young people from across the UK to help tell stories about climate change.

    BBC Young Reporter – Climate Stories is a talent search for 18-24 year old content creators and young people interested in working in the media who have original ideas about environment and climate change-related stories and reporting.

    Selected young people will get the opportunity to work with BBC teams to produce original stories about sustainability and climate for BBC programmes and platforms before and during the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), which takes place in Glasgow in November 2021.

    The ambition is to find 22 Young Reporters from across the UK for this unique opportunity that will include getting hands-on and/or remote training with BBC staff and an individual BBC mentor to help train and support them to report and create content with the BBC….

    …We want you to tell us an outline of an original climate change story you think the BBC should be telling and which is relevant to you or the area you live. This may end up being the basis of the report you make with the BBC!…”.

    Like

  30. “Whipps Cross Hospital patients evacuated after flooding”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-57971381

    Lots of climate change angles in this story, inevitably, e.g.:

    “Like cities all over the world, London finds itself facing extreme weather.

    Twice in the last fortnight, it has suffered flash floods with a huge amount of rain in a short period of time.

    Experts say with a warming climate, extreme weather will become worse and much more common.

    And it’s not like London hasn’t been warned. In one report, Green Party London Assembly members warned 23 stations on the London Underground Network were at significant risk of flooding as well as 643 schools.

    The mayor said more is needed to be done to combat the impacts of climate change but he wants more powers and financial backing from the government.”

    And:

    “Mr Khan said: “We are seeing increasing incidents of extreme weather events linked to climate change. This is not the first time in recent weeks that London has been hit by major flooding.

    “Despite having limited powers in the area, it remains a key priority for myself and London’s council leaders that more is done urgently to tackle flooding and the other impacts of climate change.””

    And yet, read on almost to the end of the article to discover what an expert has to say:

    “Dr Veronica Edmonds-Brown, senior lecturer in aquatic ecology at the University of Hertfordshire said London’s Victorian era drainage system “cannot cope with the huge increase in population”.

    Dr Edmonds-Brown said there were several reasons for Sunday’s flooding.

    “The first is building on the floodplains of the Thames and River Lea. The second is urbanisation. The more impervious surfaces we install – and we are amid a rapid housing programme at the moment – the worse this situation will get.

    “The final reason is that our drainage system is not built for the amount of water it is receiving. Due to budget limitations, local authorities are not able to maintain or improve them.””

    Not a mention of climate change, and plenty of lucid and logical explanations for the problem. Perhaps too many people read that, which is why it’s moved from the front page of the BBC website to the regional pages.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. The Guardian has the same story, but despite acknowledging the need to address infrastructure problems, to the Guardian it’s a climate crisis story:

    “Flash floods will be more common as climate crisis worsens, say scientists
    Overhaul of UK infrastructure needed to ensure it is not overwhelmed by impact of extreme weather”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/26/flash-floods-will-be-more-common-as-climate-crisis-worsens-say-scientists-london-floods

    “Flash flooding of the type seen in London this weekend will become a more common occurrence as the climate crisis worsens, scientists have warned, and the UK government, businesses and householders must do much more to protect against future harm.”

    “Climate policy in the UK has focused on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which is a primary concern, to reduce the human impact on the climate and ensure global heating does not reach catastrophic levels. But the government has also been warned frequently that measures to cope with the impacts of extreme weather are urgently needed, and that the UK has been falling behind on such adaptive measures.

    Adapting to the impacts will require a thorough overhaul of the UK’s infrastructure, encompassing not only drainage and water supply systems, and transport, to ensure they are not overwhelmed, as many in London were at the weekend, but also energy supply and communications networks.

    Buildings will need to be redesigned and public areas revamped to include better drainage channels and storm drains, while more innovative approaches could include porous pavements. A lack of green spaces and vegetation, and the paving over of many areas without heed to flood risk, has compounded the problem in many cities, including London, and also needs to be addressed, experts warned.

    Neumann said: “Planning and development need to consider flood risk from all sources – river, groundwater and flash floods – and adapt accordingly. It is not acceptable to keep paving over the land and expect the public to deal with the water when it comes into their homes.”

    One of the problems is that responsibility for flood protection in the UK is split among many authorities, with little central oversight. Liz Stephens, associate professor of climate resilience at Reading University, said: “The UK still has a complicated set of roles and responsibilities for surface water flooding risk. Lead local flood authorities take responsibility for managing it, the Environment Agency for mapping it, and the Met Office for providing early warning. This makes it difficult for the public to have a good understanding of their own risk and what can be done.”

    She said there was a lack even of basic data, caused by a refusal to invest in more precise research. “The surface water flood hazard maps for the UK have not been improved since 2013. These urgently need updating. The current accuracy of surface water flood maps reflects an investment choice and not what is possible with the state-of-the-art science,” she said.”

    Er, aren’t these the sort of points that “deniers” like us have been making for quite a while, now? It’s just that we’d put it differently. I would say, stop wasting time and money trying to prevent climate change when we in the UK can’t do that, and spend time and money (but rather less than that which is wasted on “mitigation”) adapting to it instead.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Thick and fast in the Guardian today. Anyone might think we we were less than 100 days from a UK-held COP or something…

    “The truth behind corporate climate pledges”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/26/climate-crisis-green-light

    “‘Record-shattering’ heat becoming much more likely, says climate study
    More heatwaves even worse than those seen recently in north-west of America forecast in research”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/26/record-shattering-heat-becoming-much-more-likely-says-climate-study

    “Green light: a new series on the critical role of companies in the climate crisis
    A new Guardian series explores companies’ accountability for the climate emergency and their efforts to tackle it”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/26/green-light-new-series-climate-crisis

    “The Great Barrier Reef is a victim of climate change – but it could be part of the solution”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/commentisfree/2021/jul/26/the-great-barrier-reef-is-a-victim-of-climate-change-but-it-could-be-part-of-the-solution

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  33. Unfortunately it’s behind a paywall, but it’s utterly risible:

    “Want to be squeaky clean on the environment? ‘Don’t rinse your dishes’
    Writing in The Telegraph, Allegra Stratton, the PM’s COP26 spokeswoman, lists a set of ‘micro-steps’ Britons can adopt to save the planet”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/07/26/consider-not-rinsing-plates-dishwashing-suggests-prime-ministers/

    “People should consider not rinsing plates before putting them in the dishwasher to limit the impact on the environment, Boris Johnson’s COP26 spokeswoman has suggested….[She] also suggests freezing leftover bread to reuse rather than throwing it away, and ordering shampoo in cardboard packaging….

    …”Could you go one step greener? Did you know, according to COP 26 principal partner Reckitt, who make Finish, you don’t really need to rinse your dishes before they go into the dishwasher?…”

    There you have it – a look into the minds and world of the privileged upper middle class climate worriers. Some of us don’t use dishwashers, never mind pre-rinsing before using a dishwasher. Some of us have been freezing bread for re-use all our adult lives. And the idea of “ordering” shampoo? Some of us walk to the shops and buy it, not get that little man in his gas-guzzling white van to deliver it. It’s like a bizarre parody.

    Liked by 1 person

  34. A bit of a Marie Antionette moment. Should she have been called Adagia instead? Further questions occur: what climate hypocrisy could an inquisitive sceptic uncover, I wonder?

    Meanwhile, Allegra was the best candidate for Downing Street’s press spokesperson:

    Allegedly, Allegra Stratton’s name was already on the dressing room door of the pristine new studio because the PM was adamant he wanted her. When Cain argued that she should not have the job Boris reportedly exploded: ‘Forget the process. I am giving the job to Allegra. I’ve got to do this because if I don’t, Carrie will go f****** crackers about it.’

    This is what we call opportunity for all. It does not matter who you know, only what you know (cf. David Cameron’s inability to contact anyone in government). According to the article the “White House style” press briefings were scuttled before they reached the briny owing to a series of gaffes by its new star. (To my apolitical eye, they did not seem too serious.)

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9497171/Now-vicious-new-round-infighting-Allegra-Strattons-sidelined-ANDREW-PIERCE-reveals.html

    Liked by 1 person

  35. Jit and Mark: Cain of course was a key part of the Vote Leave team Boris had asked Dominic Cummings to bring in to sort out the constitutional crisis over Brexit and win the general election. That would then make “Get Brexit Done” possible – a slogan designed to be supportable by those who had voted for Remain. Not “Brexit is Great”. Just get the thing over with. Carrie supported this use of the old Vote Leave team as the only way Boris would survive. Later she turned against them and insisted that Allegra Stratton and others be appointed. That at least is the Cummings account of the history, as told on his private Substack pages in the last month. I don’t think he mentioned the COP26 angle though. That’s made the Marie Antionette imitation unmissable.

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  36. Digger Olympics.

    URL:www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X-P7liufJY

    How many trees can you push under the bridge in two minutes?

    Like

  37. Jan 1995 I booked a 2 week holiday in Malta
    I came home after 1 week co it never stopped raining.

    “Part of the island i turning to deserts
    January should have been one of the wettest months
    .. Do you think farming could die out in Malta”
    “normally there are only 58 day of rain a year, so it ii on the frontline of Climate Change”

    “We in Malta are minimal emitters in the EU”
    FFS cos everyone flies in, Malta must have a high per capit CO2 rate
    “The aquifers are being drained by many unofficial boreholes”
    .. The video shows vast underground supply.

    Next to Malta’s desalination plant

    Now with water saving family “we have an off button on our tap”

    Actually Malta tends to have heavy thunderstorms every 12 months
    although it could skip it for 6 months

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  38. I confess I only read the Mail article Jit pointed to from April after writing what I did. So I’d not clocked the forced move from Sunak and that nose badly put out of joint. Being demoted to COP26 is funny though. The Antoinettes will surely continue.

    Like

  39. “Isle of Man government outlines five-year climate change plan”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-57970671

    “Phasing out fossil fuel-powered vehicles and harnessing the resources of the ocean are among the Isle of Man government’s new plans to tackle climate change.

    A five-year action plan has been shared in July’s sitting of Tynwald.

    The policy and reform minister outlined key themes – energy, housing, “blue carbon”, transport and fossil fuels.

    Ray Harmer has called for a “national conversation” this summer, as a public consultation has been launched.

    The area of blue carbon looks at ocean-based ways to tackle climate change, which Mr Harmer said could be achieved through enhancing “carbon-storing habitats like seagrass”.

    “The ocean is our biggest carbon source”, he added.

    The government has committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, in line with the European Union’s Paris climate agreement.

    It is a target some politicians have criticised in the past for not being ambitious enough.

    The consultation aims to form how the next administration tackles the problem from September.

    Mr Harmer said the Climate Change Transformation Team, which was established in September 2020, would be working to “help people understand the issues”, so they can “effectively participate in the climate conversation”.

    Plans to ban the registration of fossil fuel vehicles by 2030 is also within the plan, to phase out one of the island’s “biggest single contributors to our national emissions”.

    “As an island with a particular love of the motor vehicle, I know this transition may seem particularly challenging”, Mr Harmer said….”.

    More than that, given that the Isle of Man’s GHG emissions are the square root of next to nothing, it’s also absolutely pointless.

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  40. “The floods show London is now on the frontline of the climate emergency
    Sadiq Khan
    From strengthening flood defences to creating low-traffic neighbourhoods, our city is taking bold action”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/27/floods-london-frontline-climate-emergency-defences-traffic

    Perhaps he should read the BBC report that (probably inadvertently) pointed out that the recent flooding was nothing to do with climate change, as mentioned a few posts above:

    “Dr Edmonds-Brown said there were several reasons for Sunday’s flooding.

    “The first is building on the floodplains of the Thames and River Lea. The second is urbanisation. The more impervious surfaces we install – and we are amid a rapid housing programme at the moment – the worse this situation will get.

    “The final reason is that our drainage system is not built for the amount of water it is receiving. Due to budget limitations, local authorities are not able to maintain or improve them.””

    Like

  41. “UK government backs scheme for motorway cables to power lorries
    E-highway study given £2m to draw up plans for overhead electric cables on motorway near Scunthorpe”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/27/uk-government-backs-scheme-for-motorway-cables-to-power-lorries

    “The government will fund the design of a scheme to install overhead electric cables to power electric lorries on a motorway near Scunthorpe, as part of a series of studies on how to decarbonise road freight.

    The electric road system – or e-highway – study, backed with £2m of funding, will draw up plans to install overhead cables on a 20km (12.4 miles) stretch of the M180 near Scunthorpe, in Lincolnshire. If the designs are accepted and building work is funded the trucks could be on the road by 2024.

    Road freight is one of the hardest parts of the economy to decarbonise, because no technology exists yet on a large scale that is capable of powering long-haul lorries with zero direct exhaust emissions.

    New diesel and petrol lorries will be banned in Britain by 2040 as part of plans to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050.”

    Like

  43. ITV local news 6:10pm to 6:21pm
    10 minutes of Green PRasNews

    #1 Scunthorpe motorway to have £30m electric overhead cables for trucks. test project.

    Dont be daft you won’t do 45 miles for that
    … & where will the electricity come from ?
    … In the whole of the Humber region they still haven’t electrified any of the railway
    The East Coast mainline may just touch the edge of the county for a mile or two.

    #2 Hyperbolic claims being made about food waste in Market Rasen
    These people really think that when I buy 10 Mars bars I throw 5 away.

    #3 Some preaching about COP26

    Like

  44. Fraser Myers cit. Notalot:

    Net Zero is easily the largest national project the UK has embarked on since the Second World War. But even as politicians boast about it on the world stage, parading their harsh ‘targets’ at every opportunity, they have tried to downplay its significance to the public. It’s just a tax rise here, a subsidy there, maybe a bit less meat-eating or not rinsing the plate before loading it into the dishwasher. Technology will take care of the rest, anyway, they say.

    Seems as if the dishwasher meme could go on and on.

    “Do I have to get rid of my gas boiler? Can’t I just put the plates in the dishwasher without rinsing them first?”

    Like

  46. BBC local news starts
    … “Skegness council bans mobile homes which are more than 15 years old”

    doh that’s massively wasteful, and anti-green

    Just a reminder that if you read these post via
    the WordPress Reader page, you see these comments as threads
    Rather than just a chronologocal list.
    And you get a Like button

    Like

  50. “Tidal turbine in Orkney starts generating power”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-57991442

    “What’s being described as the most powerful tidal turbine device in the world has connected to the grid in Orkney.

    Orbital Marine Power’s O2 tidal turbine is anchored in the Fall of Warness where a subsea cable connects the two-megawatt offshore unit to the local onshore electricity network.

    It comes as industry leaders call for government support to help the tidal industry develop commercially.”

    Two comments:

    1. The most powerful turbine in the world isn’t very powerful;

    2. If renewables are so cheap, as we’re constantly being told, why do they keep needing government (i.e. taxpayer) help?

    #MagicMoneyTree

    Like

  51. “Critical measures of global heating reaching tipping point, study finds
    Carbon emissions, ocean acidification, Amazon clearing all hurtling toward new records”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/27/global-heating-critical-measures-tipping-point-study

    “A new study tracking the planet’s vital signs has found that many of the key indicators of the global climate crisis are getting worse and either approaching, or exceeding, key tipping points as the earth heats up.

    Overall, the study found some 16 out of 31 tracked planetary vital signs, including greenhouse gas concentrations, ocean heat content and ice mass, set worrying new records.

    “There is growing evidence we are getting close to or have already gone beyond tipping points associated with important parts of the Earth system,” said William Ripple, an ecologist at Oregon State University who co-authored the new research, in a statement.

    “The updated planetary vital signs we present largely reflect the consequences of unrelenting business as usual,” said Ripple, adding that “a major lesson from Covid-19 is that even colossally decreased transportation and consumption are not nearly enough and that, instead, transformational system changes are required.””

    Anyone might think that a COP was coming up, or something.

    Like

  53. 10am R4Woman’s Hour
    PR for COP26
    There are three months to go before the start of COP26 negotiations in Glasgow – the 26th attempt to agree on actions to combat the climate crisis.
    But if the past 25 meetings haven’t provided a solution, what needs to change to get the results the planet needs?
    Bianca Pitt, one of the co-founders of the campaign SHE Changes Climate, is convinced that the key is having a lot more women leading at the negotiating table.
    Bianca explains why women will make a difference.
    She is joined by environmental lawyer and expert in international climate negotiations, Farhana Yamin
    – who describes her experience of getting 197 countries to agree, and what she thinks women can bring to a sustainable future

    Like

  54. Where does Extinction Rebellion end, and the BBC start ??
    cos by the means of the “Become a BBC Climate Change Storyteller” advert on Radio Humberside at 9:48am they are the same Climate Change campaigning organisation building up a stream of PR for COP26

    This Twitter Advert is nowhere near as strong as the audio was

    FFS the item was tweeted by 7 BBC official blue tick accounts.
    ..https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1419554086832283652

    That BBCWorld tweet got CCBGB’ed
    although a few foreign PR people say ‘thanks for going this BBC’
    “It’s like the Cultural Revolution.
    Let’s get the children to denounce their elders.”

    “Young White boys/men need not reply.”

    “….. unless you happen to be a white, fully-able, heterosexual male”

    “BBC looking for young activists and propagandists”
    =====================

    The advert ends with “BBC Radio Humberside”, so that means the stations producers have invested BBC ££s in making this custom advert.

    Audio has brainwash backing music
    Black girl “Our World is changing”
    Attenborough “we have overrun it, and now we are realising what appalling damage we have done”
    Black girl “for decades the BBC has been there to report it,
    and now it’s YOUR turn”

    DA If they are NOT persuaded it’s important, we are wasting our time”

    Black girl “BBC Young Reporters is looking for Climate Change Storytellers
    so if you or someone you know is aged 18-24
    and is interested in telling the story of our CHANGING climate & environment
    then this an opportunity to do it across the BBC
    ..Submissions close on 5th September”

    Backing deep voices “Tell the world about our changing world
    Together we can make a difference … BBC Radio Humberside”

    Like

  55. On 23rd July, I wrote this on Open Mic:

    “And almost unbelievably, we have this (COP 26 ramp-up, obviously):

    “Greta Thunberg: Who is the climate campaigner and what are her aims?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49918719”

    Guess what. It’s back again today, recycled, and re-posted/re-linked on the “Science & Environment” section of the BBC website today at 13.00. I don’t call that news. I call it propaganda.

    Like

  56. “Grant agreed for first Dorset hydrogen fuel plant”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-57986600

    “Plans for Dorset’s first hydrogen fuel processer have moved a step closer after a council agreed a £1.5m grant to build the facility.

    Canford Renewable Energy wants to expand its operations at a former landfill site at Canford Resource Park.

    Its proposal includes the installation of an adjoining solar park to power the facility.

    The grant from Low Carbon Dorset would contribute to total project costs of just under £6m.

    If approved, the development would be permitted to remain on the green belt site for 40 years….

    …Low Carbon Dorset is a five-year programme of activities, funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

    Administered by Dorset Council, it is intended to stimulate growth in the county’s low carbon economy and reduce its footprint.

    The grant marks the first time the programme will have made a single payment over £500,000, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

    It will be paid over nine months and should be repaid to Dorset Council by the Ministry of Communities Housing and Local Government by August 2022.

    Dorset councillors were told loan financing via the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership may also fund some of the project, LDRS reported.

    Canford Renewable Energy is expected to start investing in the project from October.”

    For those interested:

    https://www.lowcarbondorset.org.uk/

    That website doesn’t seem to give you any choice about accepting cookies, so I didn’t look any further.

    Like

  57. Allegra Stratton – the gift that keeps on giving:

    “PM’s spokesperson for Cop26 suggests joining Greens to solve climate crisis
    Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson’s former press secretary, responds to question on Tories’ ‘unambitious’ climate policies”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/28/pms-spokesperson-for-cop26-suggests-joining-greens-to-solve-climate-crisis

    “Boris Johnson’s former press secretary, who is now his spokesperson for the Cop26 climate summit, has said people could join the Green party as a way of saving the planet – while also saying joining the Tories would help as well.

    Allegra Stratton, who moved from Downing Street to the Cop26 team in April, after plans were axed for daily TV briefings which she had been expected to front, made her comments to the Independent.

    She told the paper: “When people say to me, ‘what can they do?’, they can do many things, they can join Greenpeace, they can join the Green party, they can join the Tory party.

    “So there’s lots of ways they can get involved in politics, but for those people who wouldn’t, how do you start to change your life in manageable, achievable, feasible, small ways?”

    It is understood Stratton was responding to a question about what people should do if they believed government actions on the climate emergency were too unambitious, and they preferred the policies of parties such as the Greens.

    The comments prompted a welcome from the Green party. Jonathan Bartley, the co-leader of the Greens in England and Wales, said: “After decades of inaction from both the Conservatives and Labour, we would absolutely agree with the government that joining the Green party is the best thing people can do to help tackle climate change.

    “As we witness the Conservatives waste time talking about loading dishwashers and fantasy projects such as Jet Zero, it is reassuring to see that they do understand it is only the Greens who can bring about the real change that is needed if we are to prevent climate catastrophe.”

    The reference to dishwashers follows an article Stratton wrote this week for the Telegraph in which she outlined possible “micro steps” people could take to reduce their personal environmental impact.

    Ideas included not rinsing plates before putting them in a dishwasher, buying shower gel as a cardboard-wrapped bar, and freezing rather than throwing out half-used loaves of bread. She said she was ‘“not pretending these steps will stop climate change” on their own, but that they could contribute.

    Stratton said her advice was about “trying to connect with people” who found the idea of combating the climate emergency “too much and too overwhelming to process”.

    She said: “You will have a net zero strategy from us before Cop26. You’ll have a series of strategies from us in the next few months. We are doing the heavy lifting. What I’m trying to do is speak to people who may not be doing anything.”…”

    Like

  58. Mark you should write an article cos like the Climate Storytellers advert this is clearly the BBC campaigning

    That article is not news
    Rather it is the 2019 BBC Greta page which updated and repromoted on three dates

    – Nov 29, 2019 BBC News (World) @BBCWorld·https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1200211556413427712

    – Feb 28, 2020 BBC News England @BBCEngland https://twitter.com/BBCEngland/status/1233357359180898307

    – Feb 28, 2020 BBC Science @BBCScienceClub https://twitter.com/BBCScienceClub/status/1233328015230324736

    – Feb 28, 2020 @BBCScienceNews https://twitter.com/BBCScienceNews/status/1233416525584961538

    – Jul 23 @BBCScienceNews https://twitter.com/BBCScienceNews/status/1418570147892285446

    Somehow they excluded Newscniffer from logging changes
    but here’s an Archive.org comparison
    https://web.archive.org/web/diff/20191129230140/20210719124136/www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49918719
    That is tricky cos you have to hit escape as the BBC page is set to auto-reload

    Like

  59. Front page news on the BBC website:

    “UK already undergoing disruptive climate change
    By Roger Harrabin
    BBC environment analyst”

    “The UK is already undergoing disruptive climate change with increased rainfall, sunshine and temperatures, according to scientists.

    The year 2020 was the third warmest, fifth wettest and eight sunniest on record, scientists said in the latest UK State of the Climate report.

    No other year is in the top 10 on all three criteria.”

    Good grief, they’re getting desperate now – talk about cherry-picking metrics. It wasn’t the warmest, the sunniest (not that those things would be considered something you need to “warn” about, where I live) or the wettest year on record, so they lump all three together and establish that it’s the only year so far in the records where all three “top ten” records were ticked. It smacks of clutching at straws to me. Presumably somebody is paid to comb the data to come up with information such as that.

    Like

  60. Oh and guess what?

    “Extreme weather will be the norm and UK is not prepared, report warns
    Last year was first to be in top 10 for heat, rain and sunshine, as scientists say UK’s mild climate is at an end”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/29/extreme-weather-will-be-the-norm-and-uk-is-not-prepared-report-warns

    News by press release, presumably. Here’s a link to the report behind those headlines:

    https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/joc.7285

    At the risk of cherry-picking data myself, why the need to “warn” about things like this, which I regard as good news:

    “2020 included the fifth warmest winter (December 2019–February 2020), eighth warmest spring, sixth warmest January, equal-fourth warmest April and equal-sixth warmest November for the UK in series from 1884.”

    “2020 was the seventh consecutive year where the number of air and ground frosts was below the 1981–2010 average. The number of air and ground frosts were both fourth lowest in the series from 1960/1961.
    The most recent decade (2011–2020) has had 16% fewer days of air frost and 14% fewer days of ground frost compared to the 1981–2010 average, and 25%/20% fewer compared to 1961–1990.”

    “The most recent decade (2011–2020) has had for the UK on average 4% more hours of bright sunshine than the 1981–2010 average and 8% more than the 1961–1990 average.
    For the most recent decade (2011–2020) UK winters have been 5% sunnier than 1981–2010 and 13% sunnier than 1961–1990. UK springs have been 11%/16% sunnier.”

    “Overall, the 2020 leaf-on season was extended by 6.2 days on average compared with the 1999–2019 baseline.”

    Like

  62. Somerset guy had to give up his EV
    and switch back to petrol
    Said EV charging stations often broken or super expensive @80p/KWh
    The EV PR lady did her PR stuff
    ‘EVs are amazing, there are so many charging points
    but too many in Westminster and not enough elsewhere
    So its very simple we need to build more charging points
    and spend more money beefing up the grid
    “charging at home can be 4p/KWh’

    Like

  63. “Vegetable oil-powered train will transport Toyota hybrid cars”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-58014366

    “Hybrid cars built by Toyota in Derbyshire will soon be transported to the continent by a locomotive that runs on used vegetable oil.

    Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris unveiled the locomotive, named “I’m A Climate Hero”, at a depot in Toton in Nottinghamshire.

    The Department for Transport said the locomotive can cut carbon emissions by up to 90% compared to diesel.

    It will transport hundreds of cars a week to France and the Czech Republic.

    The locomotive is owned by rail freight operator DB Cargo UK, which has been trialling the use of hydro-treated vegetable oil, known as HVO.”

    Like

  64. “Climate change: Green energy barriers ‘threaten’ net zero goal”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58001745

    “Problems starting more green energy schemes in Wales need to be urgently addressed if climate change targets are to be met, senior MPs have said.

    Access to funding, skilled workers and space on power lines are all slowing a shift towards renewable energy.

    Parliament’s Welsh Affairs Committee wants a specific action plan from UK ministers.

    The UK government said it had invested heavily in “bold plans for renewables” across the UK.

    The Welsh government has set a target for net zero emissions by 2050, but said it needed UK government support to achieve this.”

    Translation – send UK taxpayer subsidies.

    #MagicMoneyTree

    Like

  65. “Foreign control of North Sea oil licences threatens UK’s net zero goal
    Study warns regulator must take action as private equity firms and state-backed groups begin to dominate”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/29/foreign-control-of-north-sea-oil-licences-threatens-uks-net-zero-goal

    “Foreign control of North Sea oil licences could put the UK’s plans to reach net zero emissions at risk, a study has warned.

    The research shows state-backed fossil fuel companies and private equity firms are taking a tighter grip on North Sea oil, raising concerns about the government’s ability to wind down fossil fuel production and secure a “just transition” for workers.

    The study by the Common Wealth thinktank, and research by climate journal Desmog, reveals that more than a third of the licence blocks in the North Sea now have a private or state-backed controlling interest, with fossil fuel firms from China, Russia and the Middle East playing an increasingly dominant role.

    Unlike the oil majors, many of these companies do not face public scrutiny, are not accountable to shareholders and are not required to have the same degree of corporate governance as leading listed businesses.

    Campaigners say this is potentially “catastrophic” for the UK’s plans for a rapid and fair transition towards a low-carbon economy, despite efforts by the Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) to bring the industry to heel.”

    All fair points, except the same is in substantial part true of the ownership of the UK’s renewables too. Funny, that doesn’t seem to matter.

    Like

  66. “Three Americans create enough carbon emissions to kill one person, study finds
    The analysis draws on public health studies that conclude that for every 4,434 metric tons of CO2 produced, one person globally will die”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jul/29/carbon-emissions-americans-social-cost

    “The lifestyles of around three average Americans will create enough planet-heating emissions to kill one person, and the emissions from a single coal-fired power plant are likely to result in more than 900 deaths, according to the first analysis to calculate the mortal cost of carbon emissions.

    The new research builds upon what is known as the “social cost of carbon”, a monetary figure placed upon the damage caused by each ton of carbon dioxide emissions, by assigning an expected death toll from the emissions that cause the climate crisis.

    The analysis draws upon several public health studies to conclude that for every 4,434 metric tons of CO2 pumped into the atmosphere beyond the 2020 rate of emissions, one person globally will die prematurely from the increased temperature. This additional CO2 is equivalent to the current lifetime emissions of 3.5 Americans.”

    The link to the article is here:

    https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24487-w

    I’m sceptical about this (of course!), not least in the light of the study linked to at the Guardian, which said that 10 times as many people (or thereabouts) die from excess cold than from excess heat, and that warming is avoiding more deaths from cold than it causing from heat. Leaving all that aside, I found this paragraph interesting:

    “In total, we find that there are 83 million projected cumulative excess deaths between 2020 and 2100 in the central estimate in the DICE baseline emissions scenario. By the end of the century, the projected 4.6 million excess yearly deaths would put climate change 6th on the 2017 Global Burden of Disease risk factor risk list ahead of outdoor air pollution (3.4 million yearly excess deaths) and just below obesity (4.7 million yearly excess deaths)”.

    Which suggests to my simple mind that we should be concentrating on the top 5 causes of deaths before the one in sixth place, especially since the first five (I sweepingly assume) may be rather cheaper and easier to deal with than climate change, especially given the attitude of China, India, Russia, Middle Eastern Oil States and much of the developing world to reducing GHG emissions (i.e. they’re not too keen on it). Just a thought.

    Like

  67. New BBC series Yorkshire Firefighters
    “one item Roof fire caused by solar panels”

    BTW It’s basically 4 episodes of PR making out most firemen are women

    Like

  68. “‘Glorious Twelfth’ on the brink across UK after poor grouse breeding season
    Hard frosts, sleet and cold rain during hatching season earlier in summer has caused loss of entire broods”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/30/glorious-twelfth-on-the-brink-across-uk-after-poor-grouse-breeding-season

    “The “Glorious Twelfth” may be effectively cancelled this year, shooting estates have said, as the grouse breeding season has been so poor.

    Hard frosts while the birds were laying has meant that fewer were born, and some eggs are still yet to hatch. Sleet and cold rain during the hatching season earlier this summer caused the loss of entire broods.”

    Despite the fact that the threat to grouse is from cold, not heat, some people never miss an opportunity:

    “Luke Steele, executive director of conservation group Wild Moors, said: “Grouse moors are performing an intensive programme of heather burning, draining and wildlife persecution in a frantic attempt to drive game bird numbers up to levels where shooting can take place.

    “The irony is that grouse moor management is causing carbon-rich peatlands to dry up, leaving the environment and wildlife, including the humble grouse, increasingly vulnerable to climate change.

    “With the world fast moving in a direction where restoring land for nature, carbon capture and people is at the forefront of solving climate change and biodiversity loss, the writing is on the wall for outdated and destructive grouse moors. It’s time to head on a new path of restoring Britain’s uplands.””

    Is Mr Steele also complaining about the damage caused to peat bogs by wind farms?

    Like

  69. Stew, one presumes that adding solar panels increases your insurance bill. I have not been able to track down an actual ball park for that (I’m guessing low enough to be tolerable, but still).

    Like

  71. I’m not and never have been a Conservative, and I won’t be voting that way at the next general election. However, this man is high up among many reasons why this one-time Labour Party member and activist will almost certainly be unable to vote Labour at the next general election:

    “Our biggest enemy is no longer climate denial but climate delay
    Ed Miliband
    Nothing is more dangerous than the illusion of action – which is all that the British government is offering”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/30/climate-denial-delay-inaction-british-government

    Liked by 1 person

  72. Behind a paywall, unfortunately:

    “Families face biggest rise in energy bills for a decade
    Higher price cap will hit millions”

    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/families-face-biggest-rise-in-energy-bills-for-a-decade-kmfrn7t79

    “Householders have been warned to brace themselves for the biggest energy bills rise in a decade with more than half facing an increase of about £150 a year.

    The cost of gas and electricity is expected to soar as a result of the energy price cap being raised, which is due to be announced next week….”.

    Like

  73. “Photos show snow on Brazil streets during a rare winter weather phenomenon”

    https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/photos-show-snow-brazil-streets-155554547.html

    “You wouldn’t expect Brazil to be the place to build a snowman, but for the first time in 64 years, the country’s streets have been overtaken by a rare winter phenomenon.

    A fierce cold snap prompted snowfall in southern Brazil, with snow accumulating on streets of cities where the wintry phenomenon is rarely seen. The last time a blizzard hit Brazil was in 1957, when 4.3 feet of snow was recorded in the Santa Catarina state.

    At least 43 cities registered either snow or freezing rain late Wednesday, according to information from Climatempo, a weather service.

    Temperatures are expected to keep dropping, with more snow possible.

    The Brazilian government’s meteorological institute says low temperatures should endure until the start of August. There may be frost in Mato Grosso do Sul, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Goias states by Friday.”

    I have looked in vain for this story on the websites of the BBC and the Guardian.

    Like

  74. Last month, a Royal Society of Medicine video about mental health and climate change started (after an intro) with this multiple-choice question:

    ===
    Who said this about climate change?

    “This is a mental health crisis we’re dealing with here”
    ===

    URL:www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB3qeLQEo44

    Asked by Lisa Page of Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

    Page’s answer was Option 4, Bernard Looney, the CEO of BP.

    Looney did indeed say that during this podcast with Tom Rivett-Carnac and Christiana Figueres:

    URL:outrageandoptimism.libsyn.com/70-bps-road-to-rebuilding-trust-with-ceo-bernard-looney

    (About 26 mins in.*)

    But did he say it about climate change?

    No. He was talking about BP workers being anxious about losing their livelihoods because of climate change targets, and this during an anxiety-amplifying pandemic. That mental health crisis was one side of the story, the other being that BP was doing the right thing with its policies re climate change.

    Looney has been talking about mental health for years, so he might once have said that climate change is a mental health crisis (although recently he said that the world’s mental health crisis is as big as the climate change crisis, and he surely can’t think that both are true) but he didn’t say it during that podcast.

    (After the Looney farrago, the RSM video moved on to climate change tipping points, citing two sources: a commentary by lots of notorious alarmists; and the WWF’s latest – and no doubt as dodgy as all previous editions – Living Planet Report. I haven’t watched it beyond that point yet so don’t know if it makes any rational predictions about climate change and mental health.)

    ===
    *Looney, who is Irish, sounds spookily like Stephan Lewandowsky, who is… Non-specific.

    Like

  75. Vinny, it sounds as though there could be another article in this, for John Ridgway, if he’s up for the challenge!

    Like

  77. Em we already mentioned this years Brazil snow on July 2nd after news articles on June 29th
    https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/nosubscription/south-brazilian-state-of-santa-catarina-recorded-third-consecutive-day-of-snow-and-negative-temperatures/
    So this must be an unusual second snow

    I pointed to the Brazilian government’s tourism website
    “Morro Boa Vista : where it snows almost every winter – even if for just a few days. During the winter season, the landscape has a special touch, with frost, fog, hail, blizzards and frozen waterfalls, which add to the joy of tourists from all over the country”
    http://turismo.sc.gov.br/en/destinos/serra-catarinense/

    Like

  78. “Adapt or die. That is the stark challenge to living in the new world we have made
    David Wallace-Wells
    We need to decarbonise and fast. But ‘adaptation’, the ways in which we protect people from the crisis, is not a dirty word”

    There is much in this article with which I disagree, for instance this highly contentious claim, stated baldly as a fact:

    “Already, the planet is hotter – at just 1.2C or 1.3C of warming on preindustrial levels – than it has ever been in the long stretch of human civilisation. ”

    The there’s this, equally dubious claim:

    “The Climate Crisis Advisory Group, led by Sir David King, recently declared that greenhouse gas levels were already so high that they foreclosed a “manageable future for humanity”. “Nowhere is safe,” King said, provoking a host of headlines.

    The headlines are right, of course…”

    Maddeningly, there are occasional statements casually made and then effectively ignored, that we sceptics have long been making in response to the shrill claims so often made by the likes of the Guardian and the Observer:

    “…while mortality from natural disaster has fallen dramatically over the past 100 years…”.

    I find the whole tone of the article borderline ridiculous, but the fact that at least alarmists are starting to talk about adaptation (though not yet giving up on the pointless attempts at mitigation) is progress of a sort, I suppose.

    Like

  79. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the tone of the article. Its author, David Wallace-Wells is also the author of “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming”:

    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41552709-the-uninhabitable-earth

    “It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible. In California, wildfires now rage year-round, destroying thousands of homes. Across the US, “500-year” storms pummel communities month after month, and floods displace tens of millions annually.

    This is only a preview of the changes to come. And they are coming fast. ….” etc, etc.

    Like

  80. Mark (7:08am): Really interesting from David Wallace-Wells but I don’t think you gave the URL:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/01/adapt-or-die-that-is-the-stark-challenge-to-living-in-the-new-world-we-have-made

    Here’s a longer excerpt around that startling and truthful admission that “mortality from natural disaster has fallen dramatically over the past 100 years”:

    The word for this in the climate vernacular is “adaptation” and it has been, for a few decades, a dirty one, seen as an alternative to rapid decarbonisation rather than its necessary, humanitarian partner. The project to protect the people of the world from the impacts of even a more stable climate may prove larger, in the end, than the project of stabilising it, which has so preoccupied us for decades.

    Unfortunately, to this point, while mortality from natural disaster has fallen dramatically over the past 100 years, the returns on engineered adaptations to climate impacts, in particular, have been maddeningly spotty. Advocates point to awe-inspiring flood-management systems in the Netherlands, but the $14bn levees built in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 don’t protect against category-five hurricanes today. The challenges will grow, in some cases exponentially, but the blueprint of adaptation is there for all to see, a photo-negative of all of the impacts that scientists have told us to expect even within the next few decades: heat stress and sea-level rise, wildfires and river flooding, agricultural decline, economic stagnation, migration crises, conflict and state collapse.

    The humanitarian partner of decarbonisation that should kill off its partner, for the best humanitarian reasons, for fifty years or so, until much more data is in.

    But credit to Wallace-Wells for admitting that big tradeoffs between the two exist.

    Like

  81. Richard, thanks for supplying the link I omitted, and for the additional comment. I’ve just had to switch off The World This Weekend on BBC Radio 4. Climate chaos, COP 26, and Allegra Stratton. The good news is that Allegra continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. At the point where I switched off she seemed to me to be doing her cause more harm than good.

    Liked by 1 person

  82. With reference to the Zhengzhou flood, Wallace-Wells states:
    “even the world’s vanguard infrastructure – the built kind, the natural kind and the human kind – is failing the test of even today’s climate, which is the mildest and most benign we will ever see again”

    Even “vanguard infrastructure” will fail if the design criteria are exceeded. It appears that the subway flooding was a result of local intense rainfall. The subway drainage system will have been designed for a specific return period flood but larger floods are always possible. Short duration extreme rainfall intensity can overwhelm drainage systems. The reported 1-hour peak rainfall was 201.9 mm. Rainfall intensity of this magnitude would be challenging for drainage design. But the previous record one hour rainfall was only slightly lower at 198.5 mm in 1975, according to the national meteorological observatory. Rather than this being an unusual event, it appears that this ‘vanguard infrastructure” had a design problem. The design criteria for subway drainage were inadequate.

    https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202107/1229173.shtml

    Liked by 2 people

  83. “UK’s net zero goal ‘too far away’, says No 10 climate spokesperson
    Allegra Stratton says carbon emissions must change ‘right now’, as UK moves towards 2050 goal”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/01/uks-net-zero-goal-too-far-away-says-no-10-climate-spokesperson

    “The UK’s goal of tackling the climate crisis by reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050 is “too far away”, the prime minister’s climate change spokesperson has said.

    Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson’s former press secretary, said the “science is clear” that the UK must change its carbon emission output “right now”.

    Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend, Stratton said: “What I’m aware of is right now that we have a 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution, we have FTSE 100 companies pledging to go net-zero, and not only that, but we also have the NHS and hospitals around the country saying, ‘You know what, we’ll have a go as well.’

    “And I feel at the point at which we can all of us see that we’re not doing it on our own, every part of society is moving in tandem towards this net zero in 2050 … but let’s be honest, that’s too far away.

    She has encouraged people to “feel the fierce urgency of now” as the UK prepares for the Cop26 summit in Glasgow in November….

    …Stratton said: “Net-zero is the glide path. What we have to be doing more quickly – the science is clear – we have to be changing our carbon emissions output right now so that we can stop temperature increase by 2030.

    “We have to feel the fierce urgency of now … We have to bring countries to Cop26 in November in Glasgow with real substantial plans.”

    Stratton said progress had been delayed by the Covid pandemic and plans would be announced when parliament returned in September, with projects including replacing gas boilers with more climate-friendly alternatives….”.

    Climate-friendly, but human-unfriendly. As far as I listened to it (as I wrote above, I couldn’t bear it any longer, and switched off) it seemed like a car-crash interview to me. Did anyone else listen to it? I’d like to know if I’m alone in my opinion, or if others felt the same.

    Like

  84. What a strange article:

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/01/oldest-tree-eastern-us-climate-crisis

    “…“The principal threat to our forests is people and human activity. One consequence of human activity is climate change,” Stahle said….”. Well, climate changes naturally, we might be adding to it, but it’s probably the other consequences of human activity that pose the biggest threat to an average tree (like being chopped down).

    “…A little over six feet of elevation stands between the oldest-known cypress and the Atlantic Ocean. While sea level rise is increasing by two inches a decade now, it’s accelerating at a rapid pace. Sea levels are “all but certain” to rise by at least 20ft over the next 100 to 200 years. In a worst-case scenario, the world’s oldest bald cypress may already be underwater by 2080….”.

    Really? The Guardian, normally so fond of offering links (even if only to other Guardian articles) to justify its claims, doesn’t offer any back-up to that rather extraordinary claim.

    “…Pederson is one of the researchers behind a 2016 study that found that increasing drought conditions and extreme events of the past – which led to unusually high tree mortality rates – could be a forecast for the future….”. You know, the sort of events that happened in the past, but which if they happened today would see headlines screaming about climate change and how it’s all our fault.

    “…The world lost more than a third of its old-growth forests from 1900 to 2015. “All the models, all the projections, everything points in the same direction: that we’re going to lose trees,” McDowell said….”. No doubt, and certainly because of human activity, but not because of climate change.

    “…Conservationists like Moore agree with the protesting community. It’s not climate change imperiling the survival of the oldest cypress tree she’s nervous about, but state-managed recreation, which opens the door to increased pollution, depletion of natural resources and ecosystem disturbance….”. Well, yes.

    “…Environmental archaeologist Katharine Napora analyzed deceased eastern bald cypress trees along the Georgia coast, ranging from 65 to 1,078 years old, whose preserved remains date back to 3161BCE.

    “From these ancient trees, we see that even very long-lived cypress trees in the ancient past can be killed very fast with either rising sea levels or the storm surge from hurricanes,” Napora said….”. What, you mean it’s happened before in the last 5,000 years?

    Like

  88. Mr Drake you might want to edit the top of the page comment to add this

    This comment page will get long, but there is a trick.
    If you read comments via the WordPress Reader page, it groups comments by the latest batch.
    You also get extra buttons : Like … Reply
    https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/94188120/posts/47969

    A second trick is to then reply to a comment , that activates your Conversation page
    Then you can come back to the discussion using the Conversation button
    https://wordpress.com/read/conversations
    That view is even lighter .. showing you only 5 latest comments

    #3 In California 20% of EV vehicle owners have gone back to petrol
    .. https://www.facebook.com/57886636727/videos/454530309612323

    Like

  89. “Net-zero zealots take no notice of the hardship their haste will cause
    Britain ploughs on with costly green policies while dozens of other countries break their promises”

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/01/net-zero-zealots-take-no-notice-hardship-haste-will-cause/

    “…Yet even with treaties like the Paris Agreement, dozens of countries, including the United States and China, have failed to meet their promises.

    Despite solemn pledges to cut carbon emissions radically, last year the number of coal-fired power stations approved to open around the world increased. China, the world’s largest source of greenhouse gases, was the worst offender, opening the equivalent of a new coal-fired plant every week, and building more than three times the coal-plant capacity as the rest of the world.

    Inconvenient truths lie closer to home, too. In Germany, coal generates 24 per cent of electricity, and a new coal plant opened only last year. Six of the 10 largest European carbon emitters are German power stations.

    With Britain responsible for around 1 per cent of global carbon emissions, does it really make sense to further increase industrial energy prices, make domestic energy bills unaffordable, and impose all sorts of other costs on consumers and taxpayers to reach net zero before everybody else?…

    …But there is little sensible debate about the part Britain, on its own or going first, can play in fighting climate change. There is no debate about the speed of transition, the role of technology, the cost to households, the effects on productivity and competitiveness, the distribution of costs between regions, industries and families, or the wisdom of paying more early to develop technologies to reduce costs for others later.

    Instead, the politicians, technocratic advisers and monomaniacal climate change campaigners present us with supposedly unanswerable facts. Britain is moving too slowly, they say. We have a duty to act before others, because we led the industrial revolution. The rest of the world will soon follow, they claim. We cannot rely on new technology, they insist, we must act now. Some are honest enough to say we must accept lower living standards; others deny there are any trade-offs, and promise a bountiful future of green growth.

    With its refusal to countenance alternatives, with its absolute conviction that the global transition to net zero is an inevitability, with its rejection of debate on the choices available to us, with its reliance on committees of technocrats and use of the courts to police policy, with its disregard for those who will lose out, with the support of the rent-seekers and quangocrats who stand to gain, with the naive expectation that British good faith will be reciprocated by the likes of China, the climate change debate increasingly resembles the globalisation debates of years past.

    Then, as now, aloof experts refused to listen to ordinary people, and we are still paying the price for their arrogant complacency: whole regions ravaged by deindustrialisation and economic and social decay, a polarised labour market, the decline of Western power, broken trust, the rise of populists and shattered democratic systems….”

    As Andrew Montford on his Twitter account points out – “Says Nick Timothy. Adviser to Theresa May who introduced it.”

    Liked by 1 person

  91. Richard,

    On fire, indeed. And whilst we are talking pyrotechnic clichés, here’s one from the BBC: “Then and now: The burning issue of wildfires”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57946155

    The article isn’t the worst I’ve seen from the BBC – not by a long way. Nevertheless, since it twice states that “Although wildfires have long been part of the landscape, they are becoming more frequent, more widespread, and more intense”, it would have been nice to see some data to back this claim up. All we get is a quote from a 2017 report by the US Global Change Research Program regarding a ‘profound increase’. However, my experience has been that, upon further examination, the data on this ‘burning issue’ is rarely as straightforward as the headlines suggest.

    Also, on the same day, we have this from the BBC: “Iran water: What’s causing the shortages?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/58012290

    I suspect I should be defering to Potentilla on this one, but I cannot resist the temptation to point out that the last cause one should be thinking of here is climate change. No one who knows anything about the background to this story could suggest as much with a straight face. However, the BBC managed to find someone:

    “’Climate change and drought is a catalyst here,’ says Kaveh Madani, former deputy head of the Iranian Environment Department, who’s now based at Yale University.”

    Catalyst? Just more abuse of the English language there, I’m afraid.

    Liked by 2 people

  92. A dentist-turned-vicar who thinks that 5G threatens all life on Earth has sewed his lips together to protest against Rupert Murdoch. The Revd Tim Hewes reckons that Murdoch might be ‘the most destructive man in the history of the planet’, not because some of Murdoch’s papers have published 5G conspiracy theories (obvz) but because…

    Well, see if you can make any sense of this:

    I’m sewing my lips together to demonstrate the terrible and violent havoc Murdoch’s actions have reaped upon the world and to symbolically make visible this truth. Today there are countless people throughout the world who are voiceless and suffering because of the climate emergency. Climate science and truth has [sic] been muted and those who suffer are not being heard. I have tried everything [sic] other way I can think of [including glueing himself to furniture in a magistrates’ court] to end the influences and madness represented by Rupert Murdoch and his denial of the climate emergency.

    I think ‘represented’ is the key word there. Hewes was protesting on behalf of XR and Christian Climate Action. Both groups think (godnose why) that mainstream media outlets never talk about climate change. Murdoch has always been a handy symbol of whatever might be wrong with all mainstream media outlets everywhere.

    The lip-stitching dentist-turned-vicar (warning: it includes quite a nasty pic):

    URL:www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19485693.oxfordshire-vicar-sews-lips-shut-protest-rupert-murdoch/

    Hewes signed this 5G claptrap:

    URL:www.5gspaceappeal.org/the-appeal

    His statement about the protest:

    URL:twitter.com/HollyAPetersen/status/1422193016983506944

    Liked by 1 person

  93. “Scotland’s gas pipelines sold to Canadian consortium”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58063791

    “…A vital part of Scotland’s infrastructure, its gas supply pipeline network, has been wholly bought over by a Canadian consortium.

    SSE, the energy firm based in Perth, announced it has sold its one-third stake for £1225m, to focus on renewable electricity.

    The future owners, with 37.5% each, will be Brookfield investment fund and the Ontario teachers pension fund.

    The latter held 25% until this SSE transaction.

    A further 25% stake continues to be held by Omers, another Canadian pension provider….

    …SSE bought half the company 16 years ago for £505m, and sold one sixth of the total shareholding to Abu Dhabi Investment Authority in 2016. That 16.5% stake is also being sold to the Canadian consortium.

    It has dropped its branding as Scottish/Southern Gas Networks.

    The sale of the SGN stake is part of an SSE plan to raise £2bn from sale of assets, to reduce debt and focus its investment on renewable power….”

    Like

  94. Vinny, I suppose it’s appropriate that he’s a vicar. The religious elements of climate hysteria are well-known to us. It’s intriguing to see it taking on ever-more extreme and bizarre manifestations, however. Losing touch with reality seems to be an increasing trend among these people.

    Liked by 1 person

  95. Complicated, isn’t it?

    “Is remote working better for the environment? Not necessarily
    Companies have a rare moment to reset working models. But climate calculations of remote v office work are complex”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/02/is-remote-working-better-for-the-environment-not-necessarily

    “…Take commuting. Transportation is the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the US, and more than half come from personal vehicles. Close to 90% of people drive to work – usually alone – and the daily back and forth accounts for nearly 30% of the miles American workers drive in a year.

    Doing away with millions of workers’ daily commutes seems like an easy climate win. Carbon dioxide emissions from transportation dropped 15% last year as people hunkered at home.

    When workers’ homes become their offices, commutes may fall out of the carbon equation, but what’s happening inside those homes must be added in. How much energy is being used to run the air conditioner or heater? Is that energy coming from clean sources? In some parts of the country during lockdown, average home electricity consumption rose more than 20% on weekdays, according to the International Energy Agency. IEA’s analysis suggests workers who use public transport or drive less than four miles each way could actually increase their total emissions by working from home.

    Looking further ahead, the questions multiply. Many Shopify employees live near the office and walk, bike or take public transit. Will remote work mean they move from city apartments to sprawling suburban homes, which use, on average, three times more energy? Will they buy cars? Will they be electric or gas-powered SUVs?

    “You have company control over what takes place in the office,” Kauk noted. “When you have everyone working remotely from home, corporate discretion is now employee discretion.”

    There’s also the question of flying. While business travel is still down about 70%, most business leaders expect it to return to pre-pandemic levels. Francis is concerned that companies with distributed workforces will more than make up for saved daily commuting emissions by flying in staff for quarterly gatherings. One round-trip flight from Chicago to Los Angeles releases nearly as much CO2 as three months of a 10-mile driving commute….”.

    Like

  96. “London Science Museum signed gagging order with Shell over climate change exhibition
    Campaigners accuse museum of allowing Shell to ‘greenwash’ their image with exhibition on carbon capture.”

    https://www.politico.eu/article/london-science-museum-shell-gagging-order-climate-change-exhibition-carbon-capture/

    “The London Science Museum agreed not to publicly criticize Shell as part of a sponsorship deal for an exhibition about carbon capture.

    In a contract released to campaign group Culture Unstained under freedom of information laws, the museum said it would not “make any statement or issue any publicity or otherwise be involved in any conduct or matter that may reasonably be foreseen as discrediting or damaging the goodwill or reputation of the Sponsor.”

    The exhibition, called Our Future Planet, explores different natural and technological solutions for drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. These include technologies that Shell either has commercial interest in, researches or actually operates.

    Oil and gas industry support for British cultural institutions has been subject to a long-running campaign by environmentalists. Culture Unstained accused the Science Museum of allowing Shell to “greenwash” its public image.

    Culture Unstained also obtained email exchanges between museum director Ian Blatchford as he sought Shell’s help in securing support from the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative — a group of a dozen of the largest fossil fuel corporations. The Science Museum eventually walked away from the deal, the documents said, because one of the companies did not meet its environmental criteria. “

    Like

  97. “Police remove climate activists from Zurich’s financial district
    Activists protested banks funding fossil fuel projects.”

    https://www.politico.eu/article/zurich-police-remove-climate-activists-financial-district/

    “Swiss police removed climate activists Monday morning who were protesting in Zurich’s financial quarters against banks funding fossil fuel deals.

    Videos show dozens of activists who had placed themselves at the entrances of Credit Suisse and UBS in Paradeplatz square, the heart of Zurich’s financial centre, barring people from entering. They were protesting the funding of fossil fuel activities which they called “climate-damaging machinations”

    The Swiss police force took away the activists when they refused to leave their positions.

    “Credit Suisse and UBS have so far done anything but respond adequately to the climate crisis. That is why the climate justice movement is occupying the Credit Suisse headquarters and the nearby UBS office today to draw attention to the consequences of the Swiss financial institutions’ inaction,” spokeswoman for the Rise up for Change group, Frida Kohlmann, said in a statement.

    “We are demanding that Swiss financial institutions switch to a socially and climate-friendly course”, Kohlmann added.

    Climate activists had staged a fake performance in front of Credit Suisse’s offices last week, pretending to be spokespeople for the Swiss company and declaring that the bank’s lending to fossil fuel projects was done.”

    Like

  99. That stunt generated a load of tweets no one took notice of
    Anyone can sew their lips together ..that soft flesh always heals

    Only their main Twitter thread got any traction

    “Mummy if you don’t what I want … I’ll sew my lips together”

    … That action to me is *bullying* and terrorism

    This is the First tweet of their thread

    Tweet #3 says this
    Rather than engage in dialogue about why this is happening
    News Corp have now responded by preventing people approaching Rev Tim Hewes outside their front entrance and directing them to their side entrance.

    FFS “engage in dialogue” … How can they ? his lips are sewn together

    Like

  100. After a few minutes I thought not only is this bullying
    this is promotion of self-harm
    there is a risk kids will copy him, and may not get away as lightly as he will
    Such promotion of self-harm is against all the social media rules
    I’m just about to report the tweet
    but the video has already been pulled
    Twitter tells me after 2 hours he removed the stitches
    so of course is pretty OK
    but mutilating yourself is NOT peaceful protest ..it is violence.
    It causes trauma anxiety to the observer.

    Twitter never heard of him until 10 months ago
    seems arrested at least once
    and on March 19th when he protested in court the judge sent him to 14 days jail.. he served 7

    Looking at the groups Facebook’s page a few also point out self-harm stunts are wrong
    The group is quite valuable cos it shows how unhinged and irrational these people activists are
    … https://www.facebook.com/christianclimateaction/posts/1910992575724449

    Like

  101. John: “Also, on the same day, we have this from the BBC: “Iran water: What’s causing the shortages?””
    You are right that the last cause you should be thinking of here is climate change. It is a common problem the world over for water supply systems. Typically there is an absence of planning, management and investment especially in developing countries.. As populations and standard of living increases the water demand goes up. Plus there are often increasing upstream uses for agriculture. Along comes a drought that should have been planned for and the water managers immediately blame climate change as it appears to let them off the hook. While this is very common in developing countries I have observed it in small town water supply systems here in Canada. There is a reluctance to plan ahead using available hydrological data (or even in many cases to collect the appropriate data), a reluctance to make the right investments and to increase water rates and taxes.

    Like

  102. “Finance firms plan to close coal plants in Asia”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58066660

    “Some of the world’s biggest financial institutions are working on a plan to speed the closure of coal-fired power plants in Asia, the BBC has been told.

    The initiative was developed by UK insurer Prudential, is being driven by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and includes major banks HSBC and Citi.

    The ADB hopes the plan will be ready for the COP26 climate conference which is being held in Scotland in November.

    The plan aims to tackle the biggest human-made source of carbon emissions.

    Under the proposal, which was first reported by the Reuters news agency, public-private partnerships will buy coal-fired plants and shut them far sooner than their usual operating lifespan.

    “By purchasing a coal-fired power plant with, say, 50 years of operational life ahead of it and shutting it down within 15 years we can cut up to 35 years of carbon emission,” Ahmed M Saeed, ADB’s Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific said.

    The ADB hopes to launch a pilot programme in a developing South East Asian nation – potentially Indonesia, the Philippines or Vietnam – in time for the COP26 event in November.

    A key feature of the initiative is that it aims to raise the money for the purchases at well below the normal cost by giving lower than usual returns to investors.

    Aspects of the plan that are yet to be finalised include how coal plant owners can be convinced to sell them, what to do with the plants after they are closed, and what role if any carbon credits could play.”

    This is bonkers, surely? Especially for large financial institutions, who are supposed to be looking after the financial interests of their shareholders and customers?

    Like

  103. Recognition that there’s a backlash?

    “COP26 ‘should be hybrid event’ says former climate chief Figueres”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58055854

    “The main architect of the Paris climate agreement has said COP26 needs to be a hybrid event with some negotiations happening virtually.

    Christiana Figueres told BBC Scotland that some form of in-person conference would still be needed if the talks were to be a success.

    But she said it was unlikely 25,000 would attend as originally planned.

    Organisers needed to find the “sweet spot” that would allow for safe and efficient negotiations, she added.

    Speaking from Chicago, she admitted she did not know whether the historic Paris Agreement could have been achieved if the negotiations had been carried out virtually.

    Ms Figueres, who used to head the UN’s climate change arm, told BBC Scotland: “Could we have done it differently? I honestly do not know.

    “Over the past 18 months we have actually shifted our mindset and realised that much can be done without our physical presence. So, therein lies the answer to your question….”.”

    Like

  104. “Scotland’s growing sewage spill problem”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58040852

    “The number of recorded sewage spills in Scotland’s rivers and seas has increased by 40% over the last five years, new figures show.

    Scottish Water data shows the equivalent of 47,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of waste has been discharged since 2016.

    Campaigners are calling for more action to tackle the water waste issue.

    But Scottish Water has warned the problem will not be solved by “building bigger and bigger sewers”.

    When there is heavy rain parts of the sewer network simply cannot cope.”…

    …Scottish Water has estimated that to upgrade all of these unsatisfactory overflow outlets would cost at least £650m.

    Simon Parsons, a director with Scottish Water, said CSOs “remain a vital relief mechanism to safely relieve the pressure on the sewer network”.

    He said the utility firm invests heavily in its 31,000 miles of waste water networks every year.

    But he added: “It’s not about building bigger and bigger sewers, that is not going to solve the problem.”

    Citing the impact of climate change on the intensity of rainfall in Scotland, he continued: “We have to stop that surface water getting into our systems.

    “Last year was a wetter year than many we have had on record and it’s not just the wetness over the year, it is the intensity of the storms that are coming into our sewers which is driving those spills that we are seeing.”…”.

    Which I think rather makes potentilla’s point. If they’d spent a fraction on this of the money they’ve spent subsidising wind turbines, there wouldn’t be a problem. Instead they blame climate change.

    Like

  105. “Small UK energy suppliers could go bust in winter as gas prices rise
    Regulator monitors finances of firms as payment deadline to hand over money from bills looms”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/02/small-uk-energy-suppliers-could-go-bust-in-winter-as-gas-prices-rise

    “Thousands of households could lose their energy supplier this winter as small companies face the financial shock of record highs on the UK gas market and a key deadline to hand over renewable energy subsidies at the end of the month.

    The energy regulator is monitoring the finances of companies amid concerns that a string of small suppliers could go bust later in the year.

    Martin Young, an equity analyst at Investec, said a “combination of many” factors could lead companies to fail or become the target of an opportunistic acquisition by a larger rival.

    Some small providers, without a robust financial framework, may have been caught out by the steep gas market rises in recent months if they had not bought enough in advance to supply their customers through the winter months.

    Unexpectedly high gas prices could compound the difficulty of meeting a payment deadline of 31 August to hand over money collected from bills to pay renewable energy developers for their clean electricity, Young said.

    The deadline, which requires companies to pass on millions of pounds worth of subsidies, has proved fatal to small suppliers in the past.

    Suppliers that fail to pay in August have until the end of October to meet a late payment deadline, plus penalty charges, before the regulator begins the process of stripping them of their supply licence.”

    Like

  106. Allegra Stratton – the gift that keeps on giving…and giving…and giving:

    “Diesel car suits me better than electric, says PM’s climate spokesperson
    Allegra Stratton cites time taken to recharge on long journeys, despite average electric vehicle now having range of over 200 miles”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/02/diesel-car-suits-me-better-than-electric-says-pms-climate-spokesperson

    “Boris Johnson’s climate spokesperson has criticised the infrastructure that she says is putting people like her off switching to an electric car.

    Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s former press secretary, revealed she drove a “third-hand” diesel Volkswagen Golf.

    The reason for this, Stratton explained in an interview with Times Radio, was that she needed to visit elderly relatives “200, 250 miles away”, and that having to stop the vehicle to charge it would slow the journey down, particularly with two young children who might otherwise remain asleep for the duration of the ride.

    “I don’t fancy it just yet,” said Stratton, who lives in north London, because of the length of time it took to make trips to visit her father in south Scotland, her mother in Gloucestershire, her grandmother in north Wales, and her in-laws in the Lake District.

    “They’re all journeys that I think would be at least one quite long stop to charge,” she said, adding that an electric car would become a more viable option for her if “the stop times for recharging improve so much that it’s half an hour”….”.

    Like

  107. “Reforestation hopes threaten global food security, Oxfam warns
    Over-reliance on tree-planting to offset carbon emissions could push food prices up 80% by 2050”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/03/reforestation-hopes-threaten-global-food-security-oxfam-warns

    “Governments and businesses hoping to plant trees and restore forests in order to reach net-zero emissions must sharply limit such efforts to avoid driving up food prices in the developing world, the charity Oxfam has warned.

    Planting trees has been mooted as one of the key ways of tackling the climate crisis, but the amount of land needed for such forests would be vast, and planting even a fraction of the area needed to offset global greenhouse gas emissions would encroach on the land needed for crops to feed a growing population, according to a report entitled Tightening the net: Net zero climate targets implications for land and food equity.

    At least 1.6bn hectares – an area five times the size of India, equivalent to all the land now farmed on the planet – would be required to reach net zero for the planet by 2050 via tree-planting alone. While no one is suggesting planting trees to that extent, the report’s authors said it gave an idea of the scale of planting required, and how limited offsetting should be if food price rises are to be avoided.

    Nafkote Dabi, climate policy lead at Oxfam and co-author of the report, explained: “It is difficult to tell how much land would be required, as governments have not been transparent about how they plan to meet their net-zero commitments. But many countries and companies are talking about afforestation and reforestation, and the first question is: where is this land going to come from?”

    Food prices could rise by 80% by 2050, according to some estimates, if offsetting emissions through forestry is over-used….”

    Like

  108. “Climate crisis: Siberian heatwave led to new methane emissions, study says
    Leak of potent greenhouse gas is currently small but further research is urgently needed, say scientists”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/02/climate-crisis-siberian-heatwave-led-to-new-methane-emissions-study-says

    “The Siberian heatwave of 2020 led to new methane emissions from the permafrost, according to research. Emissions of the potent greenhouse gas are currently small, the scientists said, but further research is urgently needed.

    Analysis of satellite data indicated that fossil methane gas leaked from rock formations known to be large hydrocarbon reservoirs after the heatwave, which peaked at 6C above normal temperatures. Previous observations of leaks have been from permafrost soil or under shallow seas.

    Most scientists think the risk of a “methane bomb” – a rapid eruption of huge volumes of methane causing cataclysmic global heating – is minimal in the coming years. There is little evidence of significantly rising methane emissions from the Arctic and no sign of such a bomb in periods that were even hotter than today over the last 130,000 years.”

    No problem to justify the headline then. Still:

    “However, if the climate crisis worsens and temperatures continue to rise, large methane releases remain possibility in the long term and must be better understood, the scientists said.”

    More research needed – send money! #MagicMoneyTree.

    Like

  109. Mark, XR people often strike what looks like a Jesus pose, with their arms held away from their bodies, their palms facing upwards and their chins slightly lifted. Very odd.

    Stew, that video is back on Twitter (and at YouTube). I stopped watching when the needle was about an inch from his lip.

    I’m not sure I agree that the stunt is about bullying. It’s more of a personal mental health thing, IMO. The Revd Hewes has said that he joined XR while recovering from depression (another common XR trait) and as well as sewing his lips together and gluing himself to furniture, he has been on hunger strikes for XR.

    But that’s an old habit. In 2009, he starved himself for a week to raise money for a Malian charity.

    Get well, Tim.

    *

    Speaking of depressives, Influential climate doomer Jem Bendell has had covid for about a week. He wasn’t vaccinated. He thinks that the new variants aren’t harmful enough to justify vaccination and that the vaccinated spread them more than the unvaccinated do (and that discriminating against the unvaccinated is fascism).

    Get well, Jem.

    Like

  110. Mark: you are doing a great job of flagging up some interesting stories.

    Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are designed to discharge excess stormwater and sanitary sewer flows. In the past, when clean river water was not considered necessary, designers took the cheapest option. Stormwater drainage and sanitary sewer flows were combined into a single pipe. Both the stormwater and sewer flows were treated at the plant and treated water released to rivers or the ocean. However it would not be cost-effective to size the treatment plant to handle peak flow stormwater from intense rainfalls so the system simple discharges the excess (CSO) during a storm without treatment. I guess part of the thinking was that there was significant dilution of the sanitary flow during a storm so that the impact on rivers was tolerable.

    Current design standards are to ALWAYS separate stormwater drainage and sewer flow into separate pipes. So Scotland and many urban areas around the world are dealing with old infrastructure that does not meet design standards used today.

    Simon Parsons, a director with Scottish Water, said CSOs “remain a vital relief mechanism to safely relieve the pressure on the sewer network”. He said the utility firm invests heavily in its 31,000 miles of waste water networks every year.

    But he added: “It’s not about building bigger and bigger sewers, that is not going to solve the problem.”

    Citing the impact of climate change on the intensity of rainfall in Scotland, he continued: “We have to stop that surface water getting into our systems.

    “Last year was a wetter year than many we have had on record and it’s not just the wetness over the year, it is the intensity of the storms that are coming into our sewers which is driving those spills that we are seeing.”

    Simon is being disingenuous when he says that “It’s not about building bigger and bigger sewers”. It is actually about building a separate stormwater pipe system so that CSOs are eliminated. Drainage infrastructure needs to be upgraded to meet current clean water environmental standards and, as usual, someone has to pay the cost. I guess blaming climate change for CSOs is cheaper.

    Liked by 2 people

  111. “Wokingham farmer evicted as solar farm funding approved”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-58072468

    “A tenant cattle farmer will be evicted after a council approved more than £20m of funding to turn the land into a solar farm.

    The project in Barkham will see about 72,000 solar panels installed.

    Farmer Andrew Lake, 58, said the land would be lost forever once the solar farm had completed its lifecycle.

    Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) said it would be returned to agricultural use after 25 years, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

    It said the £20,283,000 to be spent on the solar farm would be funded through borrowing.”

    Like

  112. “Experts defend electric cars after Allegra Stratton comments
    Electric cars able to do long journeys and there are increasing number of chargers on UK roads, say experts”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/03/experts-defend-electric-cars-after-allegra-stratton-comments

    “Electric car experts have rallied to the defence of the vehicles after suggestions from a government spokesperson that they were unsuitable for long journeys.

    Electric cars have an average range of about 200 miles, suitable for the vast majority of journeys taken on British roads, while top-range models have a more extensive range of about 250 miles.

    An increasing number of chargers on British roads can also charge a car battery from about 20% full to 80% within half an hour, meaning even long journeys can be accommodated without much disruption, car experts told the Guardian.”

    Maybe, maybe not. Still not good enough to persuade me to shift from my 6 year old diesel which has a range of 700 miles, and a tank which I can fill in 5 minutes to see me good for another 700 miles, rather than taking me half an hour (assuming I can find a charger and don’t have to queue for it) which will give me a 60% charge after that wait, worth maybe 120- 150 miles.

    Like

  113. “Boris Johnson ‘missing in action’ ahead of vital climate talks, says Keir Starmer
    Exclusive: Labour leader says prime minister’s lack of ambition risks failure of Cop26”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/03/boris-johnson-missing-in-action-ahead-of-vital-climate-talks-says-keir-starmer

    “Vital UN climate talks are at risk of failure because Boris Johnson is “missing in action” while his climate spokesperson talks about freezing bread, Keir Starmer has warned.

    The Labour leader said there is already “dystopia” all around caused by climate breakdown, but Johnson’s ambition to tackle the scale of the crisis is irresponsibly small.”

    One more reason why I am most unlikely to vote Labour next time. A spoiled ballot seems ever more likely.

    Like

  115. “Repairing and reusing household goods could create thousands of green jobs across the UK
    The Green Alliance thinktank found more than 450,000 jobs could be created by minimising waste”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/04/repairing-and-reusing-household-goods-could-create-thousands-of-green-jobs-across-the-uk

    “Reusing and repairing household goods, from washing machines to phones, and recycling throwaway consumer items such as plastic bottles, could create hundreds of thousands of green jobs across the UK, a thinktank has found.

    The UK creates thousands of tonnes of unnecessary waste each year, some of which is still exported, because of a failure to value resources and invest in the infrastructure needed to re-purpose manufactured goods.

    The Green Alliance thinktank found that prioritising the repair and reuse of manufactured goods instead could create more than 450,000 jobs in the next 15 years, many of them in areas where traditional manufacturing has declined.”.

    I agree with much of the logic here – as a society we have become far too happy to bin and waste things that could have been repaired and re-used. However, 450,000 “green” jobs? I very much doubt it. The report can be found here (it’s a PDF, so I’m not sure the link will work):

    Click to access Levelling_up_through_circular_economy_jobs.pdf

    Anyway, let’s hope they’re right – it makes a lot more sense than exporting to China and elsewhere in the far east the CO2 emissions (and jobs) associated with product manufacture. Inevitably, though:

    “Using current employment data and a methodology we developed for a report in 2015, we estimate that the government could help to create over 450,000 jobs in the circular economy by 2035.”

    So it’s down to the taxpayer again. #MagicMoneyTree.

    Still, I think this idea might have merit:

    “– Increase consumer demand by zero rating VAT on repairs and refurbishment. “

    Like

  116. “Future BP dividend hikes will test investor commitment to its green plan
    Nils Pratley
    If the price of oil rises further, the firm’s move away from oil and gas output will fuel doubts”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/03/future-bp-dividend-hikes-will-test-investor-commitment-to-its-green-plan

    “It’s hard to keep up with oil companies’ dividend policies. One minute they’re slashing payments to shareholders in the face of a pandemic that, supposedly, had permanently lowered the outlook for oil prices. The next they’re saying the coast is clear and divis can rise again.

    Shell last week provided a classic example of this stop-start approach when, having cut by two-thirds last year, it announced a 38% increase. BP offered a less chaotic picture on Tuesday but the basic plot was similar. Last year’s halving of the divi was followed by a 4% increase, rather than the previously flagged zero.

    BP also threw in a promise that the same rate of annual increase can be maintained all the way to 2025 as long as a barrel of Brent fetches around $60. If it does, BP will aim for $1bn of share buybacks a quarter, which, at the current valuation, equates to buying in 5% of the equity every year.”

    What the article fails to mention is that it was the Guardian that was crowing during the early days of the pandemic that oil was finished. It does indeed cast doubt on the idea that fossil fuels are stranded assets (patently they aren’t, and won’t be for decades – perhaps centuries – to come).

    Like

  117. The Reverend Lips-Sewn’s mad stunt
    is par for the Climate-Alarmism side
    They continually waved through the “97% of scientists say” FakeNews thing
    .. then end up promoting “self-harm” stunts as a way of getting what your side want.

    The stunt that was unhinged, and illegal in the way it promotes self harm
    was just waved through by the social media, despite their normal censorious attitude to non-lefties
    … apart from someone withdrew their YouTube video
    and then someone else immediately put another copy up.

    Like

  120. 4pm BBC Local news and 6:30pm TV news
    “Chris Packham tells Lincoln children, it’s up to them to fix Climate Change”
    clip and everything

    It was a Summerwatch event …surely that is the BBC ?

    The PR .. I suspect he is an “honourary” professor same as his doctorates are

    Like

  121. Letter in the Guardian:

    “Oil industry is blocking climate action
    The government has failed to set a clear path for the phasedown of oil and gas production, writes Greenpeace’s Mel Evans”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/04/oil-industry-is-blocking-climate-action

    “There are other options, with significantly better long-term prospects. As an oil worker recently told me, anyone familiar with drilling for oil is well placed to switch to drilling for ground source heat pumps.”

    I leave you to make your own mind up about that.

    Like

  122. Generally a thing that costs £200 has twice the CO2 of a product costing £100
    as the cost reflects inputs.

    If repairing something costs £100 instead of £200 for the new product
    I’d expect that the Labour needed is half that of the new product
    ie a net world cut in jobs

    However there is the vampire effect
    Once you have the £100 saving , you actually end up spending it anyway , on something else
    so world CO2 doesn’t decrease anyway.

    Like

  123. “Climate change focus for Dundee heritage centre revamp”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-58056237

    “Climate change will be at the heart of a £12m transformation of Dundee’s Discovery Point heritage centre.

    Five new or improved attractions are planned at the home of the famous scientific research ship RRS Discovery….

    …Other changes include a new attraction on the Discovery’s connection to climate change and the ocean environment….

    …The scheme will also look at more “uncomfortable” aspects of Dundee’s links to climate change including pollution from factories during the Industrial Revolution and the city’s history of whaling.

    The RRS Discovery was built in 1901 for polar expeditions, and set off on what is now known as the Discovery Expedition to Antarctica, where scientists and crew carried out pioneering research work on the unexplored continent.

    Dundee Heritage Trust chief executive Deirdre Robertson said: “RRS Discovery actually undertook the world’s first climate change research.

    “It was the first scientific research ship in Antarctica and that data is still being used as benchmark data by climate change scientists to this day.”

    Some £900,000 of Scottish government funding has already been confirmed, with another £1.6m approved subject to a successful match-funding drive.

    Meanwhile, a further £316,000 initial investment has been awarded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with another £2.55m expected.

    More than £1m has already been raised from grants, donations and sponsors, making the £12m project more than half-funded, with two years left to secure the balance.

    Ms Robertson said: “We have a very experienced fundraising team in place, so we’re optimistic that we’ll make that target.

    “We believe we’re hitting the right buttons, both with the public and with funders, with such an important issue as climate change.””

    Hitting the right buttons, certainly, in order to unlock funding!

    Like

  124. “Net zero targets ‘unrealistic’ says Oxfam report”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58079101

    “Oxfam says governments and companies are “hiding behind unreliable, unproven and unrealistic carbon removal schemes” in order to hit targets.

    Global attempts are being made to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

    But the charity claims net zero targets are often a “greenwashing exercise”.

    Net zero means any emissions that can’t be stemmed by clean technology in 2050 will either be buried using carbon capture and storage, or soaked up by plants and soils.

    Reaching net zero will also mean phasing out the internal combustion engine and dramatically increasing renewable energy technologies, such as wind and solar, while decreasing fossil fuel pollution.

    Danny Sriskandarajah, chief executive of charity’s UK branch, said companies and governments are using the “smokescreen” of net zero to continue “dirty, business-as-usual activities”.

    “A prime example of the doublethink we are seeing is the oil and gas sector trying to justify its ongoing extraction of fossil fuels by promising unrealistic carbon removal schemes that require ludicrous amounts of land,” he told the BBC.

    Nafkote Dabi, climate policy lead at Oxfam and co-author of the report, told the BBC that there is only 350 million hectares of land that can be used globally for afforestation and carbon removal without compromising food security.

    Oxfam calculated that the total amount of land required for planned carbon removal could be five times the size of India, or the equivalent of all the farmland in the world.”

    It sounds as though “net zero” is doing more harm than good. Here’s an idea – let’s not bother, and get back to concentrating on doing something about real world issues like poverty and unemployment and homelessness. That would be cheaper and more beneficial to more people.

    Like

  125. “Britain’s national parks dominated by driven grouse moors, says study
    Exclusive: Area twice the size of London devoted to grouse shooting in UK’s parks, threatening efforts to tackle climate crisis”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/05/britains-national-parks-dominated-by-driven-grouse-moors-says-study

    “National parks supposedly at the heart of efforts to tackle the climate crisis and boost nature are dominated by intensively managed grouse moors, according to new research.

    Driven grouse moors, which are associated with the controversial burning of vegetation and the illegal persecution of birds of prey, make up 44% of the Cairngorms national park, 28% of the North York Moors and a fifth of the Peak District, a study by the charity Rewilding Britain has found.

    A total of 852,000 acres – an area more than twice the size of Greater London – inside Britain’s national parks is devoted to driven grouse shooting, with grouse moors covering a quarter of the Yorkshire Dales, 15% of Northumberland national park and 2% of the Lake District.”

    Er, please can I have a link to support that claim that “National parks [are] supposedly at the heart of efforts to tackle the climate crisis…”? It’s the first I’ve heard of it!

    And while we’re talking about the illegal persecution of birds of prey, when is the Guardian going to campaign against the deaths of birds of prey caused by wind turbines?

    Liked by 1 person

  126. “Emissions from cows on New Zealand dairy farms reach record levels
    Calls for further regulation after latest data after latest data from Stats NZ shows greenhouse gas emissions rose another 3% in 2019”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/05/emissions-from-cows-on-new-zealand-dairy-farms-reach-record-levels

    “Greenhouse gases released by New Zealand’s dairy industry have hit an all-time high, according to the latest data.

    Data from Stats NZ, just released for the years 2007-2019, showed dairy emissions rose 3.18% in 2019, to a total of 17,719 kilotonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent that year. That rise helped drive an overall increase across the agricultural sector, which released almost 42,000 kilotonnes that year.

    Agriculture made up more than half of the total industry and household emissions measured by Stats NZ, with most of that split between dairy, sheep and beef farming. The increase continued a longer-term rise in emissions from New Zealand agriculture, where emissions were up 5.5% in the past decade.

    The emissions created by the digestive systems of New Zealand’s 6.3m cows are among New Zealand’s biggest environmental problems. Agriculture is one of the country’s biggest producers of the greenhouse gases that cause global heating and the climate crisis.”

    May I beg to differ? This planet is facing many serious environmental problems. The digestive systems of New Zealand’s cows are not in reality at the front of NZ’s environmental issues.

    “Greenpeace spokesperson Steve Abel said it was “no surprise that when you let corporations and industries regulate themselves, they basically maintain the status quo of their pollution profile”.

    “You have to step in and regulate and legislate to lower greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.”

    So, what’s to be done? Shoot all the cows?

    Like

  127. “Facebook let fossil-fuel industry push climate misinformation, report finds
    Thinktank InfluenceMap accuses petroleum giants of gaming Facebook to promote oil and gas as part of climate-crisis solution”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/05/facebook-fossil-fuel-industry-environment-climate-change

    “Facebook failed to enforce its own rules to curb an oil and gas industry misinformation campaign over the climate crisis during last year’s presidential election, according to a new analysis released on Thursday.

    The report by the London-based thinktank InfluenceMap identified an increase in advertising on the social media site by ExxonMobil and other fossil-fuel companies aimed at shaping the political debate about policies to address global heating.

    InfluenceMap said its research shows the fossil-fuel industry has moved away from outright denying the climate crisis, and is now using social media to promote oil and gas as part of the solution. The report also exposed what it said was Facebook’s role in facilitating the dissemination of false claims about global heating by failing to consistently apply its own policies to stop erroneous advertising.”

    The link provided by the Guardian doesn’t eem to work.

    Like

  128. Even if meant as a joke, this should guarantee that the Tories lose the red wall at the next election:

    “Thatcher helped climate by closing coal mines, says Boris Johnson”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58107009

    “Margaret Thatcher gave the UK “a big early start” in the move away from coal-fired power by closing “so many coal mines”, Boris Johnson has said.

    “We’re now down to less than 2%, I think it’s I% of our energy comes from coal,” the prime minister added.

    He was speaking on a visit to an offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth.”

    The problem with those who criticise him, is that in essence they do agree, and they are equally happy to sacrifice British jobs on the altar of climate hysteria:

    “The SNP said he had shown he was “completely out of touch with Scotland by making unbelievably crass jokes at the expense of our mining communities”.

    Labour said he should apologise for the “shameful” comments.”

    A plague on all their houses.

    Like

  129. What was that I just said about those Criticising BoJo’s comments being equally happy to sacrifice British jobs on the altar of climate change?

    “New oil development off Shetland should not go ahead – Starmer”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-58103843

    “Plans to tap a new oil field off Shetland should not be approved, Labour leader Keir Starmer has said.

    UK authorities are considering whether to allow drilling at the huge Cambo oil field to the west of Scotland.

    But Sir Keir said this would “give off completely the wrong signal” in the year Scotland is also set to host the COP26 climate conference.”

    “Siccar Point Energy, the firm behind the Cambo proposal, says it could create more than 1,000 jobs directly – and even more in the supply chain.

    CEO Jonathan Roger said the company had “proactively taken significant steps to minimise the emissions footprint” of the project, which would “support the country’s energy transition by maintaining secure UK supply”.

    Pressed on whether rejecting the scheme would cost jobs in the oil and gas sector, Sir Keir said it was important to have “a strategy for the future”.

    The Labour leader said: “We need a fair transition, a fair change. I think about the communities and those in the north east working in oil and gas.

    “Any timetable for change needs to involve them because what happened a generation ago with coal mining cannot be allowed to happen again – which is you have an abrupt adjustment, you hollow out communities and take away well-paid highly skilled jobs. We cannot make that mistake again.””

    Words, Sir Keir, just words.

    Like

  130. Expect another 3 months of this:

    “COP26: What is the UN climate conference in Glasgow and why is it so important?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-56901261

    This just about sums up the failure of the process, I think:

    “…What do the world’s poorer countries want?
    People living in poorer countries are at the frontline of many of the changes caused by global warming.

    Not only is there the danger from drought or heatwaves, but rising sea levels are slowly submerging entire island nations, and poisoning fields with salty water.

    Ahead of COP26, more than 100 developing countries have set out their demands, including:

    Funding to fight and adapt to climate change
    Compensation for the effects it will have on them
    Money to help make their economies greener
    They say that without progress on these points, COP26 will be worthless and will end in failure.

    What have richer countries promised?
    Wealthy countries pledged $100bn (£720m) a year by 2020, to help poorer nations:

    However, the most recent figures showed that they’ve only managed $79bn.

    By 2018, about three-quarters of the money was in the form of loans that need to be paid back, rather than grants that do not. This is a problem for poorer countries, many of which are already in debt….”.

    Like

  131. “Climate crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream collapse
    A shutdown would have devastating global impacts and must not be allowed to happen, researchers say”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/05/climate-crisis-scientists-spot-warning-signs-of-gulf-stream-collapse

    “Climate scientists have detected warning signs of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, one of the planet’s main potential tipping points.

    The research found “an almost complete loss of stability over the last century” of the currents that researchers call the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). The currents are already at their slowest point in at least 1,600 years, but the new analysis shows they may be nearing a shutdown.

    Such an event would have catastrophic consequences around the world, severely disrupting the rains that billions of people depend on for food in India, South America and West Africa; increasing storms and lowering temperatures in Europe; and pushing up the sea level in t4he eastern North America. It would also further endanger the Amazon rainforest and Antarctic ice sheets.

    The complexity of the AMOC system and uncertainty over levels of future global heating make it impossible to forecast the date of any collapse for now. It could be within a decade or two, or several centuries away. But the colossal impact it would have means it must never be allowed to happen, the scientists said.”

    Well, at least they’ve admitted to the levels of uncertainty, it’s just that they’re not uncertain about the NEED TO TAKE ACTION NOW.

    Like

  132. A chap from Iran, Kaveh Madani, seems to be in sympathy with some of the views expressed at Climate Scepticism:

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/05/iran-environmental-crisis-climate-change

    Here are some quotes:
    “I am extremely concerned about the unintended consequences of constantly emphasising the role of climate change in extreme events.

    We in the climate change community tend to climatise extreme events with a natural dimension such as the wildfires in the US and Canada, the floods in Europe and China, or the drought in Khuzestan. We do this in the services of a good cause: getting the attention of the decision-makers over an existential problem. But this can be misleading and counterproductive.

    The fact is that Iran would have experienced today’s problems at some point as the result of local anthropogenic changes regardless of global climate change. Climatising extremes can be a gift to most decision-makers who don’t want to accept liability for their bad decisions. They will tell you that there is not much they can do. If they’re from the developing economies, they will also remind you that they are the victims of a global catastrophe created by the advanced industrial nations.”

    Liked by 3 people

  133. “Energy bills to rise by at least £139 for millions of households”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58106105

    “Energy prices will rise for millions of people across the UK in October, right at the start of the cold weather.

    Regulator Ofgem said the price cap for default domestic energy deals would be raised to cover suppliers’ extra costs.

    The typical gas and electricity customer is likely to see their bill go up by £139 to £1,277 a year.

    Charities warned the timing would hit struggling families hard, who already face losing an extra £20 a week from Universal Credit in October.

    Prepayment customers will see an increase of £153, from £1,156 to £1309, the regulator said.”

    Not a mention of the cost of “green” subsidies anywhere.

    Like

  134. “Cop26 president Alok Sharma flew to 30 countries in 7 months
    Minister responsible for climate conference travelled mainly during winter and spring and did not isolate”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/06/cop26-president-alok-sharma-flew-to-30-countries-in-7-months

    “The government minister responsible for this year’s UN climate change conference in Glasgow has flown to 30 countries in the past seven months, it has been reported.

    Alok Sharma, who was appointed as president of Cop26 in January, has visited countries including Brazil, Indonesia and Kenya since February, according to the Daily Mail.

    Most of his journeys were during the winter and spring months at the start of the year when international travel from Britain was largely banned.

    He visited India in March, as well as Costa Rica, Qatar and the UAE. April saw trips to the Far East, before he travelled to Bangladesh in June.

    Not all of the 30 known journeys were return flights to the UK, as Sharma has visited a group of countries on one trip. However, travel to and from all the destinations Sharma has visited would stretch to 200,000 miles – eight times around the Earth.

    The aviation industry produced 915m tonnes of CO2 in 2019, equivalent to 2% of all human-made CO2 emissions.

    Sharma did not have to isolate after any of the journeys, despite six being on the government’s “red list” for travel as he was exempt as a “crown servant”.

    The UK is hosting the delayed climate change conference Cop26 in Glasgow in October and November. It is the first time since the Paris Climate Change conference in 2015 that countries will set new ambitions for targets in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

    The Green party peer Jenny Jones criticised the former business minster, saying: “‘I do understand it’s very good to meet people in person, but this is excessive.

    “When you’re in charge of Cop26, to take this many flights is hypocritical.””

    All of which is true. So why not the same claims of hypocrisy about the tens of thousands of COP attendees every year, and especially this year in Glasgow with covid still rampant around the planet? Why are the Greens not upset about the fact that those attending COP 26 will have a special exemption from the need to quarantine on arrival?

    Like

  135. “Reduce methane or face climate catastrophe, scientists warn
    Exclusive: IPCC says gas, produced by farming, shale gas and oil extraction, playing ever-greater role in overheating planet”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/06/reduce-methane-or-face-climate-catastrophe-scientists-warn

    “Cutting carbon dioxide is not enough to solve the climate crisis – the world must act swiftly on another powerful greenhouse gas, methane, to halt the rise in global temperatures, experts have warned.

    Leading climate scientists will give their starkest warning yet – that we are rushing to the brink of climate catastrophe – in a landmark report on Monday. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish its sixth assessment report, a comprehensive review of the world’s knowledge of the climate crisis and how human actions are altering the planet. It will show in detail how close the world is to irreversible change.

    One of the key action points for policymakers is likely to be a warning that methane is playing an ever greater role in overheating the planet. The carbon-rich gas, produced from animal farming, shale gas wells and poorly managed conventional oil and gas extraction, heats the world far more effectively than carbon dioxide – it has a “warming potential” more than 80 times that of CO2 – but has a shorter life in the atmosphere, persisting for about a decade before it degrades into CO2.”

    Nothing’s ever enough, is it? There’s always a new, bigger and more dangerous threat. There’s always yet another reduction we need to make to our standard of living. There’s always a demand for more money and the need for more studies (as if there aren’t thousands – if not tens of thousands – of those every year already).

    Like

  136. “Funding of £16.5m to cut emissions in North Sea oil sector”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-58114403

    “More than £16m has been announced for projects to reduce emissions in the North Sea oil sector.

    Transport and Net Zero Secretary Michael Matheson announced the £16.5m for a range of seven energy schemes during a visit to Aberdeen.

    They include how to facilitate hydrogen exports using existing pipelines.

    The investment is being provided through the Scottish government’s Energy Transition Fund and is being matched by the industry.

    The schemes are being led by the Net Zero Technology Centre.”

    #MagicMoneyTree

    Like

  138. Today Hornsea2 Windfarm did a big PR blitz promoting their new extremely large support vessel that sleeps 60
    Even though it’s still 6 months to any electrcity getting generated
    both ITV and BBC local news did extraordinary puff pieces

    Like

  139. 6pm ITV local news opening item : massive PR for Hornsea2 world’s largest windfarm, due to start running in 6 months time.
    Today they have got their mega large service vessel
    which has actually so far increased world CO2 due to making all the steel in it and its diesel engines

    Their favourite green voice John Grant @JohnF1968 of Hallam Uni
    … “This will power 1.3 million homes
    and we have 30m homes in the UK so we have a way to ”

    Do you spot the con ?
    Even when you power 30m homes, you are nowhere near powering the UK
    All the businesse,s government offices, factories use another what 30m-50m homes worth of electricity probably.

    He’s declined to answer my question

    Like

  140. BBC local news the local enviro reporter did a super sycophantic PR item from the deck of the wind farm corp support ship which will be moored off Dogger Bank with 60 people on board.

    All ‘wind energy is this magic future’ etc.

    Like

  141. “‘Give us the money and we’ll go green'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58102100

    “Lynn Cassidy lives in one of the most deprived parts of Glasgow. She either walks or catches the bus to get to work, and laughs at the thought of buying an electric car.

    “You’d have to win the lottery,” she says.

    “It’s nonsense. You need money to buy this sort of stuff.”

    I met Lynn and her friends at St Paul’s Church in Provanmill, and asked them how they would solve the climate crisis.

    “Give us the money and we’ll do it. We’ll put it into our community and we’ll better the lives of the people in our community,” says Jean Mclean.

    The women have lived in the area – ranked in the city’s most deprived 5%, according to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) – for decades.

    In recent years they have noticed strangely hot weather and heavier rainfall, which they say “isn’t normal” and makes it harder to walk to work.

    That’s what climate change means to them.”

    Except those claims aren’t true, are they?

    “”I would like to increase the buses, but low-emission buses,” says Jean, who works in a bakery.

    “Grow more trees to try to draw in the pollution to make the air cleaner for people to breathe. That’s what I would do with the money.”

    This type of community-focussed action is being researched by scholars like Fraser Stewart, from Strathclyde University in Glasgow.”

    Then there’s this out-and-out untruth (or at best weaselly-worded sentence):

    “In response to the record heatwaves recorded by the UK’s Met Office, the British Red Cross issued a warning that people are unprepared, and that heat-related deaths in the UK could triple to about 7,000 annually in the next 30 years.”

    The British Met Office has certainly recorded no record heatwaves this year, despite the BBC’s attempts in July to scream hot hot hot! And August is looking like a damp squib.

    “In the greater Glasgow area, where global leaders are soon to meet for historic climate crisis talks, new data from Climate Ready Clyde suggests that about 140,000 people from more deprived communities may face heat hazards and flooding.”

    We looked at that here when it was first reported. It’s more nonsense of course. Glasgow? Heat hazards? What planet are these people on? Poor people in Glasgow face hazards from drug abuse, cold, crime, poor standards of living and some of the lowest life expectancy rates in Europe. Heat hazards aren’t on the list.

    Further on:

    “Dr Bell also has concerns around who will lose out as we move away from fossil fuels into green energy.

    Will some of us struggle to pay bigger household bills? Will some of us face unemployment if there aren’t enough green jobs to work in?”

    I think I can safely say the answer to both of those questions is “yes”.

    All in all, a pretty shabby and shoddy attempt by the BBC to persuade us that poor people will benefit from Net zero rather than (as is clearly the case) suffer greatly from it.

    Like

  142. Geologist just told me a Mexican cement corp bought our local cement works
    kept it a few years
    It was still viable
    But they have decided to close it and bring inferior cement from Spain.

    Breedon said they would buy the plant
    but the monopolies commission vetoed the sale
    So now the plant is closed
    and politiccians are proud of the CO2 saved.

    Like

  143. Local entryism
    The local natural history society page is always filled with Climate Alarmism junk posted by the admi
    Today I met him ..he’s a total greendream evangelist and climate doomster
    He pointed to the estuary island where currently the boat channel is silting up
    so now you can almost walk there
    “Climate change” he said

    I pointed over to a much bigger new island that has risen out of a sandbank
    This land level rise. was something he quickly avoided talking about.

    I tried to point out that doom experts are often cherrypicked
    and moderate voices left off air
    He said “No he gets it from *true* experts at the RSPB

    When I pointed out that Packham had just made a ridiculous claim that hedgehog numbers are down 95%
    He said “well that is true”
    …doh of course it’s not.

    I looked at the Facebook page .. it’s filled with any old alarmist crap
    I’d hardly call it science.

    Like

  144. a 95% fall would mean that every time you used to see 100 hedgehogs , now you see just 5
    or every time you see 20 hedgehogs , now you see just 1
    FFS if there were 20 more hedgehogs around here they ‘d be all over the place

    Some people do quote a survey that claimed a 95% decline since 1950

    but another survey claims a 52% decline since 1960
    .. yes that is possible
    .. https://www.gwct.org.uk/research/long-term-monitoring/national-gamebag-census/mammal-bags-comprehensive-overviews/hedgehog/

    Like

  145. Alok (we’re on the brink of catastrophe) Sharma, the UK Minister in charge of COP 26 said this today:

    “Every day you will see a new high being recorded in one way or another across the world.”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/07/were-on-the-brink-of-catastrophe-warns-tory-climate-chief

    Anyone familiar with data collection would not be surprised by this. We should assume, for arguments sake, that the earth’s climate is stationary and meteorological and hydrological records follow a probability distribution. As more data are collected at a given location, events will occur at the extreme tails of the distribution. Data time series are not very long even in developed countries. So as more data are collected, the highest (or lowest) recorded value will be progressively exceeded. This is especially true of data collected “across the world”. Every day, it is likely that somewhere in the world there will be a data value exceeding values in the previously recorded data set.

    Liked by 4 people

  146. Yep
    #1 That’s something we’ve known here since before that Guardian reporter wrote it.
    #2 Did Alok even say it anyway ? The Guardian has a loose relationship with the truth

    Like

  147. A 50% fall in hedgehogs over 50 years is within the realm of possibilities
    but 95% is not believable to me
    It’s like the 97% claim
    I haven’t yet found the root source for the 95% claim
    But have seen something going on with puffin counting.
    i. the researchers went and looked when the puffins were living
    ii they looked at the map and said “we can see that the puffins live in these 3 blocks of land”
    iii They then went back year after year and counted the numbers in each block
    They found significant declines
    iv. It got reported
    … but what they were actually doing is just taking notice of the blocks
    For whatever reason puffin colonies over the years didn’t stick to those blocks they put nests outside them
    Nests that were a mile down the road or even just the other side of the bushes
    and these nests weren’t in the counting blocks so didn’t get counted
    Large numbers of puffins were being missed off the count.

    Like

  149. A tale of two headlines:

    We’re on brink of catastrophe warns Tory climate chief

    …today’s Observer.

    PM’s push for net zero plunged into chaos

    …today’s Telegraph.

    Liked by 1 person

  150. Jit, traditionally I was always more inclined to lean to the Guardian/Observer’s view than to that of the Telegraph. Today I cleave to neither viewpoint, but I think the Telegraph has the right of it this morning. And long may it continue. The madness will only get worse until COP26 is over, but once UK politicians no longer have to be seen to be “leading the world” [over the cliff edge] maybe the appearance on the horizon of the next general election (and the potential loss of many, many Parliamentary seats will lead to the adoption of some common sense and rowing-back from virtue-signalling stupidity and economic disaster.

    Liked by 1 person

  151. The disappointing thing is that when the likes of Packham make such an extraordinary claim
    skeptics reply with “that’s the badgers then”
    No, no, no what they have just done is accepted the claim at face value and tied post hoc rationalisation.
    Really FIRSTLY we should not accept extraordinary claims.

    The 95% claim doesn’t pass the BS smell test
    And the rule is that such extraordinary claims can only be made
    if you are back them at the same time with extraordinary evidence
    instead we get vague claims that in the 1950’s HH numbers were 30 million or 36.5 million
    and now they are 1.5m, or 1m or 0.5m

    The Ockham’s razor thought is that if 1m are claimed now and 30m in the 1950s
    It’s a case of 1950s data being completely wrong

    Searching for a population over time graph should point me to proper survey data
    showing a decline over the decades
    There are no 1950 to 2021 graphs
    The only graph is the GWCT one I mentioned showing a 50% decline from 1960 to 2009
    That actually a 40-45% decline if you use a best fit line

    NGO graphs tend to start much later at 2001
    and show a 30% or 50% decline since then
    Then graphs tend not to go beyond 2009 or 2015
    as if there is no new big decline to show

    The BTO garden birdwatch survey did show a 40% increase from 2007 to 2007
    but that’s an anecdotal survey I guess

    Finally I found 2 pages which go into the count
    “There just isn’t any available complete, definitive hedgehog census data in Britain.”
    #1 https://hedgehog-houses.com/how-many-hedgehogs-are-there-left-in-the-uk/
    Goes into the history of counting

    #2 https://www.hedgehogstreet.org/about-hedgehogs/how-many-hedgehogs-are-left/

    It features a full distribution map which shows that hedgehogs have been recently logged in almost every block of the England and Wales except when you get to unpopulated areas like the Lake District or Northern Ireland
    Scotland has them in the band from Edinburgh to Glasgow
    All suggests that counts are influenced by local human population.

    Like

  152. Jit and Mark, as a retired subscriber I’m only permitted to read the Telegraph headline and subhead:

    Boris Johnson’s push for net zero plunged into chaos – Treasury review has been delayed over fears working class families will end up footing the bill for the Government’s green agenda

    But that I think is enough. Chickens that many thought had been run over by XR tractors have finally come home to roost. I may have a post about that.

    Like

  153. I note the Bypass Paywalls extension is no longer working on the Times
    I have a way to view reader comments though
    You understand my tip I hope

    Like

  154. OK now I found access to the GBW database
    12,000 people monitor their gardens and given a weekly tally
    Since 2007
    #1 The July peak count has tripled from 7 per hundred gardens to 21
    #2 The rate of reporting of hedgehog spots
    rose from from 6.5 to 16.9 (per 100 gardens)
    https://www.bto.org/our-science/projects/gbw/results/long-term-patterns

    I have tweeted 3 graphics and caveats
    I expect that CCTV etc. is probably responsible for half of the observed increase
    … https://twitter.com/No2BS/status/1424399477369188352

    Like

  156. Countryfile is pushing Green Dreamery of course
    Highlands Rewilding
    – in the Highlands, visiting a 100-acre rewilding site near Loch Ness known as the Natural Capital Laboratory.
    .. with the help of the latest technology – scientists here are mapping, tracking and quantifying the changes to the landscape and the life in it.
    – hi-tech devices that track animals and create a virtual vision of what the site will look like in 100 years’ time
    – how efforts to restore neglected peat bogs could pay dividends for the environment.
    – Tom Heap investigates the impact that reintroducing long-lost species could have on our countryside
    (wildcats)

    Like

  157. The Telegraph just sent me another begging email
    “Enjoy 3 months for just £2. Cancel anytime”

    BTW I can read it for free on the Press Reader website with my library card

    Like

  158. stewgreen, thanks for the tip. I’ll see if my library card works on that site – it could be very useful.

    Like

  159. Mark there is a trick if you use Android devices
    You can go into the Google device and pick up news
    In my group of Google apps there is a button marked “Google News”
    There is a share button for each article
    and what it does is copy to the clipboard the article title, summary and link
    If you then come here, all you do is paste with long-press or Ctrl-V etc.

    Like

  161. I don’t get Guardian articles cos last time I clicked the three-dot settings button and selected “hide content from this provider”

    Like

  162. Lord Grimstone opened our 1pm local news
    “460 jobs as plan to double the wind blade factory”
    pure PR bluster
    Massive new industry that the North Sea is creating for us
    and the great thing about these jobs is
    That this is for the next generation
    And we all know how important dealing with Climate Change is
    and this puts Hull and the Able Marine Park (South Humber) absolutely right at the centre of all this”

    FFS : energy source that is 4 times more expensive than other fuels
    and only shows up when it he feels like it
    and you lock the UK grid into it for 20 years
    …bonkers

    ITV have put out a video
    .. https://twitter.com/itvcalendar/status/1424683438083280897
    Article .. https://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2021-08-09/siemens-to-double-size-of-hull-offshore-wind-turbine-blade-factory

    Like

  163. Radio dialogue continued
    Gamesa man “We now need to make 100m blades”
    Newsreader “This is on the day that the IPCC report is release here’s Harrabin”
    …wild claim blah blah

    Greenpeace UK said, it was clear that time is running out

    Now efforts to contain wild fires in US/Russia/Greece/
    In California …..

    Item #6 “The BBC’s Big Beach Clean …here’s a 6 year old volunteer”

    2pm news “The government has announced it will providing that will allow for the doubling of the Hull blade factory and a wind tower factory to be built by GRII renewables on the South Bank with 260 jobs”
    That’s a PR trick first they tell us the plants will expand
    only later did they release the fact that the TAXPAYER will fund it

    Lord Grimstone says ” we aim to quadruple the size of the UK windpower operations…”

    “Now the doom report ..here’s Inger Andersen Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme said it was time the world acted on the warnings from scientists”
    clip : “you’ve been telling us for over three decades of the dangers of allowing the planet to warm
    the world listened but didn’t hear
    …. …. Climate change is a problem that is here now. Nobody’s safe, and it’s getting worse faster,”
    (They nicked that bit off SkyNews .. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1424648095682506755 )

    “Now California and Greece fires, here’s a firefighter from Merseyside”

    Like

  164. The Dialogue in the ITV Calendar clip
    “The North Sea has been very kind to us
    She gave us oil previously (em it still does !)
    and The North Sea is now giving us wind
    and its offshore wind is allowing us to create major, major new businesses
    And the Humber with the Able Marine Park is going to be one of the top centres for this.
    So it is fantastic news for the people in Hull
    fantastic news for the Humber
    cos these are very very good jobs, that will last for generations”
    .. Hyperbole, just like the old claim that nuclear energy will give us free electricity.

    Like

  165. Richard Betts & Michael Shellenberger debate on @GBNews now

    MS says the alarmists are over scaring kids
    saying they want to suicide or avoiding having their own kids

    Like

  166. I lose my life going down rabbit holes like this
    Shellenberger says 25% of kids have climate nightmares
    someone says they don’t believe it
    I check, I find Reuters and AJ articles saying 20%
    They reference a BBC Newsround article
    I go to the BBC article and it been completely re-edited.
    It’s nothing, just tips on not being anxious
    I check in the archive March 2020 it was a full long page
    by June it has also got reader comments , with kids saying they get nightmares

    The current BBC page is basically just the 10% of the original page : the anxiety tips part
    and even that has been re-edited.

    My tweet shows the important screenshot
    … https://twitter.com/No2BS/status/1424842607902003208

    Archive comparison (you may need to halt the autoreload the BBC builds into new pages )
    March 2020 vs June 29, 2020

    Liked by 1 person

  167. I’m trying to work out the taxpayer grant here
    The Siemens project is £186m partially funded by grant funding from “the offshore wind manufacturing investment support scheme.” (that scheme has £160m)
    The North Lincolnshire : £78 million investment in an offshore wind turbine tower factory owned by GRI

    It’s not clear how much of the £160m is being used for these two projects
    The government press release is vague
    So editors have just copied it
    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/wind-of-change-for-the-humber-region

    Like

  168. “Climate change: The IPCC environmental warning India cannot ignore”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-58155294

    “If the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was just about rushing countries to cut their carbon emissions to avoid a climate catastrophe, India could perhaps afford to look the other way.

    The third largest carbon emitter of the world, after China and the US, India has maintained that it is on course to outperform its Paris climate agreement pledge to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030.

    The Paris climate goal is to keep global average temperature rise to well below 2C and strive for 1.5C to prevent runaway climate change.

    But the IPCC report has indicated that the latter target is fast slipping out of reach because countries are not cutting down carbon emissions fast enough, causing global temperature to rise.

    India has not followed suit even after several other major carbon emitters announced that they would become carbon neutral by 2050, not even after China set for itself the 2060 deadline.”

    I’m not surprised to have seen no link to that claim that China has set itself a 2060 deadline, though I would have liked to have seen one. So far as I am aware, no such commitment has been made by China. Instead, President Xi made a speech a few months ago in which he made some vague noises (no commitments) about reducing CO2 emissions, and as a consequence the western MSM (Xi’s useful idiots) fell over themselves to report his non-pledge as a pledge.

    Liked by 1 person

  169. This needs rather more publicity than it’s getting (tucked away low down the science & environment page of the BBC website, perhaps deliberately on the same day that they went into overdrive with article after article about the IPCC):

    “COP26: Covid travel rules relaxed for overseas delegates”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58153616

    “Covid rules for travelling to the UK will be relaxed for thousands of delegates attending the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November.

    Up to 25,000 government representatives, media and campaigners from around the world are expected.

    They will not be required to be fully vaccinated but officials said it would be strongly encouraged.

    Vaccines have been offered to registered delegates unable to get a jab by other means.

    Under the regulations specifically for COP26, delegates from red list countries will only have to quarantine in hotels for five days if they have been fully vaccinated.

    Those who have not received their jabs will have to isolate for 10 days.

    There will be no requirement for COP26 attendees coming from amber or green list countries to isolate on arrival to the UK whether vaccinated or not, officials said.”

    Different rules (yet again) for the climaterati. I can (at a pinch) accept that if (which I don’t accept) the world is facing a climate crisis, and we need senior politicians and policy-makers to get together to solve it (though they won’t – if they ever did so at these events, we wouldn’t a subsequent one every year) then maybe the rules should be relaxed for those individuals whose presence is necessary to achieve the vital result. However, there’s no way that can be said of the 25,000 anticipated attendees. While ordinary people remain subject to different rules, this is quite simply a disgrace.

    Liked by 1 person

  171. Stew (09 AUG 21 AT 10:26 PM)

    Wow. Reading the deleted comments of the Newsround children, courtesy of your Wayback Machine sleuthing. It’s hard to know what to say.

    there are better things to be scared off

    purplefluffypanda61 is right there.

    Liked by 2 people

  172. Remember him?

    “Barrister who leaked Heathrow judgment appeals contempt ruling”

    The Law Society Gazette today tells me:

    “Tim Crosland, an unregistered barrister, was fined £5,000 by three Supreme Court justices in May after he was found to have been in ‘criminal contempt of court for deliberately disclosing the result of a Supreme Court appeal prior to hand down of the judgment’. He was also ordered to pay costs of £15,000.

    In December 2020, Crosland leaked the Supreme Court’s decision about Heathrow’s third runway a day before judgment was delivered as an ‘act of civil disobedience’, saying he had ‘no choice but to protest the deep immorality of the court’s ruling’.”

    [As an aside, one would have thought a barrister would know that in UK English, as opposed to US English, It’s “protesting AGAINST the deep morality…”, NOT “protesting the deep morality…”.

    I know I’m out of date, having retired from the law some years ago, but the bases for appeals seem to have changed since I was active:

    “Crosland has now filed an appeal against the Supreme Court’s contempt finding on five grounds, including that the court wrongly disregarded a letter which had been sent to the court by leading scientist and economists, supporting his position.

    He also argues that, in violation of Articles 6 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the court ‘cast a veil over the appellant’s principal line of defence’, which was that evidence that Heathrow expansion would breach the Paris Temperature Limit of 1.5˚C had been suppressed. ”

    There seems now to be a widespread belief that allegedly breaking the law is amply justified in law by reference to personal beliefs and shouting “but climate crisis!”

    Like

  173. How does one define “green” jobs? Extraordinarily broadly, apparently:

    “UK’s green economy four times larger than manufacturing sector, says report
    Exclusive: Analysis reveals more than 1.2 million people are currently employed in low carbon industry”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/10/uks-green-economy-four-times-larger-than-manufacturing-sector-says-report

    “The UK’s low carbon economy is now worth more than £200bn, four times the size of the country’s manufacturing sector, with growth expected to accelerate in the coming years, according to new analysis.

    Despite what experts say has been lacklustre and patchy support from central government, the analysis found more than 75,000 businesses from wind turbine manufacturers to recycling plants employ more than 1.2 million people in the green economy.”

    The report in question can be found here:

    Click to access kMatrix_LCEGS_UK_2007_08_to_2020_21_with_forecast_2025_26_final.pdf

    “The five largest sub-sectors in the Low Carbon and Environmental Goods and Services sector by sales
    account for 60% of the UK’s total sales and are made up of:
    • Wind (£33.3bn) – this includes control systems development and manufacture, drive train
    development, manufacture and systems integration, consulting houses and companies
    providing power firming systems and services, maintenance services and grid integration
    services.
    • Alternative Fuels (£29.7bn) – this includes R&D functions, alternative fuel providers,
    designers and consultancy, process implementation, sales and accounting and application
    development specialists.
    • Building Technologies (£22.8bn) – this includes head office functions, building systems design
    and consultancy and building systems providers and installers.
    • Carbon Finance (£20.8bn) – this includes Carbon finance trading houses and consultancies.
    • Geothermal (£17.9bn) – this includes branch office functions, design, international
    consultancy, lateral geothermal systems providers and installers at the domestic and small
    commercial level and vertical control systems developers and suppliers.

    The next six largest sub-sectors by sales account for a further 31% of the UK’s total sales and are
    made up of:
    • Alternative Fuel Vehicle (£17.6bn) – include selling agencies, alternative fuel development
    companies and consulting and applications development for vehicle conversion specialists.
    • Biomass (£10.2bn) – this includes systems development, supply, implementation and R&D.
    • Photovoltaic (£10.2bn) – this includes head office functions, systems developers, providers
    and installers.
    • Recovery and Recycling (£10.1bn) – this includes waste collection, glass stock processing and
    paper feedstock processing.
    • Water & Waste Water Treatment (£9.9bn) – development and implementation by utilities
    along with supply, consultancy and implementation by independent consulting engineers.
    • Waste Management (£6.7bn) – this includes process development and new process
    implementation and consulting, public and private operations management and supply and
    installation of operational equipment.”

    “The Low Carbon Environmental Goods and Services sector comprises products and services from
    across the economy, which actively enable a shift towards a green economy. The LCEGS sector is
    considered an ‘umbrella’ or horizontal sector, crossing many other traditional sectors, counting
    products and services from those sectors which can reduce carbon emissions and improve the
    environment…

    …The sector is comprised of both core elements and those in the chain and network of supply,
    without whom the sector could not function.”

    Check out Appendix 1, pp 23-30. To much detail to include here, but it might raise an eyebrow and it puts those headline claims into context.

    Like

  174. A point of principle is that you can’t have an economy and then ADD EXTRA jobs that are green

    Say Widget factory spends £5m/pa to make 2m widgets
    Their energy supplier doubles its workforce cos it moves to greener less efficient sources
    Widget corps energy prices double
    but its spending stays the same cos it only has a £5m budget
    so it cuts production to 1m and cuts some of its own workforce
    ie the Increase in green energy jobs is offset by job losses elsewhere

    Can’t Widget factory increase prices ?
    At the end of the day its customers only have a certain amount of money
    You can’t magically create new money just to cover increased costs due to green

    Like

  175. I bet this years the British science festival will have moved on
    It will be logical and proper science, not flaky propaganda
    Let me scan down the events list

    ..What’s the first non-trivial event on KIds’ Day ?
    “Saturday 11 September, 11.30am, – 12.30pm
    Transforming Eco-Anxiety Into Eco-Action
    Cramphorn Studio, Chelmsford City Theatres
    FFS !

    just 3 events further down
    Saturday 11 September, 1.00pm – 2.00pm AND 3.00pm – 4.00pm
    Climate Cafe (For Ages 16-25)
    The Art Place – Ideas Hub, Chelmsford

    Good job we can go from one to that next event
    ===============

    Adults lectures begin on Tuesday 7 September, 12.00pm – 12.45pm
    with Climate Change On Ice
    SAL004, Anglia Ruskin University

    12.30pm – 1.15pm Nature For Wellbeing

    Plus there are 20 minute sessions
    Back to Nature

    2.30pm – 3.15pm What’s The Deal With “Green” Plastics?

    3.30pm – 4.30pm COP26: Collaboration For The Climate

    Wednesday 8 September
    1.00pm – 1.45pm Are Polar Ice Sheets On The Rocks?

    2.00pm – 2.45pm Climate Justice: Worlds Apart

    3.00pm – 3.45pm Eruptions, Earthquakes And A Changing Climate

    Like

  176. To be clear : I caught BBC Newsround cheating by coming back to a story and re-editing it
    to completely change the main point on the page
    cos that point contradicts their agendas.

    Like

  177. There I have only listed the events that are Climate-non-science
    Theres’s other actual science lectures
    eg Wednesday 8 September, 3.00pm – 3.45pm
    What Is Britishness?
    Why is Britain’s multicultural imperial past so often left out of conversations around what it means to be ‘British’?
    .. During the EU referendum, it was equated with ‘taking back control,’
    while the COVID-19 pandemic illuminated *the dependence* of this multicultural nation
    *on minority ethnic citizens* and migrant populations.

    FFS I’ve been a minority in many countries
    .. they would have survived without me.

    Thursday 9 September, 12.00pm – 1.00pm.
    Indigenous Wisdom
    Here, she challenges the long-held idea that ‘Western’ science is the only legitimate type.
    .. FFS Science is science …there aren’t different types.

    Like

  178. Friday’s stuff 10 September
    12.00pm – 12.45pm. NHS: Up For Sale?
    Britain’s National Health Service (NHS) is something we all hold close to our hearts,
    but it has been eroded over the last three decades.*
    Set up in 1948, it has provided free* at the point of access health care for 83 years.
    … What urgent legislation is needed to reinstate our NHS
    and remedy the current fragmentation and *erosion* of UK health care?

    * Tosh, we spent so much more than before
    * Tosh, dentists and drugs have never generally been free on the NHS

    12.00pm – 1.00pm Twerk With Mary
    Set to Afrobeats, Dancehall and RnB

    12-6pm The Grief Caravan : by Leeds-based artist Ellie Harrison.

    5.00pm – 5.30pm Kate Lister runs the Whores of Yore project

    7.30pm – 8.30pm IVF for same sex females couples,
    Cath Meads a researcher in LGBT health & Laura-Rose Thorogood (LGBT Mummies Tribe)

    I’ll stop now but I have left off 2 major events and will post on Wednesday

    Like

  179. Shock, horror!

    “Tropical Storm Fred: Sixth Atlantic storm hints at above-average hurricane season”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58160257

    “While this season is not expected be as active as the 2020 record-breaking season, when the Greek alphabet was used to name storms for only the second time, forecasters are confident that it will still be a busy season.”

    Above-average? Hints? A nudge is as good as a wink, know what I mean?

    Like

  180. “Regenerative farming shift could reduce UK climate emissions, say experts”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/11/regenerative-farming-shift-could-reduce-uk-climate-emissions-say-experts

    “Minette Batters, head of the National Farmers’ Union, has set out an ambition for UK farming to be climate neutral by 2040. Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy has now recommended that the government put aside up to £700m to pay farmers to create nature-rich, carbon sequestering landscapes.

    Food and farming – a key UK sector – has a large carbon footprint, accounting for one-fifth of our emissions. That figure rises to about 30% if you factor in the emissions produced by all the food we import. Agriculture accounts for about 10% of emissions, but in recent years there have been a number of commitments to reducing that.

    There are already more than 1,700 organic farmers across the UK registered with Soil Association Certification, covering almost half a million hectares of farmland. As well as using fewer pesticides, organic farms have more wildlife and store more carbon in their soils, reducing climate emissions.”

    Just £700M on top of all the existing farm subsidies, eh? #MagicMoneyTree.

    Like

  181. “Once you understand the terrible cost of doing nothing, climate action is a bargain
    Damian Carrington
    Critics baulk at the cost of getting Britain to net zero, but the alternative is so much worse”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/11/climate-action-bargain-britain-net-zero

    “Ruinous, eye-watering, crippling, stratospheric, massive. That’s the cost to the UK of beating the climate crisis, according to those who portray getting to net zero emissions as economic suicide that is being thrust on an unwilling population by posh eco-fundamentalists and zealots.

    This is not just wrong, it is the exact opposite of reality. The delusions come from those with histories of climate change scepticism and could be dismissed as the latest mutant variant thrown up by the death throes of denial. But they are having a real-world impact, slowing action at the precise moment acceleration is needed.

    So how did we get here? In 2019, the then chancellor, Phillip Hammond, wrote a letter to the prime minister claiming the cost of the UK getting to net zero would exceed £1tn. Then, in July of this year, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimated the investment needed for net zero by 2050 was £1.4tn. These figures are the source of the hot air.

    But this is only one side of the balance sheet. The other, conveniently ignored by the critics, carries huge cost savings due to more efficient vehicles and buildings, and the economic boost of many thousands of good jobs in the green industries that will be the growth story of the 21st century. And that’s just the start.

    Getting to net zero avoids the terrible costs and suffering that unrestrained global heating is beginning to wreak on the world, as starkly laid out in the week’s IPCC report. Cutting fossil fuel burning also brings benefits such as slashed air pollution, which still kills about 40,000 people a year in the UK.”

    Where to begin? He is not just wrong. His argument is the exact opposite of reality. The delusions come from those with histories of climate change alarmism, and could – should – be dismissed as the latest mutant variation thrown up by those in the grip of an hysterical mania.

    The reality is that net zero will cost a fortune and will hit the poorest in society hardest. The savings postulated are fantasy land economics. The damage caused to the environment by renewables is far greater than any damage likely to be suffered by the UK environment as the result of climate change. And the crucial bottom line calculation is that most of the rest of the world isn’t interested in taking action so anything the UK does unilaterally will make no difference to the climate at all. That’s the hard reality. How do we get these people to understand that? (Maybe we can’t, but maybe the electorate, who collectively have far more common sense than all the experts put together, will persuade the politicians, when they’re confronted by a mass loss of seats in Parliament).

    Liked by 1 person

  182. If you hadn’t used so much diesel from 1970-2000
    then the Environment Agency would’ve done proper drainage-canal-bank maintenance work
    And therefore the banks at Fishtoft & also at Wainfleet
    would not have breached
    & flooded the land that lies at a lower level than them

    …………/sarc

    Like

  183. When they shout “colonisation” I immediately spot projection
    This once great science festival …has been COLONISED by the Marxists

    1.00pm – 1.45pm Energy, Power and Empowerment
    What does your energy have to do with justice and democracy?
    In today’s world, fossil fuel-based power and capitalism* has led to increasing inequality
    – of income, wealth and resource ownership.
    Not everyone has access to safe and affordable energy
    and energy poverty is on the rise.     (Greens cause that you nutter)
    * a lots of BS .. asserting stuff doesn’t make it true

    As the world moves towards greener energy systems,~ could these alternatives offer more than just clean electricity and pollution reduction?
    Rosie Robison (Anglia Ruskin University) discusses the ways it could address key societal issues through the potential to redistribute jobs, wealth, health and political power more fairly.
    With new ‘citizen assemblies’, allowing the general public to answer important questions around energy and justice, your input is more important than ever
    Whether the renewable energy transition delivers on redistributing power comes with its challenges.
    Rosie provides a valuable lens to exploring ‘who wins, who loses, how and why?’

    1.00pm – 1.45pm. British Science And The Empire
    The 1800s saw a rapid expansion of the British Empire
    – a land grabbing and brutal campaign led by the United Kingdom
    that had a far-reaching and long-lasting impact on the lives of millions of people.
    (It wasn’t generally brutal ..and it improved lives by bringing civilisation
    invisible harm was caused by good intensions
    #1 as wealth as heath care British brought diseases
    #2 civilisation can erode good local culture )

    *We now condemn* the actions that led to and maintained the British Empire
    (#WeFiles is when people, usually cultists assume WE all think the same as they do)

    but what role did it play in putting the UK at the centre of the science stage?
    the British Association.. provided a platform for the latest scientific discoveries of the time to be discussed and debated, many of which were only made possible by the reach of the Empire.
    However, issues surrounding race and science are still present in the UK today, and the BSA’s history has played a role in that.
    Join history of science researcher, Pratik Chakrabarti from the University of Manchester, at this talk which will delve into the role the British Empire had on science,
    looking at how we can learn from the past to improve the field today.

    Like

  184. There are enlightenments : Fundamentals that in the back of our minds we have known all along
    but have only now put into focus.
    We know PROJECTION is a libmob characteristic
    Whatever labels and accusations they throw out at others , are actually rooted in libmob’s own behaviour.

    When they shout “look over there, there are evil COLONISERS, who exploited the resources of others”
    we should think “are libmob colonisers ?”

    Yes they use entryism to take over organisations from the inside
    (maybe deliberately based on Alinsky’s theories)
    And then use the resources accumulated over past centuries for their own agendas.
    – They have taken over this Science festival
    They took over education before that, the education unions before that.
    They’ve taken over the NHS, the BBC, the COOP, the National Trust, Oxfam, Amnesty, Save the Children, the WWF, The RSPB and most other charities
    … Then at a tangent there are Common Purpose and the WEF.

    ======================================
    My own definition of colonisation is different
    It was sometimes evil
    but largely it was beneficial to both sides the INSIDE community and the OUTSIDE community
    In areas where tribes were wasting their times fighting each other
    colonial powers came in and made agreements with local leaders to open up the resources of a country
    this benefitted both sides.
    I can see that often the local leader class benefitted much more than the workers and that applied on the other side : The British ruling classes benefitted more than the northern mill workers and coal miners
    but over time the benefits did come to British workers.

    Like

  186. I … like all of us am descended from vicious colonising slavers and rapists
    .. I mean the Vikings
    About time that Sweden paid reparations
    .. mind you all the unknown tribes before them did the same
    My millionth grear grandmother was probably a Neandatal jumped by a Homo Sapien
    or vice versa

    Like

  188. Mark (11 AUG 21 AT 8:29 AM)

    Thanks for that from Damian Carrington.
    Isn’t it cool that we’re still called Climate Scepticism?
    Mutant variant not.

    Like

  189. Guido : Lying cheating Green Party councillor for Thanet forced to resign
    Trevor Roper claimed an allowance of over £5000.
    He tried to cover up his big move for the last 12 months, claiming in a letter to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps that he still lived in Kent, despite selling the Ramsgate home over a year prior.

    #2 Labour Councillor Dave Ward, decided to serve his constituents from the rolling hills of southern Italy, reminded everyone “there’s this thing called the internet”, and is still hanging on.

    Like

  192. Oh dear, has the focus been wrong?

    “Climate change: Curbing methane emissions will ‘buy us time'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58174111

    “An aggressive campaign to cut methane emissions can buy the world extra time to tackle climate change, experts say.

    One of the key findings in the newly released IPCC report is that emissions of methane have made a huge contribution to current warming.

    The study suggested that 30-50% of the current rise in temperatures is down to this powerful, but short-lived gas.”

    Like

  193. “Climate change: Fisherman stops farming mussels due to hot weather”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58172032

    “A fisherman from north Wales has said he has stopped farming mussels due to rising temperatures.

    Shaun Krijnen, who owns Menai Oysters, on Anglesey, said hot weather had seen mussel shells ruined on the beach and the number of baby mussels reduced.

    Mr Krijnen, who has farmed mussels for more than 20 years, said he lost £40,000 in 2019, with mussel shells effectively cooked on the beach.

    He said: “My decision to stop mussel farming has not been taken lightly….”.”

    But what’s this, tagged on at then end of the story?

    “Mr Krijnen added: “Finally is the fact that Welsh government have failed to renew any shellfish lease in Wales since taking over responsibility for fisheries in 2010.

    “My own application has been with the Welsh government for nearly 11 years now and no progress has been made during this time.

    The Welsh government said: “The area Mr Krijnen cultivates was included as part of an application for a proposed Menai Strait (West) Mussel & Oyster Fishery Order.

    “However, this encountered delays due to the proposed use of Pacific oysters, an invasive non-native species.””

    Climate change or something else, political perhaps. Who knows? I don’t? But I do know that the BBC has chosen to lead front and central with the climate change angle, while it appears there may be rather more to the story than that.

    Liked by 1 person

  194. “‘Abolish these companies, get rid of them’: what would it take to break up big oil?”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/11/climate-crimes-big-oil-fossil-fuels

    “Ayisha Siddiqa doesn’t want fossil fuel companies to determine her future anymore. The industry has promoted climate denial for longer than the 22-year-old has been alive. Rather than watch companies pad their profits as the world burns, Siddiqa has a radical solution in mind.

    “Abolish these oil companies, finish them, get rid of them, no more,” she said.

    Siddiqa’s words echo a rallying cry for climate and environmental advocates who see limited options in finding justice for the low-income and communities of color whose lives the industry have ravaged – and will continue to as the climate crisis unfolds.

    Siddiqa is the founder of Polluters Out, a youth-led coalition dedicated to removing the oil and gas industry’s influence from international climate negotiations. She created the group in response to the failed COP25 climate talks in 2019, which made little progress toward curbing carbon emissions. In her mind, the major petroleum giants don’t deserve to be involved in the clean energy revolution.

    “The next stop cannot be for us to let the people who previously harmed us have a seat in the new world,” she said.

    For many frontline communities, the industry’s climate crimes aren’t matters of the future. They’re here. The climate denial propaganda machine, funded by big oil and gas, has left humanity with the earth spiraling into chaos: homes crushed by wildfires, loved ones dying from heat and crops withering from drought.”

    And much more in the same vein. What was that about a propaganda machine?

    Like

  195. “Climate delayers are to blame for Britain’s lack of urgency in creating a green plan
    Carys Roberts
    People are urging the government to take further and faster action but those who think it’s too costly must first be defeated”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/11/climate-delayers-are-to-blame-for-britains-lack-of-urgency-in-creating-a-green-plan

    “The most pressing battle, then, is no longer with the deniers but with climate delayers, who claim to recognise the problem, while seeking to prevent anything from being done about it. They argue that measures to address the climate and nature crises – such as phasing out gas boilers – are too expensive, and that the costs would fall on those on low-to-middle incomes. Consequently, reviews and decisions are delayed while headlines are written of a green agenda “plunged into chaos”.

    It is critical that government considers the impacts of climate policies – an approach that makes the lives of families who are already struggling won’t wash and is bound to fail. But the climate delayers’ argument does not stack up. Early investment to address the climate and nature crises can create jobs and prevent needless economic damage down the line. Recent modelling by the Office for Budget Responsibility suggests that debt as a proportion of GDP will be far higher if we delay action compared to investing sooner. Government leadership to support the growth of markets for green technologies now can bring down their costs in future.

    If Johnson’s government opts for a path that relies on our existing economic model and asks individuals to shoulder risks and costs rather than share them, those on low incomes will probably lose out. The good news is that policies can be designed not just to protect the lives of those on low and middle incomes, but actually make them better.”

    But you won’t will you, you’ll make them worse. And meanwhile, China, India, Russia, Middle Eastern oil states and much of the developing world will have carried on as before, and you’ll have trashed British industry, British society, and made the poorer poorer, will bequeathing a massive national debt to be sorted out by the very young people about whom you claim to be concerned.

    Like

  196. Good to see that Guido has a clear line against Gren dogma
    Yet the other day The Reform Party’s Richard Tice was on board with alarmism he said Windfarms should be owned by the government.

    GBnews always bring on Isabel Webster GBnews head of digital and she s a right wokist
    Right now she is saying “but the world’s top scientists say, there is a consensus ..blah blah blah”

    Like

  197. stewgreen, GB News has been a great disappointment to me. I hoped for a news channel that would simply present the news in an unbiased way, without the censorship by omission, and without putting a slant on everything. I was also fed up with the way channels like the BBC line up an interview panel and they all agree with the official line, or maybe they have 3 ganging up against one. Unfortunately GB News seems to me to do the same thing, but usually from the other side. To my way of thinking, that’s no better.

    Like

  198. Farage had Roger Hallam the XR head don his show

    TalkRadio and GBNews are similar in that they often have countersides on
    BBC doesn’t allow righties to go one to one
    They only let them on if there is a gange of lefties

    Like

  201. What could possibly go wrong? WWF and Rog in the same article!

    “Climate: WWF warns UK spending is lagging behind targets
    By Roger Harrabin
    BBC environment analyst”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58170865

    “A new analysis suggests the current level of UK spending to combat climate change is lagging behind what advisers say is needed.

    A study by the pressure group WWF says new green policies in the March 2021 Budget add up to just 0.01% of GDP.

    But the government’s own advisory Climate Change Committee has said 1% of national wealth – or GDP – must be spent every year in the UK to ensure climate targets are met.

    In November the prime minister promised £12bn for a 10-point plan “green industrial revolution”.

    WWF says its research also shows that some Budget policies that encourage pollution totalled £40bn – far more than the PM’s green plan.

    It says that the freeze on fuel duty is costing the Treasury some £11.2bn in the financial year 2019-20 alone, rising to £13.9bn in 2022-23 if the freeze continues.

    A Treasury spokesman defended the government’s record and said a comprehensive strategy for financing the “green revolution” would be outlined in the autumn.

    But WWF says the UK won’t remotely deliver on its own promise of a 78% CO2 cut by 2035 at the current rate of annual spending.

    Isabella O’Dowd from WWF said: “It’s not yet too late to prevent global warming from rising above 1.5°C – it is in our hands.

    “But to do that, the UK government must play its part by keeping every climate promise it has made.”…”.

    Like

  202. “Weatherwatch: how the climate crisis is affecting English Heritage
    The organisation faces challenges to save sites prone to damage as a consequence of climate change”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/12/weatherwatch-how-the-climate-crisis-is-affecting-english-heritage

    “English Heritage has always made the point that Ironbridge in Shropshire is the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. Now, as the organisation points out, it could also be said to be the cradle of climate change. The construction of the wonderful Iron Bridge across the Severn in 1779 marked the beginning of the large-scale burning of fossil fuels for industrial processes.

    The organisation’s 400-plus sites are being variously buffeted by the climate crisis, from the 38-metre stretch of the walls of Hurst Castle in Hampshire that collapsed in a storm in February, to inadequate gutters and drains on old properties that threaten their fabric. Repairs and updates are vital.

    One major cost is heating – keeping valuable artefacts warm and dry. But here new technology comes to their aid. Thermostats that merely control the temperature are out. Hygrostats, which are set to the optimum humidity and warmth for the household treasures, are saving up to 40% of energy costs across English Heritage sites.

    The effort to save sites from the climate emergency is coupled with schemes to prevent it getting worse, for example solar panels on cafes and elimination of plastic bags, single-use plastics and the use of recycling and composting. But just remember to take a sweater if visiting their properties.”

    More about weather than about any “climate crisis”, really, I should have thought. But then any weather at all (hot, cold, wet dry, windy, flat calm) is used to proclaim the “climate crisis”, it seems.

    Like

  204. “Climate change: Ireland getting warmer and wetter”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58184287

    “Ireland is getting warmer and wetter due to climate change, according to a major report published on Thursday.

    The Status of Ireland Climate 2020 report also shows that sea levels around the coast are rising.

    That report comes after a UN warning of increasingly extreme heatwaves, droughts and flooding.

    According to figures, rainfall has increased by 6% in the 30-year period leading up to 2018, compared to the previous 30 years.

    The decade up to 2015 was the wettest on record.

    The report from the Republic of Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency, Met Éireann and Marine Institute shows that the air temperature has risen by almost 1C in the last 120 years, with 15 of the top 20 warmest years on record having occurred since 1990.”

    The report referred to is here;

    Click to access Research_Report_386.pdf

    The BBC report concludes:

    “Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr Ned Dwyer [who Mr Dwyer is isn’t explained, in a remarkably sloppy piece of journalism] said it will take a collective effort to ensure change but it will be possible.

    “The issue isn’t just that if we turn the tap off on carbon emissions in the morning it’s all happy days,” she said.

    “We have to actually adapt to the changes that are kind of built into the system.

    “So in Ireland all local authorities and sectors are preparing those plans – so it’s looking at things like how do we ensure that our towns and cities do not get flooded, how do we ensure that our road and rail infrastructure is going to stay good and not either get melted because of heat waves or get flooded due to excess rainfall.””

    The Irish News shows the BBC how to do journalism, as it explains who Dr Dwyer is:

    https://www.irishnews.com/news/republicofirelandnews/2021/08/12/news/ireland-is-becoming-warmer-and-wetter—new-report-paints-stark-picture-of-impact-of-climate-change-2416064/

    “The joint study by the Environmental Protection Agency, Met Eireann and the Marine Institute has painted a stark picture of the impact of climate change in Ireland, following on from the UN’s IPCC report that warned of a “code red for humanity”.

    Co-author Dr Ned Dwyer, an academic at University College Cork, said the report showed Ireland does “not have the luxury of of taking a breather” in the battle against climate change.”

    What a good idea!

    Like

  205. “Climate change: NI Executive to hold special meeting”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58188052

    “A special NI Executive meeting is to be held to discuss climate change.

    It will be held before the United Nations’ COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in October.

    The infrastructure minister said recent extreme weather and the UN’s stark climate change report published on Monday, showed a need for action.

    Nichola Mallon said a “dangerous drift” could not be allowed to continue, while Communities Minister Deirdre Hargey called for “plans and action”.

    “Just as we rallied as a society to deal with Covid, we need to do the same on climate change,” said Ms Mallon.

    “If we don’t do this we’re failing future generations.”

    The communities minister also called for plans to “urgently reduce carbon emissions”.”

    Like

  206. “Sturgeon urges UK government to reassess Cambo oil field plan”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58186181

    “Nicola Sturgeon has written to the prime minister to urge him to reassess the development of a new North Atlantic oil field west of Shetland.

    The first minister said proposals for the Cambo field should be re-examined over “the severity of the climate emergency”.

    Her letter comes after a UN report issued a “code red for humanity”.

    The UK government wants to reduce the use of fossil fuels, but says there is still “ongoing demand” for oil and gas.

    In her letter, Ms Sturgeon asked Boris Johnson to commit to “significantly enhancing the climate conditionality” associated with offshore oil and gas production.”

    It’s not that long since Ms Sturgeon was arguing for Scottish independence with a financial plan based on running Scotland by taking full possession of North Sea oil and using the tax revenues from it to fund the SNP’s plans for an independent country. Now she wants to keep oil in the ground, thereby denying Scots people jobs and revenue.

    Is she really that stupid, or is she being rather crafty, and keeping it in the ground (thereby denying tax revenue to the UK government) unless and until Scottish independence is granted, when miraculously it will be OK to extract the oil? I fear it’s the former rather than the latter, but who knows?

    Like

  207. “”Woolly mammoth walked far enough to circle Earth twice, study finds
    Research into life of Kik adds weight to theory that climate change could have contributed to species’ demise”

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/12/woolly-mammoth-walked-far-enough-circle-earth-twice-study”

    “…Experts say the work not only sheds light on the movements of the giant proboscideans, but adds weight to ideas that climate change or human activity may have contributed to the demise of most of the creatures about 12,000 years ago….

    …The team say their study suggests both climate change and human activity may have played a role in the fate of the mammoths: a warming climate may have led to shrinkage or fragmentation of the habitats the mammoths roamed and relied on and an expansion of less favourable ones such as forested areas and peatlands. That, in turn, may have left the creatures more vulnerable to human hunters. …”.

    Interesting, though necessarily speculative. Climate change is nothing new, it seems.

    Like

  208. “By pushing for more oil production, the US is killing its climate pledges
    Adam Tooze
    If Joe Biden is serious about tackling the climate crisis he must use his country’s leverage to curb fossil fuels, not boost them”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/12/pushing-oil-production-us-joe-biden-killing-climate-pledges

    “Horrifyingly, as we digest the IPCC findings, the sense of momentum is flagging. The G7 in Cornwall in June could not agree on an end to coal. The EU and US are at loggerheads over carbon tariffs. The fractious meeting of G20 environment ministers in Naples last month showed how little goodwill there is ahead of the Cop26 summit in November. In the UK, which will preside over the meeting, the Tory party is engaged in bitter infighting over climate. In the US Congress, the climate component of Biden’s infrastructure bill has been reduced to a pale shadow. Meanwhile, as the global economy recovers so too are energy prices, stoking fears of increased fuel costs. In Germany, the Greens have been dogged by agitation around petrol prices. Finally, on Wednesday, in a statement issued from the White House by the national security adviser Jake Sullivan, these tensions exploded into the open.

    Sullivan’s statement reads as follows:

    “Higher gasoline costs, if left unchecked, risk harming the ongoing global recovery. The price of crude oil has been higher than it was at the end of 2019, before the onset of the pandemic. While Opec+ recently agreed to production increases, these increases will not fully offset previous production cuts that Opec+ imposed during the pandemic until well into 2022. At a critical moment in the global recovery, this is simply not enough. President Biden has made clear that he wants Americans to have access to affordable and reliable energy, including at the pump. Although we are not a party to Opec, the United States will always speak to international partners regarding issues of significance that affect our national economic and security affairs, in public and private.”

    Yes, you read that correctly. One of the most senior figures in the Biden administration, the administration that promised climate was “everywhere” in its policy, is declaring that an increase in petrol prices to $3.17 per gallon is a matter of national security and that the US reserves the right to cajole Opec and Russia into flooding the world with more oil.

    We should not mince words: if this is the stance of the Biden administration then its decarbonisation agenda has been well and truly buried. According to no less an authority than the IEA, if we are to reach net zero by 2050, we need to end fossil fuel capacity expansion now. In Europe, the likes of Shell are being told by the courts to make plans accordingly. To fill the gap, Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil producing company, has let it be known that it is expanding its capacity. Biden’s national security adviser has just given it the green light.”

    Like

  209. I received an email from Oxford Alumni today, full of the usual:

    “OXFORD CLIMATE SCIENTISTS: NO DOUBT ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE

    Leading Oxford climate scientists have insisted there can be no doubt that human-driven climate change is a fact and urgent action is needed, as the IPCC’s report is released showing emissions are driving up temperatures.”

    And

    “ALUMNI STORIES: ‘COP26 NEEDS TO MARK THE BEGINNING OF CONCRETE AND BOLD ACTION’

    Fiona Tokple (St Anne’s, 2016), talks about volunteering with the Oxford Climate Alumni Network (OxCAN) and her commitment to solving the ‘energy dilemma’.”

    And

    “CAN THE WEST SAVE ITSELF?

    Paul Palmarozza (Mansfield, 1980), Director of Waterperry Gardens Ltd, argues the case for more quiet time and a spriritual approach to the climate crisis.”

    The middle article contains this:

    “At the heart of the climate challenge is our world’s insatiable energy demand. Energy is critical to human development. However, our vast consumption of dirty energy is the key driver of the climate crisis and environmental degradation.

    The first time I became aware of this – and when my interest in the issue was sparked – was during my first visit to my father’s motherland Togo. I witnessed relatives studying under the poor light of kerosene lamps during a blackout, the noise from rumbling generators, streets congested with imported, scrapped cars – polluting the air with dirty fumes. I saw a vicious circle of poverty and environmental degradation centred around the need for energy.

    Since then I was wondering how I could contribute towards solving this ‘energy dilemma’, and enable socio-economic development based on clean energy in emerging and developing economies in Africa and globally. From my first visit to Togo, up to my decision to move to Johannesburg, I have made my academic and professional decisions based on this commitment.”

    Try as I might, I can’t find anywhere in the article her solution to the ‘energy dilemma’. The closest I can find is this, though I’m not sure it’s a solution:

    “My research has covered topics including renewable energy storage systems in Germany, sustainable electric-vehicle production processes in China, and integrated clean energy and transport concepts for rural communities in Kenya.”

    Like

  210. “Firms want help to measure their carbon footprint”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58167618

    “Many firms are citing a lack of finance as holding them back from the ability to quantify their carbon footprint.

    In May, the government called on small businesses to lead the charge and pledge to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner….

    …Rachel Douglas, who runs The Laundry Lodge in Northumberland, says she “has no clue” how to work out her companies carbon footprint and “wouldn’t know where to start”.

    Only one in 10 of over a thousand firms surveyed by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) are measuring their carbon footprint and currently 26% of larger firms with more than 50 employees are measuring theirs.

    “It would be useful to have clear information from the government on how to reduce the carbon we use,” Ms Douglas tells the BBC.

    The findings also show that one in five businesses don’t fully understand the term “net zero”, and almost a third have yet to seek advice or information to help them develop a plan to reach net zero or improve their sustainability.

    In order to reduce the environmental impact, Ms Douglas uses over 600 metres of washing line to dry 90% of the items she cleans.

    During high season, her laundry business cleans between 5,000 and 6,000 separate items per month, costing her £260 in electricity and a dedicated member of staff working till 10pm each day to peg items to the lines.

    For the remaining 10% of items, she uses three higher energy consuming industrial driers, one of which is more eco-friendly but cost her an extra £1,000. Additional cleaning costs due to the pandemic have also meant less money is available to invest in sustainability.

    “If there was any tax relief to make it easier to buy expensive eco-friendly products, that would be a huge help,” she explains….

    …Almost two thirds of businesses surveyed said they don’t see net zero targets as a high priority in the wake of the pandemic, although nearly half said their customers are worried about the environment.

    Though the government does publish emission factors which allow firms to work out their carbon footprint based on their activities, Ms Douglas says she has “had to take a lot of decisions” herself to make the business better for the environment because she wasn’t clear on government advice.

    John Barrett, a professor of energy and climate policy at the University of Leeds, says this advice is “not widely known and not easy to find” and the alternative is to pay consultancies between £20,000-30,000 to calculate the carbon footprint….”.

    Like

  211. A BBC re-hash of a rubbish BBC propaganda piece from 6 days ago:

    “‘Poorer communities need help to go green'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-58191576

    “People in areas associated with high deprivation are set to feel the impact of climate change more sharply.

    A Climate Ready Clyde report suggests this may be the case despite the fact that the carbon footprint in these areas will almost certainly be much smaller.

    So what do communities themselves think can be done? BBC Scotland Climate Change reporter Harriet Bradshaw caught up with some residents from Glasgow’s Provanmill.”

    It links to this story:

    “‘Give us money and we’ll tackle the climate crisis'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58102100

    Like

  212. Many religions are big on guilt:

    “Will I ever be able to fly without feeling guilty again?”

    “For Maggie Robertson, it was a long-haul flight to Texas that changed her mind about flying.

    It was 2017 and she was having a great holiday. But then Hurricane Harvey came along – and she and her family narrowly sidestepped floods that cost more than 100 lives.

    “That brush with natural disaster helped put things in perspective,” she says.

    Previously a regular flyer, visiting friends in Scotland and holidaying abroad, she says the penny dropped during that trip. And in the end, the decision was easy.

    “It was a relief to say I’m not doing it any more,” she says. “I knew that what I was doing wasn’t consistent with what I thought was right.”

    She is one of a small band of people who have found flying just too uncomfortable to contemplate any more.

    Many more people are still boarding the planes, but wrestling with a growing sense of shame.

    They now feel that their desire for a holiday in the sun or a far-flung adventure is playing a small but undeniable part in the growing crisis of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and melting polar ice.

    Flying is only responsible for around 2% of global emissions. That may not sound much, but if you are a flyer, it’s a much higher proportion of your own carbon footprint. That’s because more than 80% of the world’s population never fly at all.”

    Yes, that’s right, folks. We have to do away with all the lifestyle pleasures we enjoy out of a sense of guilt, because we have what others don’t. A large proportion of the planet doesn’t enjoy reliable and cheap fossil fuel supplied energy, either, and it seems we have to join them in that respect too.

    Like

  213. And nothing does any good, it seems. We’re all doomed:

    “Weatherwatch: Carbon offsets easily wiped out by bad weather
    A study suggests the risk of wildfires due to extreme weather will lead to carbon storage capacity decreasing”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/14/weatherwatch-carbon-offsets-easily-wiped-out-by-bad-weather

    “Reaching net zero carbon is a major challenge, and many policymakers are relying in part on planting trees and restoring natural habitats to mop up emissions that are difficult to avoid. For example, the UK Environment Agency is exploring the idea of restoring salt marshland to reach its net zero goal by 2030. In York, the council is planning to plant a woodland of 50,000 trees to help the city reach its net zero target by 2030. But offsetting is a risky business and easily upskittled by the weather.

    A study, published in the journal AGU Advances, used climate models to explore the impact of different climate change pathways on carbon uptake of forests in California. Under “business as usual”, the anticipated hotter, drier conditions, and increased risk of wildfire resulted in woodland carbon storage capacity dropping by one-sixth. A more intermediate climate change path produced a drop of about one-tenth. Worryingly, some of the most vulnerable locations, along coasts and on lower mountain slopes, are where there are forest carbon offset projects.

    It’s easy to assume that California is an exception and more at risk from the impacts of climate change, but as the Canadian village of Lytton recently discovered, nowhere is immune from extreme weather.”

    The report can be found here:

    https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2021AV000384

    Like

  214. “……but as the Canadian village of Lytton recently discovered, nowhere is immune from extreme weather”
    The Guardian is giving the impression that Lytton usually has a moderate climate and suddenly experienced an extreme high. In fact Lytton is notorious for hot temperatures in the summer. From Wikipedia:
    During summer heat waves, Lytton is often the hottest spot in Canada, despite being north of 50°N in latitude. Due to the dry summer air and a relatively low elevation of 230 m (750 ft), summer afternoon shade temperatures frequently reach 35 °C (95 °F) and occasionally top 40 °C (104 °F).

    Liked by 2 people

  215. News Channels are laying on the COP26 propaganda
    I hear it almost every time I pass by the TV room
    6:40pm Channel4 were doing some kind of world montage.

    Like

  216. Speccie Aug 12th XR prof laughs as his case is dropped
    One such member is Jason Scott-Warren, a lecturer in English literature at the University of Cambridge.
    The academic tweeted on Monday that he was due to appear in court for a one man protest in May in which he repeatedly obstructed the highway wearing a sandwich board.
    The summons prompted him to declare ‘I was hoping that the court might burn down before this date arrived. Instead I’ll have to somehow carry the fires with me.’

    He need not have worried however; the case was dropped yesterday, much to the academic’s delight. He wrote online: ‘Case dropped, anti-⁦@ExtinctionR⁩ prosecutions crumbling, HRA [Human Rights Act] rights to protest alive and well.’
    It’s not the first time Scott-Warren has been involved in such protests.
    Back in 2019 he hit the headlines of his local paper after performing a one-man protest outside a BP petrol station, standing outside the garage for around an hour every so often for no less than three months.

    Like

  218. Speccie
    James Kirkup : In defence of net zero: yes, we can afford it
    CCBGB
    https://disqus.com/home/discussion/www-spectator-co-uk/in_defence_of_net_zero_yes_we_can_afford_it/

    Ross Clark: The true cost of net zero
    https://disqus.com/home/discussion/www-spectator-co-uk/the_true_cost_of_net_zero/
    “BoJo and Princess Nut-job are idiots: the sooner BoJo is sent to write his memoirs the better.”
    46 Likes

    He references “They talk of Net Zero by 2050,
    but have forgotten that NASA said they’d have a man Mars by the early 1980s”
    A story in The Hill… https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1154721793976020992

    Liked by 1 person

  219. “How do we slow down fast fashion?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-58216479

    “The clothes we wear can have a huge impact on the climate, even more so than the aviation industry.

    So called fast fashion is often made from cheaper, less durable materials, but there are moves to make the industry more sustainable.

    BBC Scotland’s climate change reporter Harriet Bradshaw has been looking at what to consider when going for style.”

    How many climate change reporters do the BBC have, for pity’s sake? No wonder there’s so much drivel appearing on the BBC website – I suppose they feel they have to write something to justify their non-jobs.

    Like

  220. A Global Warming evangelist preacher
    is on 17 #BiasedBBC stations today
    pushing her religion down our throats

    Her Twitter profile pic is her with a giraffe in an African setting
    She probably cycled there
    … https://www.twitter.com/No2BS/status/1426806210590879745

    It’s PRtrickery .. look at her job title
    That charity is The Evangelist Alliance Relief fund .. made up of evangelist churches in poor countries
    They probably started as rich white folk lording it over the locals, now they lord over us.

    To be fair the Leeds DJ did push back a bit.
    #1 He said “Why should I put my trust in the same politicians that told me to buy a diesel car and now say I shouldn’t own it ?”

    #2 The vox pop contained skeptical voices
    “Man does affect the environment, but Climate Change always happens across the millennia, it doesn’t stay the same”

    Liked by 1 person

  223. Once great Science magazine

    Like

  224. ‘Name climate disasters after polluters and people who enabled them’.

    I think that is a fantastic idea. I look forward to the Greek forest fires being referred to as the ‘Chinese forest fires’. What could possibly go wrong?

    Liked by 2 people

  225. Stew:

    A Global Warming evangelist preacher
    is on 17 #BiasedBBC stations today
    pushing her religion down our throats

    Her Twitter profile pic is her with a giraffe in an African setting
    She probably cycled there
    … https://www.twitter.com/No2BS/status/1426806210590879745

    It’s PRtrickery .. look at her job title
    That charity is The Evangelist Alliance Relief fund .. made up of evangelist churches in poor countries
    They probably started as rich white folk lording it over the locals, now they lord over us.

    Thanks for this heads up. To be pedantic, you should write evangelical, not evangelist.

    Tearfund has been around a long time, only changing its name slightly from its earliest days as TEAR Fund. It originated in a rich country, the UK, with the aim of encouraging evangelicals to get involved in relief work overseas. That wasn’t all bad. However, from Ruth Valerio’s article:

    The report is also explicit that humans caused all of the warming that has taken place since pre-industrial times. All of it. The message could not be more clear: responsibility for the climate emergency lies firmly at our door.

    Attribution just isn’t up to the job in the first sentence. And responsibility for the climate emergency isn’t anyone’s, because the term ‘climate emergency’ is an absurdity, as Richard Lindzen says.

    At its core, the climate crisis is an issue of justice.

    No, first it’s an issue of truth. The term climate crisis is a lie. Christians should be against that.

    At the cross of Jesus, pardon is complete,
    love and justice mingle, truth and mercy meet.

    I learned that song as a young teenager. Truth is there for a reason.

    Like

  226. RD word my choice was deliberate
    The image is that BBC are a Tele-Evangelist network, whose religion is Global Warming Alarmism and Green Dreamery

    Like

  228. Oh our way of life is seriously threatened. According to the Sunday Times cricketing correspondent Simon Wilde “Test cricket in England appears to be losing serious amounts of play because of the effects of climate change and the prevalence of extreme weather events. The page-long article is illustrated by a striking cricket-ball and Earth fusion on fire. Apparently global warming is “causing more frequent heavy rain in the British summer, resulting in rising problems for the sport that may require the use of reserve days”. The link between cricket washouts and global leaping flames escapes me, but “Oh the horror!”

    Liked by 4 people

  229. Stew: We agree I’m sure that the climate crisis doesn’t exist. But neither does The Evangelist Alliance Relief fund. It’s The Evangelical Alliance Relief fund. The Evangelical Alliance set it up and goes back to 1846.

    Our own About page, republished in the right hand pane of every Cliscep page, says “The Climate Scepticism Group is a band of bloggers who got together in June 2015 to jam on the subject of climate change and how it seems to have become a quasi-religion.” I am perfectly happy with that first sentence, drafted by John Ridgway not long ago. I think what you’re saying about the BBC along these lines is also fine. But we’re best when we respect basic facts, like the names of organisations we wish to criticise.

    Like

  230. “Germany ‘set for biggest rise in greenhouse gases for 30 years’
    Increase means country will slip back from goal of cutting emissions by 40% from 1990 levels”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/15/germany-set-for-biggest-rise-in-greenhouse-gases-for-30-years

    “Germany is forecast to record its biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 this year as the economy rebounds from the pandemic-related downturn, according to a report by an environmental thinktank.

    Berlin-based Agora Energiewende said the country’s emissions would probably rise by the equivalent of 47m tons of carbon dioxide.

    The increase means Germany’s emissions will be about 37% lower than in 1990. It had aimed to cut emissions by 40% by 2020, and met the target last year but only due to the economic downturn.

    The government recently pledged to increase efforts to combat climate change and reduce emissions to net zero by 2045.

    The report draws on data from the first half of 2021 to forecast total emissions equivalent to 760-812m tons of CO2 for the full year.

    It also shows a significant increase in consumption of fossil fuels across the building, industrial and transport sectors. If confirmed, the German government will be required by law to introduce urgent measures to reduce those sectoral emissions.

    Agora Energiewende receives its funding from environmental groups such as the European Climate Foundation, and the German government.”

    Like

  231. Whoa Richard I think we are at cross purposes here
    I wrote
    A Global Warming *evangelist* preacher
    is on 17 #BiasedBBC stations today
    pushing her religion down our throats
    That was supposed to be metaphorical
    I meant “A Global Warming tele-evangelist preacher”
    At that time I actually thought she was a Catholic and TearFund was a Catholic charity

    Then in my time 20 minutes later after looking Tearfund’s name up I wrote
    this “That charity is The Evangelist Alliance Relief fund”
    .. that was supposed to be literal, but I was sloppy and wrote “Evangelist” instead of “Evangelical”
    In your reply you pointed that out
    I misunderstood and thought you were talking about my first sentence
    I was not trying to rewrite the actual name of the organisation
    It it what it is

    but on a separate note I don’t see that an evangelical and an evangelist are any different.

    Like

  232. Whoa Richard I think we are at cross purposes here

    There is more than one way to read that but yep.

    on a separate note I don’t see that an evangelical and an evangelist are any different

    You’re not the first to say that. I suppose one advantage of the evangelical label, in the UK, is that tele-evangelical isn’t really a thing. Tele-evangelists at their worst have done massive reputational damage to what was called the Way in the first century (going from the book of Acts). But in the States the evangelical Christian label – often Trump supporting and CAGW doubting – has its own problems.

    This little episode of me becoming a pedant for Jesus got me looking again at who is who in the Evangelical Alliance these days. So Debbie Laycock is on the board and Nims Obunge on the Council. I first heard Nims speak at my church of the time, around 2007, because Debbie had recently met him and invited him. All I remember is that he made me laugh a lot. By all accounts he’s done some good things on top of that. And I was happy indeed to be part of an evangelical church which fully supported the right of women to be leaders, at any level, long before the Church of England followed suit.

    There have always been variations within the evangelical camp, in other words. As for the warmist BBC setting up an evangelical woman leader to be a tele-evangelist about AR6 WG1 … yeah, fair point. Let the analogies rip 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  233. “Climate bill will be ruination of NI agriculture, says UFU”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58226642

    “The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has said a climate bill supported by most of the Stormont parties will be the “ruination” of the agriculture industry in Northern Ireland.

    The bill sets a binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2045.

    The union commissioned a report into the effect the bill’s target would have on agriculture.

    The report, carried out by KPMG, projects that the target could lead to the loss of 13,000 jobs.

    It also warns of a huge cut to livestock numbers and the loss of billions of pounds in economic output.

    The legislation was drafted by an organisation called Climate Coalition NI and is being taken forward in the name of Green Party leader Clare Bailey.

    Ms Bailey said she understood the concerns that farmers had but did not believe the effect of her bill would be as harsh as the report suggested.”

    Oh, that’s all right then, so long as she doesn’t believe that their concerns are justified. What’s the loss of 13,000 jobs to an economy the size of Northern Ireland’s? Let the little people suffer to save the planet (except that NI’s GHG emissions are so insignificant on a global scale that it will make no difference to “saving the planet”).

    Like

  234. How shocking that in a democracy there is still an ability on the part of sceptics to make their voices heard:

    “UK net zero delay has left room for sceptics’ attacks, says government climate adviser
    Lord Deben says he is ‘pressing very hard’ to get details of strategy published as Cop26 approaches”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/16/uk-net-zero-delay-has-left-room-for-climate-sceptics-attacks-says-tory-peer

    “Boris Johnson’s delay in publishing the net zero emissions strategy has left a space for climate sceptics to “complain, attack and undermine” on cost grounds, and other countries could do with seeing more “proper leadership” from the UK before Cop26, the government’s independent climate adviser has said.

    Lord Deben, the Conservative peer and chair of the climate change committee, said critics of the net zero policy had been vocal in the public debate because “it hasn’t been put into context by the government”.

    Johnson has stuck to Theresa May’s policy of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but the government has not yet published a roadmap of policies, a Treasury review of costs or some of its sectoral strategies.

    These are now expected in September, just two months before the UN talks in Glasgow, after rows with the Treasury about how to spread the cost of changes, ranging from green boilers to decarbonising transport.

    In an interview with the Guardian, Deben said the absence of detail had “given an open opportunity for people to make all sorts of statements without any response from the government”, which was why he was “pressing very hard to get this work out”….”.

    Says the man who’s CCC thought tooth and nail to resist Andrew Montford’s attempts to obtain their financial calculations regarding the cost of net zero. How strange that the Guardian didn’t ask him about that before producing these two paragraphs:

    “The climate change committee’s sixth carbon budget analysis found that the future cost savings from no longer having to buy oil and gas will almost offset the £50bn-a-year investment needed in low-carbon power, transport and home heating across the next three decades. It predicts that after investing in net zero policies, the UK’s GNP would be only around four months behind where it would otherwise have been.

    However, the projected costs of net zero have come in for criticism in recent weeks, with the backbench Tory MP Craig Mackinlay forming a group to challenge the price tag. Steve Baker, the former Brexit minister and prominent Tory, has become a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, the climate science sceptic outfit run by the former chancellor Nigel Lawson.”

    Liked by 1 person

  235. I don’t like making politics out of disasters and people’s misery and suffering. However, I feel I must comment on the relative lack of interest by the MSM regarding the truly awful situation in Haiti where 1,297 are known to have died, at least 5,700 to have been injured and massive damage has been caused to buildings and infrastructure – by an earthquake and aftershocks.

    Yes, of course it has been reported, but in very low-key terms it seems to me. Imagine if a wild fire or a flood caused those deaths, injuries and damage. I think it’s fair to say it would have been front and central for days, if not weeks, on end, in the MSM with the headlines screaming about the “climate crisis”.

    I acknowledge that events in Afghanistan have taken the headlines, but even so….

    Liked by 2 people

  236. Having said that, it’s a pleasant surprise to see this in the Guardian, given the reluctance of climate worrying organs such as it to talk about China in the context of “the climate crisis”:

    “‘You follow the government’s agenda’: China’s climate activists walk a tightrope
    The IPCC’s alarming report has Chinese environmentalists wondering how to push a government that brooks no criticism into taking more action”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/16/you-follow-the-governments-agenda-chinas-climate-activists-walk-a-tightrope

    “In the wake of the IPCC’s alarming warning last week that human induced climate change is affecting every corner of the planet, China’s environmental activists were left wondering what they could do to push their government into taking more action.

    Having prioritised rapid economic development for decades, China is responsible for a long list of environmental disasters and concerns, and produces around a third of the world’s carbon emissions. It has made ambitious pledges to hit peak emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060, but still drawn warnings that it may not be possible under their current trajectory.

    Beijing is far from alone in being accused of doing too little in the face of climate change, but inside China any attempt to criticise the government for inaction is increasingly dangerous. Marches and protests seen over the world calling for greater action against an existential threat are largely impossible in China…..

    …In recent years authorities have arrested countless environmental protesters, whistleblowers and concerned citizens. They are often charged with the ubiquitous catch-all of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”, a crime frequently levelled against pesky activists. Some, like Ou Hongyi, China’s answer to Greta Thunberg, have left the country and now lobby from the outside….

    …a major impediment is low awareness of the climate crisis among the general population, thanks to muzzled activists, online censorship, and little focus on the issues by the media and education system. Searches for “China global warming” on government news sites return nothing….”

    Liked by 1 person

  237. My smartphone has been pushing local news reports at me to the effect that the Met Office has predicted exactly when the August heatwave is going to start. Then when it failed to start, they pushed at me that we WILL have a heatwave later this month. It’s now 16th August, and checking the weather forecast for the 14 days ahead where I live, the highest temperature in that forecast is 19C. Unless the heatwave hits on the last day of the month, I don’t see it happening. Still, “they” have successfully barraged me with “heatwave” headlines, which I suppose was the object of the exercise, even if its profoundly inaccurate. (Who “they” are is a bit of a mystery, but it does seem that the MSM is totally signed-up to climate alarmism).

    Liked by 1 person

  238. 9:30am Repeat on R4 from 2019
    “The Age of Denial
    The series begins in Norway, with a town where the response to the obvious impact of climate change was…silence.”

    “In Big de bee, Norway the snow came 2 months late
    but no one would talk about it”
    We can’t check, cos that is not the real name of the town
    “a small rural Norwegian town that goes by the pseudonym of Bygdaby”
    Furthermore it’s quite a time back “2000-2001”

    6 mins in and the show is talking about “the shouty climate deniers”
    They then play a R4Today item where NR reads a Donald Trump tweet about a cold snap in America
    Bashing Trump
    It sounds like Skep tical Science on the radio
    Indeed the prog appears to be based on this 2013 SkepSci article
    https://skepticalscience.com/print.php?n=1884
    It even has a large section on Trump
    I wonder if that was added in years later.

    Liked by 1 person

  239. Mark,

    I quite agree regarding the Haiti earthquake. On the BBC news website it is currently rubbing shoulders with articles about how internet influencers are promoting online scams, and the BBC’s plans for putting on a party for the GB Olympians. I agree with you that the lack of a climatological link has dampened the BBC’s interest. However, all is not lost. A certain Professor Bill McGuire may have the answer. He is one of the many scientists that have chosen to wear their climate activist hearts on their sleeves, and thinks many more scientists should do likewise:

    https://billmcguire.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-all-climate-scientists

    However, he is not actually a climate scientist himself – he is a volcanologist who has found a way to inveigle his way into the climatologist fraternity by suggesting that climate change will lead to more earthquakes. The essence of this story can be found in his Wikipedia entry:

    “In his latest book, Waking the Giant, he argues temperature change brought about by global warming could release pressure from melting ice caps (through post-glacial rebound) and trigger earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, as well as increased landslides resulting from heavier rainfall.

    McGuire is a Co-Director of the New Weather Institute, a co-op and think-tank ‘created to accelerate the rapid transition to a fair economy that thrives within planetary boundaries’. He blogs for Extinction Rebellion.”

    Liked by 2 people

  240. P.S. I have to admit that I am not that familiar with interplanetary economics, and so would be unwise to comment further.

    Like

  242. Didn’t know there were ice caps on Haiti, the melting of which could cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Or is it that there is a teleconnection between Greenland and the Caribbean? Geology has certainly changed much since I stopped teaching it.

    Liked by 2 people

  243. Yes, I know, Richard. Sometimes I even disappoint myself 🙂

    However, such gaps in knowledge can be easily filled. I still have a bit more studying to do in regard of interplanetary economics but my interstellar economics has already improved massively, courtesy of the following research undertaken in 1978 by Professor Paul Krugman, then an assistant professor at Yale:

    *ttp://www.princeton.edu/~pkrugman/interstellar.pdf

    In the abstract he explains that he is chiefly concerned with the following question:

    “How should interest charges on goods in transit be computed when the goods travel at close to the speed of light?”

    Since writing the paper, Krugman has sought to explain his motives:

    “This paper, then, is a serious analysis of a ridiculous subject, which is of course the opposite of what is usual in economics.”

    Liked by 2 people

  245. I often become boring, as I unpick things and it becomes complex
    I’ll try to summarise
    In 2019 Radio4 made a propaganda series against skeptics
    In 2021 they repeated it as part of their COP26 propaganda drive
    .. there was zero impact on Twitter
    cos R4 has already driven away Righty listeners and the left/lib have heard it before

    Seems to me in 2019 Climate Alarmist PR wanted to CONSTRUCT a hit piece against “climate denialists”
    so needed a story to start with
    They got that from the 2013 SkS article
    that in turn was based on Norgaard’s *OLD* story from 2000-2001
    #1 She hid the place name so that makes contexting difficult
    #2 Surely the 2019 prog makers should have said what happened in that Norwegian town over the 18 years after the story,
    but they didn’t

    Checking the original 2019 show’s impact
    Ben Pile did a long thread explaining the prog https://twitter.com/clim8resistance/status/1105112498401882113

    Under Hardman’s own tweet there was a discussion about 8 people from each side
    ..skeptics pushed back strongly
    People who praised the show was immediately contacted by the R4feedback show to do an item

    Similarly R4 put out 2 promo tweets marked “denialism” , they didn’t gain much traction

    Paul Matthews tweeted
    Ah yes, Norgaard syndrome. “I’m in a hysterical panic about climate change.
    All other people aren’t. Therefore there must be something psychologically wrong with them.”

    Another one calling her out
    .. https://twitter.com/boggywood/status/1106505794579820544

    Like

  246. Mark what’s the exact Climategate quote
    ‘ I’m not going to show you my data , cos you’ll only attack it’ ?
    Deben seems to be repeating it.

    Like

  247. Alan,

    >”Didn’t know there were icecaps on Haiti.”

    That’s the sort of detail that only a climate change denier could obsess over. You have to understand that this is a matter of extreme geological event attribution. The journalists would explain it thus:

    “Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme geological events, such as earthquakes. However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated.”

    Or, as Prof Fiederike Otto would say:

    “Every earthquake that is happening today is made more likely and more intense by climate change.”

    No one is saying how much more likely or how much more intense, but that is hardly the point. Climate change will make earthquakes more likely. What happened in Haiti was an earthquake. It therefore illustrates what is to come. Do you honestly want to see more, Alan? Do you? Really?

    Liked by 2 people

  248. Alan, a member of the Arctic Methane Emergency Group once explained the teleconnection thusly:

    The melt water build-up massages the elastic properties of the oceanic plates like baker’s roll moves over his dough. Over huge oceanic distances this spread effect becomes significant.

    The USA is “squeezed” by the spreading oceanic plates both from the east and west coast which are spreading faster under continent on both sides due to elastic thrust created by the extra water. 5-20 cm of extra water increases the water load by 50-200 kg/m2. As the oceans are wide, there are many these metres between California and Japan (east-west), Arctic Ocean and Antarctica (north-south) directions. Just few extra metres of built up thrust added on the water-loaded and expanded oceanic plate generates huge earthquakes.

    That explanation was sandwiched between exhortations to ‘fight like Gaddaffi [sic] to the last breath’ in defence of Mother Earth.

    URL:www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa-jisc.exe?A2=CRISIS-FORUM;45a6674.1108

    Like

  249. Vinny,

    Thanks for that. I have found two articles of interest. The first is a reasonably sober precis of the subject (in which there is talk of micro quakes and the effects of glacial retreat, etc., but no teleconnection):

    https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2926/can-climate-affect-earthquakes-or-are-the-connections-shaky/

    The second is a seemingly reasonable review of Prof McGuire’s book:

    https://www.carbonbrief.org/can-climate-change-cause-earthquakes-we-look-at-the-science-and-the-spin

    Like

  250. Oh something else
    I should have known that when someone puts out major accusations they are probably projecting.
    So when Norgaard says “look over there, skeptics are nutters”
    Some skeptics point back to the 2012 Daily Mail story about Norgaard issuing a press release that said that about Climate Skeptics
    “Resistance at individual and societal levels must be recognized and treated”

    Leo Hickman and team had mounted a pushback, until the university edited the press release page to remove the words.

    Like

  251. I’m almost a believer, especially after reading last week that the coolest place on wildfire-ridden Sicily was the top of one of Europe’s most active volcanos- Mt. Etna. What temperatures must the rest of the island have reached? No wonder Montesano shaves his head! Will need to review my understanding of the link between volcanism and climate extremes.

    Like

  252. Here are some wonderful paintings of rural scenes in Wisconsin:

    URL:mahb.stanford.edu/blog/finding-magnificence-in-the-ordinary-a-second-look-at-agriculture-and-nature/

    Found via MAHB’s RSS:

    URL:mahb.stanford.edu/category/blog/feed/

    MAHB was set up by Paul Ehrlich. IIRC, MAHB initially stood for ‘Millennium Assessment of Human Behavior’ and was all about getting us ready for death and doom come the year 2000. Once the new millennium had arrived, it became ‘Millennium Alliance for Humanity and the Biosphere’ – still about death and doom but in a more circumspect way.

    Nice paintings, anyway.

    Like

  253. More from the BBC today (in fairness, SOME of it can be justified as news, rather than as propaganda):

    “Jersey Water releases climate change resilience plans”

    And

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c413j1n68reo

    “Is a new oil field climate change hypocrisy?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57762927

    “Tessa Khan, an international climate change lawyer who founded Uplift, one of a number of groups signing a letter against the Cambo proposals, accused ministers of automatically nodding projects through without thinking about their climate impacts.”

    More about Tessa here:

    https://www.climatebreakthroughproject.org/awardee/tessa-khan/

    and here:

    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/aug/16/tessa-khan-litigation-is-a-powerful-tool-in-the-environmental-crisis

    And about Uplift here:

    https://upliftuk.org/

    Like

  254. Whoops!

    Thanks to @hassan_b_ who pointed out that my language (“middle ages”) is inadvertently using a far-right trope aimed at Muslims generally. That was unintented [sic]. My contempt was directed at the Taliban only, who are stripping the rights of Afghans and women in particular.

    URL:twitter.com/STWorg/status/1426903097272639489

    Like

  255. ‘and women,’

    URL:twitter.com/STWorg/status/1426971009299755013

    (Wot?)

    Like

  256. GBnews Neil Oliver about to speak against Net Zero
    but in the intro there’s a Boris speech there he speaks abolute BS
    “Solar is now 70% cheaper”
    “windfarms are X% cheaper” etc.

    Oliver is saying the reality is we won’t have green alternatives
    The future is no car use, no flights etc.

    Like

  257. Interesting my Twitter account has never interacted with Lew’s
    but I am on his blocked list, anyway

    So what do we learn ?
    #1 That Lew can be manipulated by the tool I call “bullying by taking offence”

    #2 When someone mentions children as a special category deserving pity
    which they are cos they cannot do things independently like an adult can
    Lew feels compels to add that he regards women as in a similar category
    .. This wrong cos it implies that men are not vulnerable to the Taliban however lots of men are vulnerable to Taliban oppression
    in fact Taliban probably kill more peaceful men than they kill women

    Like

  258. Yesterday might be the first day since Open Mic began in early May that there were no posts. I’m amazed and grateful we’ve been given so much to ponder, with helpful, albeit necessarily brief, commentary. Thanks all. Let me single out something Mark pointed to on Monday for a bit more comment, the Guardian article that day featuring an interview with Lord Deben:

    UK net zero delay has left room for sceptics’ attacks, says government climate adviser – Lord Deben says he is ‘pressing very hard’ to get details of strategy published as Cop26 approaches

    This switched on various lights to dispel my ignorance. Four days before Steve Baker had penned, on 25 May, the powerful article in The Sun I highlighted in The Wheels on the Bus are Falling Off he’d joined the GWPF Board of Trustees. That strikes me as very good news indeed. Plus the MP for South Thanet, Craig Mackinlay, is helping to organise resistance in the Commons to the next, disastrous steps towards Net Zero.

    And, I guess in response to that pressure, the tone of this Grauniad piece on 16th was far more measured than, say, Damian Carrington five days before. No longer mutant variants, the GWPF is “the climate science sceptic outfit run by the former chancellor Nigel Lawson”. Only two facts wrong there: it’s always been sceptical about the policy, much more than the science (the clue is in the name), and it’s no longer run by Lord Lawson but Terence Mordaunt (and Benny Peiser, as from the beginning). But nothing of the denier word or its cognates in the whole thing. How lovely is that.

    Liked by 1 person

  259. PR released for the 90 min BBC Climategate drama, no date
    #RewritingHistory
    “First-look images released for BBC One’s new conspiracy thriller The Trick – coming this Autumn”
    ” the story of world-renowned Professor Philip Jones, Director of Climate Research at the University of East Anglia, who back in 2009 found himself at the eye of an international media storm, and the victim of *cyberterrorism* “     (actually unknown whistleblowers, not known if insider or hacker)
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2021/the-trick-first-look-images

    Like

  260. Maybe I didn’t post yesterday as I was busy helping with other things
    I regard my role as to act as a monk highlighting Global Warming PR BS
    And it’s not that there wasn’t any yesterday

    As soon as I switched on the radio the local news presenter enthused
    that 2 local fields would be made into a solar farm powering 3000 homes.
    BS of course, in a chain of ways.
    Homes would be powered by a grid largely made up of fossil fuels and nuclear
    With american-wood burning also.
    Plus homes is a deliberately deceptive unit, used cos it makes output seem 4 times higher than it is.
    I guess including all demand like offices/factories etc. the UK uses 4 UKs worth of homes.

    Anyways I waited for the radio station’s tweet
    and then got waylaid in some community help etc.
    And when I got to Wetherspoons the WiFi was down

    Like

  263. Stew,

    Perhaps the solar farm could be used to power the huge CEMEX cement factory just up the road at South Ferriby.

    Oh no!

    Like

  264. I think that “Green” corps put out PR to the local democracy reporters etc.
    then it leads radio news headlines
    thus no negatives are mentioned

    #1 Homes homes is a deliberately deceptive unit, used cos it makes output seem 4 times higher than it is.
    I guess including all demand like offices/factories etc. the UK uses 3 or 4 UKs worth of homes.

    #2 This years crop ends up back as CO2 in the atmosphere
    but this CO2 won’t be re-absorbed by the same land
    #3 Extra CO2 is emitted in manufacturing/transporting panels

    #3 There is an impact as these two fields are taken out of food production and more food is needed to be imported … increasing CO2

    #4 Orange/Apples fallacy
    Solar leccy is not proper like that controllable fuel
    so has much lower value

    #5 That & subsidies increase electricity prices ..thus prices of every thing you buy

    #6 In the first years you are still earning back the initial CO2 losses
    Only then it is lowish CO2
    It’s never zero CO2, cos you are importing more food
    & have some CO2 from maintenance & repair.

    Like

  267. The Diplodocus that once stood in the great entrance hall at the Natural History Museum is on tour. At the moment it’s residing in Norwich cathedral. Well, I finally got the chance to go and have a look. There wasn’t that much to see other than the mighty “Dippy”. There were a few fossils. A few plastic dinosaurs that under 10s might play with (up high so they could not). There was a tunnel of metal fish. Prominence though was given to a set of four info boards, all of them climate change propaganda. The study of an innocent sauropod ought to be unfreighted with the aroma of climate-crisis activism – but not here. I snapped one:

    Like

  268. “Talk to end the climate science.” Whoever wrote that obviously never reads the Guardian or spends any time watching/listening to the BBC or visiting its website.

    Like

  269. Richard, like stewgreen, I’ve been elsewhere, in my case for 48 hours. While I’ve been away from the internet, the Guardian and the BBC have been busy:

    “CFC ban bought us time to fight climate change, say scientists”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58248725

    And

    “Hydrogen power offers jobs boost, says government”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58238367

    And

    “Scotland’s fishing fleet urged to take steps to go green”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58246143

    And

    “How will Scotland fare in the hydrogen revolution?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-58249503

    And

    “Colorado River: First-ever shortage declared amid record US drought”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58248634

    And

    “Wrightbus to boost Ballymena workforce by 300”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-58232029

    “Wrightbus is to create 300 permanent jobs to build its zero-emission buses.

    The company said it would also convert 120 temporary jobs into permanent positions at its Ballymena headquarters.

    Wrightbus said it would have 930 permanent members of staff when the new jobs were filled.

    Jo Bamford, who bought the company in 2019 after it went into administration, said the company was “firmly back in business, creating jobs”.

    In March, it was announced the Ballymena-based manufacturer would receive £11.2m from the government to develop hydrogen-fuel technology.

    The company had already started to increase its workforce after Translink ordered 100 zero-emission buses in December 2020.

    Twenty of them will be hydrogen powered and the other 80 will be battery operated.”

    And

    “Is a new oil field climate change hypocrisy?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-57762927

    Like

  270. That was the BBC. Here’s the Guardian:

    “Retrofitting: why carbon-reducing renovations are going to be big business
    Draughty homes contribute to 14% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, but a wave of eco-refurbs is changing that”

    https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/aug/18/retrofitting-why-carbon-reducing-renovations-are-going-to-be-big-business

    And

    “The planet is in peril. We’re building Congress’s strongest-ever climate bill
    Bernie Sanders”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/18/planet-peril-congress-reconciliation-climate-bill

    And

    “Swedish mountain shrinks by two metres in a year as glacier melts”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/18/swedish-mountain-shrinks-by-two-metres-in-a-year-as-glacier-melts

    And

    “Global water crisis will intensify with climate breakdown, says report
    Flooding, droughts and wildfires will worsen as global heating disrupts the planet’s water cycle”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/17/global-water-crisis-will-intensify-with-climate-breakdown-says-report

    And

    “UK government ‘failing to help local leaders achieve net zero’”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/18/uk-government-failing-to-help-local-leaders-achieve-net-zero

    And (the same story the BBC had):

    “Britain’s ageing fishing fleet a key contributor to climate crisis: report”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/18/action-cut-climate-impact-uk-ageing-fishing-fleet-carbon

    And

    “Plantwatch: a climate solution is hidden in the hedgerows”

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/18/plantwatch-plantwatch-climate-solution-hidden-in-hedgerows

    And

    “UK medical schools must teach about climate crisis, say students”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/17/uk-medical-schools-must-teach-about-climate-change-say-students

    And

    “Humans ‘pushing Earth close to tipping point’, say most in G20”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/16/three-quarters-g20-earth-close-to-tipping-point-global-survey-climate-crisis

    And

    “Government reveals plans for £4bn hydrogen investment by 2030
    Low-carbon hydrogen economy could also create thousands of jobs”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/17/uk-homes-low-carbon-hydrogen-economy-jobs

    And

    “Lake District in peril due to climate emergency and influx of pandemic walkers”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/18/lake-district-climate-emergency-pandemic-walkers

    The article is really about the damage being caused by hordes of visitors, but they gratuitously get in a couple of references to climate change.

    I’ve been away only for 48 hours. Truly the levels of propaganda are relentless.

    Like

  271. Jit: I wouldn’t normally advocate defacing an exhibit in Norwich Cathedral but the phrase that came to me on seeing this was “Let us spray.”

    Like

  273. Mark: Seems there is much excitement in the UK about hydrogen power.. The 2010 “sustainable” Winter Olympics in Vancouver showcased 20 hydrogen buses operating around Whistler. They were sold off in 2014 because the operating costs were too high:

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-transit-s-90m-hydrogen-bus-fleet-to-be-sold-off-converted-to-diesel-1.2861060

    “Hydrogen buses that were once lauded as the future of clean transportation in B.C.are being replaced by old-fashioned diesel power. The 20 vehicles were part of a high profile, $90-million plan to showcase hydrogen power during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler. BC Transit is now taking bids on the buses and will either sell them off or have them converted to use diesel or other fuel. They have been in storage for several months and each has roughly 200,000 kilometres on the odometer.

    The decision to kill the fleet has Canada’s hydrogen proponents fuming, including Eric Denhoff, President and CEO of the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association.

    According to Burnaby’s Ballard Power Systems, which manufactures fuel cell engines, Whistler’s hydrogen buses cost $1.34 per kilometre to maintain, versus 65 cents per kilometre for diesel-powered buses.”

    Another laughably sustainable activity during the 2010 Winter Olympics was trucking snow 230 km from Manning Park to Cypress Mountain as there was insufficient snowfall for the events held there. Cypress Mountain is close to the coast and often has low snowpack in the winter, climate change or no climate change. Does a “green’ Winter Olympics imply no snow?

    Liked by 1 person

  274. Forgot to include this gem:

    “The only tailpipe emission from the buses is water, but the hydrogen fuel had to be trucked in from Quebec.”
    That’s only about 5000 km!

    Liked by 1 person

  275. “Climate change: Families in Wales urged to plant more trees”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58259637

    “Families with gardens should plant more trees, according to the deputy climate change minister.

    Lee Waters issued the call-to-action as he admitted “we’re way behind where we need to be” on tree-planting targets.

    The Welsh government wants to plant 86 million more trees by the end of the decade.”

    Like

  277. Any views?

    “‘Green steel’: Swedish company ships first batch made without using coal
    Hybrit sends steel made with hydrogen production process to Volvo, which plans to use it in prototype vehicles and components”

    https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/aug/19/green-steel-swedish-company-ships-first-batch-made-without-using-coal

    “The world’s first customer delivery of “green steel” produced without using coal is taking place in Sweden, according to its manufacturer.

    The Swedish venture Hybrit said it was delivering the steel to truck-maker Volvo AB as a trial run before full commercial production in 2026. Volvo has said it will start production in 2021 of prototype vehicles and components from the green steel.

    Steel production using coal accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Hybrit started test operations at its pilot plant for green free steel in Lulea, northern Sweden, a year ago. It aims to replace coking coal, traditionally needed for ore-based steel making, with renewable electricity and hydrogen. Hydrogen is a key part of the EU’s plan to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

    Like

  278. “Climate change: Families in Wales urged to plant more trees”

    The Welsh don’t need to plant more trees, they just need to control the sheep better…

    Like

  279. I’ve received another email, this time from Oxford University Law Faculty. It tells me (a little belatedly, since the main announcement was apparently made on 24th May 2021) that:

    “Sanja Bogojević to lead legal investigations in government-backed research to help UK reach Net-Zero”

    https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-06-02-sanja-bogojevic-lead-legal-investigations-government-backed-research-help-uk-reach

    Ms Bogojevic is undoubtedly an extremely able and well-qualified lawyer, as her Oxford University biography makes clear:

    https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/people/sanja-bogojevic

    However, I can’t help wondering at the Government’s decision to provide £30M of funding for this. Of course, the funding is for a lot more than a lawyer to look into the legal side of things, as this makes clear:

    https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-05-24-30-million-official-backing-oxford-led-greenhouse-gas-removal-programme

    It has all spawned another name, and there are plenty of interested parties:

    “‘Crucially CO2RE will provide policy design options and business models to ensure GGR technologies are developed within a viable economic and political landscape. This investment, in conjunction with the Oxford Net Zero Initiative and the UK Centre for Greening Finance and Investment, means a comprehensive approach to informed climate action, and we look forward to working with international partners, JPI Climate and COP26 this year.’”

    The Oxford Net Zero Initiative can be found here:

    https://netzeroclimate.org/

    UK Centre for Greening Finance & Investment can be found here:

    https://ukcgfi.org/

    JPI Climate can be found here:

    http://www.jpi-climate.eu/home

    I am losing track of the numbers of organisations (and who funds them) associated with climate change, net zero etc. Are these all the green jobs we’re always being promised? Does anyone do any old-fashioned normal work any more?

    Like

  280. #1 It’s the Guardian so it’s likely to be PR not full truth.
    The first stage of innovation is to prove that something can be done at all
    The second stage is to prove it can be done economically viably
    So far they’ve only done stage 1
    They have a target for 2026 for full scale ..that’s quite a long time

    The figure “Steel production using coal accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. ”
    seems suspect to me
    Property and art emit no CO2
    but the money you spend on everything else has a CO2 component
    cos it has an energy component
    I do buy objects where steel is a component
    but I reckon it’s more like 15 of my spending
    8% seems far too high an estimate.
    If UK GDP1 excluding property was £100bn and 8bn was steel then sure 8%
    but I think the proportion is more like £600bn GDP1 and £8bn of that is still purchases in UK/abroad

    Like

  281. 7:30pm ITVtonight the current affairs magazine was supposed to be about Air Pollution
    It was shelved at the last minute for an edition about the Taliban

    Checking for info, I see that Coronation St is soon to have an episode titled
    “Maria Against Pollution”
    ” Liam’s upset when the doctor tells him he has to start using inhalers and Maria’s shocked to learn that air pollution caused by traffic fumes is a common cause of the condition. ”
    AFAIK this is #FakeNews

    People have asthma naturally
    It is not caused by air pollution
    rather it is exacerbated by Air Pollution

    Like

  282. “A billion children at ‘extreme risk’ from climate impacts – Unicef
    Report launched with youth activists including Greta Thunberg paints ‘unimaginably dire’ picture”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/20/a-billion-children-at-extreme-risk-from-climate-impacts-unicef

    “Almost half the world’s 2.2 billion children are already at “extremely high risk” from the impacts of the climate crisis and pollution, according to a report from Unicef. The UN agency’s head called the situation “unimaginably dire”.

    Nearly every child around the world was at risk from at least one of these impacts today, including heatwaves, floods, cyclones, disease, drought, and air pollution, the report said. But 1 billion children live in 33 countries facing three or four impacts simultaneously. The countries include India, Nigeria and the Philippines, and much of sub-Saharan Africa.

    The report is the first to combine high-resolution maps of climate and environmental impacts with maps of child vulnerability, such as poverty and access to clean water, healthcare and education. “It essentially [shows] the likelihood of a child’s ability to survive climate change,” said Nick Rees, one of the report’s authors.”

    The report can be found here:

    https://www.unicef.org/reports/climate-crisis-child-rights-crisis

    Like

  283. This article:

    “What will an SNP-Green deal mean for the future of Scottish politics?
    Rory Scothorne
    Nicola Sturgeon seeks credibility as Scotland prepares to host Cop26, but the collaboration might be a step too far for voters”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/19/snp-green-deal-future-scottish-politics

    contains an interesting snippet:

    “There is another side to the Greens’ ideological commitment that could pose problems. They are a small party for a reason. Much of their agenda goes beyond what the general public is comfortable with, and Sturgeon’s opponents and even some allies – inside and outside her party – are already presenting them as a dangerous, extremist influence on her government. The SNP has secured its predominance by acting as if it comfortably manifests the passive will and identity of the Scottish people, flaws and all. What will happen when they are so clearly attached to another, more active set of political interests? For the same reasons, the Greens will soon come under an unprecedented amount of scrutiny. Their delicate, carefully balanced structures of internal accountability and deliberation may struggle to carry the new weight.”

    Like

  284. “Extinction Rebellion targets City of London over climate role
    Protests starting next week aim to highlight the billions poured into fossil fuels by financial sector”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/19/extinction-rebellion-targets-city-of-london-over-climate-role

    “The City of London will be the target of a new round of Extinction Rebellion protests aimed at highlighting the role of high finance in the climate crisis, starting next week and carrying on for at least a fortnight.

    Thousands of protesters are expected to take part in a series of actions in the City, details of which are under wraps. These will target businesses headquartered in the Square Mile financial district, and will include site occupations. There are no plans to disrupt public transport, as has occurred during some previous actions.

    Extinction Rebellion said the protests would be “joyous” and have a “celebratory” air while highlighting the billions poured into fossil fuels and high-carbon activities by financiers based in London’s financial districts.”

    Like

  285. “EU on a ‘tightrope’ as winter gas supply worries increase
    The bloc’s crucial natural gas reserves are still at historic lows ahead of the winter.”

    https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-natural-gas-supply-worries/

    “The European Union’s natural gas reserves are well under normal levels — and if they don’t fill up by October, the bloc could face a price squeeze if there’s a repeat of last winter’s cold snap, analysts warn.

    “Going into the current winter with less in storage, Europe is walking a tightrope — and it wouldn’t take a huge gust of wind to knock us off,” said Jack Sharples, a research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. “All it would take is for some [liquefied natural gas] projects currently offline to not come back on, or some unplanned maintenance on a pipeline bringing gas into Europe, or just another cold winter.”

    The EU has the capacity to store over 117 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, or roughly a fifth of its annual consumption, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe.

    Those reserves were full a year ago — which is what allowed the bloc to comfortably weather an unusually long winter that sent global gas prices skyrocketing in January.

    Europe “managed to get through last winter relatively unscathed, as we had such high storage stocks at the start,” said James Huckstepp, gas analyst at S&P Global Platts.

    Currently, EU storage facilities are filled to only 60 percent capacity, or just under 70 bcm of gas. That needs to get up to at least 80 bcm by October 1 to ensure a proper buffer against market fluctuations through winter, Sharples said.

    But part of the reason reserves were so full in 2020 was that the pandemic had stalled the economy, creating a massive supply glut had sent prices crashing to as little as $3 gas per million British Thermal Units (mmBTU). In March 2020, Europe was awash in cheap gas and canceling U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers bringing over more than the bloc needed.

    Spot prices for gas are currently rising above $15 on the benchmark Dutch TTF hub.

    Part of that price climb is due to a tight global market caused by this year’s surge in industrial production as well as unexpected factors like natural disasters and outages, said Mike Fulwood, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute.”

    Like

  286. CEMEX closed the factory,
    Monopolies Office refused UK firm permission to take it over
    – EA now spending millions on tidal wall to protect the closed factory
    Cemex to replace the supply by shipping in inferior Spanish cement
    The solar farm would be about 5% of the demand of the factory when it worked.

    Like

  287. Farming Today 20/08/21
    item #1 Cash for Ash
    Farmers in Northern Ireland are being asked to repay money from the ‘Cash for Ash’ scheme.

    Like

  290. “Climate change: Will I still be able to fly in a net zero world?
    By Matt McGrath
    Environment correspondent”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58284257

    “How much of an impact on UK lifestyles will the government’s goal of net zero carbon emissions really have?

    A new report says that while the 2050 target will require significant efforts from consumers, these should not result in “massive lifestyle changes”.

    The study from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change says that limitations on flying would need people to cut their travels by plane by 6% by 2035.

    For cars, the paper says that journeys should be cut by just 4%….

    …Putting the right incentives in place to nudge people to more climate friendly diets is one thing. Getting them to change their boilers is quite another.

    The Blair Institute study points out that by 2035 around 40% of homes would need to use low carbon heating systems.

    This is one of the biggest challenges facing government when it comes to net zero.

    Recent media reports indicate that the government is growing quite cool on the subject.

    A full ban on existing gas boilers is now thought unlikely by 2035….”

    It looks as though it’s starting to dawn on the “net zero” lobby that people don’t want to make wholesale changes to their way of life, and that all this isn’t going terribly well, so now it’s about small changes and nudges instead. If anyone wants to read it, the report can be found here:

    https://institute.global/policy/planes-homes-and-automobiles-role-behaviour-change-delivering-net-zero

    Interestingly, the summary is rather more negative than the opening paragraph of Matt McGrath’s report. THis is what it says:

    “And while there are many pathways to delivering net zero, they have two things in common.

    First, while our decarbonisation to date has not required major changes to our economy and society, the next phase will be more costly, visible and impactful – requiring profound changes in how we produce and use energy, how we move around, the buildings we live in, and our environment and countryside.

    Second, meeting the net-zero goal – and our arguably more difficult interim targets in 2030 and 2035 – cannot rely on technology deployment alone. It will also require significant behavioural changes from consumers (and voters) across the country.

    The requirement for behavioural changes means that debates around the politics of net zero are increasingly, and rightly, focused on issues of public consent and support. Net zero cannot and should not be achieved on the quiet. If the government’s targets are to be achieved, voters will need to act. And while passive consent may be enough in some areas, for net zero to be politically achievable it will need active support from those voters.

    While that issue is widely acknowledged, discussion of behaviour changes required for net zero is often simplistic. ”

    It seems to flip flop between arguing that there’s lots to do and that there’s not so much to do that the public can’t be persuaded to go along with it. I’m not sure what – if anything – it adds to the “debate” (not that we’ve really had a debate, since it’s all just been imposed on us without the electorate having first been given a choice).

    Like

  291. As John says “Very interesting, Stew” – from your quote “Farmers are being asked to repay money”. well that’s a “no chance mate, spent it” – wonder if they get any money back with this plee ?

    Like

  292. “Experts focus on Cromarty Firth for offshore wind”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-58281672

    “The Cromarty Firth recommendation is included in a strategic assessment compiled for the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council by a top level group representing industry and government.

    It is chaired by Sir Jim McDonald, principal of Strathclyde University and an energy engineer.

    The report highlights how previous Scottish offshore wind contracts and jobs undershot even the least ambitious scenarios.

    In 2010, the industry and government experts set out ambitions for more than 28,000 Scottish jobs in offshore wind power, and more than 10 gigawatts of capacity.

    Yet it is estimated there are now fewer than 1,000 jobs, only one large offshore windfarm and less than 1 gigawatt in place.”

    Where did all the green jobs go? Far, far away…..

    Liked by 1 person

  293. “Rain falls on peak of Greenland ice cap for first time on record
    Precipitation was so unexpected, scientists had no gauges to measure it, and is stark sign of climate crisis”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/20/rain-falls-peak-greenland-ice-cap-first-time-on-record-climate-crisis

    “Rain has fallen on the summit of Greenland’s huge ice cap for the first time on record. Temperatures are normally well below freezing on the 3,216-metre (10,551ft) peak, and the precipitation is a stark sign of the climate crisis.

    Scientists at the US National Science Foundation’s summit station saw rain falling throughout 14 August but had no gauges to measure the fall because the precipitation was so unexpected. Across Greenland, an estimated 7bn tonnes of water was released from the clouds.

    The rain fell during an exceptionally hot three days in Greenland when temperatures were 18C higher than average in places. As a result, melting was seen in most of Greenland, across an area about four times the size of the UK….

    …Greenland’s ice is melting faster than any time in the past 12,000 years, scientists have estimated, with the ice loss running at a rate of about 1m tonnes a minute in 2019.”

    BUT

    “Global sea level would rise by about 6 metres if all of Greenland’s ice melted, although this would take centuries or millennia to occur.”

    Like

  294. “Scientists raise doubts over Leon’s ‘carbon-neutral’ burgers
    Experts question credibility of environmental claims made by UK restaurant chain”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/20/leon-carbon-neutral-burgers-restaurant-environmental

    “The environmental credentials of Leon’s “carbon-neutral” burgers have been questioned after it emerged the fast-food chain was using controversial carbon offsets to make the claim.

    In January, Leon announced it would become the first restaurant chain in the UK to serve carbon-neutral burgers and fries at more than 60 locations by reducing and offsetting the emissions they produce.

    Alongside excluding high-carbon meats such as beef from its menu and using more sustainable energy sources, the company pledged to neutralise emissions by purchasing carbon credits from three rainforest conservation and tree-planting schemes.

    But scientists and carbon market specialists have raised concerns about Leon’s claim and some of the credits they have used to substantiate their advertising.”

    Like

  295. “Police unswayed by road-block ruling ahead of London climate protests
    Metropolitan police vow to tackle ‘wilful obstruction’ in spite of supreme court’s Ziegler judgment”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/20/police-unswayed-by-road-block-ruling-ahead-of-london-climate-protests

    “Police preparing for a new campaign of Extinction Rebellion (XR) protests in London have said they will not be deterred by a recent supreme court ruling that obstruction can be a legitimate and lawful form of protest.

    The Ziegler judgment, handed down by the supreme court in June, had ruled that the exercising of protest rights could constitute a “lawful excuse” for obstructing the highway, even if the protest is considered disruptive.

    But in a briefing on Friday, Matt Twist, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police, said “officers are still able to take action if they see wilful obstruction”.

    “We do need to take into account Ziegler, but it isn’t a significant change in the law,” Twist said. “If there’s a wilful obstruction, which is unreasonable, and it’s extended [in] impact, then of course, I think there’ll be an expectation that police take action.”

    XR is planning a new campaign of protest in London next week, its fourth in the capital. During previous protests activists have blocked roads for days on end and staged disruptive direct action targeting infrastructure, government sites and corporate headquarters in the city, leading to hundreds of arrests.

    Rachel Williams, the Met’s gold commander for the XR protests, said the group’s three previous campaigns had cost police more than £50m. “No doubt, this [latest] policing operation will run into the millions and will result in many police officers sacrificing their time off to help mitigate any disruption, [and] bring order and safety to the streets of London,” she said.”

    Liked by 1 person

  298. The local TV news put the solar park report on their Facebook page
    same errors as all the others
    Not a huge amount of comments
    but a few FALSELY think solar is a magic cheap electricity source

    Tonight their eco-warrior reporter did a PRasNews item about the indoor vertical fam in Scunthorpe
    It’s not a new farm, been reported before
    just an excuse to drop in lines about COP26
    (That reporter blocks me on Twitter for no legal reason)

    Like

  300. Indoor farm? I wonder if he will be putting the CO2 levels up to those used by other glasshouses?

    If CO2 at 1200ppm is good enough for tomatoes…

    Like

  301. It seems there isn’t much for a BBC Scotland Climate Change Reporter to do, hence stuff like this, which isn’t remotely news, and is pure propaganda:

    “‘Why I am giving up my home to climate activists’
    By Harriet Bradshaw
    BBC Scotland Climate Change reporter”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58279470

    “World leaders and delegates will have no problems staying in Glasgow during the COP26 summit, despite inflated prices, according to the UK government. But climate activists are having to look to a network of city residents to help them out.

    Tami Pein is charging just £5 a night for the use of a spare room in her flat in the south of Glasgow. That is in contrast to hundreds of pounds for some similar properties, whose owners are looking to make extra cash from the city being the focus of the world for a fortnight at the start of November.

    COP26, the United Nations climate change conference, is predicted to bring together tens of thousands of negotiators, government representatives, businesses and citizens from around the world in a bid to reach agreement on how tackle the emergency.

    Tami, who describes herself as a “passionate community organiser and climate activist”, says she feels like COP26 is the most important negotiation of her lifetime.

    For her, it is important that people from around the world who are affected by climate change can afford to be represented in Glasgow.

    “We really need to create an accessible and affordable city for these activists because they don’t have the means to be able to afford such expensive hotels and B&Bs,” she says.

    Tami does not yet know who will be staying in her room but she will be using the Homestay Network, set up by the COP26 Coalition campaigners, which will allow her to chat with people who might need her spare room.

    “I completely understand the concerns about welcoming in a stranger into your home but, for me, we have bigger fish to fry,” she says. “We’ve got climate change to tackle here.”…”.

    If climate activists, who will just make a lot of noise and won’t be anywhere near the negotiations between leaders, really cared about climate change, they wouldn’t travel to Glasgow, IMO.

    The BBC describes Tami thus:

    “Tami, who describes herself as a “passionate community organiser and climate activist”, says she feels like COP26 is the most important negotiation of her lifetime.”

    Strange that they didn’t tell us what Tami does for a living:

    “Tami Pein
    COP Events and Venues Officer
    Tami joined Stop Climate Chaos Scotland in April 2020 to work on coordinating events and managing the Climate Hub for the COP26. She has a degree in Environment and Business Sustainability from Leeds University. Since graduating she has worked as a climate change educator, chess and DJ teacher. Tami is an events enthusiast and has organised Leeds’ largest activist gathering, a 200 person food waste banquet and sustainable arts festival”

    https://www.stopclimatechaos.scot/our-team/

    Like

  302. “Protests in Pakistan erupt against China’s belt and road plan
    Demonstrations shut down Gwadar, where Chinese are blamed for lack of water and electricity and threat to local fishing”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/20/water-protests-in-pakistan-erupt-against-chinas-belt-and-road-plan

    “Protests have erupted in Pakistan’s port city Gwadar against a severe shortage of water and electricity and threats to livelihoods, part of a growing backlash against China’s multibillion-dollar belt and road projects in the country.

    This week, demonstrators including fishers and other local workers blocked the roads in Gwadar, a coastal town in Balochistan. They burned tyres, chanted slogans and largely shut down the city, to demand water and electricity and a stop to Chinese trawlers illegally fishing in the nearby waters and then taking the fish to China. Two people were injured when the authorities cracked down on the protesters….

    …The protests are part of a growing discontent with China’s presence in Gwadar, whose port is an integral part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project (CPEC), in which China has invested billions in infrastructure projects in Pakistan.

    Under the project, Pakistan surrendered Gwadar port to a Chinese-backed multinational corporation for a lease of 40 years. It is part of China’s mammoth belt and road initiative, which stretches across 70 countries to give China a clear trade route from east Asia to Europe….

    …China is not to blame for the power and water shortages that have plagued Gwadar in recent weeks. Balochistan is Pakistan’s most undeveloped and most neglected region, and Gwadar is not connected to the national grid. It had instead relied on power from neighbouring Iran, but that has slowed to a trickle in recent weeks. Water has also become scarce after a dam dried up.

    However, locals said they had been promised that China’s investment in Gwadar would mean development for the area, including the establishment of a coal-fired power station to provide much-needed electricity.

    Yet, in the years since China was granted a lease on Gwadar port, no work has begun on any such projects and instead locals say that China’s presence is undermining their livelihoods and creating local food shortages by allowing Chinese fishing boats to illegally fish in Pakistan’s waters around the port.

    Nigori said that when the Chinese started developing the Gwadar port, Pakistani officials claimed that the port city would become the Singapore of Pakistan. “But today, we don’t have water, electricity and Chinese trawlers are illegally fishing at our coast. We just want our basic rights,” he said….”.

    China, China, China. The only surprise is that the Guardian didn’t blame climate change for Balochistan’s problems. No, actually, that isn’t the only surprise. The other is that their seems to be an implicit acknowledgement that if China had built the promised “coal-fired power station to provide much-needed electricity” that would be a good thing for the locals.

    Like

  303. BBC local radio news, is still doing this weird weekend thing
    whereby instead of having a news report for the local station
    you get one which includes 3 or 4 stations
    8am item #3 was nothing to do with Hull

    It is claimed that not enough is being done to tackle CLIMATE CHANGE in parts of Yorkshire
    (By who ? is that news ?)
    Local Climate and Nature groups are holding a demonstration in Sheffield City centre *later*
    … (em this promotion ..only AFTER something has happened that is it actual news
    .. also Sheffield demos are nothing to do with Hull people)
    XR, Greenpeace and Fiends of the Earth want a clear plan from national and governments on what will happen next
    Mike Thompson is from Green New Deal South Yorkshire
    clip “We need to transfer to a green economy !
    We need to do that very rapidly !
    And that is what we need from the government, from City Council
    We’ve now got this combined leadership, we need that model to deliver. We need it to deliver the Arup report and we need it to do more than that”
    Now York music festival …
    In Hulll… The Freedom Festival
    James Bond ..”

    It was dropped from the 9am news, but back at 10am and 11am. 1pm (slightly different intros)
    Bottomline BBC mates have a demo, and this news item was about promoting it.

    Can you image a news item beginning like this ?
    “It is claimed that not enough is being done to Free US from Lockdown rules in parts of Yorkshire
    .. there’s a demonstration later”
    or
    “It is claimed that not enough is being done to tackle GROOMING GANGS in parts of Yorkshire
    .. there’s a demonstration later”

    When there are such demonstrations, they are not promoted by the BBC in news bulletins like Climate Change or BLM demos are

    Like

  304. Tami’s work seems to be at Stop Climate Chaos Scotland @sccscot
    she presents the podcast etc.
    She’s marked as resident DJ on a few dance club tweets.

    Like

  305. How climate change helped strengthen the Taliban
    BY CARA KORTE
    AUGUST 20, 2021 CBS NEWS
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/climate-change-taliban-strengthen/

    Rural Afghanistan has been rocked by climate change.
    The past three decades have brought floods and drought that have destroyed crops and left people hungry.
    And the Taliban — likely without knowing climate change was the cause — has taken advantage of that pain.

    How come Global Warming didn’t devastate the Taliban’s poppy crop ?

    Like

  306. “How come Global Warming didn’t devastate the Taliban’s poppy crop ?”

    It was never the Taliban’s poppy crop, just another CIA scam. The Taliban banned poppy growing last time they were in power and have announced they will do the same this time.

    Liked by 1 person

  307. Bill that sounds like an internet theory
    On twitter 5 people also claim “oh the Taliban have announced they will ban poppy growing”
    Yet none of them cite a source.
    Have you got one ?
    Anyway Islam has thing called Taqhir, meaning it’s OK to lie for political gain.

    Reuters new report “The Taliban banned poppy growing in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance, according to experts.”
    “The Taliban have counted on the Afghan opium trade as one of their main sources of income,” Cesar Gudes, the head of the Kabul office of the U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told Reuters. “More production brings drugs with a cheaper and more attractive price, and therefore a wider accessibility.”

    Liked by 1 person

  310. Stew, Bill,

    A good account of this subject can be found in ‘The Taliban: The story of the Afghan warlords’, by Ahmed Rashid, ISBN 0-330-49221-7. In particular, chapter 9, ‘High on heroin: Drugs and the Taliban economy’.

    Liked by 1 person

  311. “Wrong to label Extinction Rebellion as extremists, says Home Office adviser
    Peer at odds with Priti Patel over climate activists on eve of more protests”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/21/wrong-to-label-extinction-rebellion-as-extremists-says-home-office-adviser

    “A government extremism adviser has admitted during a private meeting that it is wrong to label Extinction Rebellion (XR) supporters as “extreme”, despite the home secretary, Priti Patel, condemning the group as “criminals” who threaten the nation’s way of life.

    John Woodcock, the former Labour MP who was asked by the Home Office this year to examine disruption and violence by extreme political groups, sought to reassure XR activists that he did not regard the movement as uniformly extreme during a Zoom video conference call last month. “You’re worried that I want to label everyone who supports XR as extremists and that is certainly not the case,” he said.

    Woodcock, who now sits in the upper chamber as Lord Walney, also accepted he needed to know more about climate science and agreed there was a need for urgent action to address the climate crisis.

    “I have become increasingly convinced of the need to act further and faster than we have,” he said. “I supported the Labour party’s position of declaring a climate emergency [in parliament] but what comes from that is not clear in my mind.”

    Woodcock’s reassurance comes on the eve of XR’s latest campaign of non-violent civil disobedience, which is targeting the City of London, in order to end fossil fuel investment. The protests are expected to be some of the most significant yet, with growing numbers of people terrified by the findings of the latest climate report from the world’s leading authority on climate science, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and increasingly extreme weather events.

    Fears are mounting in the XR movement that activists will be raided by the police, spurred on by Patel’s open hostility to the group’s tactics. Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, has described the group’s plans as “extremely frustrating” and asserted that Londoners do not support “hugely disruptive protests”….

    …However, Woodcock left open the possibility he might describe parts of the group as extreme in his report. He asked if XR was hiding a “far-left” anti-capitalist agenda and claimed there were concerns that far-left groups might be infiltrating the movement.

    Woodcock, who will present his recommendations to Patel and Boris Johnson, claimed the group might end up abandoning democracy itself. “You can change the form of democracy, make it more participatory, but ultimately the public are not going to accept … the level of economic reduction, which you believe is necessary, and therefore … you will end up in an alternative to democracy itself,” he said.”

    John Woodcock used to be the Labour, then Independent, MP for Barrow-in-Furness. He always struck me as quite sensible, and is, so far as I am aware, reasonably highly regarded in Cumbria.

    Like

  312. “Letters: to halt global heating, we must change our society
    Only through universal basic income, a four-day week and regenerated local communities can we hope to cut climate emissions”

    https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/commentisfree/2021/aug/22/to-halt-global-heating-we-must-change-our-society-observer-letters

    “Robin McKie writes of a “society-wide vision” covering policies in transport, power generation, home heating and farming to cut climate emissions (“It’s now… or never”, Focus). Of course we need all of those policies. But what’s missing is the understanding that we can’t have “business as usual with different technology”.

    We need social innovations, such as a universal basic income to give every individual security, a four-day working week as standard with no loss of pay, which would reduce travel but more importantly give people more opportunities to use their time well in family and community, and a relocalisation of communities and economies.

    System change, not climate change is the slogan: that you can’t fix a broken society using the approaches that broke it the key understanding.
    Natalie Bennett, Green peer
    House of Lords, London SW1”

    It doesn’t seem to occur to Baroness Bennett that if you give people a 4 day week on decent pay, productivity will fall, so that the ability to pay for all the green pipedreams diminishes. Nor does it seem to occur to her that if you pay people well to work a 4 day week, most of them won’t spend the remaining 3 days “well in… community” but will be off in their cars in the countryside, leaving litter and disposable barbecues behind. It would be nice if we could all work a 4 day week and be well paid for it and for only good to come of it, but life isn’t like that. That’s why it’s a good job that the Greens are nowhere near government in the UK and why, if I lived in Scotland, I’d be very worried about recent political developments there.

    Like

  315. Bill,

    You are quite right that the book is 20 years old now but, there again, you had made a claim regarding something that happened over 20 years ago, when you said:

    “The Taliban banned poppy growing last time they were in power and have announced they will do the same this time.”

    The book points out that the Taliban did not ban poppy growing last time they were in power, and indeed relied massively upon the revenue generated. As for the possibility of a change of heart, the book is still highly relevant because one needs to understand the factors at play behind the Taliban’s earlier decision in order to discern whether it is likely to be any different this time around. In fact, it isn’t really a matter of the Taliban having a change of heart. The offer last time around was made in exchange for international recognition of the legitimacy of their regime. The deal didn’t stick back then and there is little prospect of such an agreement being made this time around. Furthermore, the international market for heroine has not gone away, nor has the financial benefits to the opium farmers who benefitted so much from the Taliban’s previous oversight (and from whom the Taliban receives much of its support). I suspect that the economic model that won the day then will do so again.

    That said, the Taliban has inherited a situation that is very different to the one inherited after the Soviet invasion. So who knows, maybe the decisions may pan out differently this time, particularly if the neighbouring countries refuse to aid and abet the trafficking like they did last time around.

    Like

  316. John

    That’s as may be, but would you, if asked about the prospects of the current Labour Party, recommend they read a book which was a history of the Blair government written by a political opponent?

    Like

  317. 7pm BBC1 countryfile
    “Adam Henson has got the experts in to calculate the carbon footprint of his farm”
    FFS
    dunno what Heap will be spinning in his bit

    Like

  318. Bill (22 AUG 21 AT 10:31 AM): Good and hopeful report on California by Anthony Watts there, thanks. That will be noticed by the Net Zero Tory rebels and the UK government, I feel sure.

    Like

  319. Bill,

    I don’t accept the analogy. These are not party political issues we are dealing with here but universal factors that change little from place to place or from time to time. I don’t rule out the possibility that the Taliban might change their doctrine but, of all the regimes out there, I think they would be the least likely to do so, and only if circumstances were to change radically. Still, who knows?

    Like

  320. “Here the beaver has cut down an oak tree
    but that is essentially coppicing,
    it will grow back.”
    FFS do not try to tell me that 5 inch sump will absorb as much CO2 as when it was a 10 foot high tree

    “There is a big push for farmers go green”
    “but the NFU has stated farming should aim to be Netzero by 2040″

    They made out ploughing releases all the CO2 the last crop put there
    .. not sure that’s true
    They advocated drilling over the stubble instead of ploughing”

    They calculated Adam’s farm is a net emitter of 500T of CO2 “that’s pretty” good
    It actually sequestrates 1,200 but then you take away the 700 from his diesel use etc.

    They then went into Biodiversity claiming famers can earn from it.

    “Next week .keeping yields high whilst minimising the effect us farmers have on the climate”
    ”””””””””’
    Another item “A new species of tree was discovered here in 2009
    it grows into the rockface ”

    Like

  321. 10am Woman’s Hour “It’s Listener Week, where topics are those listeners have requested”
    And which listener topic have Woman’s Hour SELECTED as the very first one ?

    “climate change” ( and going vegan)
    What are the best food choices to make for the environment?
    And can going vegetarian or vegan really help with the issue of climate change?
    That’s what Woman’s Hour listener Judith wants to know.
    – Prof Sarah Bridle author of “Food and Climate Change Without the Hot Air joins Emma to crunch the numbers and give some practical advice on ways to make our diets less harmful for the planet.”

    As ever British people switching to vegan sausage rolls is going to have such a grand influence on the mega-system it is going to stop Fishlake and Shortferry ever flooding again
    …. by causing the Environment Agency to actually maintain the drainage banks properly.

    Liked by 1 person

  322. 9:30am R4 show “Denialism”
    I though last weeks show was the hit-piece against Climate Realists
    by labelling them “deniers” and “denialists”
    but even though this weeks show is about Driverless Cars
    they still keep dropping in lines about “climate deniers”

    This is not only mean, it is Orwellian
    In any political argument you have one view and the other side has a different one
    Each side is intrinsically saying that the other side is DENYING reality.
    Climate Alarmists hyping these words “deniers” and “denialists” are practicing language trickery
    The ultra strong labels are Ad Hominem not proper argument,
    It is the fallacy of Poisoning Of The Wells.. saying that all the other sides arguments are unholy.
    Basically the same as saying they are apostates who should be ostracised.

    Although the 5 parts are played out at one episode per week the BBC uploaded all 5 episodes right away
    Oh hang on ,The reason why the episodes are all up
    is cos the series is a repeat from March 2019
    The date wasn’t obvious to me
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000357l/episodes/player

    ep 3 Books about “denialism” describe something global, like the rejection of climate change science.
    But are its roots personal? Isabel Hardman looks at our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves.
    #Projection is a libmob characteristic

    ep 4 Does it help to call someone a denier?
    Isabel Hardman explores the language of denial and asks why debates get so polarised.

    ep5 Are the children of the digital revolution going to tackle global issues differently?
    Isabel Hardman looks at new ways of confronting denialism
    … FFS It’s not up to ignorant children to mould the future

    Like

  323. Today 3 or 4 tweets support her prog ..that’ not much
    No recent tweet mentioned her name
    She has a second eco-warrior account @issybryonyh

    Like

  324. Stew: ‘We can’t check, cos that is not the real name of the town’

    Bygdaby’s real name is Voss and its snow was indeed about two months late in early 2001. Snow depths were lower than normal in Jan and Feb and didn’t reach normal levels until the second week in March.

    I don’t know how unusual that was or whether it had anything to do with global heating*.

    I had some links to do with this but deleted them. My info about the snowpack in Voss came from weekly reports in the Guardian about skiing conditions in Europe. Here’s one of them, from 4/3/201:

    URL:www.theguardian.com/travel/2001/mar/04/wintersportsholidays.wintersports.observerescapesection

    ===
    *Global warming became global heating to make people take the problem more seriously. Shouldn’t central heating now be central warming? Wouldn’t that encourage people to live in slightly cooler houses, thereby saving the planet from global heating?

    Like

  325. “Extinction Rebellion erects table in Covent Garden”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58306278

    “Extinction Rebellion has built a huge table in Covent Garden as part of its fifth mass protest to demand the government stops using fossil fuels.

    The protesters put up a 13ft (4m) tall table near Leicester Square and chained themselves to its legs to highlight “that climate breakdown is here now”.

    The Met say people can leave but not enter a cordon set up around the “Impossible Rebellion” protest where tents have been erected.

    Police arrested eight people on Monday.

    The protest group is planning to disrupt London for days.”

    Like

  327. “SP Energy announces new green jobs to ‘transform’ power network”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-58266921

    “Power company SP Energy Networks has launched a recruitment drive for 135 “green jobs” to help transform the electricity network.

    The company said the jobs would work to enhance the network and enable the “rapid uptake” of renewables and low-carbon technology.

    They will be based in central and southern Scotland.

    First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the jobs, along with a new green academy.

    The New Green Jobs Workforce Academy, unveiled by the first minister at SP Energy’s Cumbernauld training centre, is designed to help people find green jobs and learn new skills.”

    I’ve corrected the BBC’s typo. Again the BBC has opened this article to a “Have Your Say” and again it’s not going well.

    Like

  328. “Council accused of taking ‘rewilding’ too far as weeds take root in Brighton
    Older residents reported to be tripping on pavement weeds, but Green council leader praises their biodiversity”

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/aug/22/council-accused-of-taking-rewilding-too-far-as-weeds-take-root-in-brighton

    “A Green-led council has been accused of taking rewilding too far by allowing so many weeds to flourish that they have become a health hazard, with some residents requiring hospital treatment after tripping up on overgrown pavements.

    Brighton and Hove council, which has been under Green party control since last year, has banned toxic weedkillers that include chemicals such as glyphosate after a petition from residents.

    But it is now struggling to control the resulting “growth spurt” in pavement weeds – a problem made worse by pandemic staff shortages.

    The issue threatens to pit the city’s younger generation, who largely back rewilding, against older suburban residents who favour tidiness and safety.

    Alistair McNair, a Conservative councillor for Patcham on the northern edge of Brighton, said: “Of all the complaints I get, weeds are among the top three issues. In some streets weeds are 2ft high.”

    He said that some people had complained of nasty falls after tripping on weeds. “I have been told by a few residents that they or their relatives have fallen over and some have been hospitalised,” he said. “For a lot of residents it’s a really important issue.”

    He added: “Weeds on pavements is not rewilding and it’s not attracting insects, it is breaking up pavements and a lot of people are infirm and really unhappy about it.”…”.

    Like

  330. “Big oil coined ‘carbon footprints’ to blame us for their greed. Keep them on the hook
    Rebecca Solnit
    Climate-conscious individual choices are good – but not nearly enough to save the planet. More than personal virtue, we need collective action”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook

    On and on it goes – and no doubt will until COP 26 and beyond.

    Like

  332. “Mar Menor: Tonnes of dead fish wash up on Spanish lagoon’s shores”

    The local government has blamed recent hot weather for the deaths of the fish in the Mar Menor, south of Murcia.

    One of the attractions of blaming everything on the “climate emergency” or whatever we’re supposed to call it these days, is that local officials automagically absolve themselves of any responsibility.

    The solubility of oxygen goes down as temperatures rise, so there is at least a plausible connection between warm weather and dead fish. Unfortunately a far more potent force causing deoxygenation is the liberal supply of organic pollution. On this labile source of nutriment, aerobic bacteria go crazy and strip the oxygen from the water. Fish then suffocate. Fortunately there is pushback:

    But scientists say pollution from local farming has degraded the water quality.

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58311105

    At the foot of this page there is another dead fish story, this time from Lebanon. The local officials hazard that perhaps a disease is to blame. They clearly missed the memo.

    Like

  333. Mark,

    The assumption of skuldugery is getting in the way of clear thinking here. Presumably, the ‘drink sensibly’ campaign was invented to deflect attention away from the fact that the alcohol industry is solely to blame for alcoholism. Similarly, the ‘when the fun stops, stop’ campaign is an attempt to hide the culpability of the gambling industry. And then there is ‘clunky click every trip’, which nicely gets the automobile industry of the hook. It’s actually a little something called Corporate Social Responsibility. The authors of this rubbish should look it up. Learning a couple of basics regarding corporate governance would do them the world of good.

    Like

  334. Thanks for that XR Beeb link, Mark. Recycling at its finest! Even the comments are from 2019.

    The elderly woman in the shiny grey coat is quite a character. She has been arrested about a dozen times in the last five years while protesting about the expansion of Heathrow, London’s air pollution, arms manufacturers (particularly Israeli ones), fracking, the deportation of illegal immigrants and the government’s disgraceful refusal to do everything that XR says. Here she is shouting about genocide while being arrested outside Downing Street.

    URL:twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1062664236000858112

    (What a very patient man that copper is.)

    Like

  335. TalkRADIO aired an interview with Gail Bradbrook yesterday:

    URL:twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1429818023167336449

    She says that she flew to Costa Rica for ‘health reasons’ (she was depressed about her career and marriage) and because what she wanted to do about her ‘health reasons’ (take psychedelic drugs) was illegal in the UK. Also, she drives a diesel car but can’t remember its make or model, so presumably it’s a big Merc or something.

    The Telegraph’s story about the interview included this intriguing paragraph:

    She has previously been criticised for flying 11,000 miles to Costa Rica in 2016 for a holiday. She claimed on Monday that she flew to the island because of a health issue which could not be treated in the UK.

    Costa Rica an island already? Sea-level rise has gone bonkers! Head for the hills!

    Liked by 1 person

  336. Vinny,

    >”Costa Rica an island already? Sea-level rise has gone bonkers! Head for the hills!”

    You’re being pedantic again. The point is that it has a Costa and, as it stands, it is still very Rica. We must keep it that way. Certainly, Costa Rica is planning to do all it can to retain its geographical footprint. In 2015 it conceived a plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2021:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2WjxnLkpwDY9dkLLYPf7X6q/costa-rica-a-21st-century-environmental-leader

    Just a minute! What year is it?

    I wonder how well they did:

    “According to our analysis, under a pathway following the current NDC commitments, Costa Rica would achieve carbon neutrality in 2085.”

    https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/costa-rica/

    Oh well, it’s still good to have a plan.

    Like

  337. Vinny, as an expert on XR shenanigans, do you know what happened when Dr. Bradbrook was taken to court for criminal damage? The interweb says there was a hearing at Isleworth CC on December 13, 2019 – but crickets after that. (I’ve also asked on the Bradbrook thread at Notalot.)

    Like

  338. Jit. As I’m sure you are aware it’s not just aerobic bacteria that are involved in fish kills. Anaerobes use organic matter and the sulphate in seawater to create hydrogen sulphide which is poisonous to fish. I once had aspirations to study sulphate deposition in coastal lagoons. Unfortunately I was driven from every site by the dreadful smells. The lagoons attracted neighbours who are not careful with their organic wastes, which the anaerobes just love. I came to the conclusion that nowhere on earth does an unpolluted modern equivalent of ancient subaqueous evaporites exist. Pity,

    Like

  339. “Extinction Rebellion confirms plans to target City law firms”

    https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/extinction-rebellion-confirms-plans-to-target-city-law-firms/5109589.article

    “Extinction Rebellion activists are expected to target City law firms in a wave of protests in London over the next two weeks.

    The campaign group told the Gazette that protesters will focus on legal services, financial services and insurance services, which have made a ‘real contribution to the crisis’. They have not disclosed any specific plans, however.

    A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said the City of London is the ‘arch-financier’ of the carbon economy and is ‘knowingly investing in the destruction of the conditions which make the planet habitable’….”.

    Like

  341. I think this must be one of the barmiest headlines I’ve head for quite a while:

    “Blue whales returning to Spain’s Atlantic coast after 40-year absence
    Some experts fear climate crisis is leading creatures back to area where they were hunted almost to extinction”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/24/blue-whales-returning-to-spains-atlantic-coast-after-40-year-absence

    “Blue whales, the world’s largest mammals, are returning to Spain’s Atlantic coast after an absence of more than 40 years.

    The first one was spotted off the coast of Galicia in north-west Spain in 2017 by Bruno Díaz, a marine biologist who is head of the Bottlenose Dolphin Research Institute in O Grove, Galicia.

    Another was spotted in 2018, another the following year, and then in 2020 they both returned. Just over a week ago a different specimen was sited off the Islas Cíes, near O Grove.

    Díaz said it was not yet clear whether the climate crisis was leading the creatures to change their habits and return to an area where they were hunted almost to extinction.”

    So they used to live there in large numbers, but were hunted almost to extinction with the result that they haven’t been seen there for more than 40 years. Their return should be good news. How it can have anything to do with climate change, when they lived there in reasonable numbers more than half a century ago, and their disappearance was due to hunting, is beyond me.

    Like

  342. “Shipping firm Maersk spends £1bn on ‘carbon neutral’ container ships
    Eight new vessels able to run on methanol fuel could help save more than 1m tonnes of carbon emissions a year”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/24/worlds-biggest-shipping-firm-maersk-in-1bn-green-push

    “The world’s biggest shipping company is investing $1.4bn (£1bn) to speed up its switch to carbon neutral operations, ordering eight container vessels that can be fuelled by green methanol as well as traditional bunker fuel .

    The Danish shipping business Maersk said the investment in new vessels would help to ship goods from companies including H&M Group and Unilever, while saving more than 1m tonnes of carbon emissions a year by replacing older fossil fuel-driven ships.

    The vessel order, placed with South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, is the single largest step taken so far to decarbonise the global shipping industry, which is responsible for almost 3% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

    The shipping industry has been relatively slow to react to calls to reduce fossil fuel use, in part because cleaner alternatives have been in short supply and are more expensive.

    Søren Skou, the Maersk chief executive, said: “The time to act is now, if we are to solve shipping’s climate challenge….”

    Like

  343. “‘Decarbonising aviation’: the Electric EEL could be the future of flying”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/24/decarbonising-aviation-the-electric-eel-could-be-the-future-of-flying

    Unfortunately that’s not good enough. Nothing ever is. The future is too late. We need it now….

    “Friends of the Earth campaigner Jenny Bates said innovation that resulted in cleaner aircraft was needed. But she added: “We won’t defeat the climate crisis by hoping for greener solutions tomorrow – we need real action today.

    “Ministers can do much more to make sure the aviation industry plays its part in meeting our climate targets, an immediate place to start is to halt airport expansion and introduce a frequent flyers levy.”

    Aviation is widely recognised as one of the most carbon-intensive forms of transport and one of the most difficult to decarbonise.”

    Like

  344. Cult author of dystopian comics backs comical dystopian cult in shock horror promo:

    URL:twitter.com/XRebellionUK/status/1429023955734745092

    Send more money now!

    (They’ve raised £340k in about 10 weeks. Not bad, especially as XR usually has several crowd-sourcers on the go at once.)

    Like

  345. Sorry, Jit, I don’t know what happened with that case. I got bored with XR towards the end of 2019 and have kept only occasional notes since then. A guess: Bradbrook got a small fine and perhaps a suspended sentence (which suspensions are always forgotten when XRers are convicted of further offences, which seems wrong, but IANAL).

    Or perhaps the prosecution just got dropped. Bradbrook asked for a jury trial. Perhaps someone thought a jury would think there was nothing wrong with breaking windows to save the planet (something that she did again earlier this year).

    Like

  346. anybody watch Serengeti 2 on sunday (probably a repeat, but not sure) – only watched the last 30mts but as expected they shoehorn in the MMGW meme at the end with baby animals about to drown/get eaten/just die because we humans are killing the planet!!!!.

    tried to find a link from non bbc but got blocked unless I pay (no chance) – found this tempter – “The TELEGRAPH – Serengeti 2 review – with such fake storylines we’d be”
    think the end is “better watching the lion king movie”

    Like

  348. ITV local news #2 item was blatant #PRasNews for Drax Electricity Group a complete subsidy mafia operation
    ‘look at our green gimmick projects , now give us another grant’

    They give us a story “Sacha Dench is flying around the country highlighting COP26 and gathering signatures”

    Item starts “but cos of the bad weather today Sacha came in an electric van”
    “Back in her homeland of Australia ..”
    WTF so she’s flown around the world in a jet to lecture us !

    … We got a load of BS talk from her
    “Its so easy for us to transition to net zero”
    No it isn’t .. otherwise we would have already done it
    Net Zero is a pipedream PR phrase.

    Then Michael Maudesly the Drax exec gave us more PR words

    Back to Dench “as I fly over I can see the oil refinery and they’ll be transitioning to hydrogen”
    Will they heck.. Hydrogen is not a high density fuel like methane or petrol is

    Sally Simpson was the ITV reporter/PR-facilitators

    Like

  349. The PR operation
    Currently a twitter search shows a massive list of TV and media orgs doing items with her

    eg GMB 4 weeks ago

    I can see she works with 2 green PR agencies
    .. https://www.twitter.com/C_no_borders/status/1400824289457225731
    Note the name of this outfit .. https://www.twitter.com/Greenhouse_PR/status/1404397963326148610

    Like

  350. “Climate change: Consumer ‘confusion’ threatens net zero homes plan
    By Matt McGrath
    Environment correspondent”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58320578

    “Government plans to decarbonise homes are too complicated and confusing, according to a coalition of consumer and industry groups.

    They’ve written to the prime minister to say that current schemes to adapt homes go wrong far too often.

    The open letter, from Citizens Advice and others, calls for more financial support for making changes.”

    #MagicMoneyTree

    “The coalition includes Citizens Advice, the Federation of Master Builders, the Aldersgate Group and Which?

    They argue that the process of installing low-carbon heating, upgrading insulation or putting in smart technologies is “time consuming, confusing and stressful”.

    They cite the example of the Green Homes Grant, a scheme that was designed to help people insulate their homes.

    It was scrapped in March this year after reaching just 10% of the houses that the government had promised would be improved.

    According to the coalition, simply choosing the right technology or finding a reputable installer demands huge amounts of time, knowledge and effort.

    Far too often, things go wrong with poor installation and technologies not working as expected.”

    Like

  351. “”Madagascar on the brink of climate change-induced famine”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-58303792”

    “Madagascar is on the brink of experiencing the world’s first “climate change famine”, according to the United Nations, which says tens of thousands of people are already suffering “catastrophic” levels of hunger and food insecurity after four years without rain.

    The drought – the worst in four decades – has devastated isolated farming communities in the south of the country, leaving families to scavenge for insects to survive.

    “These are famine-like conditions and they’re being driven by climate not conflict,” said the UN World Food Programme’s Shelley Thakral.

    The UN estimates that 30,000 people are currently experiencing the highest internationally recognised level of food insecurity – level five – and there are concerns the number affected could rise sharply as Madagascar enters the traditional “lean season” before harvest.

    “This is unprecedented. These people have done nothing to contribute to climate change. They don’t burn fossil fuels… and yet they are bearing the brunt of climate change,” said Ms Thakral.”

    This is dreadful news. But climate-change induced? It’s only a few years since nearby Mozambique was suffering from climate-change induced floods, or so we were told. Indeed, 4 years without rain in Madagascar?

    “Madagascar: Floods – Jan 2020”

    https://reliefweb.int/disaster/fl-2020-000019-mdg

    “Following widespread floods and landslides across several the Alaotra Mangoro, Analamanga, Betsiboka, Boeny, Melaky and Sofia regions, 13 people are now confirmed dead. According to media reports, at least 19 people are missing, approximately 3,000 people are displaced and more than 47,000 affected. Roads are damaged in the northern part of the country, leaving some villages isolated. Heavy rain and thunderstorms are forecast over north-western, central-eastern and south-eastern regions. (ECHO, 24 Jan 2020)

    Heavy rainfall and flooding caused by a tropical disturbance have affected nearly 107,000 people, including more than 16,000 displaced, and caused at least 31 deaths in Madagascar over the last week. The Government declared a State of Emergency on 24 January and is leading the humanitarian response. (OCHA, 26 Jan 2020)

    As of 25 January, the human toll is 9 people missing, 31 reported dead, 106,846 affected, 16,031 displaced. The estimation of damage on infrastructure is as follows: 67 public schools completely destroyed, 28 public schools partially destroyed, 18 schools used as evacuation centers. The government declare an Emergency State by the prime Minister. The delivery of humanitarian aid is the biggest issue for humanitarian actor, and the mobilization of sectoral prepositioning and on-site stock is prioritized in the current activities.”

    Where are the BBC fact checkers when you need them?

    Like

  352. “Could this solar farm be a climate change solution?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-58320618

    “Experts say rapid innovative solutions are needed to end our dependency on fossil fuels.

    Could a new project in the Swiss Alps provide an answer?

    Switzerland is committed to being climate neutral by 2050 and there are already plans to recreate the floating solar farm across the country and abroad.”

    It’s just a guess, but I’m sort of thinking that when Switzerland most needs energy – in the depths of winter – there’s a good chance Swiss solar panels will be covered in snow.

    Like

  353. “Oil tycoon Sir Ian Wood says halting new fields would be ‘crazy'”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58321884

    “It would be “absolutely crazy” for the UK to stop drilling for new oil, a business leader has claimed.

    Sir Ian Wood, who used to run a major oil supply company, believes it would be “detrimental, environmentally” to shut down the sector.

    He says new fields are necessary to stop oil and gas being imported from countries with less strict regulations.

    Environmentalists say drilling for new oil would be “disastrous for the climate”.

    The claims come amid opposition to the proposed Cambo oil field west of Shetland.

    Sir Ian suggests any attempt to “shut down” the UK sector without a parallel drop in demand for oil would mean more emissions.

    The sector has previously argued this would come from the increased transportation of oil to satisfy domestic demand.

    But Sir Ian also claims the production process in most other countries is much more harmful than at home.

    For that reason he believes continued drilling and production of domestic oil and gas is a greener option than cutting off supply.”

    Of course, Sir Ian is right. In the course of the article, headline and picture blurb, the BBC manages to tell us 5 times that he’s an “oil tycoon”, etc. There’s the usual quote from the BBC go-to, Greenpeace, but I do give them small credit for finishing with the oil people, for a change:

    “The industry body Oil and Gas UK has published a blueprint for how it intends to reduce the carbon impact of its production processes.

    It plans to be net-zero by 2035 with most of its platforms powered by renewable energy.

    In his interview, Sir Ian suggests there would be a significant impact to the economy of north east Scotland if oil and gas production ended earlier than planned.

    He said: “Right now there’s 71,000 jobs in oil and gas in Scotland. And if they went out there quickly then these jobs would go.

    “Not only that, we’d have a massive balance of payments issue as well.

    “It does not make sense from any point of view. You’re better from the economic point of view, from the environment point of view, from the jobs point of view, to carry on the path we’re on.””

    Like

  354. “Extinction Rebellion: Giant table erected in London street dismantled”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-58319001

    Funny that the BBC doesn’t tell us who dismantled it, which I would have thought was relevant to a story whose headline is about the dismantling of the giant table. Of course, it was dismantled by the local council, at the expense of local taxpayers, not by XR, who managed to install it but not to take it away again and recycle it. I trust that the Council sends XR the bill.

    The whole story isn’t about the dismantling of the table at all, but is an opportunity for the BBC basically to re-run its original coverage, complete with pictures, by way of a PR blitz for XR.

    Liked by 1 person

  355. XR are no better than the people who visit the Lake District and litter beauty spots with disposable BBQs, tents etc. They can manage to bring these things with them, but not take them away again. It’s the opposite of environmentalism, and is a disgrace.

    Like

  356. “Is democracy getting in the way of saving the planet?
    Kate Aronoff
    Our climate is in crisis, but authoritarians and technocrats don’t have the answers”

    An alarming headline, but thank goodness she arrives at the conclusion that we mustn’t abandon democracy. For a moment, I thought the Guardian had lost it completely.

    As a despairing old lefty, I struggle with the final paragraph, however:

    “Roads away from democracy all lead to climate chaos. There’s no easy alternative on offer of course. The illiberal right is ascending much faster than the socialist left that has long sought to extend democracy into political systems, homes, and workplaces. The best hope in the short term is for a popular front to browbeat the middling centrists who claim to “believe science” into actually acting on it, and beating back the illiberal right accordingly.”

    There is of course a very illiberal right, but there is an increasingly illiberal left too, which is why I find myself politically homeless. One of the problems with the Guardian and many of its writers is that it simply thinks “right bad, left good” and there’s precious little consideration of the dangerously illiberal road being taken by many on the left these days.

    Like

  357. I used to help out at many green festivals
    A lot of people were middle class Marxists rather than Green in action.
    Among other things I spent a lot of time dealing with their rubbish
    They built large bonfires and smoked dope
    … whilst complaining “these big companies are polluting our air”

    Like

  358. 10am Woman’s Hour : There’s no blurb today
    but the photo is of an XR protest with a large whale outside St Pancras Station.

    Yesterday I said they had an item about “cooking for climate”
    Now that did air, but strangely they’ve removed the item from the blurb
    and added a bit about women soldiers in Afghanistan.
    as if that was a last minute item
    and the Climate item was reduced to fit it.

    Like

  359. I always try to stay ahead of their PR games
    Today they first left the blurb blank
    and finally tweeted a promo tweet for their XR show at 9:21am 30 mins after I’d posted here
    .. the blurb is still blank.

    The activist was laying on her twisted worldview so thick, I had to switch it off.. #ClimateCult
    However it wasn’t love in ..Emma did ask some probing questions, but only 30% as hard as Julia H Brewer would.

    There are female skeptics like Jaime, Judith Curry, Jo Nova
    Did the BBC ask any on ?

    Like

  360. 10:30am WH put out another promo tweet

    Third promo tweet
    Eco-anxiety https://twitter.com/BBCWomansHour/status/1430465986843512833

    Twitter reactions

    – Can’t believe I just heard an Oxford academic talking about the solutions to climate change
    being more women and P.O.C, less men (who have obviously caused the problem)
    and “decolonisation“.
    Ideological possession as an alternative to coherent thought, seemingly.

    I would say there 10 skeptics mocking them
    and then 40 activists saying how good the activist was and how mean Emma is for daring not to fawn
    Half their tweets are the lazy gotcha “Oh Emma said the majority of voters voted for this government”
    (that’s not technically true cos of FPTP, the majority of seats voted for the government
    and it is true a large section, probably the majority don’t want a Labour government)

    Like

  361. Their side
    Climate change is happening because of us. That is the scientific consensus.
    Many of the counter arguments are thoroughly debunked at the site below.
    Only problem is those who should read it won’t.
    Too scared.
    https://skepticalscience.com
    This was an extremely adversarial rather than balanced interview.
     (LOL total projection from the tweeter
    SkepSci is the PRtrickseter website)

    The tone of voice and questioning from @Emmabarnett of the @ExtinctionR protestors went beyond enquiry, and sounded dismissive.
    It was too clear that Emma herself doesn’t approve of their methods.
    if you are critical of XR, you need to offer an alternative.
    .. (The alternative to Green fascism is open debate and proper democracy )

    This XR member, Fiona, on @BBCWomansHour is so excellent and articulate and clear.
    The interviewing of her is unbelievably stale and tedious.
    As if XR protest are responsible for the dire state of domestic violence funding.

    Please correct Emma Barnett in her assertion that the majority of people voted for this govt.
    (Technically it’s most seats that voted for this government,
    Can’t go by raw vote tally, cos many people don’t vote cos their seat is already a shoe-in)

    I see some signs the BBC is at last pulling its finger out regarding global warming
    in the tone and content of their output on @BBCRadio4
    FFS even the activists admit the BBC is on their side

    Like

  362. Tuesday8am Humberside news ..lobbying item from Climate Central
    .. all flooding BS

    9amRadio4 It’s the trailer for the Tom Heap daily green dream show
    Then into a show on energy poverty
    Will they say Solar wind are the problem ?
    nope we are into another dream Community Energy project fronted by an Indian immigrant

    “Brixton Energy Solar project !”
    ..they haven’t admitted where the subsides come from

    Like

  363. Mark have a look at trash
    I thought I’d accidentally deleted one of your posts
    I hadn’t it’ just that when I deleted my misplaced post the screen reloaded in a funny way
    Anyway a few of my posts are in trash
    .. Maybe someone had good reason to delete them
    Or do some posts get wrongly deleted by the system

    Like

  364. Radio4 jut tweeted : “Are Extinction Rebellion the new Suffragettes?”
    Hangon .. that is a reissued article not just made
    Dated : 12 Apr 2019 They promoted it 3 times then
    It’s just that R4 repromoted it again, as they are promoting the background info as part of a thread trailing the forthcoming XR two weeks of protests .. https://twitter.com/BBCRadio4/status/1430129725654159362

    On the Beyond Today podcast Matthew Price asked
    why Extinction Rebellion think breaking the law is key to saving the planet.
    For this episode we invited Extinction Rebellion’s Clare Farrell
    into the Beyond Today studio to find out why they think breaking the law is key to saving the planet.

    We also spoke to Phil Jones, who edits the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2. Phil told us about the climate change phone-in that angered the nation and a mix-up that ended with Extinction Rebellion members being hauled from the Radio 2 studio by police.
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p076b4x5

    Like

  365. John, according to Climate Action Tracker (thanks for the links) the two countries that are leading the world in the fight against climate change right now are Morocco and The Gambia. They are the only two countries deemed to be ‘1.5C Paris Agreement Compatible’.

    URL:climateactiontracker.org/countries/

    Two things about that:

    (a) Almost everyone agrees that 1.5C is inevitable.*

    (b) Those two world-leading countries don’t plan to reduce their own emissions any time soon.**

    But well done to Morocco and The Gambia, anyway. You are leading the world in promising the right things if the right people squint hard enough.

    At the moment.

    Because these things can change even when the underlying promises don’t change.

    Climate Action Tracker has a category that’s even more admirable than ‘1.5C Paris Agreement Compatible’. This is ‘Role Model’. Empty at the moment but back in 2011 it was occupied by The Maldives, which led the world in the fight against climate change until early 2015, when it was kicked off Climate Action Tracker’s website for reasons that remain mysterious.

    Bhutan stood alongside The Maldives as a ‘Role Model’ for a few months, starting in late 2014, and remained as a ‘Role Model’ until late 2015, when it was demoted. I don’t think there have been any ‘Role Models’ since then. The Maldives still haven’t resurfaced and these days Bhutan is merely ‘2C Compatible’ – but well done to both countries, anyway, for leading the world, however briefly, in promising the right things in the purest way possible. If you squint hard enough.

    ===
    *One exception is Friederike Otto:

    URL:www.klimafakten.de/meldung/ich-glaube-vom-ipcc-kann-ich-nicht-mehr-verlangen-aber-von-der-politik-und-der-justiz

    <b<6. How do you rate the reachability of the 1.5 degree limit?

    I am a physicist, it is absolutely achievable.

    **Here’s part of CAT’s evaluation of Morocco’s climate policies:

    Despite the coal-dominated power sector, Morocco’s Paris Agreement target is still within the range of what is considered to be a “1.5°C compatible” fair share of global effort under the CAT’s equity rating. This means that Morocco’s unconditional Paris Agreement climate commitment in 2030, although allows the country’s total emissions to increase, is consistent with holding warming well below 2°C, and limiting warming to 1.5°C, based on its historical responsibility and its capability.</blockquote?

    Would it be unkind to call that a load of wank?

    Liked by 1 person

  366. Old people are useless
    We should listen to young people on Green measures

    Really ?
    If I wasn’t old I wouldn’t have recognised the Alarmist farmer just featured on ITV local news
    When I met him, he was very enthusiastic about all the miscanthus he grows for the straw burn power stations

    Like

  367. >”Would it be unkind to call that a load of wank?”

    No, I think you are being far too kind.

    I’m glad you appreciated the link to the Climate Action Tracker. It is new to me and it is going straight onto my favourites.

    I think the preceding link is also very interesting. It is an article written by a certain Professor Robert Fletcher, but it so easily could have been written by our own Mark Hodgson.

    Like

  368. Stewgreen at 1.08pm. I can’t see any of your posts in trash (certainly nothing recent). I fear that occasionally the system sends posts to trash that should be allowed through; I’m not aware of anyone actively deleting them.

    Liked by 1 person

  370. “Firms struggle to pay for green changes post-Covid”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-58322451

    “Most small businesses want to take action to cut climate change but are struggling to pay for it, a group says.

    Hundreds of businesses across Bristol, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire said reducing their carbon footprint was a “core business issue”.

    But less than half have taken “significant” steps to achieve it.”

    “Nina Skubala, head of climate strategy at Business West, said many business face a “really tricky” dilemma but understand they must tackle their emissions.

    “There needs to be a real carrot and stick. Businesses are ready, they understand the need to act,” she said.

    “The regulations need to alter so that it’s cheaper and it makes clear business sense to go with the low carbon option.”

    Wendy Thompson runs an eco-friendly cleaning business and currently sells products at a zero waste store in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire.

    But an expansion plan was hit when a £6,000 government grant for an electric van which she would have used for deliveries was cut down to £3,000 after the initial scheme ended in March.”

    #MagicMoneyTree.

    Like

  371. A truly bizarre headline, assuming it refers to climate as in climate and not as a metaphor, e.g. for political climate:

    “A Scottish Green-SNP alliance could transform the country, and the climate
    Caroline Lucas”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/25/scotland-green-party-politics-climate-crisis

    The idea that anything happening in a country with a very small fraction of 1% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions could even slightly affect the climate, let alone “transform” it, is utterly delusional. Needless to say there is nothing in the article that justifies the headline.

    Like

  372. John R at 6.06pm, I’m intrigued. You mean someone else writes long-winded legalese?

    Like

  374. ITV local news : “Climate Change means Yorkshire could run out of water” (where that farmer was the last part)
    Could it be #PRasNews ?
    … surely not, it’s just a coincidence the main person featured is “Head of Brand”

    Like

  375. Mark,

    No. I simply meant that he was backing up everything you had said regarding national commitments and tracking progress 🙂

    Like

  376. 9pm BBC4 New 3 part American series about Water
    No Doubt used as a vehicle to push #ClimateFearPorn

    ep 1 “blah, blah ….
    But the world is changing.
    Drought-chasing scientists examine what happens when the pulse falters,
    showing how the flow of water is driven by its relationship with life.”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z2ct

    ep3 Crisis
    Gaza is a microcosm of a world without access to water. As the planet heats up, droughts may have become more commonplace, but that doesn’t mean that water is disappearing.

    Storm chasers and photographers track the global changes in giant storms and floods across America. Nasa’s Grace satellites reveal a new map showing global overuse of aquifers. In some places, underground water is being ‘mined’ – finite reserves, which are being used up for profit.

    But there are solutions too. New York City uses nature and the Catskill mountains instead of an industrial plant for water treatment, demonstrating a collective appreciation for the importance of water.

    Like

  378. “‘Use your £11bn climate fund to pay for family planning,’ UK told
    More than 60 NGOs call for spending rule change, saying people on frontline of climate crisis want greater access to reproductive healthcare”

    https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/26/use-your-11bn-climate-fund-to-pay-for-family-planning-uk-told

    At the risk of being controversial, I think this makes a degree of sense. The more people there are, the more pressure humanity places on ecology and the environment, the greater the chance of a famine, the bigger likelihood that people will end up living in unsuitable locations (flood plains, etc). Populations are exploding in some developing countries, as their NDCs under the Paris Agreement make clear.

    Like

  380. Then again, maybe the rubbish on Brighton beaches was left by Greens, after all:

    “Extinction Rebellion demo left 120 tons of rubbish on London’s streets, say council chiefs
    Westminster council leaders reveal scale of littering left behind by activists during 2019 protests, claiming clean-up costs hit £50,000”

    https://extra.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/08/25/extinction-rebellion-demo-left-120-tonnes-rubbish-londons-streets/

    It’s behind a paywall, but you might be able to read more of it here:

    https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-daily-telegraph/20210826/281526524145123

    Like

  381. Climate change in action:

    “Cairn Gorm funicular problems push back reopening to late 2022”

    https://www.grough.co.uk/magazine/2021/08/26/cairn-gorm-funicular-problems-push-back-reopening-to-late-2022

    “A controversial funicular railway on Cairn Gorm will not reopen in time for this winter’s skiing season, its owners announced.

    Highlands and Islands Enterprise blamed the Covid-19 crisis and unseasonal blizzards as some of the reasons for missing the targeted date for the service’s reintroduction.”

    Unseasonal blizzards, eh? And there was me thinking that rare species were being threatened because it was getting just too hot on the mountains, leaving them nowhere to migrate too once they’ve moved high up the mountain…

    Like

  382. https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/08/26/extinction-rebellion-doesnt-care-what-you-think/

    “Extinction Rebellion doesn’t care what you think”

    Say what you will about Extinction Rebellion, the ability of this environmentalist group to unite the British bourgeoisie is truly impressive. As XR took to the streets of London again yesterday – for the third day of a planned two weeks of protest and disruption – the white middle- and upper-classes of Britain were represented in all their diversity.

    Liked by 1 person

  384. Jit, I reckon Bradbrook’s trial for her Oct 2019 window-breaking has been delayed due to the covid backlog. At the Dec 2019 hearing she was booked for a 4-day trial at Isleworth starting on 28th Oct 2020 but that seems not to have happened.

    Like

  385. Vinny, thanks for the update. If previous results are anything to go by, the case could end up being thrown out (though the recent spate of failed cases may all have been about obstruction rather than criminal damage).

    Like

  386. “Newcastle’s plastic grass sparks ‘carbon footprint’ row”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-58339605

    “Environmental campaigners have urged council bosses to introduce a ban on plastic grass in a city centre.

    An artificial lawn has been used on Newcastle’s Quayside over summer and covered the road in Blackett Street.

    Campaigners previously complained about the use of the fake grass, which they said had a “huge carbon footprint”, and called for Newcastle City Council to stop using it on land it owns.

    The council said it could not prevent its use but it backed biodiversity.

    NE1, the city’s business improvement company which organises summer events, said it tried to use “as little artificial grass as possible”.

    The strips of fake grass have been laid over recent weeks as part of activities designed to encourage more people into the city.”

    Like

  387. Thanks to the destruction of the UK’s manufacturing sector (in part because of uncompetitively high energy prices in the UK, due to reliance on renewables),the UK is now quite heavily dependent on financial services. It seems the Lib Dems aren’t satisfied with the export of our manufacturing industry (together with associated jobs and CO2 emissions) they now wish to do the same to the financial sector:

    “Lib Dems propose ban on new listings of fossil fuel companies on LSE
    Exclusive: proposal part of party’s plan to give City of London a lead role in helping UK tackle climate crisis”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/aug/26/lib-dems-propose-ban-on-new-listings-of-fossil-fuel-companies-on-lse-london-climate-change

    “New listings of fossil fuel companies would be immediately banned on the London Stock Exchange as part of a proposal by the Liberal Democrats that the party says could help the UK become a leader in tackling the climate emergency.

    Under the plan outlined to the Guardian by the Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, another immediate policy would be to stop new bonds being issued in London to finance oil, coal or gas exploration.

    Fossil fuel firms already listed in the UK would then have two years to produce a coherent plan about how they would reach net zero emissions by 2045, or risk being struck off the LSE.

    In the longer term, pension funds would have to disinvest from fossil fuels by 2035, with all companies with fossil fuel assets removed from the exchange by 2045.

    Davey, who on Friday marks the first anniversary of becoming the permanent leader of the Lib Dems, said such plans had the potential to achieve more than the UK’s own move to net zero emissions, or even its chairing of November’s Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.”

    I am rendered ever more politically homeless. Can’t vote Tory, can’t vote Labour, can’t vote Lib Dem, can’t vote Green. No SNP or Plaid Cymru candidates where I live (thank goodness), but even if there were, I couldn’t vote for them either…..

    Like

  388. “What if it’s too late to save our planet without geoengineering?
    Moira Donegan
    Climate engineering sounds scary. But is coming whether we like it or not, this scientist says”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/26/planet-earth-climate-crisis-geoengineering

    Yes, it does sound scary – because it is. Cure worse than the disease, and all that. It’s all starting to sound like something out of a James Bond plot, only we don’t have a James Bond to save the day from those who want to interfere with the world as it is.

    Like

  389. I see the siesta story is to run and run:

    “How a ‘lazy’ siesta could transform the UK’s working day
    Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
    Longer breaks could mitigate some effects of extreme weather due to the climate crisis”

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/26/siestas-adapt-rise-in-temperatures-homes-workplaces

    “…A 2019 study claimed that in 30 years’ time, London could have a climate similar to that of Barcelona. It isn’t just the increasingly intense heat that may make parts of the south inhospitable, it’s also extreme flooding of the sort we have already seen this summer. A study in 2020 estimated that within 50 years, a billion people will live in insufferable heat. We will probably see waves of migration – away from coastal regions and expanding deserts – on an unprecedented, global scale.

    Setting aside the sheer horror of the crisis we face for just a moment…

    …Of course, none of it matters if we are all under water, in which case whether to siesta or not will be the least of our worries.”

    Always good to see balanced reporting.

    Like

  391. Ah, those unintended consequences again, just like when we were all told to buy diesel cars to save the planet:

    “LED streetlights decimating moth numbers in England
    ‘Eco-friendly’ lights found to be worse than sodium ones – but both contribute to insect decline, says study”

    “https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/25/led-streetlights-moth-england-eco-friendly-sodium-insect-decline”

    ““Eco-friendly” LED streetlights produce even worse light pollution for insects than the traditional sodium bulbs they are replacing, a study has found.

    The abundance of moth caterpillars in hedgerows by rural roads in England was 52% lower under LED lights and 41% lower under sodium lights when compared with nearby unlit areas.

    In grass margins, moth caterpillar numbers near LEDs were a third lower than in unlit areas, whereas sodium lights had little effect on abundance. The white LED lights are more energy efficient but produce more blue light, say scientists, which is the colour predominantly seen by insects.

    Moths are important pollinators and provide essential food for birds and animals, but the total abundance of moths in Britain has dropped by a third over the past 50 years.

    Reports of plunging insect populations have alarmed scientists, with the destruction of wild places, pesticides and the climate crisis being major causes. Light pollution is increasing globally and was described by a recent review as an “important but often overlooked bringer of the insect apocalypse”, as it makes insects more visible to predators and disrupts feeding and reproduction.

    The study is the first to examine the impact of LEDs in a real-world setting and the first to show the direct impact of light pollution on caterpillars. The caterpillars are less mobile than adult moths, and therefore show more precisely the local losses caused by light pollution.”

    Like

  392. “The great grape migration: Climate change pushes winemakers north
    Rising temperatures are redrawing the maps of Europe’s vineyards — and disrupting centuries-old traditions.”

    https://www.politico.eu/article/netherlands-winemakers-wijntuin-ronja-vineyard-grapes-climate-change-fungi-droughts-floods/

    “In recent years, global warming has opened the door for people in typically colder places like the Netherlands to make wine where once it was inconceivable. ”

    Given that we know that the Romans had vineyards in Britain, it does seem that it must have been warmer then, on the basis of this analysis.

    Like

  393. JIT, thanks for the Spiked link – “Extinction Rebellion doesn’t care what you think”

    Funny your brain works, but after reading the link & thinking XR “WHO ARE YOU!!!”

    the name “Swampy” entered my head from MSM coverage years ago (he at least looked like he would follow his convictions)

    so google gives me – snippet

    “Swampy (Daniel Marc Hooper, born 1973), is a British environmental activist. He was active in a number of environmental protests in the 1990s”

    MailOnline – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2420429/Swampys-new-life-Former-eco-warrior-40-lives-yurt-children-job.html

    all I would add is I thought he was ECO/progress nutter back in the day, but his lifestyle now gives him “STREET CRED” that XR lack.

    Like

  394. Mark Hodgson: ‘I am rendered ever more politically homeless. Can’t vote Tory, can’t vote Labour, can’t vote Lib Dem, can’t vote Green. No SNP or Plaid Cymru candidates where I live (thank goodness), but even if there were, I couldn’t vote for them either…..’

    The answer is obvious. Vote for the Yogic Flyers:

    URL:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Law_Party

    You might have to stand (or bounce up and down with your legs crossed) as your own candidate because Wiki says the party is dead in the UK – but no party is ever wholly dead in the UK. They all live on in the margins.

    So let’s revivicate the Natural Law Party and bounce, bounce to a bright new future!

    URL:www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyXAB5L3EIQ

    Like

  395. ‘Third brawl in two days in Armenian Parliament’:

    URL:www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-58340042

    See? They couldn’t have done that if they’d had their legs crossed and were bouncing up and down on their bums.

    Revivicate the Natural Law Party internationally and revivicate it now!

    Like

  396. Our local radio is big on Climate Evangelism
    2 items at least today,
    but for all their work, it didn’t make much impact on Twitter ..nor Facebook

    #1 10am-2pm host (a cover woman not the regular one)
    was doing climate evangelism all the show “What are you doing for Climate change”
    She did read out supportive messages

    #2 The Breakfast show was at it too
    His running theme was food waste
    He claimed a third of food is wasted
    “1.3 BILLION tonnes of food is wasted each year across the world – that’s ONE THIRD of what we produce.
    And 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions is produced by food manufacturing processes.”
    I think you can only get such dramatic PR phrases by twisting language
    by including potato skins, veg stalks and animals bones as food waste

    He tweeted the same tweet 3 times
    .. https://twitter.com/RadioHumberside/status/1430797138628337667

    Like

  397. That BBC local radio presenter who was a right Climate-tele-evangelist today

    I just cane across her husband’s Twitter bio
    “Programme Director Hull Kingston Radio 107.4FM.
    Socialist, (little bit left-wing)”

    Like

  399. Vinny, I regret to advise that I won’t be voting for the Natural Law Party. Should they put up a candidate where I live (sadly, it seems unlikely, in view of their lack of funding and the lack of media interest in them) I’ll be voting SDP next time, otherwise it will probably be a spoiled ballot from me.

    Meanwhile:

    “Climate Basics: Can carbon offsetting help the planet?”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/58337283

    “Is it really possible to buy your way out of creating harmful greenhouse gases that cause climate change? Governments, companies and individuals already participate in carbon offsetting schemes that try to balance their emissions by finding other ways to reduce carbon in the atmosphere by an equivalent amount.

    BBC Reality Check’s Chris Morris considers whether carbon offsetting is a viable method to tackle climate change.”

    The simple answer of course is that carbon offsetting is the means by which wealthy eco-warriors get to salve their consciences while not changing their lifestyles but demanding that the rest of us change ours.

    Like

  400. Oh good, the 400th entry on this particular open mic. So we’ll get a new one and I will lose the instability on my iPad when I open Open Mic and have to wait until it calms down and I can read Mark’s or Stewgreen’s latest. Hurrah!

    Like

  402. Dougie, at least Swampy was trying to stop a woodland from being cut down was he not? Not many could disagree with the notion that a woodland is something worth saving. It would be interesting to know whether such a bypass would be possible in today’s “climate.” (I’ve been boycotting Greene King beer for a couple of decades after they cut a road through a woodland. I don’t think I drink enough beer for them to have noticed.)

    Speaking of Spiked, the latest podcast is out and lays into XR:
    “Extinction Rebellion: a revolt against the people”
    https://www.spiked-online.com/podcast-episode/extinction-rebellion-a-revolt-against-the-people/
    (I listen on Spotify – I think the link at that URL is to youtube.)

    Like

  403. 6:15pm ITV local news
    not local, national syndicated #PRasNews for #GreenBlob
    promoting a dream called Regenerative Farming.
    The PR was laid on thick.

    They claimed that today making nitrogen fertilizer makes a lot of CO2 etc.
    Actually some nitrates is simply mined from the Atacama Desert (I worked there).
    Their idea is you give up the fertilizer and just use cow manure which can even sequestrate some CO2 in the soil.

    i. If you give up modern efficient farming
    you need more land
    So end up using up more nature.
    ii. Farmers don’t buy fertilizer to let it flow away
    so actually get more efficient anyway
    iii The item was #FakeNews cos it missed the big context that Regenerative Farming is less efficient so makes food more expensive.

    Like

  404. Alan

    The new Open Mic page appears as a result of human interaction with the website – regrettably it doesn’t happen magically when the comments hit 400! Still, watch this space, and expect a new page very soon.

    Meanwhile:

    “COP26: Queen to attend climate conference in Glasgow”

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58360381

    “Others expected to travel to Scotland include Pope Francis and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.”

    Good to see lots of experts there!

    Like

  405. I think this is quite funny:

    “Hopes of autumn glory as season arrives early in parts of southern England
    Signs of mid-September are already here, which experts predict could create spectacular autumnal colours”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/27/hopes-autumn-glory-season-arrives-early-parts-southern-england

    “The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is rolling in earlier than usual across parts of the south and south-east of England due to the soggy and sunny summer, according to forestry experts.

    Ripening blackberries, sweetening chestnuts and burgeoning forest fruits – typically seasonal hallmarks of autumn normally seen from mid-September – are all evident, said Forestry England, which manages publicly owned forests.

    And with them come hopes of a spectacularly colourful autumnal display.

    The cold, sunny spring followed by the damp summer have combined to hasten autumn, as Met Office data shows the south and south-east experienced a particularly wet June, July and August, with about double the average rainfall in places.

    “This rain, coupled with above average sunshine, has meant that we are already noticing signs of autumn within our forests,” Forestry England said.”

    So, a cold spring, followed by a damp, cool summer, and now an early autumn. Pretty much the obvious of what we were told should happen. And yet still they tell us this:

    “Forestry England experts said that with a warming climate and change in precipitation patterns, the country could expect to see a change in autumn into the future. “A longer growing season will likely keep trees greener later into the autumn…”.

    Which is basically the opposite of what happened this year.

    Like

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