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Climate Scepticism
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Continuing from the last comment on the previous thread. The first page in the series, from early May 2021, is here.
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New funny video debunking Energy Vault gravity storage system. At 11 minutes in the company got valued at 2 billion dollars:
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Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere. Our internet connection has just been restored after 11 days, so I’m still catching up. While I’ve been internet-free, the Guardian seems to have been carrying on with business as usual:
“‘I was enjoying a life that was ruining the world’: can therapy treat climate anxiety?”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/12/climate-anxiety-therapy-mental-health
Worth a read, IMO< to see just how deranged the climate activism has become, and the damage it is doing to people's mental health. Telling, I think, that the article ends with:
"In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at http://www.befrienders.org."
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Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Truly the establishment is in thrall to eco-lunacy:
“Insulate Britain: Judge ‘inspired’ by activists after M25 protest”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-61085689
“A judge told of how he was “inspired” by Insulate Britain protesters as he fined some for holding a demonstration on the M25.
The group blocked traffic, including an ambulance with a patient, by sitting at junction 3 near Swanley, Kent.
Some activists glued themselves to the Tarmac, while another stuck himself to a police car on 29 September.
Some of the demonstrators appeared at Crawley Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, while others pleaded guilty by post.
Three protesters, Ian Bates, 63, from Northampton, Karen Matthews, 60, and 54-year-old Biff Whipster from Canterbury, Kent, were told by District Judge Stephen Leake they had “inspired” him after making speeches about their climate concerns while representing themselves.
But the judge added his role was to “apply the law” and said their actions had caused “significant disruption” to the motorway.
He said: “I have heard your voices. They have inspired me and personally I intend to do what I can to reduce my own impact on the planet, so to that extent your voices are certainly heard.”…”.
I don’t want to put myself in contempt of Court, but it’s my belief that it is better that Judges don’t say things like this to convicted law-breakers, since surely it just encourages them in their law-breaking?
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“Cumbria coal mine: What is the controversy about?
By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-56023895
“The government has been set a deadline of 7 July to decide on whether to go-ahead with a new coal mine in the UK.
The Planning Inspectorate has sent its completed report on the Cumbria mine – including the summer deadline – to Communities Secretary Michael Gove who must now make the final decision.
Boris Johnson has previously said he said he was “not in favour of more coal”, but with 40% of the UK’s coking coal coming from Russia will the war in Ukraine change the government’s approach?”
The only new bit, I think, is the fact that we now have a date for the decision. The rest is just a re-hash of Roger’s numerous previous articles on the subject, including this:
“The firm says the mine will create 500 jobs, but sceptics think that is exaggerated.
Unemployment in the area is lower than the national average…”.
We’ve been here before, Rog. It depends how you define the area. Cumbria as a whole has relatively low unemployment. The west coast of Cumbria has relatively high unemployment. So high, in fact, that quite a lot of people make an 80 miles a day round trip from the west coast to work at places like CenterParcs east of Penrith. There is no doubt that there are more than enough unemployed people locally to benefit from the jobs the mine offers. Surely that’s a good thing. And green, too, if it stops them driving more than 400 miles a week to work….
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Oh I do think gluing yourself to a police car shows foresight.
Welcome back Mark after eleven days of isolation.
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Mike, that is an interesting video, in particular the ludicrous valuation of the company. The potential energy in an object of 1 kg raised 1 m is 10 J. On the other hand the energy in a match head is 1 kJ. Juggling concrete blocks is never going to be worth it.
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” the BBC TV’S London Programme
is run by an editorial cabal of anarchist Marxists. But tonight
a party political broadcast by Extinction Rebellion
was taking their agenda a bit too far.”
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“Just Stop Oil: Valero Energy granted injunction restricting protests”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61100788
“…Following a hearing on Monday, Mr Justice Bennathan made the injunction in terms which ban people from damaging any part of the land at the firm’s sites or access roads, from building any structure and from tunnelling under roads or occupying existing tunnels.
The order, the details of which were made public on Wednesday, also prohibits abandoning vehicles or other items on parts of Valero’s sites’ access roads.
But the judge refused to widen the injunction to include blocking, endangering, slowing down, preventing, or obstructing the free passage of traffic on the access roads, and refusing to leave the roads when asked by police….”.
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“Extinction Rebellion goes door-knocking for new recruits”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61093390
“Extinction Rebellion climate change activists have been door-knocking across London to attract new members.
The group says it is carrying out three days of “deep-canvassing”, approaching people in their homes to “listen to their concerns” about climate change.
Residents are being invited to local talks, to learn about the campaign and how to get involved.
Extinction Rebellion (XR) says the “outreach” exercises are part of a “week of action” in the capital.
XR says despite polls suggesting a high level of concern about climate change, “rarely do people have the opportunity to share their thoughts and fears about the world”.
A spokesperson said: “We want to hear different people’s perspectives and views, and help them find a community of people who are worried about the climate crisis in their area.”…”.
It’s a bit disappointing that they seem to have limited this activity to London. I do hope that they knock on my door. 😉
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“I went on TV to explain Just Stop Oil – and it became a parody of Don’t Look Up
Miranda Whelehan
I wanted to sound the alarm about oil exploration and the climate crisis, but Good Morning Britain just didn’t want to hear”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/13/just-stop-oil-climate-crisis-good-morning-britain
I do worry that students today believe things like this, and are prepared to damage their futures by potentially having criminal convictions on their record:
“My fear is that they will only understand the reality of the climate crisis when it is on the doorstep, perhaps when the floodwater is uncontrollably trickling into their homes, or when they can no longer find food in the supermarkets. Maybe then the brutal reality of losing a “livable planet” means would actually sink in. Maybe then the journalists, presenters and climate delayers would think: “Oh, maybe we should have listened, done something.” And, of course, it will be too late.”
Or this:
“Civil resistance is really not about protests or marches, it is about responding to a situation beyond our worst nightmares. At Cop26, the people who run things effectively confirmed that they were going to let billions of the poorest people on this planet die in order to keep business as usual going.”
Actually, it’s the people who would deny the billions of the poorest people on the planet access to reliable and cheap energy who are doing the most “to let those people die”.
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And I think this is deeply troubling too:
“XR scientists glue hands to business department in London climate protest
Affiliates of Scientists for Extinction Rebellion highlight climate science they say government is ignoring”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/13/xr-scientists-glue-hands-to-business-department-in-london-climate-protest
“Twenty-five scientists have pasted pages of scientific papers to the windows of the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and glued their hands to the glass to highlight the climate science they said the government was ignoring.
The scientists, affiliated with Scientists for Extinction Rebellion, arrived at the department’s building at 1 Victoria Street, Westminster, London, just after 11am. Doctors and health professionals staged a decoy action to give them space to get into position…
…At least 10 scientists were arrested after spray-painting extinction symbols in the glass facade of the BEIS building. Among them was Prof Colin Davis, the chair in cognitive psychology at Bristol university. Gardner said they had escalated the protest with spray-painting in an effort to provoke the police into making arrests….”.
Are cognitive psychologists now climate scientists?
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Bristol seems to a hotbed for this kind of thing, wonder why !!!
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If some biz says they have done a woke thing it makes me suspicious
Green measures are almost always ungreen.
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I see Priti Patel and Boris (“the fined”) have announced free one-way plane tickets to view the scenic sights of Rwanda, so massively increasing carbon dioxide levels (especially if the aircraft return empty).
Wasn’t there a civil war in Rwanda over perceived overpopulation? No doubt much Danegeld has been offered to Ruanda. Seems to me that it would have been simpler to have flown these involuntary tourists directly from France to Rwanda so cutting out the cross-channel experience.
Poor buggers.
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“What is Extinction Rebellion and what does it want?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48607989
Er, I think you’ve already told us BBC, on more than one occasion. This may be news, but I’m struggling to see that it’s “science & environment” news – it’s propaganda.
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This is where the money goes….
“Ambitious £5bn climate plan approved by WECA regional leaders”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-61096212
“An ambitious climate strategy that could cost more than £5bn has been approved by regional leaders.
The West of England Combined Authority (WECA) plan includes retrofitting 250,000 homes over eight years to meet carbon neutral ambitions.
It also has a target of 40% less car mileage by the end of the decade.
Leaders said the project reveals the “daunting” scale of urgent change needed to respond to recent warnings of imminent “irreversible damage”.
A previous strategy was dropped by the authority despite spending two years on it.”
This sort of nonsense keeps bumping into the obvious truth that whatever they do, it will make no difference to anything, while wasting a lot of money that could have been spent on improving the lives of poor people. Bristol and Bath can’t “save the planet”, especially if India and China and Russia and all the rest of them are determined not to join in.
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9am Radio is celebrating Easter by promoting Greenpeace and Labour leader Keir Starmer.
“Kirsty Wark and guests recall the 1990s decade-long libel case between restaurant chain McDonald’s and two Greenpeace campaigners
McDonald’s took offence and began a case against these, and other claims, made in the leaflet. The pair were unable to get legal aid and so faced the prospect of having to represent themselves in court.
Keir Starmer was a young lawyer at the time and was keen to help – offering his advice for free“
The prog called The Reunion gathers some of the people involved to talk about the case.
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I have mentioned before that same BBC webpage has been through many updates and repromotions since it was first issued in July 2019 until it was updated 20 hours ago.
I count at least 14 promo tweets from official BBC accounts
Some on bbc.com
.. https://www.twitter.com/search?q=min_replies%3A1%20www.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fuk-48607989&src=typed_query&f=live
Some on bbc.co.uk
.. https://www.twitter.com/search?q=min_replies%3A1%20www.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk-48607989&src=typed_query&f=live
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When is something going to be done about these dangerous, deluded and self-entitled pillocks?
“Extinction Rebellion: Activists block four London bridges”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61120179
“Climate change protesters have blocked four of London’s busiest bridges.
Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion activists gathered on Waterloo, Blackfriars, Lambeth and Westminster bridges calling for an end to new fossil fuel investments.
Queues of traffic have been forming as a result of the demonstrations.
The Metropolitan Police said it was aware of “pockets of protest” and officers were attempting to control the disruption.
Demonstrators were playing bongos and waving banners, which read: “End fossil fuels now” and “Love in action”…”
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The Guardian can barely credit it:
“Tory MP Steve Baker shares paper denying climate crisis
Green Alliance says ‘mask has slipped’ as member of Net Zero Scrutiny Group shares scientist’s paper on Twitter”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/15/tory-mp-steve-baker-shares-paper-denying-climate-crisis
Shock, horror. MP admits climate change, denies climate crisis. I’d say he has it about right. It ends with a quote from our friend Ken:
“Dr Ken Rice, an astrophysics professor at the University of Edinburgh, said of the GWPF report: “One of the most bizarre things about this is that they still can’t acknowledge that the rise in atmospheric CO2 is entirely anthropogenic. I had thought we’d moved beyond that. Clearly not.””
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“Spring time: why an ancient water system is being brought back to life in Spain”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/11/ancient-water-system-restore-spain-sierra-nevada-aoe
Well worth a read, as a glaring example of a failure to join the dots at the Guardian.
“A project to restore a 1,000-year-old network of water channels is helping farmers in the Sierra Nevada adapt to the effects of the climate crisis
High in la Alpujarra, on the slopes of the majestic Sierra Nevada in Andalucía, the silence is broken only by the sound of a stream trickling through the snow. Except it is not a stream but an acequia, part of a network of thousands of kilometres of irrigation channels created by Muslim peasant farmers more than a thousand years ago.
The channel begins at an altitude of 1,800 metres (5,900ft) and, fed by the melting snow, for centuries supplied water to the village of Cáñar and beyond until it fell into disuse in the 1980s through the gradual depopulation of the area….”.
Er, perhaps the water channels were originally created because the area then faced the same climate issues that it faces now? Just a thought.
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Full-on Guardian:
“Rightwing populist parties blight climate policy, study finds
Researchers say Brexit politicians now pushing against net zero amid cost-of-living crisis”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/14/rightwing-populist-parties-blight-climate-policy-study-finds
“Rightwing populist parties have a detrimental impact on climate policy, researchers have found for the first time, amid growing fears of a similar movement in the UK.
The study, by the universities of Sussex and Warwick, looked at the policy of more than 25 countries over a period of more than a decade. Researchers created a climate policy index and compared it with a baseline of a centre-right government. They found the combined effect of the presence of a rightwing populist party in parliament and in government was associated with a reduction in the index of about 25% on average.
But while rightwing populist parties had a negative impact on climate policy across the board, EU membership and proportional representation voting systems lessened the effect.”
I think that comes close to ticking almost every Guardian box!
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“Iraq’s ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change
Water shortages leading to rising salt concentrations and sandstorms are eroding world’s ancient sites”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/15/iraq-ancient-buildings-destroyed-by-climate-change-salt-sandstorms
“Some of the world’s most ancient buildings are being destroyed by climate change, as rising concentrations of salt in Iraq eat away at mud brick and more frequent sandstorms erode ancient wonders.”
“The destructive power of salt is increasing as concentrations rise amid water shortages caused by dams built upstream by Turkey and Iran, and years of mismanagement of water resources and agriculture within Iraq.”
So nothing to do with climate then? How silly of me:
“The climate crisis is adding to the problem. Iraq is getting hotter and dryer.”
As for this:
“This year, Iraq lost a piece of its cultural heritage. On the edge of the desert, 150km south of Babylon, is a bed of salt that was once Sawa Lake. The spring-fed water was home to at least 31 species of bird, including the grey heron and the near-threatened ferruginous duck. Now, it is completely dry because of overuse of water by surrounding farms and climate change. Lack of enforcement of regulations over groundwater use means farmers can freely drill wells and plant wheat fields that are an eruption of lush green in the dusty desert landscape.”
I wonder how much can fairly be attributed to overuse of water by surrounding farms, and how much to climate change? The Guardian doesn’t say. So much easier just to throw in climate change as an additional factor, without justification. So far as I can see Iraq’s rainfall records, patchy at best, go all the way back to the…late 1880s. Difficult to talk about long-term trends based on that.
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Greenpeace : The surprise ending of the final episode of the American dark comedy/drama series Succession (Succession) has aroused great interest in Greenpeace’s legacy . In the show, his deathbed grandfather, the media mogul of Cousin Greg’s character, announced that he would leave his entire estate to the famous environmental organization Greenpeace. After the episode aired, 22,000 people in England sought advice online in their will to donate to Greenpeace. The organization’s donations website, on the other hand, received 10 times more clicks than normal. One-sixth (£5.5m) of Greenpeace UK’s revenues are inherited.
That’s from a Turkish Greenpeace website
It’s misleading cos Greenpeace is a multinational and AFAIK the combined worldwide revenue
is $hundreds of millions /year ..towards $1 billion
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When are we getting news, and when are we getting Greenpeace-PR wrapped as news ?
The morning activist rabbit hole
YouTube pushing this : Bloomberg “Tracking Devices Reveal Where Recycling Really Goes”
– ‘Oh look Tesco’s plastic ends up in Turkey’ Twitter thread
– ‘Our tracker switched off for months then switched on in Adana’
– ‘We know that cos ACTIVISTS confirm that’
OK I’ll take all that at FACE VALUE
Oh hang on, Really ?? Bloomberg I reckon your story is rooted with activists
That you ALREADY knew that some Tesco’s waste ends up in Adana, cos there have been years of past reports
It’s possible you made that up about the tracker reactivating after months.
#1 26th June 2020 BBC claimed it had done its own investigation
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-53181948
“Angus Crawford reports. Produced by Gökçe Saraçoğlu”
That’s a polished activist report with school children for emotional blackmail.
Their proof is Tesco’s packaging is near to a copy of the Sun newspaper from 2018.
#2 17th May 2021 Greenpeace story
https://www.mrw.co.uk/news/greenpeace-says-uk-plastic-waste-swamping-turkey-17-05-2021/
#3 May 2021 BBC Turkish page
https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-57140139
from May 2021
Greenpeace: Nearly 40 percent of UK plastic waste was exported to Turkey and illegally collected and incinerated
Researchers examined 10 landfills in Adana for the report and found plastic bags belonging to supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Co-op etc.
#4 2nd July 2021 BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-57680723
follow up Quotes Greenpeace
#5 A Greenpeace branded video with same footage as Bloomberg was released 2 weeks BEFORE
.. https://twitter.com/IlkerCamci/status/1505279012217708544
It has doom background music.
How old is that item ?
Well some of the closeuo shots are the SAME as the May 2021 Greenpeace article.
That Looks to me that the BBC has done 3 previous reports
and I reckon the 2020 “A BBC investigation has found” phrase indicates they were handed Greenpeace PR material and didn’t do their own research.
So I detest the way Bloomberg package their story to make it sound like brand new news.
Furthermore I wouldn’t be surprised if activists had come with their own rubbish to stage a photo
For all the articles, Greenpeace staff are among the earliest retweeters.
(BTW I used to live near there and I could have brought Tesco’s packaging in English from the nearby Turkish Tescos hypermarkets, until they rebranded as Migros in 2017.)
Is it wrong to take UK plastic to Turkey ?
AFAIK they have at least 3 waste to energy incineration plants now
And possibly cement works kilns will be licenced too
Locations might well stockpile plastic while new plants are being built.
Greenpeace don’t accept incineration, rather they dream of recycling into pellets only, and restricting plastic use.
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Detail
#1 YouTube pushing this : Tracking Devices Reveal Where Recycling Really Goes
… https://youtu.be/hmGrI_BVlnc
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2022-tesco-recycle-plastic-waste-pledge-falls-short/
accredied to Kit Chellel and Wojciech Moskwa
Graphics by Jeremy C.F. Lin and Saxton Randolph 29 March 2022
I scanned for problems and I spot a line
“As recently as a few months ago
when I spoke to AN activistS .. (stop see how he uses the plural, but is pretending it’s on person)
who found a Tesco carrier bag, just left by the side of the field, in a smouldering pile of burnt plastic.
*Obviously it had been illegally dumped*” (he shows photo)
… Then he goes into a big graphic animation about how Tesco are evil.
But here’s the text of the item
“activists and journalists in Adana have *previously* found Tesco-branded wrappers at illegal dump sites only a few miles from the bag tracker’s final location.
Photos *from 2021 show a Tesco bag* featuring the supermarket’s slogan “Every Little Helps” in a grassy field next to a mound of decaying plastic, as well as Tesco brand roast potato and cocktail sausage wrappers left by the roadside.”
He used a phrase “As recently as a few months ago”
but the Greenpeace bag stuff is from before May 2021
#2 Pretty soon I found myself at a BBC Turkish page from May 2021
https://www.bbc.com/turkce/haberler-turkiye-57140139
Greenpeace: Nearly 40 percent of UK plastic waste was exported to Turkey and illegally collected and incinerated
Researchers examined 10 landfills in Adana for the report and found plastic bags belonging to supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Co-op etc.
(Of course you could find Tescos garbage , cos until 2017 Turkey had Tesco hypermarkets)
The GreenPeace Turkey guy, tweeting about their 2021 story
..https://twitter.com/sevirem/status/1407089465173151749
– The same guy tweeted the Bloomberg tweet as soon as it came out
.. https://twitter.com/sevirem/status/1508709707271352320
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Stew – thanks for your digging into the BS. From link above, “What is Extinction Rebellion and what does it want?” – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48607989?at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom3=%40BBCNews&at_custom4=BC36E85A-2C0F-11EC-9A17-31BABDCD475E&at_medium=custom7&at_campaign=64
“Extinction Rebellion protests this week have focused on tackling the UK’s reliance on oil and other fossil fuels.
XR Scientists – the sub-group protesting at BEIS – has accused the government of “irresponsible and dangerous pursuit” of fossil fuels, which is incompatible with climate change.”
then – “The UK currently gets 80% of its energy from fossil fuels.”
these “XR Scientists (sub-group)” are a force to be heard, unless you are willing to live with the dreaded “climate change”
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“Climate change: Key UN finding widely misinterpreted
By Matt McGrath”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61110406
“A key finding in the latest IPCC climate report has been widely misinterpreted, according to scientists involved in the study.
In the document, researchers wrote that greenhouse gases are projected to peak “at the latest before 2025″.
This implies that carbon could increase for another three years and the world could still avoid dangerous warming.
But scientists say that’s incorrect and that emissions need to fall immediately.”
Oh dear – hundreds of scientists, thousands of hours, millions of £$s, and they still couldn’t write an unambiguous statement. Even the BBC misunderstood!
“Most media outlets including the BBC concluded that meant emissions could rise until 2025 and the world could still stay under 1.5C.
“When you read the text as it’s laid out, it does give the impression that you’ve got to 2025 which I think is a very unfortunate outcome,” said Glen Peters, from the Centre for International Climate Research in Oslo, and an IPCC lead author.
“It’s an unfortunate choice of wording. That is, unfortunately, going to potentially have some rather negative consequences.”
So what went wrong?
It’s partly because the climate models that scientists use to project temperatures work in five-year blocs, so 2025 follows 2020 for example, without reference to the years in between.
“Because models work on 5-year increments, we can’t derive statements with higher precision,” said Dr Joeri Rogelj, from Imperial College London, and an IPCC lead author.”
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“Bristol community secures funding to build tallest wind turbine in England
Residents of Lawrence Weston, a deprived housing estate, achieve £4m target without government aid”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/16/bristol-community-secures-funding-to-build-tallest-wind-turbine-in-england
“A community group in one of the poorest parts of Bristol has met its funding target to build the tallest wind turbine in England, despite a lack of any central government funding for locally owned wind power generation….
…However, he added that the turbine, which will generate enough power for 3,000 homes, had taken eight years to build because the government had made it so difficult to get planning permission and provided no financial support for communities to generate their own power. “The government’s resistance to more onshore wind has been a problem,” he said. “It’s been a long slog but hopefully soon the residents will be able to reap the rewards of all their hard work.”…”
So, normal planning rules and no financial help from taxpayers is now “government resistance to onshore wind”. Sometimes I think that Guardian writers live in a parallel universe where words don’t mean what they really mean.
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“The climate scaremongers: An open letter to the Daily Telegraph
By
Paul Homewood”
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-climate-scaremongers-an-open-letter-to-the-daily-telegraph/
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Behind a paywall, unfortunately:
“The Government has set an eco trap for homeowners – and it’s going to cost us £330bn
A bodged plan to make Britain’s homes more eco friendly will cost us billions and ministers are refusing to fix it”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/government-has-set-eco-trap-homeowners-going-cost-us-330bn/
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FullFact is full Guardian-Supremacist so they normally bash Tory claims
not Labout ones
but they did go against Chris Bryant, Labour MP for the Rhondda
March 29th When Full Fact asked Mr Bryant about his claim, he said he was told that Germany and Italy already have full VAT exemptions on solar panels and heat pumps and that France has no VAT on “energy saving products”.
We’ve not been able to find any evidence of this.
We asked Mr Bryant for more information but had not received a response at the time of publication.
https://fullfact.org/economy/solar-installations-vat-eu/
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Yet Yet yet, all that’s the REAL WORLD
But on Twitter Truth gets less Likes than activist dogma
So hyper-partisan activists like Bryant, Soubry, Jessica Simor QC are able to GASLIGHT tell huge LIES and their supporters clap like seals
Bryant’s tweet is still there with a thousand supporters shouting that Sunak is a liar
27K Likes 8,000 retweets
A few people call him out https://twitter.com/PoliticsSense/status/1506719328468615168
Soubry also
So someone calls her out
.. https://twitter.com/GeoffVader1/status/1508218295262060546
She backs her claim by tweeting a screenshot that says it’s a proposal
Every reply calls her out
Yet she still got 461 Likes
Simor called out https://twitter.com/AndyJackMorris/status/1506949176046804995
There are a number of misleading claims
eg “The European Council approved a proposal in December to amend the EU rules on rates of VAT to give member states more flexibility to set them. There’s already a VAT exemption on solar panels & heat pumps in the EU.”
Nope It’s still a PROPOSAL
#1 It’s not been approved by the European Parliament. It is currently not possible to zero rate solar panels in any EU member state. “If approved.. ”
#2 Even when it is, it will be effective from January 2025.
… https://twitter.com/PJChapman74/status/1506650582475546629
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With some trepidation last night I watched the BBC programme about the demise of the last dinosaurs based upon an excavation in North Dakota and hosted by David Attenborough at his very best. With his now beautifully modulated voice and truly wonderful phrasing he carried his audience with him to reach the conclusion that the asteroid impact, 2000 miles away, was responsible for the wiping out of the last dinosaurs at the site. What was remarkable was the finding of a dinosaur limb within a “death layer” linked with the impact by the presence of glass globules, some containing asteroid debris. And then in the dying seconds of the programme he goes and spoils it all by foolishly claiming that humans will be responsible for a comparable cataclysm. What a shame
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H/t Andrew Montford on Twitter:
“Revisiting the global hydrological cycle: is it intensifying?”
https://hess.copernicus.org/articles/24/3899/2020/
Worth a read, IMO. This gives a flavour:
“Overall, the preceding data and analyses, particularly those of atmospheric water, can hardly support the intensification of the global hydrological cycle. Certainly, they reveal changes but the changes appear as multi-year fluctuations and not as consistent trends. These fluctuations do not correspond to popular hypotheses attributing changes to global warming. The above results are not exceptionally new. Indeed, Sun et al. (2012) reported a near-zero temporal trend in global mean precipitation for the period 1940–2009. Nonetheless, our results are dissimilar (or opposite) to the vast majority of studies reporting intensification. The reasons for the dissimilarities are explained in Appendix A. Additional analyses, which show the absence of intensification and, more recently, deintensification, in terms of precipitation extremes, are given in Appendix B.
The reasons for the failure of the popular hypothesis of intensification include these two: (a) the unsupported (and eventually falsified) conjecture that the relative humidity should be constant, and (b) the oversimplification of the representation of natural process, which neglects or underrates important mechanisms that affect the atmospheric water more than those related to the greenhouse effect. Among these, mostly unpredictable or unaccounted for, mechanisms are the following: (a) the tropospheric aerosols (Wu et al., 2013) affecting radiation while enabling the condensation of water vapour and formation of cloud droplets; (b) the vapour buoyancy feedback, which stabilizes the tropical climate by increasing the outgoing longwave radiation (Seidel and Yang, 2020)3; (c) the complex role of land use changes in climate (Pielke et al., 2016); and (d) the coupled atmospheric–ocean circulation fluctuations, such as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO; e.g. Trenberth et al., 2005, who concluded that the precipitable water variability for 1988–2001 is dominated by the evolution of ENSO and especially the structures that occurred during and following the 1997–1998 El Niño event).”
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“Extinction Rebellion: Six arrested after Olympians scale oil tanker”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-61120185
“Six people have been arrested after climate change activists, including two Olympians, scaled an oil tanker.
Extinction Rebellion protesters surrounded the Shell tanker in Bayswater Road in London in protest at the use of fossil fuels.
Gold medal-winning canoeist Etienne Stott and sailor Laura Baldwin had glued themselves to the top of the tanker, Extinction Rebellion said….
…Mr Stott said he wanted to “disrupt the toxic fossil fuel industry”….”.
From Mr Stott’s Wikipedia entry:
“Career highlights
2012 Summer Olympics, London – Gold Medal Men’s C2
2011 Australian Open – Penrith Whitewater Stadium – Silver Medal Men’s C2
2010 World Championships – Tacen – 17th place
2010 European Championships – Bratislava – 4th place Men’s C2 & Bronze Medal Men’s Team C2
2010 World Cup: Event 1 Prague 9th; Event 2 La Seu d’Urgell Parc Olímpic del Segre 6th, Event 3 Augsburg Eiskanal 3rd
2009 World Championships – La Seu d’Urgell Parc Olímpic del Segre – 4th place Men’s C2, Bronze Medal Men’s Team C2
2009 European Championships – Nottingham Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre Bronze Medal, Men’s C2, Silver Medal Men’s Team C2
2009 World Cup: Overall 4th; Event 1 Pau 7th; Event 2 Bratislava 5th; Augsburg 5th”.
How did he attend all of these sports events all round the world? I assume fossil fuels played a part. Despite being 15 years younger than me, I would bet that his “carbon footprint” is already significantly bigger than mine. Ditto Laura Baldwin – from her Wikipedia page:
“Career highlights
2004 Athens Olympics – British Olympic Sailor in the women’s one person event, the Europe Class
2006 – ISAF World Ranked #2 in the Laser Radial class
2008 Beijing Olympics – Australian Team Media and Marketing
2010 – Australian Laser Radial Women’s Champion & Bronze medalist in the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships
2012 London Olympics – Sailing Coach to Krystal Weir (AUS)
2016 Rio Olympics – Sailing Coach to Maria Erdi (HUN)”.
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“South Africa floods: deadliest storm on record kills over 300 people
President Cyril Ramaphosa blames ‘catastrophic’ rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal on climate crisis”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/13/south-africa-floods-deadliest-storm-on-record-kills-over-250-people
I don’t for one moment wish to understate the tragedy that is occurring with regard to the South African floods. I do, however, feel a little uneasy at the instinctive knee-jerk suggestion that it’s climate change or a climate crisis whatever. Two quick points:
First, the Guardian account tells us that “The heaviest rains in 60 years pummelled Durban’s municipality, eThekwini in Zulu.”
Which implies they had heavier rains 60 years ago.
Second, it’s a mere 11 days since this article appeared at the climate alarmed website, the Conversation:
“South Africa has had lots of rain and most dams are full, but water crisis threat persists”
https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-had-lots-of-rain-and-most-dams-are-full-but-water-crisis-threat-persists-178788
“Despite the recent rains, some areas have still not recovered from continued effects of the drought which has been ongoing since 2015. It’s been described as one of the worst droughts experienced by South Africa in recent times.
Communities, especially in the Eastern Cape province, are still facing water shortages or erratic water supply even though some major dams in other parts of the country are full. For example, the major water system of the Eastern Cape province, the Algoa Water Supply System, containing five dams supplying water to the Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan area, hasn’t recovered. Its water levels are still at only 17.9%….”.
In fairness, the article does lay water shortages at lots of doors:
“The primary drivers of this based on the findings of numerous reports and research, include unsustainably high water use and demand, persistent pollution from various sources, misappropriation of funds, collapsing or non-functional municipal sewage systems and a lack of skilled personnel.”
Still, it’s difficult to equate a recently-ended “drought which has been ongoing since 2015. It’s been described as one of the worst droughts experienced by South Africa in recent times” with excessive rainfall being down to climate change.
Are droughts the result of climate change, or are floods?
“Cape Town could experience another ‘Day Zero’ this century as water supplies dry up”
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/11/south-africa-cape-town-drought-day-zero-climate-change/
“Around the world, stronger El Nino weather patterns and climate change are bringing harsher and more frequent droughts, and already-dry southern Africa has been particularly hard hit.”
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“Macron uses climate change to attack Le Pen
The French president is attempting to attract left-wing voters ahead of the final round of the French election.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/france-election-president-2022-macron-climate-change-attack-le-pen/
“In a bid to woo left-wing voters for the final round of the French presidential election, Emmanuel Macron on Saturday slammed his far-right opponent Marine Le Pen as a “climate skeptic”and trumpeted his own plans to build a green economy.
Speaking in Marseille at his only large rally ahead of the April 24 vote, the liberal incumbent billed the election as a “civilizational choice” and vowed to turn France into a “great environmental nation.”
“The choice today is clear. The far-right is a climate-skeptic project, a project that wants to leave Europe’s climate ambitions, that wants to destroy windmills,” Macron told nearly 3,000 people.
Dedicating most of his speech to his environmental ambitions, Macron painted his opponent’s idea to dismantle wind farms and impose a moratorium on new wind and solar energy projects in France while building new nuclear power plants as out of touch and dangerous.
“Good luck and good use of taxpayers’ money,” he said. ”
I think, from a left-wing perspective, that it’s Macron that’s got this completely wrong. I’ve opined on this topic before, but I remain completely baffled why it tends to be those on the right who are climate sceptics, while those on the left seem keen to embrace policies that will make no difference at all to climate change while making poor people even poorer. I’ll never understand it, as long as I live.
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From March 2019:
No, of course it’s not a cult. How dare you!
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Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u7q3K052sA
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Dear God, Vinny, you spoiled my breakfast!
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“Government backs away from plans for more wind turbines in Copeland”
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/20072548.government-backs-away-plans-wind-turbines-copeland/
Of interest to me is the comments. In response to somebody pointing out the difficulty of storing surplus energy, we got this incredibly crass (and ignorant response):
“What on earth are you talking about? Of course you can store the energy. There’s this thing called a battery. And the carbon cost from making and transporting them works out as significantly less than continuing to rely on fossil fuels over even a relatively short term. Plus, jobs. Making wind turbines creates a lot of manufacturing jobs. Something we’ve lost a lot of over the decades.”
Then we got these, rather better-informed. It’s nice to know that everyone is duped by the lies and pipe dreams:
“And, the cost of that little wheeze for impoverished bill-payers?
Battery storage needed to convert Germanys 2013 solar generation to baseload: 800 billion dollars, about 13 times the 66-billion-dollar cost of installing the ~33GW of solar capacity involved.
Battery storage needed to convert solar generation equal to a year of Hinkley nuclear generation to baseload: 700 billion dollars, about 28 times the ~25 billion dollar cost of the Hinkley plant.
Battery storage needed to convert solar + wind generation equal to a year of Hinkley nuclear generation to baseload: 350 billion dollars, about 14 times the cost of the Hinkley nuclear plant.
Battery storage required to convert one month of UK wind generation to baseload: up to 500 billion dollars, over twice the 200 billion dollars cost of the ~100GW of wind capacity involved!”
And:
“And, how exactly will an exponential increase in Toxic mining save the planet?
What Politicians, the BBC and the Media conspicuously fail to mention:
Zero-emission fantasies ignore the essential role of fossil fuels in manufacturing ALL renewables and Electric Vehicles. From mining and processing the myriad metals and minerals for battery modules, wiring, drive trains and bodies, to actually making the components and finished vehicles, every step requires oil, natural gas, or coal.
Usually elsewhere on Planet Earth, most often with Chinese companies in leading roles.
From commonplace iron, copper, aluminium, and petroleum-based plastics – to exotics like lithium, cobalt, and multiple rare earth elements – these materials are dug up and turned into virtuous EVs, wind turbines, and solar panels with little or no attention to child labour, fair wages, workplace safety, air, and water pollution, toxic and radioactive wastes, endangered species or mined land reclamation.”
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“Ban Gas Boilers to Force People to Pay For More Expensive and Less Effective Heat Pumps, Says Government Infrastructure Adviser”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/04/16/ban-gas-boilers-to-force-people-to-pay-for-more-expensive-and-less-effective-heat-pumps-says-government-infrastructure-adviser/
Heat pumps, which draw energy from the air or ground using electricity, can cut carbon emissions by roughly 75%, but currently cost about £10,000 to install.
The National Infrastructure Commission is investigating ways to fund the transition and encourage the take-up of heat pumps and will make recommendations to the Government next year.
However, Sir John Armitt, its Chairman, suggested that a ban on the sale of new gas boilers would have to be part of the answer.
He told the Telegraph: “Why would you move to a heat pump at somewhere between £5-£15,000 as long as you can buy or exchange for a new gas boiler for £1,500? The only way that you can make such a significant shift is by saying, well, ‘from a particular date, you will not be able to buy a new gas boiler’.”
The Government has set an ambition for the sale of new gas boilers to be phased out by the mid-2030s, but has declined to set a date for a ban. …
Sir John dismissed hopes that hydrogen could play a significant role in replacing gas in boilers and said there was little alternative to heat pumps for the U.K. to decarbonise its home heating, which accounts for about 14% of emissions.
However, he said that using them to replace gas boilers in 23 million homes would require a change of attitude to heating, and might require back-up by space heaters because heat pumps work best at lower temperatures, which are maintained throughout the day.
“What we like at the moment is just flicking the thermostat and, bang, we can raise the temperature by three degrees fairly quickly. You can’t do that with an air-source heat pump,” he said.
“If you want instant heat, then you will have to plug something else in to give you that extra boost.”
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Amusing but appropriate cartoon in Sunday Times by “Roland” of a bearded, green-shirted protester carrying a placard with the words “JUST STOP OIL” while riding a bike. He looks back at his squeaking rear wheel.
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Quoth brave Sir John:
Yeh, banning the alternative certainly “reduces the disincentive.”
Quoth he also:
Well, there is an obvious answer there.
Brave Sir John has no fear of flicking on a few 3kW resistive heaters.
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Regarding the plan to send refugees to Rwanda, may I first say that I am opposed to it.
However, nobody in the media seems to see the contradiction between civil servants bemoaning this plan for lack of evidence that it will work, while civil servants generally seem to be behind the net zero dogma, despite a complete lack of evidence that it is achievable, or that even if achieved it will make the slightest difference to climate change. I don’t recall any civil servants sending letters to ministers pointing to this lack of evidence re net zero.
Similarly, the Archbishop of Canterbury objects to the UK outsourcing our responsibilities towards refugees, while apparently being quite happy for us to outsource jobs, manufacturing and emissions to China, as part of the net zero project which I believe he and his church supports.
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Mark, here’s an even weirder version of that dirge. I hope it doesn’t spoil your evening meal.
The dirge itself starts at 4m18s but the best bit is perhaps at 2m30s, when a little boy with a damaged foot has a close look at the befoliaged, bestilted adults then retreats and hides behind his mum.
Moving sideways…
Scientists for XR have been protesting in support of one of their members, Emma Smart, who is on her second prison hunger-strike.
To my surprise, unlike some other members of XR’s scientist sub-groups* Smart (who is infamous for trying to drive around the world in a diesel-guzzling Hilux) was once an actual scientist. Indeed she even has a fish named after her: Garra smartae. (Formerly G. smarti – the name was changed to honour Smart’s gender. Or is that sex? Tricky times.)
===
*The one with the highest profile and biggest membership is Scientists for XR, whose current slogan is…
…but there’s another. Scientist Rebellion is a tiny outfit run by only two or three people, one of whom isn’t a scientist unless science uni dropouts count as scientists. A few months ago it received a $100k grant from a billionaire-funded US campaigning org.
One does wonder whether Climate Emergency Fund** gave the $100k to SR rather than SfXR by mistake. Newspapers have frequently confused the two outfits.
(Has SR done anything with its windfall yet? Dunno.)
**CEF is currently run by Margaret Klein Salamon, a self-described psychologist who is pals with Roger Hallam and other XR perps. It was founded by Trevor Nielson, a, um…
Well, here’s a Twitter thread about him by an anti-capitalist conspiracy theorist:
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“Labour split by leadership call for action against climate crisis blockades
Plea by shadow justice secretary Steve Reed for nationwide bans on activists’ tactics angers many on left of party”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/apr/17/labour-split-by-leadership-call-for-action-against-climate-crisis-blockades
“Labour faces an escalating internal row over the treatment of climate crisis protesters after a shadow cabinet minister backed calls for nationwide injunctions to stop them blocking critical roads and fuel supplies.
Steve Reed, the shadow justice secretary, called for immediate and wide-ranging bans on protesters’ tactics to be put in place last week. Reed said ministers should “get on with their jobs” and block further action from the Just Stop Oil group after about 40 arrests were made at Inter Terminals in Grays, Essex, last Monday. Others were arrested at Kingsbury oil terminal in Warwickshire….
…However, Labour’s frontbench position has angered some MPs and prompted a growing backlash within the party, with senior figures on the left publicly stating their support for public protest.
The issue could now flare up at the party’s conference later this year. Asked about the comments, Jamie Driscoll, the metro mayor of the North of Tyne, said that history always judged protesters differently to the “establishment of that era”.//
Ed Miliband, the shadow climate change secretary and former party leader, has yet to publicly endorse Reed’s demands, but aides said he agreed with the position. Miliband has previously described blockades as “inappropriate and counterproductive”. Others on Labour’s frontbench are said to have concerns about the demand for injunctions.
There is also a growing grassroots backlash on Labour’s left wing over the party’s official stance. Chris Saltmarsh, co-founder of Labour for a Green New Deal, said his group was “seriously concerned to see Labour’s frontbench calling for such a harsh response to peaceful protest calling for action on the climate crisis”.
“The protesters’ demand to stop new fossil fuel extraction is a basic one which should be uncontroversial to a Labour party claiming commitment to decarbonisation and a Green New Deal,” he said. “Instead of trying to outdo the government on petty authoritarianism, Starmer and his team should focus on making the case for a positive and transformative vision to tackle both the climate and cost of living crises.”
Senior figures in the party are relishing any battle, however. A Labour source said the party was taking the stance for the simple reason that it was “where the voters are”. They added: “It’s a commonsense position. Our position on climate change is strong and this doesn’t change the fact we think it’s the most pressing issue facing the planet, but we’re recognising you don’t solve it by annoying workers.””
Is this a first crack in the net zero madness, and a recognition that voters aren’t so supportive of net zero and loony protestors as politicians seem to have been thinking? It’s a pleasant surprise, anyway, though it doesn’t say much (yet). There was me thinking that the Tories would be the first to crack.
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I got SfXR’s slogan wrong. It’s:
Happy Easter.
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“Met Office Changed Global Temperature Record to Add 14% to Recent Warming, Says Climate Scientist”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/04/18/met-office-changed-global-temperature-record-to-add-14-to-recent-warming-says-climate-scientist/
“Satellite data show that global warming started to run out of steam two decades ago, but the U.K. Met Office’s record of surface temperature from 1975 was boosted by 14% at the end of 2020. At the same time, the period between 1880-1975 was cooled. The move accentuates the rise in the global temperature recorded in the 1980s and 1990s that forms the basis of much of the current hysteria about the so-called climate emergency.
The disclosure of the apparent warming and cooling is contained in the latest State of the Climate report from Emeritus Professor Ole Humlum of the University of Oslo, and published by the Global Warming Policy Foundation. Professor Humlum says the post-1975 warming is about +0.1°C and the pre-1975 cooling about -0.1°C. The version-change to the fifth HadCRUT Met Office database “conveys the impression of a somewhat more rapid global temperature increase following the relatively cold period terminating around 1975”. When the Met Office first announced the change in December 2020, it admitted to 0.16°C extra warming, although it didn’t give specifics about cooling and warming either side of the 1975 mark.
Professor Humlum also draws attention to significant retrospective changes in the American GISS surface temperature record. The graph below shows the effect of the changes made since May 2008 on the monthly temperature record, with increases in red and decreases in blue. As with HadCRUT, the changes warm the early part of the record, cool the period from 1900 to 1970, and heat up the later recordings.”
And more. I have no idea whether Prof Humlum is correct, and he’s the chap being savaged by the Guardian for releasing a paper bigged up by the GWPF which apparently is not peer-reviewed. Still, worth a read, maybe, and worth thinking about (whether to agree or to disagree, once the evidence is weighed up).
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“Are there affordable ways to cut your heating bill?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61068688
The answer, it turns out, is no, at least if you want to go down the net zero road:
“When Emily Hughes moved in to her new house in Peterborough, one of the first things that needed tackling was the heating system.
“With an ageing boiler, the bills were mounting quickly,” she says.
To be “ultra-efficient” she decided to install a whole new heating system. Solar panels were fitted to the house, along with an air source heat pump. The heat pump and panels work together with a passive heating system – a mesh of pipes encased in concrete, that stores heat in summer and slowly releases it over the winter.
Ms Hughes says her heat pump and solar panels make her less vulnerable to energy bill price shocks, but there is still more they could do.
“We’d like a battery storage facility to store some of the solar energy for use in the night time – but at the moment the cost (and limited supply of batteries) are proving to be issues.””
I love that last euphemism – “issues” translates as “an impossibility”.
Interestingly, the BBC declined to tell us how much all this cost Mr & Mrs Hughes, though they do say:
“An air source heat pump can cost between £8,000 and £18,000, and a ground source heat pump between £20,000 and £35,000. That compares with just £1,000 to £3,000 to fit a typical gas boiler.”
And this:
“According to the Energy Saving Trust (EST), the average domestic solar photovoltaic (PV) system costs around £6,500 to install and could save people who work from home the most – up to £400 per year.”
I love the studied vagueness – costs “around” and could save “up to” (“up to” is always the most dishonest and egregious form of words).
And then there’s the no sh*t Sherlock conclusion:
“But for many, such systems are way beyond their means.
“For families struggling to pay their fuel bills, many of these measures are out of reach,” says Harriet Lamb, chief executive of climate change charity Ashden.
Rising fuel bills will hit the least-well-off the hardest. Fuel poverty – when a household falls below the official poverty line due to spending most of their income on heating their home – is expected to rise dramatically this year.
The number of households set to find themselves in fuel poverty is expected to surpass six million in April and could reach 8.5 million by the end of 2022 when the price cap is raised again and bills could reach over £3,500.”
Well done, Greens, this is on you.
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Fair comment.
But, while we’re at it, what’s a “climate change charity”?
An “energy poverty charity” I’d understand. Just as the RSPB is focused on bird protection, at least nominally.
But what is a climate change charity? Do you want more (eg bird protection) or less (energy poverty)?
Or, like Goldilocks, just the right amount? And you know what that is how?
As so often the manmade (or anthropogenic) is omitted but understood. In the traditional sense of not understanding.
In this tragic context Harriet Lamb’s first comment makes Ashden sound like a compassionate energy poverty charity. Good on her and them for that.
But then she’s all over insulation as a solution, with no mention of the downsides or how trivial the impact will be, if any, on how much the climate is going to change in the future.
The abuse of language goes deep, aided by our state broadcaster.
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Here in the US, PBS is going to play The Trick on Friday, April 22:
https://www.pbs.org/show/trick/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=pbsofficial
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Definitely a cult:
“Women glue themselves to table at Dorset Council meeting”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-61147739
“Two women could be charged after they glued themselves to a table during a council meeting.
Giovanna Lewis and Annie Webster have said they expect to be interviewed by the police and even charged after they interrupted a Dorset Council meeting.
The pair glued their hands to a desk and read a statement berating the council for its lack of action on climate change.
Dorset Police and Dorset Council have been contacted for comment.
The two women entered the council chamber at County Hall last Thursday as Weymouth councillor Louie O’Leary was speaking in praise of nuclear power.
His comment came as councillors were about to debate a motion by Conservative leader councillor Spencer Flower calling for the UK to secure energy self-sufficiency.
Protestors feared the move could have led to a more lenient approach to fossil fuel and nuclear planning applications in the UK.
Councillor Flower had explained that with the reliance on Russian gas and oil the UK needed to do what was necessary to become more self-sufficient.”
He was wasting his time trying to explain things. Zealots aren’t interested in reason. Might it not be a good idea, when they glue themselves to things (especially if they do so outside) just to leave them there?
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“Climate and heritage experts call on British Museum to end BP sponsorship
Culture Unstained put together submission stating oil company ‘falls short’ in response to climate crisis”
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/19/climate-and-heritage-experts-call-on-british-museum-to-end-bp-sponsorship
“A group of climate scientists, archaeologists and those familiar with the museum industry have written to the British Museum’s board of trustees to urge them to sever a sponsorship deal with BP, arguing that it goes against the museum’s own policies and that a renewal would damage its reputation.
The submission, put together by the group Culture Unstained, is part of an escalating campaign against the oil firm’s sponsorship of the museum, which is expected to make a decision about renewing the deal imminently.
It is signed by Sir Robert Watson, the former chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services; Naomi Oreskes, a professor of the history of science at Harvard University; and Rodney Harrison, a professor of heritage studies at University College London (UCL).
Other signatories include Willow Coningham, from the UK Student Climate Network; Mark Serwotka, the general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, which represents many British Museum staff; Paul Ekins, a professor of resources and environmental policy at UCL and the former co-director of the UK Energy Research Centre; Jonathon Porritt, the founder director of Forum for the Future; Hilary Jennings, the director of the Happy Museum Project; and Dr Chris Garrard, the co-director of Culture Unstained.”
There you go – Culture Unstained, to add to XR, Insulate Britain, Just Stop Oil, Scientists for XR and all the rest of them. It’s starting to read like part of the script from The Life of Brian.
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More Cloud Cuckoo Land reporting:
“Use England’s plentiful brownfield sites for windfarms, urge scientists
Experts cite Scottish example, with turbines along roads and rail lines, as a way to make better use of ‘cheap, clean’ energy source”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/19/scientists-urge-government-to-relax-englands-onshore-windfarm-rules
At least someone at the Guardian has corrected the secondary headline. When I first looked at it read “Experts site Scottish example”.
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“Inconvenient Flatlining of Global Temperatures Airbrushed From History by the Met Office”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/04/20/inconvenient-flatlining-of-global-temperatures-airbrushed-from-history-by-the-met-office/
“Welcome to the world of global temperature setting and climate modelling where changes, no doubt for sound scientific reasons, almost invariably promote the Net Zero agenda. On Monday, the Daily Sceptic disclosed that the fifth revision to the Met Office’s HadCRUT temperature database boosted recent global warming by 14%. In fact, this was just the latest uplift in the HadCRUT series
In 2013, the slight cooling from 1998 to 2012 was transformed to a 0.04°C warming, a figure that subsequently found its way into the fifth 2013 IPCC assessment report.”
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One of Gail Bradbrook’s court cases has been postponed until November. This one was about her breaking a window at a government office in October 2019.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-61154538
The postponement could be good news. It’s because of an upcoming Court of Appeal ruling about whether the excuses used by the Colford Four were legitimate. Bradbrook has been planning to use similar excuses. If the Court of Appeal says those excuses are nuts (they are) then Bradbrook will have to find something else.
As far as I know, her trial for breaking another window in March last year will still go ahead next Thursday. Here is her defence of that offence:
https://thefinanser.com/2022/04/breaking-bank-windows-is-justified.html/
Short version: Bankers would back vandalism if they were doom-wankers, like what I am, innit, your honour.
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“The Guardian view on spiralling fuel bills: Johnson must get a grip”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/apr/20/the-guardian-view-on-spiralling-fuel-bills-johnson-must-get-a-grip
Indeed he must, but not in the way advocated by the Guardian.
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Irony alert. In the Guardian editorial linked to above, we are told:
“In Italy, where the government has offered a 110% tax credit on energy-efficient home renovations, 150,000 new jobs have been created since 2020.”
But then@
“Italy puts 25C limit on air conditioning as energy debate rages
‘Operation thermostat’ initiative aimed at helping country avert energy crisis exacerbated by Ukraine war”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/20/operation-thermostat-italy-limits-air-conditioning-amid-energy-crisis-fears
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“MPs to get scientific briefing on climate after activist’s hunger strike
Angus Rose, 52, ends 37-day hunger strike as parliamentary group agrees to host briefing by Sir Patrick Vallance”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/20/mps-to-get-scientific-briefing-on-climate-after-activists-hunger-strike
I don’t want to see anyone die for their beliefs, however misguided I think they are, but I do thinking caving in to every extremist who goes on hunger strike is not a great way to run the country.
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“Scrapping green taxes is not enough
Net Zero is the real driver of soaring energy bills.”
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/04/20/scrapping-green-taxes-is-not-enough/
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Prepare yourselves because tomorrow is already in Oz, and they are suffering as Earth Day advances over them. I realise I have not prepared myself sufficiently to withstand the concerted attack of climate and green wokeness that will deluge us for the next 24 hours. Think I’ll run away and hide and not turn on the BBC. Should have realised something was up when the self-same BBC gleefully told us of the latest medallion Attenborough can wear. That had to herald something.
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Gosh, even the BBC God-spot this morning turned green, with exhortations to reduce carbon and value the planet. How can common garden science prevail against the Almighty (or his representatives)?
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Doublegosh! A GCSE in Natural History! But not bugs, leaves and furry things that you might expect, instead it’s CLIMATE CHANGE [tah dah] and just how very wicked we all have been. Good grief! I used to think that, thanks to Tony’s informative articles you couldn’t imagine the British education system in its treatment of woke science becoming worse than the Australian, but this now seems really uncertain. I sometimes despair.
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Tried posting it over at at “Sands of Time” but without success. Keep being told I had submitted it, but I hadn’t. Will now try here
Mark. The quotations from Ann Lingard’s book bring back some of geology’s early fascination for me. How you can stand within a landscape, look around, and with instruction and perseverance begin to unravel momentous changes, like the disappearance of mighty cliffs of ice, seas retreating or returning with redoubled interest, destroying or rearranging everything. Then there are quieter interludes when dunes grow and move around and alluvium accumulates as water meadows. National parks (GB, USA, Canada, some in Europe and Australia) have put up explanatory boards that can bring your surroundings to life and make a visit so much more worth while. I have been very appreciative.
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A while ago I made a promise to Richard Drake to comment upon claims made about the U.K.’s tight gas reserves. The promise was to write an article upon the subject for Cliscep and, at the time, I had every intention of doing this. I did have doubts, however, because although I have worked for two North American oil companies, I did so in the 1980s – well before organic rich shales were looked upon as anything other than hydrocarbon source rocks. Never were they considered as viable targets for yielding free-flowing oil or gas. Neither was there any inclination to develop new technology to exploit these resources. Even when later I taught oil and gas science at Toronto in the early 1990s I was blissfully unaware of the revolutions beginning to happen and to come.
So I was fully aware that by agreeing to write the article I would require a great deal of research and in areas I couldn’t be comfortable within. Nevertheless I was prepared to do this. What I wasn’t prepared for was to find almost immediately 1) major discrepancies in even the most basic of information, and 2) the converse, an almost ubiquitous conformity of the view that current exploration for shale gas has already revealed very significant RESERVES, whereas to my mind they haven’t. I didn’t feel capable of resolving these discrepancies, so I have downgraded my article to this long post. I trust this will be satisfactory Richard?
Almost the only geological facts I could easily establish were that the gas originates from the Bowland (or Hodder) shales which are up to 5 kilometres thick. They can be divided into a lower unit of shales and an upper unit containing calcareous bands. Different sources indicate gas comes from the lower or upper parts. Regarding organic content this is given different values, up to ten percent but more usually around four percent (which is still high). Regarding suitability as a hydrocarbon reservoir, various industry types with experience of American hydrocarbon shales have been trotted out to give their considered opinions. These vary from the Bowland shales being better than American equivalents, to not quite as good. Who knows? Another fact about the Bowland shales is they contain a much greater percentage of fine-grained quartz than most shales and much lower amounts of clay minerals. [ as an aside] When I was a student a major source of fine-grained quartz was glacially ground rock. Mud rocks containing low amounts of clay minerals were usually considered to form in glacial periods. At the time the Bowland Shales were being deposited there was a glaciation but this affected the southern continents only (= Gondwanaland)]. Why is this relevant? Well the ease of fracturing shales (actually they are probably mudstones lacking fissility) depends much upon their composition especially how much carbonate and proportion of clay minerals they contain). How easily they frack is related.
I have lost contact with virtually everyone I knew from my oily days and so had no source of information that could put these discrepancies right.
More importantly are the test results from Cuadrilla’s two designated tests. Both wells have bottom elements that were drilled horizontally away from the drill site location through the most promising interval in the penetrated shales. Fracking and testing would occur at intervals along the horizontal borehole. Lengths of this would be isolated with packers from the remainder of the borehole and independently put under pressure by being injected with water, sand and a chemical mix (fracking). Fractures formed would be kept open by the injected sand when the pressure was reduced and the liquid injectants retrieved. That isolated part of the well would then be allowed to flow, yielding a quantity of gas (sometimes with a little light oil). This would constitute a very time limited test of a very small part of the well. Another small part of the well bore would then be isolated off, fracked and tested, then then next, and the next. Unfortunately for Cuadrilla, fracking less than a few percent of the well bore created earth tremors which caused the whole operation to be shut down. So how much of the horizontal well bore was tested, the answer is astonishing given the amount of positive information spewed out to the outside world. Britain would have a vast new energy source based upon a borehole that has only been tested for around 10% of its length for what? A few days perhaps. Were the test lengths spread out along the entire length of the horizontal borehole, or clustered together? How variable were the relatively few test elements? Answers: no idea. This would be highly confidential data. But how are the politicians supposed to make reasoned decisions without the implications of this sort of data?
My conclusions, such as they are, are that the U.K. probably has a huge shale gas RESOURCE, but absolutely no RESERVES whatsoever. Furthermore, for as long as there is an extremely and rigorous moratorium on causing even the slightest of earth tremors by fracking, there is absolutely no way gas resources can be converted to reserves.
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Thank you Alan.
It’s not the only uncertainty, clearly, but that’s very helpful.
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Friday : We’ve now got 1️⃣0️⃣ fire engines tackling a large fire at a *waste recycling facility* on Balby Carr Bank, Doncaster- and we expect to be there all night.
We’re fighting the fire in three sectors, all of which involve mixed waste metals.
Saturday @SYFR
Firefighters remain at the scene of a fire at a waste recycling site on Balby Carr Bank, Doncaster.
However, we’ve now scaled back our attendance from 1️⃣0️⃣ to 3️⃣ fire engines.
We’re still asking people to avoid the area and to keep windows and doors closed as a precaution
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SkyNews about the Australian Election
– GreenBlob are chucking money at the Climate200 so called independent candidates
– Wentworth, a Guardianlalaland suburb is a prime seat
2 videos
#1 https://youtu.be/yeG1mZvJvzI
Note how YouTube slings a Climate Truthspeak banner along the bottom of the screen
#2 The media make out the governing party guy is a minor candidate yet he is robustly anti-Green
He calls out the facts
.. https://youtu.be/IMyRcjpn-ZU
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“Meat: Farmers’ anger over council’s plant-based diet email”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61196529
“Farmers have been left furious after a rural council called on staff to eat less meat.
They want Pembrokeshire council to apologise after an internal newsletter urged staff to cut back on meat and dairy, saying a plant-based diet was healthier.
The council said it was part of a series of tips on saving the planet.
One of the county’s many farmers, Charles George, of Wolf’s Castle, called it a “kick in the teeth”.
“They have got it completely wrong,” he added.
“They should be out there encouraging people to eat local, to support local businesses, instead of having some vegan food that might have come from anywhere in the world.”…”.
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Wow, that’s useful:
“Carbon Bubble in Stafford town centre highlights emissions”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-61195851
“A huge inflatable representing a tonne of carbon has been placed in Stafford town centre to encourage people to cut their carbon emissions.
The 10ft (3m) red sphere was set up to mark Earth Day on Friday.
Staffordshire County Council has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
It is also encouraging local residents to cutting their own carbon footprints and said it hoped the Carbon Bubble would make people think twice.
The local authority said the county created about 5.8 million tonnes of carbon each year and the average resident produced about 5.3 tonnes a year.
“It’s very difficult for people to understand what carbon actually looks like, so this is a great way to make people aware, Conservative Councillor Victoria Wilson said.
“We want them to think how they can change their daily activities to reduce carbon emissions.”
The local authority said it had already cut its own carbon emissions by 40%.
To reaffirm its green credentials, the Carbon Bubble was transported to Market Square by two electric vehicles and was inflated with Green D+ fuel which is fossil free and made from 100% renewable energy sources, the council said.
It was is also made of bio-degradable nylon.”
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now On Mark Dolan Tonight from 9pm, only on GB News…
Are electric cars a waste of time?⚡️
For : mad Donnachadh McCarthy the cycling PR guy
Against : Lois Perry of Car26.org .. https://twitter.com/LoisPerry26/status/1518237826906738689
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No coal power on the grid since April 14th
up until then it was going on and off EVERY day
I doubt solar has replaced it
Probably we were getting coal from Russia ..and stocks have run out
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7pm R4 News was a strange one
The lead was that Macron has won
Then it went weird “and here’s French Climate spokeswoman Mme X”
‘You see Macron hasn’t made his Climate targets but he does believe in Climate change
The problem is not only does the FAR RIGHT Le Pen not believe in Climate targets , she doesn’t believe in Climate change at all
.. so France faced a backward step like Trump’s presidency’
.. That was such a weird news bulletin
but weirdly the hourly short news bulletins this evening are not available on Iplayer to check.
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Madness on stilts, especially given that NI’s contribution to global GHG emissions is miniscule:
“Northern Ireland faces loss of 1 million sheep and cattle to meet climate targets
Northern Ireland Assembly’s first climate act will require the farming sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/22/northern-ireland-faces-loss-of-1-million-sheep-and-cattle-to-meet-climate-targets
“Northern Ireland will need to lose more than 1 million sheep and cattle to meet its new legally binding climate emissions targets, according to an industry-commissioned analysis seen by the Guardian.
The large-scale reduction in farm animals comes after the passing of the jurisdiction’s first ever climate act, requiring the farming sector to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and reduce methane emissions by almost 50% over the same period.
About a third of human-caused methane emissions come from livestock, mostly from the burps and manure of beef and dairy cattle. Analysis by KPMG, commissioned by industry representatives including the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), estimates more than 500,000 cattle and about 700,000 sheep would need to be lost in order for Northern Ireland to meet the new climate targets.
Separate analysis by the UK government’s climate advisers suggests chicken numbers would also need to be cut by 5 million by 2035. Both the pig and poultry sectors in Nothern [sic] Ireland have seen rapid growth in the past decade.”
Logically, then, just as all over the UK we have reduced out energy security, now we’re systematically doing the same thing with regard to food security. Unless I miss read him, even Chris Stark seems to recognise a problem here:
“Chris Stark, CCC chief executive, told the Guardian that a switch to arable farming would probably be necessary if food production levels are to remain the same in Northern Ireland. “A condition in our modelling is that we produce the same amount of food per head in 2050,” he said. “But it’s very difficult to do this unless you see a change in farming practice, and especially unless you see a shift in arable farming versus livestock.
“So it’s a big challenge – and I’m interested to see what the executive comes up with now, since the majority of emissions come from animals. That will very soon come home to roost for Northern Ireland.”…”.
Of course one of the reasons why farmers in wetter parts of the country tend to rear livestock rather than grow crops is because that’s what the climate dictates in terms of efficiency.
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“Lab-grown meat and insects ‘good for planet and health'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61182294
“Dining on the likes of lab-grown meat or ground-up insects could lead to big savings in carbon emissions and water, as well as freeing up land for nature.
That’s the finding of a study calculating the environmental benefits of “greener” foods hitting our plates.
Scientists say pressures on the planet could fall by more than 80% with such foods, compared with the typical European diet.
But it’s not yet clear if consumers will want to shift their eating habits.”
I should think that’s a euphemism for “this is a pipe dream; what comfortable western customer wants to eat insects and lab-grown products?”
Further into the article we get this, which I think sums it up:
“Dr Asaf Tzachor of the University of Cambridge, who was not part of the research team, said while these are “promising” findings, the unwillingness of consumers to shift their diets might “postpone, or indeed prevent, this much-needed transition”.”
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I’m sure if all the five star Michelin restaurants in the world started to promote this stuff it would catch on really quickly.
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The BBC at its brilliant best…???
“How high-profile scientists felt tricked by group denying climate change”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-61166339
“By Marco Silva and Merlyn Thomas
BBC climate disinformation reporters”
I loved this sub-heading:
“Selective editing and ‘manipulation'”
Well, the BBC would know all about that.
Surely it’s a non-story. Who has even heard of The Creative Society before now? Certainly not me. Such a lengthy article smacks of desperation, I feel.
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“Wind Power’s ‘Colossal Market Failure’ Threatens Climate Fight
Turbine makers reel from soaring costs, changes in subsidies
Chinese companies could grab more of market as rivals stumble”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-25/wind-power-s-colossal-market-failure-threatens-climate-fight
“Optimism abounds about the future of wind power, with a clean-energy boom powering robust growth in an industry that businesses and governments agree is key to slowing climate change. But a nagging problem could keep the sector from fulfilling that promise: Turbine makers are still struggling to translate soaring demand into profit.
Wind power heavyweights Vestas Wind Systems A/S, General Electric Co. and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy SA are reeling from high raw material and logistics costs, changes in key clean-power subsidies, years of pressure on turbine prices and an expensive arms race to build ever-bigger machines.
“What I’m seeing is a colossal market failure,” said Ben Backwell, chief executive officer of trade group Global Wind Energy Council, noting a mismatch between government targets for new wind power and what’s happening on the ground. “The risk is we’re not on track for net zero [emissions] — and the other risk is the supply chain contracts, instead of expanding.”…”.
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“Just Stop Oil protests: Protesters breach Kingsbury Oil terminal injunction”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-61230980
“A number of activists have been arrested after breaching an injunction outside an oil terminal in Tamworth.
Members of the Just Stop Oil group blocked access to the Kingsbury Oil Terminal from 07:30 BST on Tuesday.
A new High Court injunction in the area grants police “enhanced powers to prevent and disrupt any unlawful activity”.
Warwickshire Police said it had detained 16 people following the demonstration.
A breach of the injunction, granted by North Warwickshire Borough Council on 14 April, carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison.”
Time to get serious, I think.
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no chance, defence will just say “saving the planet” and a get out of Jail free verdict will follow.
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ps – I can’t really blame Judges/courts etc.. for not clamping down on this.
the MSM would be all over the story & most would make them out as hero’s.
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Now here’s an irony. Brexit bad, remember, especially in the Guardian. But today we read this:
“Farming push to delay eco-friendly subsidies risks net-zero target – report
Farming union NFU wants two-year delay but Green Alliance says move would keep emissions high beyond 2035”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/26/uk-miss-net-zero-target-eco-friendly-farming-elms-scheme-delayed-report-aoe
“There will be a “substantial gap” in UK agriculture’s efforts to reach net zero if post-Brexit environment-friendly subsidies are delayed by another two years, according to new analysis.
The National Farmer’s Union (NFU) is urging the government to delay Environmental Land Management schemes (Elms) until 2025 and keep the EU’s Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) in the interim period, which pays farmers for the amount of land they own, regardless of its impact on the environment.
Representatives say this is to provide some stability during a tumultuous time for UK farmers, with the price of fertiliser rocketing due to the Ukraine war, Covid-related staff shortages, the departure of EU seasonal workers, and other Brexit-related issues. Labour’s shadow Defra secretary, Jim McMahon, has backed the NFU’s stance.
However, analysis by the thinktank Green Alliance shows that delaying Elms – the main means of helping farmers decarbonise – would see agricultural emissions savings in 2035 at half what they could have been if the Elms programme was delivered on time. Because emissions savings are cumulative, this would put more pressure on other areas to decarbonise even faster to make up for this loss, leaving a “substantial gap in the UK’s net zero plans”, according to the report.”
So those nasty EU farm subsidy schemes were bad for climate change, and the new ones the UK is putting in place to replace them are much better, and should be implemented asap, no delay being acceptable. Hmmm.
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Two stories I notice alongside each other on the BBC home page this morning:
The second Mark already drew attention to yesterday at 7:16am. The other:
Four ways Elon Musk might change Twitter
is really quite a good bit of journalism, except it doesn’t mention the crucial step of making all the Twitter code open source.
The second though is disastrously bad, and stupid, and is now adorned with a horrible pic of a ‘denier’ that would not have been out of place in Der Stürmer.
That’s our state broadcaster for you.
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Email has come in re the petition to end the ban on fracking
“The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) have considered the Government’s response to this petition.
They felt that the response did not directly address the request of petition and have therefore written back to the Government to ask them to provide a revised response”
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Richard. Reaction to that BBC picture of a denier depends upon what animal it depicts. If it’s a pig then your reaction is valid, but it’s a poor representation. To me it resembles more an elephant which is near-universally considered to be wise.
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Warning! Sticking hands to windows can bugger up your gong bath business:
https://www.sarasasound.com/news/2022/4/11/another-update-about-my-hand-and-arm
Bong! Bong! My-husband’s job is wrong!
But he’ll soon admit that he agrees with me and get the sack! Whoops by crikey my fingers need an an ice pack!
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Great stuff Mark.
Alan: I could take two routes in response to your seeing a wise elephant and not a dirty pig. I don’t think the intention of the BBC home page design was to imply sceptics are wise. Not while using the disgraceful ‘climate deniers’ moniker.
But the other point is that I had second thoughts myself. This pic I assume (now) to be an extract from one of so-called Creative Society’s own cartoons. It’s still very nasty. I think we’re being set up as allies of gross anti-semitism.
But no time for more on that cheerful thought right now. I appreciate the feedback, as always.
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“Keele students to benefit from £8m renewable energy park”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-61249426
“Students will have up to half their electricity generated from renewable sources after an £8m energy centre officially opened.
The Keele University park combines two wind turbines with 12,500 solar panels.
The centre will save the equivalent of removing 800 cars from roads each year, the university said.
“[This] is a fantastic thing for the university and a fantastic thing for reducing our carbon emissions,” Professor Zoe Robinson said.
More than 10,000 students study at the university with many living on the campus and one of them, Claudia Yeboah, said it was great they will have greener energy.”
Did the other 9,999 not agree?
“The site will be managed and financed by energy firm, EQUANS, which signed a 25-year partnership with Keele in December 2020.”
EQUANS is part of ENGIE, who appear to be French. Not that I’m anti-French or anything, but shouldn’t a British University be able to partner with a British company for this sort of thing? What about all those green jobs?
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“Scotland’s lochs and reservoirs are warming rapidly, report says”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61242322
“Climate change has caused a rapid warming of Scottish lochs and reservoirs, according to new research.
A report by Scotland’s Centre of Expertise for Waters (Crew) found that 97% had seen an increase in temperature between 2015 and 2019.
The researchers have warned that the changes create a greater risk of harmful algal blooms developing.
The Scottish government said it was “vital” that more action was taken to tackle and adapt to global warming.
The report says that most lochs and reservoirs in Scotland warmed by between 0.25C and 1C per year over the four-year period.
However, the temperatures in 9% of them increased by 1C to 1.3C per year.”
I couldn’t see that the BBC provided a link to the actual report, but I found it anyway:
Click to access CREW%20%E2%80%93%20Assessing%20climate%20change%20impacts%20on%20the%20water%20quality%20of%20Scottish%20standing%20waters%20v5_final_0.pdf
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m slightly nervous about the objectivity of a report which loudly proclaims:
“If global warming reaches 4°C above pre-industrial levels by 2100, then further significant changes in UK climate would be expected by 2050.
Scotland, like the rest of the world and UK as a whole, is facing an unprecedented climate change crisis.”
And not reported by the BBC are the caveats to the report:
“It should be noted, however, that it is not possible to predict these climate change impacts precisely due to the widely recognised uncertainties surrounding climate change predictions; so, these results should be viewed with caution even though the relationships between the climate change data and the loch and reservoir temperature data have been validated for 2010 – 2019.”
And, almost inevitably:
“Further research is necessary to establish the relationships between climate change and water quality as the response of standing waters is complex and will be determined by the interaction of multiple factors. A key gap in our current knowledge is how climate change will affect the delivery of nutrients to a water body form its catchment – even with warmer temperatures, algal blooms cannot develop if there are insufficient nutrients available to support their growth.”
So, perhaps the shrill headlines aren’t entirely justified. No doubt they are handy when it comes to getting extra funding for that oh so necessary further research. Cynical? Moi?
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Just for once, maybe this is a good idea?
“Disused Cornish mines could heat county’s homes”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-61233372
“A £100,000 study will examine if abandoned Cornish mines can provide renewable and low-cost heating.
The scheme will explore whether water in flooded mines can be used with heat pump technology to warm homes.
If successful, the county’s 400 abandoned mines could improve options for off-gas grid communities – which account for half the county’s homes.
It could also play a role in meeting Cornwall Council’s ambitions to make Cornwall carbon neutral by 2030.
Stephen Rushworth, cabinet member for Economy at Cornwall Council, said half of the homes in Cornwall do not have access to mains gas and many are “not suitable for air source heat pumps without expensive energy efficiency measures”….”.
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I can’t even be bothered to read it. For a moment I got confused and thought I was at the Guardian website:
“HOW CLIMATE CHANGE IS FUELING THE RISE OF SPAIN’S FAR RIGHT”
https://www.politico.eu/article/climate-change-spain-andalucia-far-right-vox-election-2022/
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I’ve probably linked to this before. It shows Roger Hallam at an anti-bignosed-banker (geddit?) demo outside the LSE in 2017:
Two others in that video were involved in later Rising Up/XR/IB/etc demos.
I haven’t been able to identify the shouty person with the fake nose. Any ideas? He or she is probably a spad by now, or even an MP.
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Richard – thanks for the BEEB link – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-61166339 (missed the link by Mark)
By “BBC climate disinformation reporters.
are the “BBC climate disinformation reporters” unbiased I wonder?
“The group runs a network of more than 200 accounts – with hundreds of thousands of followers – across all major social media platforms.And through them, bad information about global warming is being spread.”
plus the “bad information about global warming” is a bit child like.
ps – thought it was global heating now?
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“Climate change: Don’t let doom win, project tells worriers”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61218933
“A new project has been launched to address rising climate anxiety in students at the University of East Anglia.
At the opening in Norwich, students told BBC News they felt hopelessness, anger and despair about climate change.
They worry how they will live in a world with an unpredictable climate and the destruction of nature.
On Thursday a new survey found that 45% of UK students worry about climate change once a week or more.
Literature student Meg Watts, 22, said that she had experienced depression after being overwhelmed by the scale of problems facing the planet. And she sought therapy after developing disordered eating when trying to cut out food packaged with plastic.
The new programme was developed with mental health charity Norfolk and Waveney Mind, who realised young people were coming for counselling about their fears about climate change.
Common worries were about food security and whether or not to have children, explained Ruth Taylor from Mind. “Young people are trying to get ready for what is coming,” she suggests….”.
I’ve got a better idea – stop indoctrinating them with doom-mongering lies. You don’t need a new “project”. Just stop dishonestly scaring them.
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PS, the article ends with this (what on earth has gone so badly wrong with universities?):
“Students’ advice on how to cope with climate anxiety
Recognise your feelings – it’s OK to feel bad about climate change
Write down your anxieties in a list. Cross off any you can’t control
Find things that calm you down when you are distressed – it could be a song, exercise, or meditation
Try to find something – small or big – that you can do and commit yourself to it”
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For goodness sake, UEA students worrying about whether to have children because of climate change! Some people have a hell of a lot to answer for. I suspect it’s not my old hunting ground – the School of Environmental Science. In fact I would wager that rather few of its students are of the worrying persuasion.
Things haven’t changed much have they. In my day it was the Russians with their nuclear weapons, and those missiles were very real. They still are. Yet students are more concerned about climate fantasies and not Putin’s threats.
The mind boggleth.
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Alan, truly it is deeply depressing. I worry about what on earth is going on at our universities (and schools). What on earth are they telling young people to scare them so? Whatever happened to the critical faculties of the young? As for those climate cafes, the whole experience (including the language relating to them) looks like a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous:
“Sitting on chairs in circles, groups of students at the launch on Tuesday described their feelings about climate change.
“I have phases – sometimes I feel like it’s not my fault, it’s down to people-in-power. Then I read something else that says if we are not taking action, we are like climate deniers,” said one participant.
“I have ups and downs. My future job will be about helping people, but sometimes I think what’s the point in my education if we can’t stop climate change?” another said.
Political inaction and negative news stories contribute to feelings of despair, some said.
Summing up their feelings in one word after the discussion, a handful of participants said “motivated”, “peaceful,” “empowered” and “encouraged”, adding that sharing made them less alone.”
I know I must be getting old when I read that, and I reflect that in my days at university people who spoke and acted like that would have been laughed at for being so intellectually lightweight and generally pathetic. And our generation at university weren’t uncaring – we supported each other and helped fellow students who had genuine problems.
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“Just Stop Oil protesters sabotage petrol pumps on M25 motorway
Environmental activists say action is ‘significant escalation’ in campaign against fuel distribution in England”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/28/just-stop-oil-protesters-sabotage-petrol-pumps-on-m25-motorway
“Environmental activists have sabotaged petrol pumps at two motorway service stations, in what they described as a “significant escalation” in their campaign against fossil fuel distribution in England.
About 35 supporters of the Just Stop Oil campaign staged blockades at the Cobham services in Surrey and the Clacket Lane services in Kent, both on the M25, smashing the display glass on petrol pumps with hammers and defacing them with spray paint.
The action against new fossil fuel targets came after the companies controlling the fuel terminals that had previously been targeted obtained civil injunctions banning protests at their sites.”
Well, it’s criminal damage now. Protesting is one thing, and I support their right to protest peacefully, so long as their behaviour doesn’t hurt others, even though I profoundly disagree with them.. Criminal damage is another thing altogether.
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Just come from a geology lecture.
Its worldview of full colour complexity seemed to bust a few of the dogmas from the black and white simplicity of the green dreamers
It was about blowholes
#1 Water does not always flood the lowest point of the land
cos geology is complex.
Here we have chalk hills which are bounded by clay bands and then further away gravel.
So the rain impregnates the the chalk to a depth but cannot escape sideways into the clay zones
so causing a watertable under the clay which has pressure
On the slope’s of the hill the clay is thick
but further down the water finds weak spots and we get blowholes as the water rises up bring up some white sand with it. The weakspots are often not the lowest lands.
So you do get boggy ground above sea level
#2 Constant coastal erosion will not go on forever
I think he said the rock under the clay is the ancient cliffs from an original sea
and current erosion is in the soft soil, that soft soil is a result of silt from a later higher sea.
The East coast is eroding but does hit the original cliffs and that stands up to erosion force and doesn’t erode.
At Scarborough this line has been hit already.
#3 Heatpumps may be a risk
These blowholes are an incredible natural phenomenon with ponds forming of cold very pure water cos it is well filtered by the metres of chalk.
The councils are keep to preserve them
And issue is that when man starts digging deep into the land it causes a new weaker spot
So if you are in that area and start digging deep holes for heatpumps there is a risk the local clay gets weakened .. the water then floods your hole
And at the existing ancient blowholes the pressure falls so they dry up.
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Bignosed banker sounds like a Jewish stereotype
“7th June 2017. Theatre group Life Not Money at the LSE street theatre protest supporting London School of Economics cleaners who have taken a series of weekly strikes for equality.”
(BTW on April 25th, Four people have been arrested and charged with Criminal Damage
so their names should be on record)
Twitter account https://twitter.com/LifeNotMoney
they have FB too https://www.facebook.com/LIFE-NOT-MONEY-at-the-LSE-1857494621197747/
Image library
” The LSE and employers Noonan treat them as second-class citizens, refusing to recognise their union the United Voices of the World and giving them low pay and grossly inferior conditions to directly employed staff.
Two sprayed a chalk slogans on the road while others alternated chanting ‘London School of Exploitation’ with loud blowing of vuvuzelas.
They then performed a short play in which a character playing the LSE director tore the shirts off the backs of several cleaners and boasted about his huge and rapidly rising salary, while a student and a lecturer made excuses about not intervening.
(Credit Image: © Peter Marshall )
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“Climate crisis – not China – is biggest threat to Pacific, say former leaders
Pacific Elders Voice group says military tension ‘created by China and the US and its allies’ are secondary to rising seas and catastrophic cyclones”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/29/climate-crisis-not-china-is-biggest-threat-to-pacific-say-former-leaders
A rather curious headline, given that China is the largest ongoing contributor to the so-called “climate crisis”. Perhaps a more honest headline would say that China is a huge threat to the Pacific, both because of military tension and because of its role in contributing to the “climate crisis”.
I’m not sure why climate alarmists are so determined to destroy western lifestyles while not complaining about or taking action against the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.
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“Is wind power really the solution to our green energy needs?”
https://capx.co/is-wind-power-really-the-solution-to-our-green-energy-needs/
“…A whole new nomenklatura of ESG experts and consultants have emerged, ready to feast upon the regulatory opportunity. They will do an intimate examination of investment committee minutes, study deal analytics in fine detail, and cross-reference them to reporting standards. At the end of a very expensive process they will pronounce: ‘You need to invest more in renewable energy… I suggest a course of wind power.’
That’s the prescription for curing what ails the global environment. Long-term, I expect it’s about as likely to work as a course of medieval leeches. The reality of wind power is that it is a miserable business.
GE Renewable Energy recently posted a widening first-quarter loss on the back of slowing offshore wind sales in the US and rising materials costs. Vestas, one of the largest Original Equipment Manufacturers is trying to hike its prices by 20% as inflation bites. A few weeks ago, Siemens Gamesa, the Siemens part-owned manufacturer of some of the largest offshore wind structures, gave its third profit warning in less than a year, saw its stock tumble, and warned of rising costs and supply chain issues. The company is struggling to buy out minority shareholders and refocus the business.
Meanwhile, the latest 11 MW wind turbines are 225 meters tall with 200-meter rotors. They require a super-ship to transport them around the globe to the site.
Wind farms have a variety of issues. As they get larger so they can produce the amounts of ‘clean’ renewable power we anxiously desire, they get harder and harder to build, transport and install. They are complicated to dispose of. Although you can recycle the steel and electrical stuff, the blades were built to last, and they probably will, as landfill.
We also don’t have nearly as much data as we should. Nothing is transparent about performance and maintenance. Early wind farm turbines are being replaced with bigger, more ‘efficient’ models well before their expected end-of-service dates. There is probably a compromise to achieve the most-efficient size for a wind turbine. This would optimise the high carbon costs of its construction, installation, maintenance and disposal against its long-term energy production. However, at the moment, the wind industry isn’t interested in small. It’s all about bigger and (apparently) better….”.
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Anyone know anything about the CLINTEL (Climate Intelligence) expert petition ?
https://clintel.org/world-climate-declaration/
The UK ambassador is THE VISCOUNT MONCKTON
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3 Years ago ” Mr Gupta of Liberty Steel told the BBC he believed jobs at Port Talbot could be saved … green steel – melting and recycling scrap using renewable energy.”
Yesterday : “staff at the Serious Fraud Office have visited Liberty Steel HQ over money laundering and other offences”
“The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) have raided all of Liberty Steel’s offices in the UK after French police did the same in Paris on Tuesday.
It won’t be long until Nicola Sturgeons in front of them on why she gave them £568m & a 114 acre hunting estate ”
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:6925369130829148160
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“‘This really is the future’: HGV manufacturers race to decarbonise trucks
Lorry vehicle makers are backing a range of technologies from gas to battery electric to cut UK’s carbon footprint on the roads”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/29/hgv-manufacturers-race-to-decarbonise-trucks-lorries-carbon-footprint-uk
Really? Even the article says:
“The problems are range and cost. The LF Electric, of which 25 have been built so far, has a 220km range and smaller 19-tonne capacity that prevents it from taking on the motorway trucking routes that serve as the backbone of modern economies. And the sticker price is currently three times that of a diesel.
Even Elon Musk has been unable to crack the problem, judging by the Tesla Semi which is now years overdue. Nikola this week began production of electric “semis” at its new Arizona plant, but only after its founder, Trevor Milton, was charged with allegedly rolling a prototype down a hill to pretend it was working. Some experts think it will be 2025 before larger electric trucks hit the mainstream.”
Maybe the distant future.
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Curious:
“Oil and gas industry defends North Sea spending levels as Kwarteng urges more
Business secretary calls for increased investment by energy producers to avoid being hit with tax on soaring profits”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/apr/29/oil-gas-firms-north-sea-investment-kwasi-kwarteng-windfall-tax
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“Just Stop Oil’s ‘spring uprising’ protests funded by US philanthropists
LA-based based Climate Emergency Fund donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to activists”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/29/just-stop-oils-protests-funded-by-us-philanthropists
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“Impact of energy-draining ‘vampire devices’ overstated, says tech expert
Unplugging equipment normally left on standby may not save consumers as much cash as hoped”
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/apr/29/tech-expert-energy-vampire-devices
“As the cost-of-living crisis bites, and households look for any opportunity to cut the bills, headlines suggesting consumers can save hundreds of pounds just by turning off unused chargers have been an appealing prospect. But, experts say, such claims about “vampire devices” are actually more like a zombie statistic….
…One recent report from British Gas claimed “Brits could … save an average of £110 per household per year by simply flicking a switch”. The energy provider said 23% of British energy bills were caused by “vampire electronics, those that continue to drain power when left on standby”.
But that statistic came from a 2015 report from the US National Research Defence Council, based on analysis of homes in California. “Think about the laptop you used 10 years ago,” Melson says: “That might need a big ugly plug in the middle, a big transformer. By and large, now you can just plug them straight into USB-C: that is much more energy efficient, and there is no need to draw power.”
As well as being seven years old and based on another country’s energy, consumers may struggle to make some of the suggested savings: a third of the “always on” electronics identified in the study are “recirculation pumps, fishponds, aquariums, and protected outlets in bathrooms, kitchens and garages.” Consumers who switch off their aquarium at night can save money but their fish may object….”.
There’s a lot of this sort of thing out there. I’m glad to see that the Guardian is starting to dig beneath the claims. If only it would do so about many of the dodgy climate change and renewables energy claims routinely pushed there.
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radio4 5:30pm Green Agenda again :Heat Pumps
Not complete propaganda, but rather soft criticising like a mother giving an opinion on her own child.
“Are they economic ?” “yes” they said ..adding “well if they are subsidised and gas prices keep going up”
Doh ..SUBSIDIES are not paid by magic unicorns ..they are unsustainable
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“Elections 2022: How are local councils tackling climate change?”
bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-61066698
The correct answer, of course, is that they’re not. They can’t. Their share of global GHG emissions and influence on the climate is so minuscule as to make no difference to anything. It doesn’t stop the BBC giving it the full treatment, however. The bizarre thing is that the BBC pundits have convinced themselves that climate will be a critical issue at the local elections.
“Local elections are taking place across England, Scotland and Wales on Thursday, and environmental questions may play a large part in people’s voting decisions.” Note how the BBC elides climate and environmental issues – of course much “climate action” is damaging to the environment, but the BBC would never recognise that.
My prediction is that we will see an extremely low turnout, and that climate will be very low down on the list of priorities for those who do that. Where I live, my “choice” is between Tories, Labour and Lib Dems, and they’re all signed up to the net zero agenda. I shall be spoiling my ballot, so as not to be labelled apathetic.
After the event, when they see the low turnout, my guess is that politicians of all parties will start to talk about the need to work harder to get their message across, in blissful ignorance of the fact that the low turnout will be because they’ve got their message across – we hear them loud and clear – and we don’t like it.
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It seems one article on this desperately sad and ridiculous story isn’t enough for the BBC:
“Climate change: How can I deal with my eco-anxiety?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-environment-61265222
“Rachel Hurst is a student at the University of East Anglia helping other students to address their climate anxieties through on-campus climate cafes.
It’s part of a new programme created by the university and mental health charity Norfolk and Waveney Mind, who saw young people worried about climate change using their services.
A recent global survey has found 39% of UK students see climate change as one of the top issues for their generation.”
Followed by a link to the earlier, larger, article.
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“Gorgon Carbon Capture and Storage: The Sting in the Tail”
Click to access Gorgon-Carbon-Capture-and-Storage_The-Sting-in-the-Tail_April-2022.pdf
H/T Andrew Montford’s Twitter feed.
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A while ago I drew attention here to the Guardian’s CO2 tracker, and expressed surprise that it went down 0.1ppm a few weeks ago. Well, that didn’t last. While I’ve been watching it this year, it’s been going up slowly but surely, from (iirc) 418.5 to a new high of 419.1ppm this morning. So that’s all going well, then.
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There’s no denying that these are extremely high temperatures:
“‘We are living in hell’: Pakistan and India suffer extreme spring heatwaves
April temperatures at unprecedented levels have led to critical water and electricity shortages”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/02/pakistan-india-heatwaves-water-electricity-shortages
Three strange aspects to the story, however.
1. The map used to illustrate the story shows temperatures in northern India and Pakistan much higher than normal, but temperatures across central and southern India, Myanmar, Indo-China etc seem to be much colder than usual. Of course, the story doesn’t mention that.
2. We are told “Rehman warned that the heatwave was causing the glaciers in the north of the country to melt at an unprecedented rate, and that thousands were at risk of being caught in flood bursts.” But contradictorily, “…“The water reservoirs dry up. Our big dams are at dead level right now, and sources of water are scarce,” she said.”.
3. The irony of the final paragraph seems to be lost on the Guardian:
“India is facing its worst electricity shortage in six decades. Power cuts lasting upwards of eight hours have been imposed in states including Jharkhand, Haryana, Bihar, Punjab and Maharashtra as domestic coal supplies have fallen to critical levels and the price of imported coal has soared. In a bid to speed up the transport of coal across the country, Indian Railways cancelled more than 600 passenger and postal train journeys to make way for transportation of coal to power plants.”
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“Sunak urged to issue green bonds with higher returns if climate goals missed
Thinktank says following Chile’s example would give ministers greater incentive to meet targets”
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/02/sunak-green-bonds-higher-returns-climate-goals
“Rishi Sunak is being urged to issue a new generation of green bonds that would offer higher returns to investors if the UK government fails to hit its climate change targets.
The Social Market Foundation (SMF) said its plan for sustainability-linked bonds would provide ministers with a greater incentive to meet carbon-reduction goals and would help boost the UK’s prospects of being a global financial hub for green finance.
A report to be published on Tuesday by the thinktank calls on the chancellor to follow the example of Chile, the first country to peg the borrowing costs on its government debt to tackling global heating….”.
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“Three Disinformation Strikes For Rowlatt, the BBC’s Climate Activist-in-Residence”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/02/three-disinformation-strikes-for-rowlatt-the-bbcs-climate-activist-in-residence/
Another take on a story that appeared at Paul Homewood’s site a few days ago.
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April 29th @TomHeapMedia was doing ACTIVISM
“presenting his *39 Ways To Save The Planet* @BristolUni #ClimateEmergency Day of Action”
Is that why he wasn’t working on Countryfile yesterday ?
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Radio4 whilst travelling today
8pm Nell Frizzell contemplates whether climate change should stop her having a second child.
Nell speaks to
#1 Dr Matt Winning, comedian and author of Hot Mess, a book about raising a baby and understanding climate change.
#2 musician Blythe Pepino, who formed and then disbanded the campaign group BirthStrike,
(Bio “Queer Hairy She/Her. Band” )
#3 Les Knight, a campaigner for the extinction of the human race.
(Bio “Volunteer in the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement”)
#4 reproductive epidemiologist Dr Shanna Swan, whose book Count Down predicts the potential end of natural conception.
And
@ZedPea .. Bio “fighting catastrophic climate change”
@sophiepavs Bio “Zoologist @RSPBEngland”
#7 Rowan Tilly XR activist let off by crazy judge
#8 Thomas Sinclair lefty with XR too
BBC is so balanced
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“How phantom forests are used for greenwashing”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61300708
“Capturing carbon by increasing forest cover has become central to the fight against climate change. But there’s a problem. Sometimes these forests exist on paper only – because promises have not been kept, or because planted trees have died or even been harvested. A new effort will now be made to track success and failure.”
And
“Why Europe will have to face the true cost of being in debt to China”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61276168
“Billions of dollars of Chinese money are boosting some European economies – but some of the deals being struck have a catch. Critics say they are “debt traps”, where China gets to choose what happens if loans aren’t repaid.
China insists it is a reliable investment partner – but it is also facing allegations of worker exploitation and environmental damage.”
And
“The perfect storm increasing the cost of a crucial metal”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61148499
“In the next few years, millions of people will buy electric vehicles (EVs). All those cars and trucks will run on batteries containing metals such as cobalt, lithium and nickel.
But shortages of metals could potentially hobble the EV boom.”
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Cobalt and nickel are to be found abundantly within deep-sea nodules. The upcoming shortages doubtless are reason enough for the renewed focus upon their exploitation and the division amongst the woke as to whether they should be exploited. Trash the deep sea parts of the planet to protect us against trashing the atmosphere by continuing to use hydrocarbons. What a dilemma.
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Increasingly there have been calls for major oil companies, who are benefiting from so-called windfall profits that they have not earned, to be subjected to a windfall tax, which it is argued could be used to relieve the fuel impoverished from recent price increases. Today I heard Labour’s Leader Sir Kier Starmer make the case, and upon first hearing it seems a good case. Companies like BP are benefiting from a massive oil price increase that “they haven’t earned” from producing oil from the North Sea (much of which comes from British territory). Meanwhile this price increase translates into hardship for the British people, that might be mitigated by extra taxation stripping oil companies of this “unearned” portion.
As a former oil company employee I judge this to be unmitigated politicking. Oil companies have already paid for a licence to explore for and, if successful, produce oil and gas from blocks in the North Sea. What Starmer failed to mention is that North Sea profits are already taxed at a rate of 40%, which is far higher than for any other resource. So it’s not just the oil companies that will benefit, the government will also and massively. I have yet to hear that this windfall profit to the government should be used to alleviate fuel cost distress.
If price rise profits can be taxed, then surely at times when oil prices plummet either the rate hydrocarbons are taxed should be reduced, or oil companies at such times should be subsidised for producing necessary goods. But this hasn’t happened in the past. I can remember times when the costs of producing every barrel of oil were more that it could be sold for. Geologists and geophysicists were laid off in their droves.
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Alan, of course, everything you say is true. “Green” energy companies are also making unusual profits just now, but nobody seems to be calling for them to pay a windfall tax, let alone call for a reduction in their subsidies.
By the way, tucked away in the BBC article (conveniently missing from the headline and from political rhetoric) is this:
“BP said it had taken a $24.4bn hit on its decision to exit its shareholding in Russian energy giant Rosneft following the Kremlin’s assault on Ukraine.
Including the cost of exiting its 19.75% shareholding in Rosneft, BP reported a loss of $20.3bn for the first quarter.”
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Alan – thanks for bring up the windfall tax debate that some parties are pushing for & is getting a big nudge by the MSM.
as you say, when prices plummet, as happens with all global supply & demand companies from time to time, nobody cares.
“it’s your bed, lie in it” attitude seems to prevail. but when they get a whopping profit that helps offset the bad years, all certain parties & MSM focus on is the “whopping profit”.
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“Firm’s search for gas in Isle of Man waters allowed to continue”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61312072
“A Manx firm has been given more time to search the island’s territorial waters for gas so that “all options are kept open”, the chief minister has said.
Crogga’s exploration licence has been extended until 2024 to allow seismic surveys and exploratory drilling in an area off Maughold Head.
Alfred Cannan said it was the “right decision” given uncertainty over security of global energy supplies.
Campaigners previously said it conflicted with Manx climate targets.
Mr Cannan said while he accepted it would be “contentious”, any find could bring “substantial revenues” to the island that could help pay for investment in renewable energy and improving housing to reduce heating bills.”
A curate’s egg of a response, but better than nothing, I suppose.
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I check out the Guardian every day, and also look at the 10 most read stories. I can’t remember the last time any of them was about the “climate crisis”.
Meanwhile, I see that “renewable” energy (solar, wind and hydro) is currently contributing 4.6% of the UK’s electricity needs, while fossil fuels (gas and coal) are supplying 61.6%. For the past week, renewables have contributed just 12%, and that at a time of year when solar should be doing very well.
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dfhunter, what causes my blood pressure to rise is when the MSM and political parties speak of oil companies making obscene profits. This results from an extremely common misunderstanding that oil companies are extremely wealthy and their investors also gain large returns. When I taught my teaching module on Fossil Fuels at UEA I used to get a copy of the Telegraph, which then had stock prices, and get my students to compare dividends from oil companies and other investments. The low relative returns was one of the first shocks my students were subjected to.
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“Turbine at largest floating wind farm needs repairs”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-61308326
“A turbine which is part of the world’s largest floating wind farm is to be removed for repairs, BBC Scotland has learned.
The six-turbine floating Kincardine Wind Farm – which is nine miles (15km) off the Aberdeenshire coast – began operating fully in October last year.
No-one from the project was available for official comment.
However, it is understood the turbine in question could be out of action for up to three weeks.”
A fuller version of the story can be found at Scotland Against Spin, which includes this:
“The turbine and its floating foundation will have to be removed from the array and towed to an undisclosed port location while the work is carried out.”
My money is on the port location where the repair work will be carried out being undisclosed, is because I assume that it isn’t in the UK. Where did all the green jobs go?
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Alan – just watched a prog on the rise of Amazon.
It lost money in the early years (20yrs I think) but now are raking it in (pandemic helps but doorstep delivery is the key).
windfall tax for them next?
makes me wonder why you would strive to be successful in UK with tax rates (not sure where we are against EU)
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What an extraordinarily strange world it is when Putin apparently sees nothing wrong in invading a sovereign state, without provocation, committing war crimes, causing death and destruction, and yet feels it necessary to apologise for his Foreign Minister’s comments about Hitler possibly having Jewish ancestry.
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“African Governments to Western Eco-Imperialists Who Tell Them Not to Drill Their Own Oil and Gas – Get Lost”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/05/african-governments-to-western-eco-imperialists-who-tell-them-not-to-drill-their-own-oil-and-gas-get-lost/
“It was never going to work. Telling African countries to stop developing their economies by banning cheap, reliable fossil fuel is little more than an eco-imperialist dream. Writing in Monday’s Daily Telegraph, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni lauded the discovery of oil in Lake Albert, but noted it was a battleground for the green NGOs and activists who claim that Armageddon is nigh at every opportunity.
“We are accustomed to these lectures, but we are tired of hearing them,” he added.
For the last decade, the West through the IMF and the World Bank has imposed a moratorium on support for African fossil fuel development – initially coal and more recently oil and gas as well. Museveni notes that in Africa the population is set to double by 2050, “and it is becoming increasingly clear that our energy needs cannot be met with a sudden shift to more expensive and less reliable solar and wind alone”….”.
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“Huge volume of water detected under Antarctic ice”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61337864
“Vast quantities of water have been detected in sediments that underlie a part of the West Antarctic ice sheet.
The volume is equivalent to a reservoir that is several hundred metres deep.
The water was detected below the Whillans Ice Stream, but its presence is likely replicated elsewhere across the White Continent.
That being the case, it could be an important influence on how Antarctica reacts to a warmer world, researchers tell the journal Science this week.
Water at the base of glaciers and ice streams generally works to lubricate their movement.
The transfer of water into or out of this deep reservoir has the potential therefore to either slow down or speed up ice flow.
Models that simulate future climate impacts will now have to account for it.”
So the all-seeing models didn’t previously account for this previously unknown unknown? Meaning they were rubbish? There was me thinking the science was settled….
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Here in Cumbria, we are facing a nonsensical Council reorganisation. As things stand, we have 6 district/borough councils and an over-arching Cumbria County Council. The powers that be have decided to shake things up and scrap the district/borough councils, going for a unitary council arrangement instead. I agreed with this, since Cumbria has a population of only c 500,000 people, with almost 1/4 of them in Carlisle alone. The obvious answer, it seemed to me, was to leave Cumbria County Council in situ, since it already exists, with a Cumbria-wide infrastructure in place, and transfer the district/borough council functions to it. Needless to say the reorganisation is a mess, supported by our local Tory MP, with the county being divided into two completely new councils, who will have to set up all systems from scratch, at unnecessary expense. Our new council (Cumberland) has just elected a Labour majority, so maybe Mark Jenkinson, our Tory MP< can go away now and reflect on that.
All of which is a digression. The new Cumberland Council sees 2 Green Councillors elected, one of whom is Jill Perry. Believe it or not, I'm happy for her. Jill has been at the forefront of the Greens here for a very long time, and is a decent and sincere person, IMO. Finally, after decades of trying, she has been elected as a councillor. So long as the party she represents never gets near the levers of power, I think she will be a force for good and decency on the new Council.
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News?
“Extreme weather: What is it and how is it connected to climate change?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-58073295
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Still no climate stories among the 10 most viewed at the Guardian website. In first place today is “Blind date: ‘I guessed she was 10 years younger but she thought I was older than I am’”.
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“Mine e-waste, not the Earth, say scientists”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61350996
“The recycling of e-waste must urgently be ramped up because mining the Earth for precious metals to make new gadgets is unsustainable, scientists say.
One study estimated that the world’s mountain of discarded electronics, in 2021 alone, weighed 57 million tonnes.
The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) says there now needs to be a global effort to mine that waste, rather than mining the Earth.
Global conflicts also pose a threat to supply chains for precious metals.
The RSC is running a campaign to draw attention to the unsustainability of continuing to mine all the precious elements used in consumer technology.”
Fair enough, but it isn’t just “consumer technology”, is it? It’s Net Zero, renewables, and all the rest of it.
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Sincere but deluded?
“Climate hunger striker expresses shock at being ignored by ministers
Angus Rose starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament until Green MP Caroline Lucas arranged compromise”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/07/climate-hunger-striker-parliament-angus-rose
“The climate hunger striker who starved himself for more than five weeks outside parliament has said he did not expect ministers would ignore his demands and potentially let him die.
Angus Rose had said he would not eat until Greg Hands, the energy minister, arranged for Sir Patrick Vallance, the chief scientist, to give politicians and, via broadcast, the public, the climate change briefing he gave to Boris Johnson before the Cop26 climate summit.
After 37 days, as fears grew of long-term harm or even sudden death, and with no sign of a concession from ministers, he relented after Caroline Lucas, the Green MP, arranged a briefing for MPs through the all-party parliamentary group on climate change. Rose had originally asked for Vallance to do a televised briefing of cabinet rather than address a parliament committee, but said he was happy with the outcome.”
Not really news, either. This is the Guardian’s second bite of this cherry (at least).
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“Hundreds of Iraqis hospitalised as thick sandstorm blankets country
Flights suspended and authorities urge people to stay indoors as fifth sandstorm in a month hits Iraq”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/05/iraqis-hospitalised-thick-sandstorm-blankets-iraq
“…However, Azzam Alwash, head of the non-profit organisation Nature Iraq, warned that “climate change alone doesn’t give the whole picture” and that inappropriate farming practices and mismanagement of water resources had contributed to the problems.
“Climate change has become a very convenient excuse for officials to avoid responsibility for not taking action over the last 20 to 40 years,” he said.
Desertification, resulting from old irrigation practices dating back to the Sumerian age, and rising water salinity are also factors, he said. “These are policy issues.”…”.
Well, quite:
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An interesting and thoughtful piece, that might cast doubt on the wisdom of climate alarmism:
“Climate crisis: what lessons can we learn from the last great cooling-off period?”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/09/climate-crisis-lessons-to-learn-from-the-little-ice-age-cooling
But, inevitably, it has to end with:
“We had better learn fast, because the little ice age was just a taster. Back then, the average global temperature cooled by a fraction of a degree, but we’ve already warmed it by 1.1C, and are set to blow past 1.5C in the next few decades.”
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Guardian 2015:
“Climate change making droughts in Australia worse as rain patterns shift
Climate Council report says projected decreases in average rainfall are linked to reduced agricultural productivity and increased suicide risk in rural areas”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/31/climate-change-making-droughts-in-australia-worse-as-rain-patterns-shift
“The report’s author, Professor Will Steffen, said a much clearer picture of climate change’s influence on drought was emerging through recent research.
“There is stronger evidence that the front that brings rain in from the Southern Ocean has shifted south by about a degree in latitude, while the subtropical ridge, which is a belt of high pressure in central Australia, has intensified,” he said.
“We are seeing this kind of thing consistently around the planet. This is being driven very strongly by climate change, through the models and supported by observations.”
Steffen said future rainfall decreases of even 10% would have “pretty serious” implications for urban water supplies due to the reduced flow of water into catchments.”
Guardian 2019:
“Drought to become more frequent and severe due to climate change – government report
Report advises Australia to maintain drought preparations, even in times of normal rainfall”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/07/drought-to-become-more-frequent-severe-and-longer-due-to-climate-change-government-reports
“But in his report to the government, the recommendations of which the cabinet has had since April but only released on Thursday, Day highlighted the role climate change would have in extending and worsening Australia’s droughts.
“As a consequence of climate change, drought is likely to be more regular, longer in duration and broader in area,” Day reported.
“It means that farmers and communities who rarely see drought are likely to see it more often. And those that have been managing drought for many years may now see it intensify beyond their lived experience.
“Ultimately, the nation could see some areas of Australia become more marginal and unproductive.”…But in his report to the government, the recommendations of which the cabinet has had since April but only released on Thursday, Day highlighted the role climate change would have in extending and worsening Australia’s droughts.
“As a consequence of climate change, drought is likely to be more regular, longer in duration and broader in area,” Day reported.
“It means that farmers and communities who rarely see drought are likely to see it more often. And those that have been managing drought for many years may now see it intensify beyond their lived experience.
“Ultimately, the nation could see some areas of Australia become more marginal and unproductive.””
Guardian 2022:
“Flooding fears as La Niña brings heavy rain to north-east Australia
Analysis: It has already been a very wet autumn in eastern Australia, as weather event drives heavy rainfall”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/09/flooding-fears-la-nina-heavy-rain-north-east-australia
“It has already been a very wet autumn in eastern Australia. Now further heavy rain will bring the potential for flooding in the north-east of the country over the next few days.
La Niña has been the main driver behind the wet weather across Australia during what is autumn in the southern hemisphere. During a La Niña event, the sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific are colder than normal, meaning that the usual easterly winds across the equator are strengthened. The result of this is that more moisture is fed into north-eastern parts of Australia in particular, with an increase in associated heavy rainfall events.
This is what has been seen for much of the last couple of months in Australia, after Brisbane on the east coast broke its three-day and seven-day rainfall records back in the last week of February. Low pressure has and will continue to affect northern parts of Australia, with east or north-easterly winds feeding in from the Pacific, helping to seed heavy rain.
Some parts of central Queensland recorded 100-150mm of rainfall on Monday. And the north-east coast between Townsville and Yeppoon could get 150-200mm quite widely in the 24 hours to 6am on Wednesday, with the potential locally for 200-300mm as the low pressure system moves eastwards out into the Pacific. This level of rainfall is likely to lead to widespread flooding in this area.”
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BBClocal news : what as the mad enviro reporter got for us today
“Floating Homes against flooding”
Anyone logical would just stick some pontoons under a caravan
but this is PRasNews for a Hull university project and the builder
and it seems the Prof with the US accent Ms Hiatt Jackson has been given a load of money by the taxppayer
so has built full size floating house
“Plans to build a whole settlement for testing
“Local builder Andrew Parker has invented tis floating house”
Footage shows the house in the research lab at Wallingford, Oxon
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pic of East Yorks farmland now industrialised for windfarm transformer station
.. https://twitter.com/dronepixelsuk/status/1523330694428217344
I spot another tweet
(Housing association ) “@optivohomes communal district heat systems are a massive unregulated con.
That will be the next scandal!!!”
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local radio 8am bulletin
News : a popular pub is to be bulldozed for 20 houses
Not News : Hull hospital says they are saving hundreds of thousands of pounds per month due to the solar panels they installed in February,
they say they are the only hospital in Europe to be powered ENTIRELY by solar panels.
#1 That is PRasNews
#2 It’s clearly false .. the hospital spends much of the time being powered by non-solar, no-wind
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Local ITV news, you had to wait until the end of the report to know it was PRasNews
“So the YWT Puffin festival takes place all next week”
The beginning was hype from the studio anchors
“Puffins are severe danger from Climate Change”
then the report had two YWT staff shouting Climate Change.
AFAIK researchers often mark a zone as a Puffin counting zone
and they don’t count puffins the other side of the line
In the real world puffin populations often move to other areas or even just over the line
So don’t get counted this year, when the were counted last year etc.
Reporter https://www.twitter.com/mbillingtonitv/status/1524068117760155650
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Pointless as an article doesn’t begin to describe it:
“Climate change: ‘Fifty-fifty chance’ of breaching 1.5C warming limit”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61383391
“The likelihood of crossing a key global warming threshold has risen significantly, according to a new analysis.
UK Met Office researchers say that there’s now around a fifty-fifty chance that the world will warm by more than 1.5C over the next five years.
Such a rise would be temporary, but researchers are concerned about the overall direction of temperatures.
It’s almost certain that 2022-2026 will see a record warmest year, they say….
…The study suggests that temperatures between 2022 and 2026 will be between 1.1C and 1.7C higher than pre-industrial levels.
The Met Office researchers predict that for any one year in the period, the likelihood of breaching the 1.5C level is around 48%, or close to 50:50….”.
This is science? A five year period where world temperatures might be anything between two temperatures 0.6C apart? I don’t think I need the Met Office to tell me that. Mystic Meg could have done it.
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“Green light for Torbay Hospital’s £3.1m solar park plans”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-61396634
“Plans to power Torbay Hospital with a £3.1m solar park were approved by councillors on Monday.
A planning committee on the town’s council voted to allow the application, which will sit on a disused landfill site called Nightingale Park.
Once installed it will see the hospital powered by renewable energy fed to the site by an underground cable.
Councillor Swithin Long said it would help the area achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2030.”
At least it isn’t trashing a greenfield site.
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“Animal Rebellion: Activists want meat cut from Wales’ school dinners”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61384980
“Activists Animal Rebellion are urging councils to drop meat from school dinners at least two days a week.
The group is lobbying councils across the UK and claims to have persuaded one in England to sign up.
Member Dave France, from Welshpool, Powys, claimed children had record levels of “eco-anxiety”.”
And whose fault is that?
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“Climate change: Airlines miss all but one target – report”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61384377
“UK airlines have missed all climate targets set since 2000 except for one, a new report claims.
The aviation industry sets its own goals for cutting its environmental footprint.
A representative for the UK aviation industry said it was committed to significantly reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2018 air travel was responsible for 7% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Possible, the charity behind the research, investigated the issue to find out whether airlines can be relied upon to tackle their role in causing emissions that lead to climate change.”
Then, this being a Justin Rowlatt article, we get:
“Can we ‘carry on flying’?” and “The government’s Climate Change Committee advisory body has previously blamed the government for failing to reduce demand for flying.”
And:
“Mr Murray also says the government should be prioritising making sustainable transport like high-speed rail or ferries more affordable and accessible.
One scheme his charity runs encourages employers to give workers extra holiday days to allow them to travel abroad by train or ferry, which has a lower carbon footprint but can take much longer than flying.”
Well, that will help the UK’s already terrible productivity levels….
It’s been opened up to a Have Your Say. Top comment:
“Everyone should stop flying to save the planet.
Everyone, apart from me that is, obviously.
That’s how it works, isn’t it ?”
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When is a bomb not a bomb? When it’s a “carbon bomb”:
“Revealed: the ‘carbon bombs’ set to trigger catastrophic climate breakdown”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2022/may/11/fossil-fuel-carbon-bombs-climate-breakdown-oil-gas
Worth a read to see paranoia and anti-western bias on full display.
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Heaven forbid a real tragedy should take precedence over an imaginary one:
“Do not use Ukraine war to defer climate goals, warns Mark Carney
UN climate envoy says world cannot afford to derail progress because of energy crisis linked to invasion”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/11/do-not-use-ukraine-war-to-defer-climate-goals-warns-mark-carney-energy-crisis
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Tuesdays BBC TV local news
– The local anchor quickly regurgitated he hospital solar panel PR item that the radio reported in the morning
“that’s extraordinary” FFS of course it i cos you are just repeating PR guff o of course it sounds great , when it actually in’t
================
Paul Hudson reporting on microplastics research
basically PRaNews for Uni of Hull
(that’ a second day in a row, yesterday it was floatin houses research
Dr Cath Walker “this problem blah, blah”
.. Are plastic particles really a problem ? Are they different from particles of stone or natural cellulose ?
If it was you’d be howing us lot of dead bodies.
Prof Rotchell “we don’t know the problem”
“They do seem to cause inflammation in the lab”
but we don’t know in real world
BUT BUT then she shows she has made her mind up
and has a dogmatic belief BEFORE she has established the facts “what we can do to avoid them”
Presenter “plastic is still the Devil isn’t it ”
… #ImpartialMyAss
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Mark – re your ““Climate change: Airlines miss all but one target – report”
I notice the head article was by “Georgina Rannard – BBC News Climate & Science”
and quotes Leo Murray from charity Possible (had to google them – “Possible (which changed its name from 10:10 Climate Action in October 2019”)
it then says “The government’s upcoming “Jet Zero” strategy to tackle the role of aviation in climate change is likely to rely on airlines “decarbonising”. That would mean the industry using technology to fix its emissions problem.”
you have to wonder who the Gov gets it’s advice from!!!
then below this we get Anal-ysis by Justin – “Can we ‘carry on flying’?”
the funny comment you mention above –
“One scheme his charity runs encourages employers to give workers extra holiday days to allow them to travel abroad by train or ferry, which has a lower carbon footprint but can take much longer than flying.”
“One scheme his charity runs!!!” what bullsh*t – wonder how many days a week he works & how much he pays himself for spouting drivel?
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Is this what the BBC is for? I’m glad we didn’t renew the TV licence when it expired almost 6 months ago (haven’t missed watching TV in the slightest):
“Could you quit your job to become a full-time activist?
By Suzanne Bearne
Business reporter”
Business Reporter!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61305704
“Marly Lyman, 31, used to teach film and media in private schools, but is now a full-time activist for Extinction Rebellion (XR).
“I knew for my mental health that I needed to help in the community, be surrounded by people who I love to be around, and do a job I love,” says Mr Lyman, who lives in Northampton. “When Extinction Rebellion appeared on the scene in 2019 that changed everything. It was the missing piece in the puzzle.”
For the past few years he has been focusing on local group development in the Midlands for XR, but he will soon be moving towards UK-wide media and messaging work.
To help support him financially, he receives living expenses of £400 a month from XR. He also claims the government’s universal credit, and earns some additional funds from poetry recitals.
To reduce his expenses he bought a narrowboat to live on, but admits his life is a financial struggle.”
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“‘Critical mass’ of polluters setting carbon targets
By Roger Harrabin
BBC energy and environment analyst”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61414133
“The number of big polluters setting targets to cut CO2 emissions has reached a “critical mass”, a UN-backed report has said.
But firms in Asia, Africa and Latin America are lagging behind Europe, the US and Japan, the Science-Based Targets Initiative said.
Separately, a report cast doubt on whether oil companies can all deliver carbon cuts they’ve promised.
Big oil firms are relying on unproven technologies, a think tank said.”
As is true of Governments and many others in La-La Land.
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And there was I thinking the science was settled:
“How the moon influences temperatures on Earth
A study suggests lunar cycles can heat or cool the globe by 0.04C – enough to affect climate change modelling”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/may/12/how-the-moon-influences-temperatures-on-earth
“The moon does influence the temperature here on Earth, although the old belief that frost is more likely during a full moon is unfounded.
New research by Prof Ed Hawkins and colleagues at the University of Reading looks at the regular 18.6-year cycle during which the moon’s orbital plane shifts in relation to the Earth’s equator. This cycle has been known since prehistoric times, and can be observed by slight changes in where the moon rises and sets. The cycle affects tides and how warm water from the surface of the ocean mixes with colder water below. This in turn influences how rapidly the sea absorbs heat.
According to Hawkins’ paper, these lunar cycles can heat or cool the globe by about 0.04C at their extremes. That’s imperceptibly small to humans, but enough to influence climate change modelling. In particular, the effect may help explain an apparent slowdown in warming in the 2000s, and could fractionally increase warming in the 2030s.
The findings have yet to be confirmed, but this work provides an insight into the many complex factors that climate scientists have to deal with, and how they are working to account for every possible influence, even those that might at first seem like lunacy.”
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Well you would, wouldn’t you?
“Lloyd’s of London attempts to shift AGM online to avoid climate protesters
Insurance market members urged to attend virtually owing to ‘significant risk’ activists will disrupt meeting”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/11/lloyds-of-london-attempts-to-shift-agm-online-to-avoid-climate-protesters
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Spiked covering Justin Rowlatt’s fake news yesterday: https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/11/the-bbcs-climate-fake-news/
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Mark,
I expect that Ed Hawkins can expect a call from the Creative Society any day now.
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“More trouble in the Californian energy market”
https://watt-logic.com/2022/05/10/californian-energy-market/
Another comprehensive blog from Kathryn Porter at Watt-Logic. California powered itself by renewables for 15 minutes, but worries persist about what is going to happen as more reliable power is retired. As long as you want your power between 9 am and 3 pm, everything is going to be fine. Power after dark is more of a problem.
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How shocking:
“GB News chairman has history of dismissing threat of climate crisis
Revelation Alan McCormick has tweeted articles denying climate science fuels fears of GB News’s role as climate sceptic platform”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/may/12/gb-news-chairman-alan-mccormick-has-history-of-dismissing-threat-of-climate-crisis
“The new chairman of GB News has a history of sharing articles that dismiss the threat of climate breakdown, it can be revealed, sharpening concerns about the TV channel’s role as a platform for advocates of the continued burning of fossil fuels.”
What’s the matter? Too many people watching GB News?
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What is the most important thing one might want from a fire engine if one’s house is on fire? Reliability, I should think. Hmm.
“Oxfordshire council explores zero emission fire engines”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-61420791
“A fire service has played a crucial role in a study on how to run a fleet of zero emission fire engines.
Engineering firm Ulemco carried out research with Oxfordshire County Council on how to power its vehicles by hydrogen.
Chief fire officer Rob MacDougall called the conclusions “really exciting” and a way to reduce emissions “ahead of expectations”.
Ulemco said it would build a prototype to demonstrate its effectiveness.
In conjunction with Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, it concluded that zero emission battery electric fire engines would meet emergency response times and water pumping requirements.
The vehicles would have a combination of stored energy in their batteries and onboard hydrogen fuel storage, and could be refuelled rapidly.”
We’ll see.
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I should imagine that taking hydrogen deliberately to fires is likely to be described by most as being “really exciting”.
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“Lemon and amaretti trifle to be jubilee pudding”:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61428970
Just rejoice at that news.
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“Norway’s political tussle over new gas supplies
Oslo’s plan to boost gas extraction to help Europe ditch Russian gas is a ‘strategic’ mistake, says the left-wing opposition.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/norway-political-tussle-new-gas-supplies/
“Norway is vowing to help Europe turn away from Russian gas, but that’s set off a political battle with the left-wing opposition that rejects expanded gas exploration.
EU countries have promised to wean themselves off Russian gas supplies “before 2030″ and pressure is growing to target Russia’s gas exports in a future round of sanctions against Moscow.
That would leave a huge gap to fill: In 2021, the EU imported 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas, accounting for about 40 percent of consumption. The bloc is aiming to boost green power as fast as possible, but it will also have to find other sources of gas.
EU leaders are hunting for more gas in Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa, but the nearest and least politically problematic supplier is Norway. An early sign of that is the Baltic Pipe linking Poland with Norway’s North Sea gas fields that will replace the 10 bcm of gas that Poland used to get from Russia — a flow that Russia’s Gazprom ended last month.
For Norway, the world’s third-largest gas exporter, that creates an opportunity.
A short-term boost to gas extraction looked like a win-win for Norway, lining state coffers while also allowing the government to argue it is helping cripple the Kremlin’s war machine.
But the center-left government, with backing from right-of-center opposition parties, also argued that it will have to expand drilling into virgin seabeds to meet increased demand.
That’s an unjustifiable attempt to use the war in Ukraine to promote more fossil fuel extraction, said Lars Haltbrekken, energy and climate spokesperson for the opposition Socialist Left Party. His party walked out of coalition talks with other left-wing parties following last year’s election over its refusal to continue Norway’s oil and gas drilling.”
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Is it just me, or is tis bonkers?
“Asteroid mining: Helping to meet Earth’s natural resource demands”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61421787
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Highly misleading headline:
“Temperatures to reach 27C in Britain with week of sunshine forecast
Warm weekend weather could lead to heavy rain in parts of country but more fine days are expected”
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/may/14/britain-forecast-to-bask-in-sunshine-with-temperature-as-high-as-27c
It creates the impression that “Britain” (i.e. much or all of the country) is about to see temperatures of “up to” (weasel words) 27C and a week of sunshine. Yet the opening words undermine the claim:
“Most of Britain can expect to be bathed in sunshine in the coming week as temperatures climb to a possible high of 27C in what would make the warmest spell of the year.
Saturday could be “16-19C widely – with 24C the possible high in the south-east”, according to Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern.”
And later:
“The Met Office said that parts of the south-east could potentially reach top temperatures for the week of 25C-27C.”
Yes, parts of the south east of England are undeniably in Britain, but they are not representative of Britain. Looking at the BBC online forecast for where I live in Cumbria, today’s forecast is for a nice sunny day (no sign of the sun here yet, however) with a top temperature of 16C. Tomorrow is to be less sunny, with a top temperature of 18C and that’s as good as it gets. Monday’s forecast is for rain and a top temperature of 15C, Tuesday is forecast a high of 18C with rain later, Wednesday and Thursday also have highs of 15C forecast, and Friday’s forecast is for rain and a high of 14C. For what it’s worth, the following week’s forecast is for highs of 14C.
Technically, I suppose the Guardian can justify its headline, but a Britain-wide heatwave this most certainly is not. I can’t help thinking it’s all about pushing the global warming narrative at us. It’s been another cool start to the year, but perhaps people will instead remember headlines telling us it was hot?
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“Another Desperate Met Office Attempt to Stoke 1.5C Global Warming Fear”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/14/another-desperate-met-office-attempt-to-stoke-1-5c-global-warming-fear/
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Strangely, the headline to the Guardian article about hot weather starting this weekend has now been altered. Consequently it is more accurate and less misleading.
Do Guardian journalists read Cliscep?
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Monday 8:30pm Channel4 : Dispatches :
The recycling of trainers and greenwashing.
“trainers industry 17t most polluting industry”
(that’s a made up number surely)
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“Germany to vote against EU plan to label nuclear as green but won’t sue
Berlin’s objection likely won’t be enough to derail Commission proposal.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-veto-eu-plan-to-label-nuclear-energy-as-green-european-commission/
“BERLIN — Germany will vote against the European Commission’s controversial “taxonomy” proposal that classes nuclear energy as green but won’t file a lawsuit against it, German officials told POLITICO.
A German finance ministry official told POLITICO that Berlin notified the French Council presidency that it plans to vote against the measure. France, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, had asked countries to indicate by Friday how they plan to vote on the proposal.
The Commission presented its long-awaited green labeling system for investments in the energy sector at the end of last year. The fact that nuclear energy is classified as a green technology — something that France had pushed for — immediately caused a strong backlash from the German government and especially ministers from the Green party, which has opposed nuclear energy since its foundation some 40 years ago.
However, the proposal was widely seen as a fudge intended to placate both Paris and Berlin as it also attached a green label to natural gas, which Germany has insisted is essential as a transition technology as it switches to renewables.”
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Countryfile : Tom Heap : Future UK could run out of water
..claim CC is making summers drier
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“Manx public concerned over climate change impact, survey finds”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61436230
“More than half of Manx people who were surveyed believe that climate change is “already having an impact on the Isle of Man”.
About 1,300 people responded to a government poll on issues like energy use and what steps should be taken to cut carbon emissions.”
Helpfully the BBC provided a link to the survey itself:
Click to access igr-report-on-iom-climate-change-insights-survey-2021-final.pdf
They claim that the survey had a very good response: 1,319 people. That’s around 1.9% of the eligible adult population. We are told that the survey was promoted to a wide audience using IGR’s market research panel and inviting them to participate; and by use of social media (Facebook & Instagram). I know very little about opinion surveys, but sounds to me like a way of limiting your participants to a certain category of person, and excluding others. Given that 98.1% of the adult population didn’t participate, I suspect that only the committed bothered to take part – in which case the nature of the results is hardly surprising. I don’t accept the conclusions drawn by some:
“Daphne Caine MHK said the survey would help “remove barriers” to change.”
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“The new jet set – why private plane usage has soared”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61391638
“So, while airlines grounded services over the past two years, the super rich and business leaders were still able to travel, safe in the knowledge that they were sticking to their own Covid-19 bubble.
As a result, private plane usage has soared, especially in 2021. Last year there were 3.3 million such flights around the world, the most on record, according to aviation data research firm Wingx.
This figure was 7% higher than the previous high seen in 2019, with the US and Europe leading the growth.”
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Behind a paywall, unfortunately:
“Heat pump costs soar because Britain’s radiators are ‘too small’
Homeowners have received £30,000 bills to replace their central heating system”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/heat-pump-costs-soar-britains-radiators-small/
“Homeowners trying to install eco-friendly heat pumps have been left with surprise £30,000 bills after it emerged millions of radiators are too small to work with the new technology….”
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“EU climate legislation faces a divided Parliament
Majorities for raising or even maintaining the ambition of the Fit for 55 package look fragile.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-climate-legislation-faces-a-divided-parliament/
“The EU’s climate ambition hangs in the balance in the European Parliament.
This week, lawmakers in the environment committee (ENVI) will settle on their position for key pieces of the European Commission’s climate package — known as Fit for 55 — that aims to slash the bloc’s emissions by 55 percent this decade.
But majorities for strengthening the Commission’s proposals are “razor-thin” in many cases, said Mohammed Chahim, vice president of the center-left Socialists & Democrats (S&D).
And even if they do squeak through the committee, the measures face fierce challenges when the full Parliament votes next month.
The Commission’s 55 percent target is the “bare minimum” to ensure the bloc’s climate goals are met, Chahim warned. “Preferably, we have to show more ambition, because that’s what was asked from us,” he said.
With many EU governments expected to try to chip away at measures and targets they dislike, the Commission is counting on MEPs to help defend the package in interinstitutional talks starting later this year….”.
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I was in Skipton today at the water mill .. an old mill that is now a business complex
They advertise their green credentials
“The mill’s 15kW, 600kg Crossflow turbine will make High Corn Mill a carbon neutral complex.
It forms the centrepiece of the mill’s Waterwheel House. “
I walked down through the woods .. dam were full with plenty of water to feed the water mill right at the bottom. There is a small unmanned room where you can view the wheel
but it wasn’t turning
There’s a demonstration leaver you pull to release water onto the wheel
It still didn’t move ..maybe it’s stuck or something.
By the way I passed new housing estates which look vulnerable to flooding
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Mark – “Manx public concerned over climate change impact, survey finds” – not the dreaded “97% of respondents” again.
never sent me a survey – as you say it’s “around 1.9% of the eligible adult population”
what a joke as survey’s go.
ps – we in IOM are still waiting for the heatwave to hit, weather is dismal for this time of year.
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dfhunter, here’s another one for you:
“Isle of Man gas search a distraction from climate goals, MHK says”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61465953
“Extending a search for gas in the Isle of Man’s territorial waters is a “distraction” from efforts to cut carbon emissions, an MHK has said.
Energy firm Crogga aims to have surveyed the area off Maughold head by next year, after its exploration licence was extended by the government.
Climate change board chairman Daphne Caine said she feared the move did not send “the right message”.
The Isle of Man Green Party said it was at odds with plans to cut fossil fuels.
An interim target of a 45% reduction in carbon emissions was set by the government in March, part of an overall target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said he was “absolutely committed” to the goals but uncertainty over global energy supplies meant extending Crogga’s licence by 27 months was “the right decision”.
Ms Caine said the move “economic, rather than environmental” and for the sake of the planet there should be “no new exploration of gas or oil anywhere in the world”.
But she admitted the government was under pressure to “take this really hard decision”, given changes in energy security and the cost of living.”
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“Six Scottish islands to become carbon neutral by 2040”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61479653
“Six Scottish islands have been chosen to become carbon neutral by 2040.
Hoy, Islay, Great Cumbrae, Raasay, Barra and Yell were selected to be part of the Scottish government’s Carbon Neutral Islands project.
They were identified in collaboration with local authorities and island representatives.”
Perhaps choosing them in collaboration with local authorities and island representatives is democratic, perhaps not. I wonder how happy the islanders in question are about all this? I have visited 4 of the 6 islands in question. I got there in each case using a diesel ferry. Good luck with the plan, if it can be achieved without trashing their glorious landscapes.
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“New Hollow Mountain energy scheme plans submitted”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4npm80n7dyo
“A planning application has been submitted to construct a new underground hydro-electric power station at Hollow Mountain in Argyll and Bute.
Renewable energy developer Drax has proposed building the complex at its Ben Cruachan site, where it already has an existing underground power facility.
The company has sent its application to the Scottish government and work could start in 2024 if the plans are approved.
Drax said the process of securing consent from the Scottish government could take about a year.
It also said the project – which could see the first renewable power scheme of its kind in the UK in more than 40 years – would need support from the UK government before it could go ahead…..”
Has Drax not received enough “support” (aka money) from the UK government (aka the UK taxpayers) already?
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Let’s hope that “geoengineering” is never remotely serious, though I worry that with some of the more alarmist of the climate worriers, it might appear to be an option.
“Climate geoengineering must be regulated, says former WTO head
Pascal Lamy to lead commission exploring how methods to tackle global heating could be governed”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/17/climate-geoengineering-must-be-regulated-says-former-wto-head
“…Geoengineering would involve trying to change the temperature or climate on Earth through methods such as whitening clouds, or injecting sulphur particles into the atmosphere to reflect more sunlight, or spreading iron in the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide. Ideas such as launching a giant sunshade into space have also been suggested, along with more prosaic options including painting roofs white.
None of these possibilities have yet been tried, and some could be dangerous: for instance, spraying sulphur could cause acidification of the seas, cloud whitening could change rainfall patterns and deflecting the sun’s rays could cause crops to fail.
But Lamy said the world had to examine such methods, as countries were failing to cut greenhouse gases fast enough. “It is tragic that we have to consider this [geoengineering]. Because we know we are not on the right path to avoid overshooting 1.5C,” he said….”.
Words fail me.
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“Forget Science – Climate Now Has a Central Role in The Culture Wars”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/17/forget-science-climate-now-has-a-central-role-in-the-culture-wars/
“One of my first tasks as a journalist in the late 1970s was to compile a “Major losses and catastrophes” page for a monthly reinsurance magazine. Sources were much scarcer in those days, but the back pages of the daily Lloyd’s List would supply various reports from shipping agents and news agencies. Every month there would be stories of large weather-related disasters including wildfires sweeping Australia, monsoons failing in Asia, droughts continuing in California, hundreds of people dying on a Philippines ferry caught in rough seas. At the time, I was intrigued at how little of this made the headlines in the U.K. Go forward a few years and we have global catastrophes, morning, noon and night. Bad weather has been politicised to spread widespread fear and anxiety as established elites pursue their subsidy-driven, command-and-control Net Zero political project….”.
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NNC Local News : more PR for a Puffin charity (The plugged their Puffin Festival 2 weeks ago)
The PuffinGalore trail art project : 42 model puffins painted by artists
Why ?
Clare Huby The arts project manager said “The project will be raising the awareness of Climate Change and the impact it has”
Nurse painter “I wanted to shed light on some of the renewable structures (Wind farms ?)
the other half i going to be focussed on Global Warming and the destruction it caused”
Others will focus on History like Amy Johnson
.. The artworks will be auctioned off for charities (and activist orgs ?)
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“Solar farm plans to power 12,000 homes near Braintree”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-61509736
“A solar farm large enough to power 12,000 homes is being proposed for agricultural land in Essex.
British Solar Renewables wants to develop about 50 hectares (120 acres) of land north west of Belchamp St Paul, near Braintree.
The company is in discussions with Braintree District Council about the farm, which would have a capacity of 50MW.
The site would have a lifespan of 40 years before reverting to arable use.
If permitted, it could mean two large solar farms being built within about 1.8 miles (3km) of each other after permission was granted in 2020 for a 22MW solar farm on land off Pentlow Hill, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.”
The way that short report is written suggests that this will involve the loss of arable land for 40 years. I thought we were facing a food crisis?
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“Suicides indicate wave of ‘doomerism’ over escalating climate crisis
While alarm over wildfires, droughts, flooding and societal unrest is on the rise, not many of us talk about climate angst”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/19/climate-suicides-despair-global-heating
I think those who peddle climate doom, with consequent mental health issues for those who are, sadly, easily swayed to suicidal thoughts, need to take a long hard look at themselves and take several steps back.
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“French dijon mustard supply hit by climate and rising costs, say producers”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/19/french-dijon-mustard-supply-hit-by-climate-and-rising-costs-say-producers
“Climate change and rising costs are causing supermarkets in France to run out of dijon mustard, raising questions over whether the shortage could spread to other countries.
French mustard producers said seed production in 2021 was down 50% after poor harvests, which they said had been brought on by the changing climate in France’s Burgundy region and Canada, the second largest mustard seed producer in the world.
It has caused French supermarket shelves to run empty of the condiment, including in several stores visited by the Guardian.
One of France’s largest mustard producers, Reine de Dijon, said the shortages were being driven by climate breakdown. The group’s general manager, Luc Vandermaesen, said a “heat dome” in Canada at the beginning of July in 2021 had “really dried up the crops”.
He added: “In Burgundy, the region had a very wet winter and then three days of cold at the beginning of April last year, so we only harvested about 48% of expectations.”
The war in Ukraine has further restricted seed supply, with both Ukraine and Russia being major exporters of the crop, something which has resulted in costs rocketing, said Vandermaesen.”
So the wet winter and cold spring (the opposite of what we are led to believe would be the result of CAGW) in France represent “climate breakdown”. It seems that anything qualifies these days.
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“Ditching gas to save the planet risks mass starvation, top UN economist says
Divestment from fossil fuels will raise food prices, Máximo Torero says.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/starvation-risk-gas-energy-un-food-economist-torero/
“A leading food economist has warned against moving away from natural gas production too soon, arguing more people will starve to death if the consequences are not thought through.
Energy prices have soared following Russia’s war on Ukraine — and that has also jacked up the cost of fertilizers, which are produced from natural gas. Global crop yields are now in jeopardy in the months to come.
Máximo Torero, the chief economist at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, told POLITICO that if Europe looks for immediate alternatives to Russian gas, prices will rise further, making it impossible for millions of people to buy food. “If you switch the energy mix too quickly, you will increase the price of energy,” he said. “Then you will increase the price of fertilizers, you increase the price of food, more people dying of hunger. So what do you want?”
Torero’s comments fly in the face of Europe’s two most pressing strategic concerns: lowering the bloc’s emissions and becoming energy independent. Torero believes the consequences of moving off cheap fossil fuels towards more expensive alternatives could be deadly. It could compel EU policymakers to rethink their flagship environmental bill, the European Green Deal, and polarize Brussels further.
A sharp divide already exists between officials like Green Deal chief Frans Timmermans, who argues the EU should now double down on its ambitious climate goals as it moves away from Russian fossil fuels, and others, like the center-right European People’s Party, which is pushing back against any fresh legislation that could curtail food yields.
Torero clarified that he is “fully in favor” of lowering emissions, only that policymakers needs to be aware of how the energy transition might affect food prices.
In the worst case scenario, 18.4 million more people will be chronically undernourished next year because of the war, Torero said. That comes on top of an extra 161 million people he already predicted would be tipped into desperate hunger in 2021, linked to post-COVID price shocks. The U.N.’s Food Price Index hit a record high in March.”
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OK that item has been selected for special promotion
when the BBC support an agenda they start doing thing like making special campaign video tweets
Here for the Puffin Climate Change art project
.. https://twitter.com/looknorthBBC/status/1527374955595214850
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Good grief, this is desperate:
“Crowdfunding to raise £500,000 for council green initiatives”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-61510936
“A council is looking to crowdfund £500,000 to pay for green initiatives.
People living in Telford will be able to pay £5 or more into its “Climate Action Investment” which will offer investors a return on their money.
That money will then be used to improve energy efficiency for homeless shelters, offer grants for community groups and electric vehicles.
Telford and Wrekin Council said raising money in this way would allow it to spend more on green initiatives.
It would normally borrow money from central government for projects like this and raising the money through crowdfunding instead would allow it to borrow at a lower cost, a spokesman said.
The council is working in partnership with Abundance Investment on the scheme and said investors will earn 2.1% interest per year fixed, before tax, with interest and capital repayments every six months.
The company has been working with a number of councils, including Warrington and West Berkshire, since launching its “municipal investments” in September 2021.”..
There’s money to be made by big business out of gullible “greens”, it seems.
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Spending on cycle lanes is so often a reverse Robin Hood
It takes money and time away from all drivers and consumers
.. and gifts it to an elite group : the middle class men in lycra who have the time and inclination to use them.
Sluff wrote “The proliferation of cycle lanes used almost exclusively by middle aged men in Lycra was described as a free-of- charge substitute for the gym.
When you think about it, cycle lanes do more to reduce social mobility than almost any other measure.
How many cycle to work because they can’t afford a car and live near enough to their work to be able to cycle in the first place?
Especially if they then get a better job?
How many cycle in their ordinary clothes at a steady care-free pace?
Cycle lanes are a middle class fitness confection masquerading as a green policy.
Wonder what Donnachadh McCarthy @DonnachadhMc the hyper cycling activist thing of that ?
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Hmm In practice it’s lycra men who want cycle lane policies
but who uses them ? People who have the time and inclination
a special fraction of the population : some school children, some oldies, ALL cycle couriers.
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Round our way, one of the pedestrian sidewalks along the main road into town now officially doubles as a cycle lane (with pedestrians given priority). It is used by cyclists all day long, but especially by children going to and from the high school. Men in Lycra tend to brave it on the main thoroughfare where they compete with cars to break the speed limit. Either that or they illegally ride the other sidewalk which is supposedly pedestrian only. Difficult to work out what laws are being broken by cyclists.
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“Coming up on ITV we are in Grimsby finding out how green energy could drive down our energy bills”
.. then they cut to a PR guy saying we have to get on with.
FFS no country has cheaper electricity due to solar and wind,
cos they impose huge costs on the grid
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It’s PRasNews for Ofsted
featured Duncan Clark of Ofsted
Jonathan Brown @JonnyBrownYorks was the reporter
Item was just a quick 2 minutes , the PR claims were not challenged.
Cheeky b*stards
The whole reason UK energy got so expensive
is cos the government discourages fossil fuel investment
and rigs the market to make the grid buy expensive wind/gas
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So much for tree planting:
“A14: Surveys carried out after road scheme trees die”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-61499981
“National Highways has said it will not “walk away” after a “large proportion” of trees planted as part of a £1.5bn roadwork scheme died.
About 800,000 were planted as part of the A14 upgrade between Cambridge and Huntingdon.
Council documents revealed in March many had “died off” and were being replaced.
National Highways senior project manager Laura Hampshire said it would “stick” to its responsibility.
She said there had been “small pockets of failure”, and said a survey had taken place which suggested about 20-30% of the trees had died but all were replanted…
…Vhari Russell, from Brampton, described the trees as “characterless”.
“We had a beautiful thicket of woods and hedgerows along here and that’s all been taken away,” she said.
“It’s not just about nature, it’s about noise prevention as well and making back what was there before.”
She added National Highways needed to have “dialogue” with the community because “the community wants to be involved”.
Ms Hampshire said National Highways was committed to seeing the five-year project through, and gaining a “true understanding” of what was happening….”.
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“Alderney looks at land-based wind turbines”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/c2vg5ze554yo
“Wind turbines may be installed in Alderney to reduce the use of fossil fuels, the States has said.
The idea came from the Energy Working Group which was set up by Alderney’s Policy and Finance Committee.
Bill Abel, chairman of the committee, said wind power would provide “significant benefits” to the island’s carbon footprint as well as reducing household bills.
He said the visual and environmental impact of the land-based turbines would need to be assessed and islanders would be consulted at every stage.
In the medium-term, solar thermal panels for households and ground or air heat pumps will be considered to reduce the use of heating oil.
The committee said hydrogen and tidal power would also be considered in the future, however, the costs currently outweigh the financial benefits.”
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“Heat pumps: How do they work and how do I get one?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-57159056
“From Monday homeowners can apply for a government grant of £5,000 to replace their gas boilers with heat pumps.
This is part of the government’s efforts to reduce carbon dioxide – a greenhouse gas responsible for climate change…
…The property must have an eligible Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) issued in the last 10 years, and the certificate must have no outstanding recommendations to install loft or cavity wall insulation.
If it does, you’ll need to insulate your home first, or as part of the application process.
The scheme will not be available if you live in social housing or a new-build property. Private rented accommodation is also eligible but the decision has to be taken by the landlord….
…The government is providing £5,000 for households to install air source heat pumps (ASHPs) – which would cover between 75% and 50% of the cost.
It will provide £6,000 for the less commonly used ground source heat pump (GSHP) or water-source heat pump (WSHP). This would cover between 50% and 30% of the cost of the unit, although the cost of installation (digging a hole, for instance) could be significantly higher.
The government has set aside £450m for this scheme, which will cover a maximum of 90,000 boilers….”.
As with grants for very expensive electric vehicles, this sounds like another scheme to transfer money from the poor to the rich.
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Brilliant!
“Gabon plea to save forests to halt climate change”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science_and_environment
“Gabon has called on developed nations to pay for the upkeep of the central African country’s mangroves and forests that are helping to absorb the world’s excess carbon.
Gabon’s Minister for Forests, Seas and Environment, Lee White, said that failing to conserve the dense rainforest of the Congo Basin would mean the world has lost the fight against climate change.
Gabon is one of the most carbon-positive countries in the world, and says it wants to further limit the impact of its extractive industries, including oil and logging.”
Talk about taking the west for mugs.
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“HSBC pressured to sack banker who discredited climate crisis warnings
Speech by head of responsible investing Stuart Kirk dismissed global heating and joked about flooding risks”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/20/hsbc-banker-discredited-climate-crisis-warnings
“HSBC is under pressure to fire a senior banker in charge of responsible investing after a speech in which he described warnings about the climate crisis as “unsubstantiated” and “shrill”, made light of major flooding risks, and complained about having to spend time “looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years”.
The bank has since been forced to denounce comments made by Stuart Kirk at a London conference on Thursday, after he gave a speech entitled “why investors need not worry about climate risk”, which appeared to discredit efforts to raise the alarm over global heating.
“I feel like it’s getting a little bit out of hand, the constantl reminder that we are doomed,” Kirk told attendees at the FT’s Moral Money conference, where he also presented slides that said: “Unsubstantiated, shrill, partisan, self-serving, apocalyptic warnings are ALWAYS wrong.”
“Human beings have been fantastic at adapting to change, adapting to climate emergencies, and we will continue to do so. Who cares if Miami is six metres underwater in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six metres underwater for ages and that’s a really nice place.”…
…Kirk, a former editor of the Financial Times’ Lex column, also bemoaned the resource that he said HSBC was allocating to assessing climate risks.
“[In] 25 years in the finance industry, there’s always some nutjob telling me about the end of the world … But what bothers me about this one, is the amount of work these people make me do, the amount of regulation coming down the pipes, the number of people in my team and at HSBC dealing with financial risks from climate change,” the banker said.
Kirk, who has been HSBC’s Asset Management’s head of responsible investing for 11 months, added that those risks were “heresy”.
“I work at a bank that’s being attacked by crypto. We’ve got regulators in the US trying to stop us. We’ve got the China problem. We’ve got a housing crisis looming. We’ve got interest rates going up. We’ve got inflation coming down the pipes and I’m being told to spend time … looking at something that’s going to happen in 20 or 30 years. Hence, the proportionality is completely out of whack.”
Activists are urging HSBC to sack the banker….”.
I can’t say I have much sympathy with highly-paid bankers generally, and he hasn’t helped his case by expressing his views with a distinct lack of sympathy, but perhaps he has a point? For which, those lovely activists want him sacked, just as they want to deny 500 direct well-paid jobs to people in an area of high unemployment in west Cumbria, that would be created by a coal mine. I do sometimes (well, most of the time, if truth be told) wonder about the priorities and social decency of climate warriors.
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“Price caps won’t solve the energy crisis
We need to stop tinkering with tariffs and start scaling up nuclear power.”
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/20/price-caps-wont-solve-the-energy-crisis/
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Thursday ITV local news reporter tweeted that fishermen were doing a big protest against “#GreenEnergy dredging
… https://www.twitter.com/HelenSteelITV/status/1527315867381338112
Yet strangely later the version on the TV said the fishermen were protesting dredging due to the building of a “freeport in Hartlepool”.
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BBC local radio news
“The proposed strike is likely to stop delivery of materials to power stations”
My brain said : why didn’t they say
“likely to stop delivery of materials to Drax power station” ?
cos AFAIK 99% of material deliveries to power stations is wood pellets to Drax.
Maybe there are a couple of coal power stations but I wouldn’t have thought they run much in the summer.
Theoretically there could be delivery of construction materials to Hinkley Point nuclear power station construction site ..I guess.
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Dear serf(ette) I gather some people are implying that your land of rolling root-vegetable fields and sand dunes is becoming unliveable. Perhaps this explains the sudden rise of blue-green independent lady M.Ps. With Labor forming a government will climate now rule and how are people going to offload their ill gotten coal shares? Can France expect to receive orders for submarines? So many questions. We Pommes are dying to know the answers.
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Here are three games that have been validated by peer-reviewed scientific literature as inoculators against misinformation:
https://www.getbadnews.com/en
https://harmonysquare.game/en
https://www.goviralgame.com/en
They were inspired by Lew’s work, written by Lew’s chums and got grants from some of Lew’s benefactors (the EU’s Horizon prog, the UK’s ESRC, various billionaire trust funds).
They aren’t really games. You are guided towards the correct choices and sometimes a bit more than that – you are only given one option. You must obey or it’s game over.
But they are quite fun if you’ve got time to waste.
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Are you a Thinker-in-Residence? I am, and always have been, but not officially.
Lew has been an official Thinker-in-Residence since his move to Bruxelles.
https://kvab.be/en/thinkersprogram/reproducibility-and-replicability-science
A sad, lost man, I reckon. He didn’t like North America or Oz or the UK. Perhaps he should move back to the place of his birth and shout about dishonesty from there.
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“Spain heatwave brings record May temperatures”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61533719
“Parts of Spain are experiencing their hottest May ever with temperatures of more than 40C in some places, according to the state weather agency, AEMET.”
What’s the detail of that claim?
Well, we’re told (and it’s the only place mentioned):
“The city of Jaén in southern Spain recorded its highest ever May temperature of 40C on Friday.”
One city, not parts of Spain. Any UHI there? Any detailed analysis? No, just (inevitably) this:
“Climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and more intense.”
Despite this:
“Spain’s unseasonably warm spring weather is a result of hot air coming from North Africa…”.
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Meanwhile:
“Dying of cold on the streets of São Paulo”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-latin-america-61533540
“In Latin America’s biggest city, São Paulo, the homeless population has grown 30% since the pandemic.
Official figures say 35,000 people are sleeping on the streets. But the real number is thought to be much higher.
A cold snap this week has pushed the authorities to do more about the issue, as our South America correspondent Katy Watson reports.”
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Headline:
“Historic heatwave poised to hit dozens of US states this weekend
Temperatures expected to be 20F to 30F above average for this time of year, breaking records and raising health fears”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/20/us-heatwave-weekend-temperatures-climate-crisis
Deep in the article:
“…Parts of Colorado, which had temperatures hovering near the 90s, are now expecting to be pummeled with snow.
Accompanied by gusty winds, the system will deliver “a dramatic drop of temperatures”, according to the National Weather Service, which has forecast a shift from oppressive heat to freezing temperatures across the central high plains.
The systems causing the weather whiplash on each side of the country are separate but connected. “When one part of the country is well above normal, somewhere else is getting that other end of the wave,” Chenard said. “In that sense there is a connection, but it is not the same specific weather system.”…”.
Then, a rewrite/update of the same article, to all intents and purposes:
“US heatwave brings historically high temperatures to dozens of states
Temperatures between 20 and 30F above average in the mid-Atlantic and north-east, with Washington set to hit 96F (35.5C)”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/may/21/us-heatwave-temperatures-hot-weather-us-states
Deep in the article:
“…But a dip in the jet stream will maintain much cooler than normal temperatures for the Rockies into the Plains. The National Weather Service predicts in Colorado it may “look and feel like a return to winter,”…
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“The Climate Thought Police Have Conveniently Forgotten the Lesson of Climategate”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/21/the-climate-thought-police-have-conveniently-forgotten-the-lesson-of-climategate/
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“Potters Bar: Buses catch fire at town centre transport depot”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-61543634
“A number of buses have caught fire at a town centre transport depot.
Heavy smoke drifted across Potters Bar after Hertfordshire crews were called to the scene on the High Street at 14:36 BST.
Eyewitness Shaun Cunningham said he heard an “unbelievable noise that sounded like a jet” and he saw a bus had “exploded into a ball of flames”.”
The BBC doesn’t seem too keen to tell us what type of buses might possibly have exploded into a ball of flames. In a possible attempt to throw readers off the sent, they tell us:
“Paul Kirby, a BBC reporter who saw the fire, said he spoke to bus drivers who told him they were relieved the underground diesel storage appeared to be safe.”
Then they tell us:
“It is thought that up to seven hybrid buses had gone up in flames and “you could hear several loud bangs which they said were tyres” he said.”
Tyres? Really?
Ad if you stick with it to the end, they include a tweet which says “potters bar bus garage. Electric buses have blown up whilst being on charge”.
The Sun:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/18650723/shocking-moment-bus-explodes-fire-potters-bar/
tells us:
“A bus driver told Hertfordshire Live the fire is believed to have been caused by a battery exploding in one of the electric vehicles while it was charging.” In fairness they go on to say that this has not been confirmed.
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The Daily Express has it thus:
“London bus explosion: Five electric buses go up in a fireball – smoke seen for miles
FIVE electric double decker buses have exploded at the Potters Bar Bus Garage near London.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1614242/London-bus-explosion-electric-bus-battery-pack-fire-latest-update
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Countryfile : the weatherman Nick Miller opens , but then goes into doing Global Warming preaching by pushing Met Office Climate PR
“Did you know this week the Met Office said this about OUR WARMING CLIMATE
: the first 25C of the year used to be May19th in 1961-1991
but then 91-2020 it was May 6th
Isn’t that scary ?”
His first time period is 31 years, his second is 30
“Now this year it was Tuesday at Heathrow”
#1 A jet filled airport, you nutter
#2 Tuesday was May 17th
So why is it news that this year is almost the same as the old average ?
He said “well the weather does vary a lot from one year to the next”
#3 Allowing the first 25C in any part of the country is a huge cheat 2
#4 Of course you’ll get more 25C days these days , cos you have more sampling sites
#5 2 blocks of 30 year is a small sample compared to the 6 billion years of the Earth
“but this coming week the temperature is distinctly average
mainly 13-19C“
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Naughty Matt Taylor @MetMattTaylor
“BBC Broadcast Meteorologist and former Senior Operational Meteorologist with the Met Office.”
Tweeted that Met Office PR on May 18th
but FAILED to say 2022 had not only achieved 25C on the 17th May
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Here’s the BBC pushing Met Office Global Warming PR
What do they miss ?
#1 They fail to context that 25C was late this year , May 17th
when their old average claim was May 19th 1960-91
#2 That it strangely happened at an effing hot airport full of tarmac
#3 That it’s a BS metric
#4 That now we have more weather stations there are more chances of getting a 25C
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Link to the Met Office blogpost the BBC took its story from
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stewgreen,I have little doubt that the metric used was 1991-2020 (not 2021) because spring 2021 was so cold and late.
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“HSBC suspends banker over ‘nut job’ climate comments, say reports”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61519111
“HSBC has reportedly suspended a senior executive who accused central bankers and other officials of exaggerating the financial risks of climate change.
Last week, Stuart Kirk, a leader in the bank’s responsible investing team, said: “There’s always some nut job telling me about the end of the world.”
At the weekend, HSBC’s boss Noel Quinn posted on social media that he did not agree “at all” with the comments.
The firm declined to comment on reports that Mr Kirk has been suspended.”
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Another climate disinformation report!
“Why is climate ‘doomism’ going viral – and how do you fight it?”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-61495035
“Climate “doomers” believe the world has already lost the battle against global warming. That’s wrong – and while that view is spreading online, there are others who are fighting the viral tide.”
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“Climate sceptic thinktank reported to charity commission over fossil fuel interest funding
Global Warming Policy Foundation is lobby group not charity and brings no public good, say signatories”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/23/fossil-fuel-funded-thinktank-charity-commission-global-warming
Maybe, maybe not, but I think the same can safely said about many of the organisations with charitable status that many of the signatories almost certainly support.
“The Global Warming Policy Foundation, a climate sceptic thinktank, has been reported to the Charity Commission by the Green MP Caroline Lucas and Extinction Rebellion.
The move comes after the Guardian revealed that the group received funding from fossil fuel interests.
The thinktank has charitable status, but climate campaigners say the questions about its funding mean it should be stripped of this.
In a letter to the Charity Commission, the signatories including the writers Irvine Welsh and Zadie Smith say the GWPF is “not a charity, but a fossil fuel lobby group”.
The GWPF, set up in 2009 by the former Tory chancellor Lord Lawson, has enjoyed a recent revival in its influence in parliament. It has MP Steve Baker as a trustee and has its research promoted by the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Conservative MPs.
The letter also claims that the thinktank flouts the rules that charities must be run for the public good. The commission states that “a purpose must be beneficial – this must be in a way that is identifiable and capable of being proved by evidence where necessary and which is not based on personal views”.”
OK, let’s apply that test across the board shall we? I think a level playing field is in order.
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“This ‘super reserve’ is not just for the birds. It could change the landscape of Britain”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/22/this-super-reserve-is-not-just-for-birds-it-could-change-landscape-britain
I think you’ll find that wind farms have already done that.
“For too long, decisions about how our land is used and managed have been in the hands of people who claim to be “custodians of the countryside”, yet remain mired in the old and discredited ways, championing intensive farming, game shooting and blanket forestry. ”
No mention of wind farms?
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“Electricity North West £2m investment to help city get towards net-zero”
https://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/20156459.electricity-north-west-2m-investment-help-city-get-towards-net-zero/
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Mark:
Strangely some random finger presses on my iPhone (when I had failed to send it to sleep) led me to the corresponding programme by Marco Silva, ‘BBC climate disinformation specialist’, on the World Service this morning:
So it’s disinformation to say climate change is not a crisis and it’s disinformation to say the crisis is so bad that we’re doomed. There’s a sweet spot, a Goldilocks position, that can only be defined by a BBC climate disinformation specialist, where you’re a fanatical climate alarmist who’s doing everything possible to avert doom and you never allow yourself to think, because of China’s emissions, say, that the crisis is no longer avertable.
You see how deep the wisdom of the true climate disinformation specialist is?
Well, either wisdom or manipulation, that he himself may not realise he’s steeped in.
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Richard,
Indeed so. There are two world views to consider here:
1) Climate change does not pose an existential threat and it is an exaggeration to say so.
2) Climate change does pose an existential threat but it is wrong to suggest that the risk is already no longer manageable.
Marco Silva seems to be completely unable to discern this difference. When Otto points out 1), Marco cites it as evidence of 2). Disinformation on his part or sheer stupidity? Nobody cares as long as we get action.
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Local BBC radio now promoting OFSH : a free Art project for cleaner, greener, healthier future
“Its’s about the important issues of our time : sustainability, Climate Change and Mental Health
Funded by Arts Council in collaboration with local and national partners.
Including – Orsted windfarms
– Smarter Energy North East Lincolnshire (Preparing Local Business for a Future of Net Zero Emissions)
– Zapp App the charging point app
https://ourfuturestartshere.co.uk/whats-on/
Fri 27th Main talk by Quentin Cooper, ambassador for art-science climate change organisation Cape Farewell
Sat 28th
– 10am Understanding the Climate Crisis
With Robin Lyons (an accredited ‘Climate trainer’)
11am A Beginners Guide to Going Green
Beacon School’s Eco Committee
Sat/Sun 10am join vibrant chalk artists Urban Canvas
creating a nature inspired 80metre wind-turbine, giving a sense of the scale of Ørsted’s new offshore wind farm Hornsea 2.
SUNDAY 12.30PM AND 2.30PM
PUBLIC is a new outdoor performance about the ownership of public space, which has become increasingly colonised by corporations.
There is a load of other dance and circus stuff with no obvious climate connection
The presenter was keen to hear that it would make a long term difference.
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So Iphones push this Climate PR at you like Twitter/Youtube/FB do ?
Maybe saying “this in in the News” or this in the iTunes chart” ?
Trending on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com › podcast › trending
The online boom in climate doom. It is hard not to feel anxious about climate change.
After all, the world is already experiencing the effects of global …
What a bunch of Scammers ..It’s not actually trending
“Trending” is the BBC series name
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For some reason the Greek myth of Sysphus came to mind at this point.
But my inner climate disinformation specialist was right there as soon as this evil thought took its place.
It is absolutely necessary to push that massive boulder up the hill. That is what the Science says.
The idea that we will always fail to achieve the goal and see it plummet to earth is an evil conspiracy theory.
To cap it all, Zeus and all other climate consensus enforcers are lovely people.
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Professorial tree-hugger Dr Gail Whiteman is back at Magic Mountain. She has had to move her Arctic Basecamp indoors because of potentifical lightning storms but she will not be silenced.
I stopped watching at 4m 16s after she said that speaking ‘science to power’ is still her shtick. Anybody care to watch the other 45 mins and summarise them?
#Schatzalp #Davos #woowoo
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1pm News
Item #2 “The world is watching Grimsby and learning to produce energy from windfarms
.. that comes from Orsted who are building the world’s largest offshore windfarm”
FFS #1 that’s outrageous PRasNews
#2 Of course it’s the world’s largest
windfarms are crap & expensive most other countries are not crazy enough to set up the huge SUBSIDY schemes like the UK does.
“Their head is Duncan Clark”
plays clip of him
FFS they were only just playing a clip from him the other day on local BBC TV news
He talked of the new rising CAPACITY being installed
The problem is windfarms often don’t deliver ..most of the time they don’t deliver the output anywhere near their capacity rating.
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“Climate campaigners set up camp on Cornwall Council grounds”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-61549794
“Climate campaigners have set up camp outside County Hall in Truro, urging Cornwall Council for an “urgent increase in commitment and action”.
They are planning to be there for two weeks and will be running a series of workshops and training.”
Ordinary people can’t afford to give up two weeks’ holiday or worse, take two weeks off work unpaid for this kind of thing. A tiny proportion of well-off retireds, and trustafarians seem to be making a disproportionate amount of noise.
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Nonsense on stilts:
“Sark: Wind farm firm suggests rat cull to protect seabirds”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-61548073
“Black rats could be culled in Sark to offset disturbances to seabirds caused by wind turbines in England.
Energy firm Orsted said culling the predators could increase the birds’ survival chances on the island and help maintain British Isles populations.
The aim is to compensate for a planned wind farm called Hornsea Four with 180 turbines about 40 miles (65km) off Flamborough Head in Yorkshire.”
I love the euphemism – killing seabirds is now disturbing them, apparently. Is this what they call greenwashing? Are they stupid? Do they think we are stupid?
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Mark Hodgson says:
“Sark: Wind farm firm suggests rat cull to protect seabirds”
Rats always get a bad press:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/feb/25/hedgehogs-cost-eradiction-translocation-scotland
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Further to Stewgreen’s comment about windfarm performance, here is an excellent analysis:
https://edmhdotme.wordpress.com/2021-european-wind-drought-analysed/
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Ben Pile has an excellent article today at “Conservative Woman” on the Green Blob’s role in the economic crisis.
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-green-agendas-role-in-global-inflation/
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Geoff, yes indeed – well worth a read. As is this from Andrew Montford:
https://www.netzerowatch.com/windfall-profits-for-offshore-wind/
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dfhunter, this one’s for you. You must be so relieved!
“Isle of Man TT: Carbon footprint of races be offset”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-61573030
“Work has begun to make the Isle of Man TT carbon neutral by offsetting the carbon emissions it produces, the government has said.
A partnership between the Department for Enterprise and private firm Pozitive Group will see a range of projects funded around the world.
The total emissions will be calculated after the two-week event and include the footprint of spectators.
A similar project was carried out in 2019 to offset the races alone.
Alex Allinson MHK said the firm had volunteered to fund the projects to offset the amount generated, which is expected to be in the region of 5,000 tonnes.
He said the aim was to show that offsetting can contribute to making motorsports “far more sustainable”….”.
More greenwashing. If you’re really interested, you can take a look at Pozitive Group’s website here:
https://pozitivegroup.com/index.html
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“Cambo in better position to start production, say new owners”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-61549936
“The company buying the controversial Cambo oil field says it is “in a better position” to secure the go-ahead for production to begin.
Regulators are still considering the future of the project – west of Shetland – after it received a two-year licence extension.
Ithaca Energy says the debate is now more “mature” than last year.
Cambo became the focus of environmental protests at the UN’s COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow last year.
Ithaca CEO Alan Bruce said he believed the project would pass a “climate compatibility checkpoint” which the UK government is planning to introduce, although the test would not cover already-licenced areas like Cambo.”
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Quelle surprise:
“Energy firms warn against extending windfall tax to renewables”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61566083
“Energy firms are warning that an attempt to extend a windfall tax to renewable energy would threaten the government’s entire energy strategy.
Industry sources told the BBC it could destroy investor confidence ahead of key auctions for licences to develop new wind and solar projects.”
Of course, such arguments clearly don’t apply to oil and gas companies….
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“Do not work for ‘climate wreckers’, UN head tells graduates
António Guterres says young people should tackle climate crisis by using talent to deliver a renewable future”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/24/do-not-work-for-climate-wreckers-un-head-tells-graduates-antonio-guterres
Good to see that the UN is in safe hands:
“The UN secretary general has told new university graduates not to take up careers with the “climate wreckers” – companies that drive the extraction of fossil fuels.
António Guterres addressed thousands of graduates at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, US, on Tuesday. “You must be the generation that succeeds in addressing the planetary emergency of climate change,” he said. “Despite mountains of evidence of looming climate catastrophe, we still see mountains of funding for coal and fossil fuels that are killing our planet.
“But we know investing in fossil fuels is a dead end – no amount of greenwashing or spin can change that. So we must put them on notice: accountability is coming for those who liquidate our future.”
He added: “You hold the cards. Your talent is in demand from multinational companies and big financial institutions. You will have plenty of opportunities to choose from. My message to you is simple: don’t work for climate wreckers. Use your talents to drive us towards a renewable future.”
Guterres has become increasingly outspoken on the climate crisis in recent months, telling world leaders in April: “Our addiction to fossil fuels is killing us.”
He has also recently attacked companies and governments whose climate actions do not match their words: “Simply put, they are lying and the results will be catastrophic. Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.”…”.
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“UK finance ‘faces £340bn in losses’ without action on climate change
Warning follows first Bank of England climate stress tests on seven largest lenders”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/24/uk-finance-faces-340bn-in-losses-without-action-on-climate-change
“UK banks and insurers will end up shouldering nearly £340bn worth of climate-related losses by 2050, unless action is taken to curb rising temperatures and sea levels, the Bank of England has warned.
The numbers emerged from the Bank’s first climate stress tests on seven of the UK’s largest lenders. These involved three climate scenarios over a 30-year period, covering physical and transition risks, including one in which governments fail to take further steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in average temperature rises of 3.3C, and a 3.9-metre rise in sea levels.
The regulator found that without early action, companies would suffer a surge in loan and mortgage defaults, investment losses, and climate-related lawsuits – particularly for insurers – worth £334bn across the UK’s 19 largest banks and insurers by 2050…
…The Bank of England is one of the few central banks to have conducted climate stress tests, alongside the European Central Bank and Banque de France.”
Looks like baloney to me. No links provided by the Guardian that might enable further enquiry to be made.
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“Why Sky News’ climate show flopped
Climate activism masquerading as journalism is not what people want to watch.”
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/05/24/why-sky-news-climate-show-flopped/
“…Initiatives like The Daily Climate Show are what happen when broadcasters and media institutions lose sight of their core mission – to inform or entertain the viewing public. Instead, broadcasters now see it as their role to agitate for climate action, seemingly at the expense of all other considerations – from journalistic integrity to that plain old-fashioned sense of what’s newsworthy….”.
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thanks for the link Mikehig – makes a joke of stated windfarm capacity performance.
without French Nukes were stuffed (are they also due to be zapped ?)
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Mark – thanks for the Manx TT link – liked this bit from your link –
“Pozitive Energy – Our Mission & Vision
Our mission is to set up a one stop shop for businesses in UK and help our customers excel without having to worry about changing technology trends or best costs to serve. Our products reduce their operational costs and increase productivity as we pass on our cost benefits ahead. The team strives to give an enhanced customer experience, data transparency and customized solutions, round the clock. We are doing our bit in achieving the Net Zero Goal by 2050 and are Carbon Neutral at the moment!”
bullsh*t I say, but sounds good in the world we are in today.
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dfhunter,
I hoped that a few might take a look at the Pozitive Energy website. It left me distinctly unimpressed, but what they write there isn’t so very different from what companies up and down the land (and indeed all around the world) are now claiming. Put stuff like that on your website, and there’s a good chance that some of the money sloshing around governments for “green cr*p” will find its way to you.
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Paul Homewood has the original exchange of letters at his place:
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2022/05/22/correspondence-with-bbc/
But here’s another piece on the same subject. Might as well “do a Guardian” and have several pieces about the same story available for people to read:
“Deaths Have Increased Cumulatively”: BBC Producer’s “Asinine” Defence of False Extreme Weather Claim
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/25/deaths-have-increased-cumulatively-bbc-producers-asinine-defence-of-false-extreme-weather-claim/
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9am BBC local radio news
Item #4
#PRasNews “Butterfly Conservation say two fifths of UK butterflies are endangered of dying out entirely .. 24 of 58 species”
Clip of the NewHarrabin trying to build narrative“Meadows have been ploughed up or grown over, our insatiable demand for food mean more fertilisers and pesticides means ….
but 2 species BC said were critical last time are now OK”
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Stewgreen, at least they are not blaming climate change. Oh, hang on, read the whole article and it does get a mention. More than one, actually. One positive, one negative.
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Mark – thanks for the “letters” link above.
most noteworthy to me is who Dr Ken Pollock was – quote from his BBC reply –
“We expect better from the BBC and certainly from its flagship programme Panorama!
During my 22 years as a producer at the BBC, I became alarmed at the inadequate use of statistics by the corporation in current affairs and elsewhere. I had a meeting with the head of policy (Jim Wilson?), suggesting a statistics department to run parallel with the pronunciation unit, as it seemed many BBC people repeated statistics without understanding them.”
ouch, you would think that merited a reply.
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Mark – your links keep giving. from the Spiked link I learn about “Behavioural Insights Team, aka the Nudge Unit”
from the web page –
“Who we are
We are the Behavioural Insights Team. Also known as The Nudge Unit.
We exist to improve people’s lives and communities. We work in partnership with national, regional and local governments, businesses, foundations and charities, to tackle major policy problems. Often through testing and implementing simple yet powerful changes.
Founded in 2010, the Team has grown from a seven-person unit at the heart of the UK government to a global social purpose company with offices around the world.”
and at the end –
“In December 2021 we became wholly-owned by innovation charity Nesta.”
tempted to dig deeper, but sure this must have been covered already!!!
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dfhunter,
“tempted to dig deeper, but sure this must have been covered already!!!”
Indeed it has:
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“Climate Change: MPs say building demolitions must be reduced
By Roger Harrabin
BBC energy and environment analyst”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61580979
“The number of buildings being knocked down must be reduced because demolition and rebuilding adds to climate change, MPs say.
Previously developers have been encouraged to knock down old, poorly-insulated homes and offices and replace them with buildings needing less heating.
More recently the government has agreed with engineers who argued that replacing buildings was often bad for the climate in the short and medium term.
That’s because lots of emissions are created to make materials for buildings – such as steel, cement, bricks, glass, aluminium and plastics.
Demolishing and rebuilding creates double emissions by necessitating the manufacture of two lots of construction materials.
The Commons Environmental Audit Committee says the government’s recent decision to relax planning rules may be leading to an unintended increase in demolition.
It insists that emissions created in the construction of buildings must be reduced if the UK is to meet its climate change targets
The Committee chairman, Philip Dunne MP, said: “From homes to offices, retail units to hospitality venues, our buildings have a significant amount of locked-in carbon, which is wasted each time they get knocked down to be rebuilt, a process which produces yet more emissions.
“Ministers must address this urgently.”
The government said it welcomed the report and was carefully considering its findings. A spokesman from the business department said the UK was a leader in tackling greenhouse gas emissions.
The issue is complicated. In places such as the City of London, there’s often pressure to capitalise on the high value of land by knocking down and building tall.
And some developers say that many buildings can’t be kept and converted.”
Funny, though, that the emissions associated with building new wind farms are apparently OK.
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Mark – thanks for the link back to your “Making The News” post.
I thought someone would have picked up on it before, read your post at the time but missed the Nudge unit link 🙂
only change from then seems to be that “In December 2021 we became wholly-owned by innovation charity Nesta.”
and “Founded in 2010, the Team has grown from a seven-person unit at the heart of the UK government to a global social purpose company with offices around the world.”
wonder how the “global social purpose” bit is doing in Russia & China, to name only 2.
had to look up “Nesta” – not bore readers _ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesta_(charity)
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dfhunter, thanks for the NESTA link. Interesting – that had passed me by. As I have argued at this site before, I think charities should be far removed from Government, but it does seem that in many cases, there are very (inappropriately?) close links between the two.
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from Wiki –
“The old NESTA was set up in 1998 by an independent endowment in the United Kingdom established by an Act of Parliament, the National Lottery Act 1998.[1] It had been a Labour Party manifesto promise.[2] In 2002 it was awarded £95 million.[3]
On 14 October 2010 the Government announced that it would transfer NESTA’s previous status from an executive non-departmental public body to a new charitable body.[4]
On 1 April 2012 the old NESTA transitioned from being an executive to a charitable body, shortening its name to “Nesta”.[5][6]”
only a meagre “£95 million” how did they survive ?
see ABBA is in the news – “money” springs to mind.
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“Tyre Extinguishers sabotage 100 SUVs in single night
The climate group said its teams had deflated scores of 4x4s in Edinburgh”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/05/26/tyre-extinguishers-sabotage-100-suvs-single-night/
“Gangs of environmental activists sabotaged around 100 SUVs in affluent parts of Edinburgh on Wednesday.
Protesters from the climate group Tyre Extinguishers said that three of its teams had deflated scores of 4x4s in Grange, Portobello and New Town on Wednesday evening.
Among those targeted was an NHS doctor, who claimed the tyres on her SUV had been slashed and deflated for the second time in months by the group.
Police Scotland confirmed they had received a number of reports and described the group’s actions as “reckless” and “potentially dangerous”.
Tyre Extinguishers say they want to make it “impossible” for anyone living in an urban area to own an SUV because of their contribution to carbon emissions.
Similar attacks have taken place in Sweden, New Zealand, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands….”.
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“Mass Extinction of Climate Inquiry at the BBC”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/05/27/mass-extinction-of-climate-inquiry-at-the-bbc/
“Guess which article was written by a BBC journalist:
One statement… claims: “We are indeed experiencing the greatest wave of extinction since the disappearance of the dinosaurs.” While that may (or may not) be true, the next sentence is spuriously precise: “Every hour three species disappear. Every day up to 150 species are lost’”… The International Union for Conservation in Nature (IUCN) has listed 801 animals and plant species (mostly animal) known to have gone extinct since 1500. But if it is really true that up to 150 species are being lost every day, shouldn’t we expect to be able to name more than 801 extinct species in 512 years.
Nearly one third of all species are now endangered due to human activities… the extinction of species is now happening between 1,000 and 10,000 times quicker than scientists would expect to see… more than 142,000 species have been assessed [by the IUCN] and 29% are considered endangered, which means they have a very high risk of extinction… it is hoped that an agreement can be reached to stop what scientists are calling the ‘sixth mass extinction’ event.
Correct, whichever one you chose – both articles were produced by BBC writers. But what a difference a decade makes. The first quote came from an article written in April 2012, while the second appeared a few days ago. The first article by Richard Knight reports the statement about a great wave of extinction. But it correctly shows it as a claim, and the author then goes on to examine whether it has any validity. The evidence suggests that it does not.
The second article, from Esme Stallard, takes a different tack. The now-familiar klaxon of ecological Armageddon is sounded, with hair-raising claims simply repeated without any attempt made to question them. The claim that species are going extinct 1,000 to 10,000 times quicker is linked to a blog called Global Forest Watch. The extinction quote on the first page of the blog does not attribute it to scientists – that appears to be the addition of Stallard. Far from querying the figures, it seems an attempt is made to give them added provenance….
…Ten years ago the BBC was still questioning exaggerated or false climate claims. These days it is making them. As I noted on Wednesday, Justin Rowlatt claimed in his “Wild Weather” programme that deaths from warmer global weather were rising. In fact they are falling. His Panorama producer justified the statement on the grounds the deaths were “cumulative” – as though a running total of deaths would ever go down.
No need for an increase in the licence fee, then. The BBC’s income is always going up, cumulatively.”
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“Bristol mayor flies nine hours for TED climate conference”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-61596817
“The UK’s first city mayor to declare a climate crisis has been questioned for flying nine hours to attend a conference to urge leaders to cut CO2.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees told the TED conference in Canada city mayors could influence carbon emissions policy.
Climate campaigners Flight Free UK calculated the trip created 2.016 tonnes (2,016kg) of CO2 per passenger and was at odds with his message.
The mayor’s office said he had a full agenda with networking opportunities.
A spokesman said the mayor was invited at the expense of TED organisation as a speaker to share ideas and help change attitudes…
…Flight Free UK said Mr Rees flew some 4,600 miles (7,402km) each way in April to attend the annual TED conference held in Vancouver that he could have appeared at virtually.
Flight Free UK director Anna Hughes, said: “Bristol was the first place in the UK to declare a climate emergency, yet the mayor is acting completely at odds with this declaration.
“Faced with such a precarious climate situation, we need our leaders to demonstrate the kind of action we should all be taking, not flying to another continent to speak, ironically, about the climate emergency.
“Actions always speak louder than words, and in this post-pandemic age of online interactions, it would have been a much more powerful and effective statement to appear on screen.”…”.
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“Coral may spread north, University of Exeter study finds”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-61592108
“A “vulnerable” coral species found in UK waters may be able to find new habitats due to the climate change, research has found.
The pink sea fan lives in shallow waters from the western Mediterranean to north-west Ireland and the south-west of England and Wales.
The University of Exeter study found the species is likely to spread northwards as global temperatures rise.”
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No Sh*t Sherlock:
“People in US and UK face huge financial hit if fossil fuels lose value, study shows
Strong climate action could wipe $756bn from individuals’ pension funds and other investments in rich countries”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/26/people-in-us-and-uk-face-huge-financial-hit-if-fossil-fuels-lose-value-study-shows
“Individuals in rich countries face huge financial losses if climate action slashes the value of fossil fuel assets, a study shows, despite many oil and gas fields being in other countries.”
If. The biggest 2-letter word in the English language.
“The researchers estimated that existing oil and gas projects worth $1.4tn (£1.1tn) would lose their value if the world moved decisively to cut carbon emissions and limit global heating to 2C. By tracking many thousands of projects through 1.8m companies to their ultimate owners, the team found most of the losses would be borne by individual people through their pensions, investment funds and share holdings.
The analysis also found that financial institutions have $681bn of these potentially worthless assets on their balance sheets, more than the estimated $250-500bn of mispriced sub-prime housing assets that triggered the 2007-08 financial crisis.
The researchers did not predict if or when these fossil fuel “stranded assets” would cause a financial crash, but said the size of the number was worrying. The US and UK are by far the countries with the biggest potential stranded assets in their financial sectors.”
And “if” the world carries on doing very little to “limit global heating to 2C”? If the energy crisis becomes so bad that demand for oil and gas increases, then these assets won’t be stranded; rather, their value will increase. If, if, if….
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“Spain and Morocco feel the heat as unseasonal snow falls on Colorado
Analysis: high temperatures affect southern Europe, while in US state mercury rapidly drops more than 30C”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/27/spain-morocco-feel-heat-unseasonal-snow-falls-colorad
“With the summer solstice only a month away, parts of Colorado in the US experienced a late May snow event on the 21st, 24 hours after experiencing temperatures of more than 30C. A powerful cold front brought temperatures down by more than 30 degrees in less than 36 hours, leading to snowfall across many areas. Parts of Denver had about 2-3in (5-8cm), while the higher ground south-west of Cripple Creek and around Palmer Lake recorded about 20in.”
But this was the sentence I thought worthy of mention:
“This article was amended on 27 May 2022 to clarify that equatorial trade winds blow westwards, not eastwards.”
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Police Scotland Spend £20million to be Gretta Thunburg’s poster boys
£20m on unmarked EV cars and charging points .. not actual patrol cars
overall Police Scotland intends to phase out petrol/diel in next 6 years
PAP .. https://youtu.be/kZMV8n7ysl0
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7:32pm BBCFour Neil Oliver says they can’t understand how in 750BC suddenly iron came in and bronze decline, but then for 200 years there was low production of both
Now research on midges ..shows there was a cold age ..ie Climate Change.
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Scunthorpe shop warned after electricity meter bypassed
“Three Scunthorpe shops were brought before a licensing hearing at North Lincolnshire Council over allegations an electricity meter had been deliberately bypassed, according to Humberside Police. Doing so is illegal and can also be a serious safety hazard.”
https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/scunthorpe-shop-warned-after-electricity-7108110
The thing is the roof of the shop is loaded with solar panels
If the solar panels were generating lots
why would the owner bypass the meter ?
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9:45am now Radio 4 Jeremy Paxman’s History of how coal has shaped Britain
is the Daily Book
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Front page of the Times : Millions Warned Of Power Cuts
“Ministers delay closure of coal-fired generators over fear of gas shortages caused by Ukraine war”
▫ by @Steven_Swinford (Politics editor)
“Six million households could face blackouts this winter because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ministers have been warned, as they look to bolster electricity supplies by prolonging the life of coal and nuclear power stations”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/millions-warned-of-power-cuts-this-winter-b7gl2ckx9
(The Times have just put up a long thread
That helps get around the paywall
.. https://twitter.com/thetimes/status/1531153787838205952 )
1,100 comments from PAYING subscribers ..that is a lot in such a short time
Lead comments say “see it’s evil Tories”
so they are probably from Labour’s human troll-bot army
Then as ever most comments are from normal Times readers who are against Net Zero madness
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discussed on GBNews by Liz Kershaw
Obviously she is a different kind of BBC employee, totally calling out Boris’s Net Zero energy madness
mentioning Chinese coal, Boris closing nuclear etc.
.. She also revealed this has made her a prepper : She has her own well and candles etc. prepared.
Also She and the panel agreed GP appointments should attract a prescription charge , so that people turn up.
.. https://youtu.be/A_qjAcpY0uM
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Met Office Science @MetOffice_Sci tweet 11:06 AM · May 30, 2022·Twitter for Advertisers
#1 Why are they using “Twitter for Advertisers” as their upload platform ??
The tweet
“This morning, @bbcradio4 Farming Today spoke to @metoffice climate scientist Dr @freyagarry
about some of the impacts that #ClimateChange and extreme weather will have on British farming ☀️🌱🌧️🐄
Listen here 👇 bbc.co.uk
Farming Today – Peat fires; Soil workshop; Farming and climate change”
One like ..zero replies
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Panorama tonight : Teracycle the corp that undertakes to recycle crisp packs etc. to make manufacturers look GREEN
.. “Oh this family travelled 10 miles to recycle 35g”
Doh all plastic can be burnt safely at high temp incinerators to make energy.
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R4 now on coach travel
National Express boss “we’ll be Net Zero by 2035,
but so far long distance solutions don’t exist”
… “Coach is the greenest way to travel ..half the footprint of train”
.. So not as low as hitchhiking, or bike
nor probably as filling your own car with your family/fiends
Next item “The family who have been living without a car for 18 months”
BTW I’ve never owned a car or motorbike ..and almost never use public transport.
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Climate protester hit the Mona Lisa
“The Mona Lisa was left shaken but unharmed when a visitor to the Louvre tried to smash the glass protecting the world’s most famous painting, before smearing cream across its surface in an apparent climate-related publicity stunt ”
.. of course letting them get away with stuff was going to lead to escalation.
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@Forbes tweets
“I’ve been road testing electric cars regularly for more than two years now,
and not once has a battery-only vehicle met the claimed capacity,”
our contributor Neil Winton writes.
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Sorry if someone’s already pointed to the EDF hogwash.
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“Greenhouse gas removal ‘not a silver bullet to achieve net zero’
UK scientists say carbon capture is ‘hard and expensive’ and focus must be on reducing emissions”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/30/greenhouse-gas-removal-not-a-silver-bullet-to-achieve-net-zero
“Many of the UK’s top scientists working on carbon capture technologies do not believe they will be developed and scaled up in time to reach net zero and limit global heating to 1.5C.
Experts speaking at a Greenhouse Gas Removal Hub event in London warned that these techniques, including direct air capture, biofuels, biochar, afforestation and advanced weathering, are not a silver bullet and should make up just a fraction of the efforts to decarbonise.
The researchers were polled by event organisers on whether they believed the carbon removal targets would be met. Of 114 scientists in the audience, 57% said they were “not confident” the UK would meet the 2030 goals in the net zero strategy of 5m tonnes of engineered greenhouse gas removal, and 30,000 hectares a year of tree planting; 25% said they were quite confident, and 11% said there was no chance.
The scientists are taking part in a £70m government-funded competition to find the best ways to remove greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. These technologies are due to begin removing vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2030, with the hope being that the winning methods could be scaled up and ready for market in two years’ time.”
Perhaps we should stop wasting taxpayers’ money on this, then?
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Richard, it doesn’t stop the Guardian hyping the issue, as usual:
“First hurricane of 2022 season makes landfall in Mexico
Analysis: Hurricane Agatha kicks off what is forecast to be another busy period of Atlantic storms”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/30/first-hurricane-2022-season-agatha-landfall-mexico-atlantic
“The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Climate Prediction Center has said the eastern Pacific is likely to experience a subnormal number of tropical storms this year, whereas there is a 65% chance for an above-normal number of storms within the Atlantic basin.”
Interestingly the article also tells us this:
“Elsewhere, a cold spell has developed across southern and eastern Australia in the run-up to the start of meteorological winter. A cold front brought crisp air to the south on Sunday, with below-average temperatures forecast for much of the week across the south and south-east.
Parts of south Australia are expected to face the coldest temperatures of the year so far, with Adelaide plunging to 13-14C on Tuesday and Wednesday. Strong winds have accompanied chilly weather, with 30-50cm of snow possible in the Alpine region by the end of Tuesday.”
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Behind a paywall, unfortunately:
“Edible insects: Scientists plan to feed primary school children locusts and mealworms to make the UK greener”
https://inews.co.uk/news/environment/edible-insects-scientists-plan-to-feed-primary-school-children-locusts-and-mealworms-to-make-the-uk-greener-1657372
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Mark I would have written “Behind a paywall” fortunately”.
I have sampled locusts, just for the experience. Too crunchy and no they don’t taste like chicken. Nor like shrimp.
Mealworms have never appealed.
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The deep green version:
“Edible insects: Scientists plan to feed primary school children to locusts and mealworms to make the UK greener”
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I don’t know if it’s just me but I no longer seem to be able to refine Google searches.
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Linc Coop only has two events
#1 the voting meeting
#2 our exclusive free events on looking after the environment.
Listen to engaging talks on environment and sustainability
Our guest speakers include Ed Gillespie @frucool ,
an environmental entrepreneur and author focusing on sustainability and innovation.
Hear how we are working to help the environment in our sustainability update
Take part in interactive demos and activities
Enjoy a picnic style lunch with local afternoon treats
Plus, hear from our Board of Directors and have your say in a Q&A.
Lincoln – Saturday 11th June 2022
Join us from 12pm – 4:30pm
BTW 2 months ago “Visit Lincolnshire Business” were plugging a talk by Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie was co-founder of Green PR agency Futerra
I don’t know how/when he stopped working for them
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“Ed left the business in early 2019 to pursue other opportunities in public speaking, responsible leadership and purpose-led disruptive start-up businesses, having become frustrated with the sometimes constraining cage of consultancy.”
.. Well that’s his story … is there another ?
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BBC story about a Scottish university Professor giving Russian propaganda about Ukraine conflict contains this
“ The Department for Education (DfE), which is responsible for education in England, said it expected “universities’ due diligence processes to consider the reputational, ethical and security risks of false and dangerous narratives, and ensure that students are not misled by views that are clearly false”.
I wonder if I would be able to give my climate change messages at UEA under this guidance? Perhaps not. What are we coming to?
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Yes, very good point Alan, I’m sorry to say.
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Alan,
I don’t think it would be the guidance that you would need to worry about, it would be your students. In this instance, as is usually the case nowadays, it was the students who were reporting the professor. You just can’t get away with opening a student’s mind anymore, and they have ways of detecting the free thinker:
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“Derby city centre forest to highlight climate change”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-61643570
“An “urban forest” is coming to Derby city centre this summer, with a price tag of £163,000.
About 425 trees and shrubs will be put in the Market Place for six weeks before being planted elsewhere.
The city council said it would provide a vibrant space for outdoor dining and events over the summer as well as raising awareness of climate change.”
For six weeks? Sounds like an extraordinary waste of money. I wonder what is the carbon footprint associated with transporting the trees to the city, planting them, digging them up, then taking them to wherever they are intended to remain.
“Chris Poulter, leader of the city council, defended the cost, saying: “It appears to me to be a substantial way of tackling the climate change issue in many ways.
“It has already generated interest, promotes the use of trees, there are educational benefits, health and wellbeing, increased footfall in the city, amenity and cultural value.
“It seems to me to tick all of those boxes.””
Ticking boxes. Sounds about right.
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By the by, electricity generation just now:
Gas: 64%
Nuclear: 17.6%
Biomass: 9.2%
Pumped storage: 1%
Solar: 1.6%
Wind: 8.2%
Hydro: 2.1%
And we seem, for once, to be exporting 6.1% via the interconnectors.
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It’s obvious but government green policy is so extreme
it is akin to NATIONALISATION
It dictates to industry how they should do things
Instead of letting the free market determine the best way
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“Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022: New report discredits carbon neutrality claim”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61636473
“Fifa and Qatar’s claims that the 2022 World Cup will be carbon neutral involve “creative accounting” and are “misleading”, says a new report.
Carbon Market Watch says the tournament will not achieve a net-zero carbon footprint, despite claims it would be the first football World Cup to do so.
Researchers believe calculations “ignore major sources of emissions”.”
what is of importance to you all depends on your moral compass, I suppose, but as regards the football world cup in Qatar, I’m rather more concerned about this sort of thing:
“Qatar 2022: ‘Forced labour’ at World Cup stadium”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35931031
“Rights group Amnesty International has accused Qatar of using forced labour at a flagship World Cup 2022 stadium.
Amnesty says workers at Khalifa International Stadium are forced to live in squalid accommodation, pay huge recruitment fees and have had wages withheld and passports confiscated.
It also accuses Fifa of “failing almost completely” to stop the tournament being “built on human rights abuses”.”
And this:
“Revealed: 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since World Cup awarded
Guardian analysis indicates shocking figure over the past decade likely to be an underestimate”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022
“More than 6,500 migrant workers from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have died in Qatar since it won the right to host the World Cup 10 years ago, the Guardian can reveal.
The findings, compiled from government sources, mean an average of 12 migrant workers from these five south Asian nations have died each week since the night in December 2010 when the streets of Doha were filled with ecstatic crowds celebrating Qatar’s victory.
Data from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka revealed there were 5,927 deaths of migrant workers in the period 2011–2020. Separately, data from Pakistan’s embassy in Qatar reported a further 824 deaths of Pakistani workers, between 2010 and 2020.
The total death toll is significantly higher, as these figures do not include deaths from a number of countries which send large numbers of workers to Qatar, including the Philippines and Kenya. Deaths that occurred in the final months of 2020 are also not included.”
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“Warning ticks year-round risk due to climate change”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-61549598
A link is offered to this:
https://www.tcv.org.uk/scotland/what-makes-viruses-tick/
“The project aims to raise awareness of ticks and tick-borne diseases across Scotland. Raising awareness of ticks and tick-borne diseases across Scotland will empower people to make informed decisions when accessing the outdoors.
Scotland has seen an increase in the popularity of outdoor pursuits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As more people spend more time hill-walking, running or camping in the countryside, we can expect to see an increase in reports of tick bites and sightings.
Climate change may also be impacting tick populations, as the recent mild winters in Scotland may have stopped ticks from dying off meaning more survive through the winter to start biting again in spring.”
Not exactly conclusive, and it may well be that more people out and about = more tick bites, rather than climate change = more ticks. I’m out and about a lot in the great outdoors in both northern England and Scotland, and while I can’t prove the story is wrong, it doesn’t ring true based on my own experience.
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“Reuters “Fact Check” Claims Daily Sceptic Arctic Sea Ice Story was “Misleading”, But Can’t Find Any Wrong Facts”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/01/reuters-fact-check-claims-daily-sceptic-arctic-sea-ice-story-was-misleading-but-cant-find-any-wrong-facts/
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John. I was repeatedly reported to the School authorities by some affronted students about my insistence that sceptical viewpoints about climate should be considered. I only learned about these complaints in conversation and no one tried to influence my choice of teaching materials until the last two years (after I had officially retired but continued teaching some modules on a part time basis).
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“Shell’s Jackdaw gas field given go-ahead by regulators”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-61666693
“Development of a major North Sea gas field has been approved by regulators.
The Jackdaw field, east of Aberdeen, has the potential to produce 6.5% of Britain’s gas output.
The regulatory approval comes as the UK government seeks to boost domestic energy output following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Shell’s proposals were initially rejected on environmental grounds in October.
UK Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the decision.
“We’re turbocharging renewables and nuclear, but we are also realistic about our energy needs now,” he said on Twitter.
“Let’s source more of the gas we need from British waters to protect energy security.”…”.
I think that’s what’s known as a volte-face.
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“Climate change: Call to help steel firms decarbonise more quickly”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-61648676
“The UK is being too slow to help its steelworks transition to greener ways of working, senior MPs have warned.
It could jeopardise the industry’s future here and make the country more reliant on imports of steel, they said.
Their report follows calls from the owners of the UK’s biggest steelworks in Port Talbot for a government “route map” to help the sector decarbonise.
The UK government said it had several schemes which were supporting the industry’s move to a low-carbon future.
Steel is currently responsible for 14% of the climate-warming gases produced by UK industry.
But to help build things like wind turbines and the cleaner, electric vehicles of the future, more and more will be needed.”
I think that’s what’s called irony.
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“Rival climate groups deflate SUV tyres in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Deflationists and Tyre Extinguishers both say they want to make SUV ownership impossible in urban areas”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/01/deflationists-tyre-extinguishers-climate-groups-deflate-suv-tyres-glasgow-edinburgh
“A new group of climate activists targeting the owners of sports utility vehicles has set itself up as a friendly rival to the Tyre Extinguishers by deflating the tyres of dozens of vehicles in the suburbs of Glasgow.
In a statement, the group, which calls itself the Deflationists, claimed to have let down the tyres of 50 vehicles in the city’s affluent Newlands area and the neighbouring Shawlands.”
It’s like a scene from Monty Python’s Life of Brian. Splitters!
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Mark – thanks for the link to – https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/01/reuters-fact-check-claims-daily-sceptic-arctic-sea-ice-story-was-misleading-but-cant-find-any-wrong-facts/
you have to laugh, the new arbiters of truth, the dreaded all knowing “fact checker”.
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“Why the Ukraine war may power Asia’s green energy shift”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60066015
Turns out the story isn’t about Asia, but about South Korea:
“Some experts believe hydrogen can help countries make the transition from fossil fuels to renewables and that is what a growing number of South Korean businesses are now betting on.
The country has so far announced the largest government spending in Asia on the development of hydrogen technology.
Seoul is pushing investments into the production of hydrogen as well as technology for fuel cell power generation and hydrogen-powered cars.”
It also turns out that the idea that Asia is making a green energy shift – as suggested by the headline – is far from the truth:
“However, Asian economies have continued to burn coal to produce electricity despite how much it pollutes the environment.
While some countries have made progress in moving away from fossil fuels, in emergencies – like when two of the region’s economic giants China and India were hit by power shortages – it was coal that they turned to.
Japan had invested in nuclear power for decades but after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, it too went back to fossil fuels.”
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LinkedIn just sent me an email
: Quincy Mingo, Strategic Partnerships Manager
invites you to the LinkedIn Impact Summit
#1 The schedule has no obvious Climate evangelism
#2 the page has 9 faces
1 whiteMale, 1 wF, 1 AsianFemale, 4 black females, 2 black males
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Alan I think you can FOI this stuff
You can’t ask “name the student who complained”
but can ask stuff like”How many people complained about X course were received between 19xx and 20yy ?”
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Stew, thank you for this, but especially now I couldn’t care a fig about which students may have complained about what I might have included in my lectures. I didn’t care at the time either. In fact when incorporating controversial material in my lectures I would have been bitterly disappointed if there had not been some complaints.
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Zoology goes bonkers in California as judges recognise bumblebees to be fish!
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Well done for sticking to your guns.
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National Grid just now:
Gas: 65.4%
Pumped storage: 3.9%
Nuclear: 20.6%
Biomass: 7.5%
Solar: 2.5%
Wind: 7.2%
Hydro: 2.2%
We seem to be exporting 11.4% via the interconnectors. Do we really have surplus electricity, does western Europe have a shortfall, are we being kind to our neighbours?
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“For 50 years, governments have failed to act on climate change. No more excuses
Christiana Figueres, Yvo de Boer and Michael Zammit Cutajar”
Link here, if you can bear to read yet more of the same stuff that seems to appear pretty much every day in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/02/for-50-years-governments-have-failed-to-act-on-climate-change-no-more-excuses
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“Net Zero is a Stalinist fantasy
The UK government is imposing ever more drastic and coercive measures to meet its carbon targets.”
https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/06/02/net-zero-is-a-stalinist-fantasy/
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Mark
“We seem to be exporting 11.4% via the interconnectors. Do we really have surplus electricity, does western Europe have a shortfall, are we being kind to our neighbours?”
Just now:
1.88 GW to France
0.21GW to Holland
0.22GW to Ireland
0.70GW to Belgium
0.69GW from Norway
France has shut down many of her nuclear plants for maintenance, otherwise nothing exceptional.
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Bill, thanks for the extra detail. My point really was that for a few days now we have been exporting electricity, rather than the normal state of affairs, of importing it. One of the key justifications for the interconnectors is that when the UK or western Europe, has surplus electricity, they can export it via the interconnectors, so that it isn’t wasted and the grids aren’t disrupted. The thing is, this was supposed to occur during windy periods, especially in summer, when solar might actually be contributing more than it’s usual low levels of electricity generation. And yet we are exporting electricity at a time when renewables are performing very badly, and gas is providing almost 2/3 of our electricity, at the very point in time when gas has become expensive. Why are we burning lots of (currently) expensive gas in order to supply other countries with electricity? Are we selling it expensively, and making a profit, or are we just being nice and helpful to our European neighbours? As you point out regarding France, maybe they have a particular problem just now?
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What do they think paint is made from?
“Paint thrown at UK government building in gas field protest”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-61678529
“Red paint has been thrown over UK government offices in Edinburgh by climate activists protesting against the Jackdaw gas field.
Campaign group Just Stop Oil daubed “blood on your hands” on the front of Queen Elizabeth House.
Police arrived after the paint was thrown and spoke to a group of protesters who sat down in front of the building and refused to leave.
The Jackdaw field, east of Aberdeen, was given the go ahead on Wednesday….Police Scotland said it was aware of the protest and that officers were “engaging” with the group….”.
Police spoke to protestors and is engaging with the group. How about making a few arrests for criminal damage? I believe deeply in protecting the right to protest, but that right is breached when it causes nuisance to others or involves criminal damage. I have no problem with the BBC reporting it – I suppose it represents news, even if it self-made news by a small group who make a disproportionate amount of noise – but I don’t think the BBC should be pushing photos of the damage, banners, and paint-daubed slogans. In doing so, they are, to my mind, colluding with protestors who indulge in criminal damage.
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Irony alert:
“Four reasons Australia’s gas and electricity prices are sky-high – and what’s being done about it
Tony Wood
A rare combination of international and domestic events has created a perfect storm for the new government”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/03/four-reasons-australias-gas-and-electricity-prices-are-sky-high-and-whats-being-done-about-it
Reason 1:
“1. Coal-fired generators have been failing
First, outages at coal-fired power stations have meant that gas has been called on more than usual.
More than one quarter of coal-fired plants have been offline for much of the year so far, which is far from usual.
The system is designed so that when that happens, gas generators take their place.”
Reason 4:
“4. Suddenly, there’s a cold snap
Finally, a cold snap on Australia’s east coast has brought forward the winter spike in demand for gas for heating.”
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3pm Radio 4 trailer was for Justin Rowlatt’s daily climate lectures
every day next week ..all episodes already available on Iplayer
“Justin Rowlatt discovers how global warming may trigger irreversible changes to our planet.”
Monday 13:45 : 1 – The Arctic
Justin Rowlatt discovers how global warming may trigger irreversible changes to our planet
Tuesday : 2 – Ocean Circulation
Justin Rowlatt looks at the implications of slowing ocean circulation for climate change.
Wednesday : 3 – Cascading
Will tipping points in the Amazon and in cloud formation accelerate climate change?
Thursday : 4 – Antarctica
Justin Rowlatt asks if Antarctic changes will flood coastal cities for centuries to come?
Friday : 5 – Society
Justin Rowlatt asks if human society could itself be on the cusp of its own tipping point?
Catch the updates in a few weeks time, in the place where Rowlatt hangs out … The BBC corrections page
We get force-fed their Global warming lecturing, using licence payers money.
What we don’t get is fair and open debate.
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Just looked a villages walking group FB page
yet another forum hijacked by someone to evangelise for their Global Warming religion
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I finally got around to mowing a path through my rewilded (cough) garden yesterday. This, alas, involved destroying loads of vetch flowers, which bumblebees love.
Thanks to Alan’s comment above about how bumblebees are actually fish, I no longer feel at all bad about this. Who wants shoals of slimy, stinky, dead-eyed, tail-twitching, ear-breathing little weirdos hovering around their knees every time they walk to the car? Buzz off, you hairy slimeballs! I’m getting the strimmer out tomorrow.
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These programmes sound more like sermons than lectures.
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Updated report later in the day:
“Six arrests after activists threw paint at a UK government building in Edinburgh”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-61681552
The report still includes photos giving free publicity to the demonstrators, unfortunately.
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Surprise omission by the Guardian here.
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“Under my plan ..electricity rates would necessarily SKYROCKET”
… who said that ? … OBAMA
Tony Heller’ brand new video
Biden “I guarantee we will kill fossil fuels”
… https://youtu.be/tHFDwOVWzEw
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Thanks Mark, a brilliant tweet by Lomborg because a brilliant argument against Europe trying to achieve half of Net Zero by 2030. But its terseness raises what I call the sceptic’s dilemma. In this statement
the verb is totally wrong. You know the value of climate sensitivity – transient climate response I guess is nearer – from 2022 thru 2030 Dr Lomborg? No you don’t. We’re dealing with spatiotemporal chaos.
At which point Dr Lew would no doubt step in with some mumbo jumbo that translated means we have to achieve half of Net Zero by 2026. Because uncertainty.
In his longer pieces Lomborg makes clear he bases such arguments on the IPCC ‘consensus’.
But look at the range of ECS from the IPCC over so many years.
The sceptic’s dilemma. How much very basic truth to include.
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YouTube star Dr John Campbell is supposed to be an alternative voice on Covid
Yet his new video about Ukrainian war likely to cause famine,
chucks in the phrase “and of course climate change”
..so he is a true believer.
He also expresses anti-fertiliser opinions.
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Rebel News had an idea, they sent the CBC an FoIA asking
“How much did CBC spend on travel to COP26 ?”
The reply was 379 pages with every cost blacked out.
So now the Rebel will need to go through legal process to get answers
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“Wind farm and nuclear electricity could be exempt from windfall tax
Rishi Sunak consults on plans for North Sea oil and gas tax to cover only profits on electricity generated from fossil fuels”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/06/04/wind-farm-nuclear-electricity-could-exempt-windfall-tax/
“Electricity generated by wind farms and nuclear power plants could be exempted from a proposed windfall tax on energy firms following a backlash over the plans…”.
Behind a paywall, unfortunately.
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I saw this quote from a random posting this morning:
It puts an interesting perspective on the whole climate thing for me.
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8:58 PM · Jun 1 not ratioed cos Sadiq and Hillary are beyond hope
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan @MayorofLondon tweeted
Delighted to be working with @HillaryClinton & the Clinton Global Initiative
to bring local government, businesses and civil society together
to lead the fight against the climate crisis and other global challenges
As Chair of @C40Cities I know how important cities are in tackling the biggest challenges our world faces
, and I’m delighted to be working with a global leader such as Secretary Clinton
to lead the fight against this urgent and imminent global threat
.. https://twitter.com/MayorofLondon/status/1532089189851971586
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9:10pm Mark Dolans GBnews monologue
is against Prince William for hijacking the Jubilee to do a Climate speech
🚨#BigOpinion Spare us the climate lecture Prince William 🌎
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“Renewable energy: Frustration over cost of trying to go green”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-61555954
“A County Down woman has said she is “overwhelmingly disappointed” that a connection charge of thousands of pounds has dashed her hopes of installing an environmentally-friendly air source heat pump at her new-build house.
After a lifetime working in the environment sector, Celia Spouncer and her partner, David Thompson, wanted to build a home that was as efficient as possible and would allow them to be part of what Celia thought of as the green revolution.
“It’s driven into you, it’s all about air tightness in the build,” she said.
“We have really thick insulation and we got the thicker cavity wall and now we’re feeling the benefit of that.
“We have a wood stove and we’re putting in a mechanical heat recovery system so that means the heat is redistributed evenly through the building, and that just left what choice we had with regard to our heating source.”
But the dream ended when Celia contacted NIE to arrange connection for the air source heat pump they had chosen.”We were told that, where we are, that we would need to spend a lot of money on increasing the capacity of the transformer and putting in extra wiring, and it was going to come in at something like £16,000 to put in that additional improvement to the network so that we could put a low carbon energy source in.”
The transformer, a grey box on a nearby pole, distributes power to the houses connected to it.
Celia says NIE told her the box did not have the capacity to support an air source heat pump, while maintaining supply to the other connected properties.
“I’m just kind of overwhelmingly disappointed that’s where we’re at.
“So we’ve reverted to an oil boiler and the heart sinks really to see that big green tank outside and particularly the current situation with the energy crisis and everything.
“We have put wiring in to retrofit if that might come available, or there might be a review, or perhaps the demand from the air source heat pump on the energy system, there might be a different model that would reduce that.
“But I think we’ll invest in PV (photovoltaic) and solar – I mean that has to be, for us the obvious thing, to invest in our own energy generation rather than pay into wiring for a bigger network.”
An NIE spokesperson said: “The journey to net zero is an evolution and the uptake of low-carbon technologies will place significant pressure on an electricity network infrastructure originally designed to manage a different level and type of demand.”
We could have written a lot of that. “I told you so”, springs to mind.
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8:05am Radio Humberside blatant PRasNew for Hull University’s Green PR operation.
We pay the university, they use the money to set up Aura Innovation centre .. it’s just a Net Zero PR operation.
“It’s Humber Business Week this week with a focus on going green”
Clip about getting in early on Net Zero.
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Afraid of being outdone by Climate Science, Astrophysicists have found a source of catastrophe research funding that should last a few billion years:
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220606.html
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Bill astrophysicists are probably as unable to influence Andromeda tearing our home galaxy apart in.the far distant future as the climate fearful are of influencing CO2 emissions and therefore future weather.
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One has to say the pictures from astrophysics alarmism are better, though.
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What is odd about the illustration of the colliding galaxies, supposedly showing the sky several billion years hence, is the shape of the mountains which we’re probably added as an afterthought. Those mountains have shapes similar to those of today necessitating continued plate tectonics causing uplift, and continued erosion implying the continued presence of water. Both plate tectonics and water are unlikely to have persisted for a further several billion years according to many estimates.
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Paul Hudson @Hudsonweather tweets
Waddington in Lincolnshire had its *coldest* June day for 31 years yesterday (Max 10.8C)
– thankfully warmer across our region in the week ahead ! More at 6.30 (BBC1 local TV)
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“Study into climate effects on Atlantic salmon”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6plp264640o
“Scientists are investigating the effects of climate change on Atlantic salmon.
University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) researchers are working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada to study the genetic make-up of the fish.
They will also examine how different migratory populations may be responding to marine and freshwater conditions, which can be affected by temperature and rainfall levels.
The scientists believe climate change could be having a significant impact on migration – starting from where young salmon, or smolts, are born to their time feeding and growing in the Atlantic and return to rivers to spawn.”
Fair enough, but how long have salmon been around? And in that timescale they have faced extremes of climate way beyond anything that we might be looking at now.
“THE MIRACULOUS NATURE OF SALMON”
https://www.encountersnorth.org/ak-wild-salmon-summary/2017/8/2/the-miraculous-nature-of-salmon
“…This is just one part of the fascinating life cycle of Pacific salmon—a story that’s been repeating itself since long before humans appeared on the earth.
Ancestors of the salmonid family appeared around 50 to 100 million years ago in Northern Europe. Today there are seven species of Pacific salmon, including five that spawn along the North American coast, as well as steelhead, and the masu salmon, which lives in Asian waters.
The five species of salmon in Alaska—chinook, coho, sockeye, chum and pink—are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor with steelhead (also called rainbow trout). Our modern Pacific salmon have been around for a very long time, appearing 4 to 6 million years ago….”.
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“Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions fell during Covid pandemic”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61718803
“Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 12% during 2020 as Covid lockdown restrictions took effect, according to official statistics….
…However, environmental groups are concerned that the figures will bounce back in future years.
That concern has been acknowledged by the Scottish government’s Net Zero Secretary Michael Matheson, who said there can be “no satisfaction taken” from the drop coming as a result of the pandemic….”.
Good to see some sense in the analysis:
“These figures are a surprise to nobody, covering a year where much of our economy was shut down and our habits transformed overnight.
It’s striking that Scottish ministers are making no real attempt to claim credit for this drop, coming as millions of us faced the misery that came with the pandemic.
Emissions cuts year-on-year have largely been falling but they’ve been fairly consistently lagging behind the targets until now.
The “green recovery” is meant to use the rebuilding phase of the pandemic to lock in some of the emissions cuts we’re reporting today and get Scotland back on track.
But a lot of our old habits have returned, like driving and taking foreign holidays.”
The BBC opened it up to a “Have Your Say”. Comments are mostly unipressed and/or sarcastic, e.g.:
“Great article. Who says the BBC is dumbing down?
Tomorrow: “Use of face masks increased during the covid pandemic”.”
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Some common sense at last?
“Let Africa exploit its natural gas reserves, says Mary Robinson
Ex-UN climate envoy says continent’s need for energy is so great it should be able to widely use the fossil fuel”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/let-africa-exploit-natural-gas-reserves-mary-robinson
“African countries should be able to exploit their vast natural gas reserves despite the urgent need to cut global greenhouse gas emissions, the former UN climate envoy Mary Robinson has said.
Robinson, the chair of the Elders group of former world statespeople and business leaders, said African countries’ need for energy was so great that they should use gas widely, in contrast to developed countries that must halt their gas use as quickly as possible to stave off climate breakdown.
“Africa is trying to get its voice out about its needs for just, equitable energy, and of course that implies some use of gas as a just transition,” she told the Guardian in an interview.
She pointed to the 600 million people in Africa without access to electricity and the 900 million who use biomass or dirty oil cooking stoves, who could use gas as a less polluting alternative. “There has to be a certain leeway to tackle the energy poverty in Africa, and give Africa a faster capability to move,” she said.
African leaders will bring forward similar arguments ahead of Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in November, which is certain to make the issue a flashpoint at the UN climate summit that is seen as a chance for African countries to gain global attention for their vulnerability to the climate crisis, and their economic potential.”
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“Climate crisis could make humans shrink in size, says fossil expert
Edinburgh palaeontologist says smaller mammals are better able to cope with increased temperatures”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/07/humans-could-shrink-in-wake-of-climate-crisis-says-fossil-expert
“The climate crisis may lead the human race to shrink in size, as mammals with smaller frames appear better able to deal with rising global temperatures, a leading fossil expert has said.
Prof Steve Brusatte, a palaeontologist at the University of Edinburgh, suggested that the way in which other mammals have previously responded to periods of climate change could offer an insight into humans’ future.
He likened the potential plight of people as similar to that of early horses, which became smaller in body size as temperatures rose around 55m years ago, a period called the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum….
…However, not all experts agree that rising temperature causes mammals to shrink. Prof Adrian Lister, of the Natural History Museum in London, said the relationship shown by the recent human remains study is weak, while the strong correlations between temperature and mammal body size may often be down to the availability of food and resources.
Lister is also sceptical that humans will shrink as the climate heats. “We are not really controlled by natural selection,” he said. “If that was going to happen, you’d need to find large people dying before they could reproduce because of climate warming. That is not happening in today’s world. We wear clothes, we have got heating, we have got air conditioning if it is too hot.”…”.
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Well Mark I used to be six foot and a half inch high. Now I’m five foot eleven and a high inches. I’m shrinking! Must be the result of climate chaos.
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Madness, utter madness:
“New Zealand farmers propose paying for emissions to tackle climate change
Agriculture sector faced pressure to act or be forced into the country’s emissions trading scheme, from which it is exempt”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/08/new-zealand-farmers-propose-paying-for-emissions-to-tackle-climate-change
“Farming leaders in New Zealand have recommended that the government impose a price on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions for the first time, as the rural sector comes under significant political pressure over its disproportionate contribution to climate change.
The recommendation by He Waka Eke Noa, a partnership between farming leaders and the government, is likely to widen an emerging schism between agricultural representatives and grassroots farmers, who have taken to the streets in recent years to protest against the introduction of environmental regulations and criticise industry leaders for being too friendly with the government.
However, farming leaders felt they had little choice but to make the proposal. Jacinda Ardern’s centre-left government had legislated that if farmers did not come up with an emissions pricing system, agriculture – which generates over half of New Zealand’s industrial and household emissions – would automatically enter the country’s emissions trading scheme, from which it is currently exempt….”.
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High Gas Prices Force UK Fertilizer Plant to Close for Good
CF Industries Holdings Inc. plans to close one of its UK fertilizer plants for good as it struggles with high energy costs.
CF Industries plans to close one of its UK fertilizer plants for good as it struggles with high energy costs, which could lead to hundreds of redundancies https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-08/high-gas-prices-force-uk-fertilizer-plant-to-close-for-good via @marketsbloomberg.com
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darn just lost a long comment
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BBC local news The Enviro Agency put out a press report
..and the crazy local enviro reporter is there to do PR as news
“Here I am standing at the eroding clay cliffs in Skipsea
and the Enviro Agency says we will have 1m sea level rise by 2100
..scary scary”
#1 Bet they don’t mean 1m rise from today but rather from 2000
‘2 Bet 1m is their high end estimate and 40cm is more likely
#3 The guy failed to explain sea level rise and erosoion are two different things
# he omitted to explain that the clay cliffs are actually SEABED debris left over from a past era when the sea was ultra hight
#5 Failed to mention that rather than land retrear happening forever
It stops once you get back to hard bedrock
and in some places ti has already happened
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So much for the Government’s energy security strategy:
“Cheshire energy firm’s gas testing appeal rejected”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-61737346
“An appeal by an energy firm to conduct tests for gas in Cheshire has been dismissed by the government.
IGas’s plans for Ellesmere Port near the M53 were rejected amid concerns of a negative impact on the environment…
…United Kingdom Onshore Oil and Gas, which represents the industry said the UK needed to look more to onshore oil and gas production “or we will continue to drift into dependence on foreign sources.”
The group also criticised the length of time it had taken to reach the decision.
A spokeswoman also said the decision had “not taken into account material national and international developments since 2020″.”
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On the other hand:
“Fury at government after council overruled on Surrey Hills gas drilling
Lib Dems and environmental campaigners condemn central government after Tory-run council overruled”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/08/fury-government-council-overruled-surrey-hills-gas-drilling
“Campaigners and the Liberal Democrats have criticised the government after a minister overruled a Tory-run council to approve gas drilling on the edge of the Surrey Hills, despite accepting the scheme would cause harm to the natural landscape.
The decision, formally announced in a written statement by the housing minister Stuart Andrew, gives the green light to three years of exploratory drilling at a site near the edge of the Surrey Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).”
The return of realism is to be welcomed, but in an AONB?
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It appears that for some alarmists, telling the truth is now climate disinformation.
“Climate policy dragged into culture wars as a ‘delay’ tactic, finds study
Researchers call for recognition of latest online strategies used to derail climate action”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/09/climate-policy-dragged-into-culture-wars-as-a-delay-tactic-finds-study
“Climate policy is being dragged into the culture wars with misinformation and junk science being spread across the internet by a relatively small group of individuals and groups, according to a study.
The research, released on Thursday, shows that the climate emergency – and the measures needed to deal with it – are in some cases being conflated with divisive issues such as critical race theory, LGBTQ+ rights, abortion access and anti-vaccine campaigns.
The study, published by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition, found that although outright denials of the facts of the climate crisis were less common, opponents were now likely to focus on “delay, distraction and misinformation” to hinder the rapid action required.
“Our analysis has shown that climate disinformation has become more complex, evolving from outright denial into identifiable ‘discourses of delay’ to exploit the gap between buy-in and action,” said Jennie King, head of climate disinformation at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue….
…It found that the urgent need for wide-ranging mitigation and adaptation strategies were continually downplayed or condemned as unfeasible, overly expensive, disruptive or hypocritical. And it identified a number of specific “discourses of delay”, including:
Elitism and hypocrisy: these posts focused on the alleged wealth and double standards of those calling for action, and in some cases referenced wider conspiracies about globalism or the “New World Order”. The study identified 199,676 mentions of this narrative on Twitter (tweets and retweets) and 4,377 posts on Facebook around the time Cop26 took place
Absolution: it found 6,262 Facebook posts and 72,356 tweets around Cop26 which absolved one country of any obligation to act on climate by blaming another. In developed western countries this often focused on the perceived shortcomings of China and, to a lesser extent, India, claiming they were not doing enough so there was no point in anyone acting.
Unreliable renewables: over a longer period – from 1 January to 19 November 2021 – the study found 115,830 tweets or retweets were shared, alongside 15,443 posts on Facebook, that called into question the viability and effectiveness of renewable energy sources….”
I love that “perceived shortcomings of China”. Is there any awareness of what China is doing with regard to fossil fuels, on the part of these people. The shortcomings aren’t “perceived”, they are very real. Apparently pointing that out is disinformation.
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“EU Parliament clash delays key climate legislation
Furious MEPs failed to strike a deal on an overhaul of the bloc’s carbon market.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-parliament-clash-delays-key-climate-legislation/
“…The chaotic session, which saw emotions run high, also laid bare a key split between political camps, with a conservative coalition seeking to protect industry from significantly stricter climate measures and a left-leaning bloc balking at a slower pace of decarbonization.
Growing concerns over placing too high a burden on Europe’s industry had prompted liberal and center-right MEPs to depart from an ambitious carbon market reform approved by Parliament’s environment committee last month, and even center-left lawmakers weakened their stance on some elements on the related carbon border tax.
But in Wednesday’s session, the center-right European People’s Party — whose lawmaker Peter Liese had led work on the reform — sided with other right-wing groups to pass amendments carving out even more generous protections for industry….”.
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BBC article
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-61744337
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Renewables are the very definition of unreliable, so I don’t see how this could be classed as disinformation except in the upside-down world of climate activism. They depend on the weather, so unless the weather is reliable, it is axiomatic that renewables are not. This seems like a hysterical failure of logic in order to score a point.
Another case of a disinformation unit that is in fact a propaganda defence unit.
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Local BBC “Hey there is a new 52m high tower in Hull !
Why’s that ?
It’s a silo for storing imported cement
“Damac said the huge silo was needed to help meet soaring demand in the construction industry”
The omission there :
The local establishment fake-greens like the BBC ruthlessly campaign for NetZero
so making legitimate business difficult and costly
The result was Cemex just closed the South Ferriby cement plant 15 miles away in South Ferriby
To import from abroad instead
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“Devon County Council claims to be on target for climate goal”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-61751725
“A council said it was on track to beat its target for becoming carbon net zero in the next eight years.
Devon County Council set the target in 2013 to reduce carbon emissions by 70%, by 2030.
It plans to make the extra 30% reduction by offsetting through projects like tree planting.”
Hmm. As for democracy, is the opposition standing up to this nonsense?
“…However, leader of the opposition, Councillor Julian Brazil was critical, saying: “We seem to be patting ourselves on the back that we’ve cut our carbon dioxide emissions by 53%.
“Most of those weren’t because we were trying to cut our carbon dioxide oxide emissions, they just happened to be as a consequence of other things.
“It’s not proactive enough. It’s not taking it seriously enough.”…”
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Is anybody surprised?
“MPs and wealthy landowners among beneficiaries of green subsidy
Renewable heating incentive was set up to help business, public sector and non-profit organisations”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/10/mps-and-wealthy-landowners-among-beneficiaries-of-green-subsidy
“A minister, MPs and several aristocratic landowners have received thousands in public funds from a government subsidy intended to stimulate the green transition.
The renewable heating incentive was set up in 2014 to help businesses, public sector and non-profit organisations meet the cost of installing renewable heat systems by paying them a tariff for each unit of heat produced from renewable sources. A parallel system was set up for homes.
But concerns were raised by the National Audit Office, which concluded that although the schemes had good potential to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint, “the department has not achieved value for money”.
The NAO also raised concerns about the policing of the system and the risk that it might be gamed. Currently, 22,000 businesses have signed up to the RHI, which is forecast to cost £23bn by 2042….”
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“Green light for £21m Scottish plastic-to-hydrogen plant”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-61758782
I am in principle happy with doing something about waste plastic – though burning it to create energy directly strikes me as a more useful way of dealing with it. I would have liked to know whether any public money is involved in this. Perhaps it isn’t, perhaps we just aren’t supposed to know.
However, the bit that upsets me about this piece is the way that it shows the decline of BBC journalism. It’s basically just an edited cut and paste from the website of the developers, and is in effect a free advert, with little or no journalistic skill involved. See if you can spot the difference:
https://peellandp.co.uk/news-and-views/news/plastic-to-hydrogen-facility-in-west-dunbartonshire-approved-to-help-country-produce-cleaner-energy/
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“Smart meters are not just ‘dumb’ but a scandalous waste of money”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/10/smart-meters-are-not-just-dumb-but-a-scandalous-waste-of-money
“Re your article (Energy bills: why are so many smart meters in Britain turning ‘dumb’?, 4 June), I am the manager of a residential estate in the North Downs in Surrey, an area notorious for erratic mobile coverage. From the outset this was a recognised problem with smart meters; boosters were attached, to no avail.
As the first of the smart meters were being installed, to great fanfare from the government, the engineers knew a second generation of meters was already being rolled out because the first did not remain smart if the supplier was changed – something the public were unaware of, since they were being exhorted to do just that by the government.
Things have gone steadily downhill since then. Smart meters are an absolute scandal – millions were spent, yet the majority here are now useless. We have to read almost all of them and are frequently required to provide dated photographs for all phases plus the total, on each meter – sometimes four photos for each reading – since the power companies don’t trust customers to provide accurate readings.
Another example of taxpayers’ money wasted on a government fantasy, with unproven technology rolled out nationwide with an almost entirely negative result. The money would have been better spent continuing to employ meter readers instead of devolving this increasingly irksome task to customers.
John Curtis
Kingswood, Surrey
I was so pleased to read your article on the problems with smart meters and note that it’s not just me suffering from this shambles. I eagerly await my fourth visit from British Gas to un-dumb my meters. At present my “in-house display” clocks my gas consumption at £47,662.06 per hour – this being an improvement on the £1.5m it reached last month, with my electric meter recording a tariff of 34.935p per kWh (my contract states it is 19.783p per kWh).
I have requested that my old meters be put back in, but am told that I would have to pay for both the meters and the installation.
As a final flourish of sheer incompetence, I have just received an email congratulating me on “choosing to go smart”. They have missed out the most important bullet point. The one that says “Doesn’t work”.
Ray Chalker
London”
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“Russia uses climate talks to vilify Ukraine
The diatribe leaves Moscow’s envoy isolated but Russia has no intention of ditching the UN-led climate process.”
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-complain-oppression-climate-conference/
“Russia is retreating from the world — on track to be ejected or pull out of groupings like the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, the Council of Europe and world football — but in global climate talks it’s happy to stick around and cause havoc.
Russia’s Consul General Alexey Dronov took advantage of microphone access earlier this week and accused Ukraine of undermining the spirit of cooperation at the talks with its “unsubstantiated” accusations against Moscow. He called the invasion — or in his words a “military operation” — a justified response by Moscow against “war and terror” by Kyiv, and said the money spent arming Ukraine would be better used to combat climate change.”
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7.24am What’s wrong with cut and pasting? What you reprint/rebroadcast has the considerable advantage of being absolutely truthful to the original. Some news agencies are completely dependent upon others reprinting their product. With considerable respect Mark, you cut and paste everyday here. We don’t mind.
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Alan, I am not a journalist. I cut and paste from articles written by journalists to let people know about the stuff they write, some of which I think is pretty loopy.
I think journalists, especially those working for the state broadcaster, should do a bit more than simply reproduce most of a corporation’s press release from its website. That’s not journalism, it’s advertising. As a minimum, if they are going to do that, I think they should be obliged to disclose the source of their cutting and pasting.
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Mark, from an answer to a question answered by Google: what is a journalist? Answer: “Anyone who writes an impartial article, be it news or feature stories, is practicing journalism.” My opinion is that you practice journalism here extremely well, selecting items that you think are important for your readership to know or which you judge will be interesting to us. The bits I value most are what you add as a commentary.
I just found it funny that you disparaged cut and paste by the BBC, when all newspapers are full of them and you, yourself practiced the art, for our benefit.
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It’s about openness
Marks comments start with “Here’s a bit from the Telegraph”
Churnalists write articles which don’t say “Here’s a bit of CutNpaste from material my Green PR mate provided me after he took me to dinner again”
The idea that “impartial” belong in the definition of journalist is strange.
.. “impartial” is a weasel trick word .. No one is actual impartial
I’d use other words to describe goodness/badness
Baddies : Some people are intentionally deceptive, others fail to give both sides
Goodies bend over backwards to see the other sides case etc., doesn’t omit inconvenient things etc.
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Wednesday R4 Ros Atkins approached his interview with the GBnews founder
as if he had to get gotchas
One of them was “Gotcha a guest said sea level was not really rise ..that’s false”
He’s put up a video tweet
but note how the “well done” reply comes from a Green PR person
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Incidentally when just I searched for “bbcradio4”
Twitter’s biased algorithm pushed another Ros Atkins tweet promoting his anti-GBnews prog at me as “TOP Result”
..When in fact it has very very few Likes/interest
Similarly below that it pushed a George Monbiot video clip at me.
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stewgreen: ‘but note how the “well done” reply comes from a Green PR person’
And from one who, according to his LinkedIn profile, was the Head of Corporate Communications & Marketing for IntechOpen from July 2011 to January 2013, a period in which Intech was reckoned to have been a ‘predatory publisher’ – pay us and we’ll publish your sciencey bollocks sans quibbling. So P Mc-C’s…
…Makes one go ‘Hmmmm’ a bit.
But it’s not all bad. Intech abandoned sciencey journals a few months after MacKenzie-Cummins left. (It’s still reckoned to be predatory, but for books, not journals.) And these days P Mc-C seems to be an OK bloke for someone who works in PR. All PR-ers are, almost by definition, arseholes, but here’s the current P Mc-C:
http://www.clearlypr.co.uk/people-planet/
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Has someone been listening to John Kerry?
“Climate change a bigger threat than war, Fiji tells security summit”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-61774473
“Fiji has told an Asian security summit that climate change is a bigger threat to the Pacific than military tensions.
“Machine guns, fighter jets… are not our primary security concern. The single greatest threat to our very existence is climate change,” Fiji Defence Minister Inia Seruiratu said.
He was addressing a summit in Singapore which has focused on China-US tensions and the Ukraine war.
Cyclones have repeatedly battered Fiji and other low-lying Pacific countries.
“It threatens our very hopes and dreams of prosperity. Human-induced, devastating climate change,” Mr Seruiratu told the forum, called the Shangri-La Dialogue.”
Try telling it to the Ukrainians. By the way, cyclones have repeatedly battered Fiji for millennia (and probably for longer). And there’s nothing we can do about it.
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Nothing new here, of course, but it’s always worth remembering why we shouldn’t listen to climate hypocrites:
“The Jet-Setting Hypocrisy of the Super-Rich Climate Preachers!”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/12/the-jet-setting-hypocrisy-of-the-super-rich-climate-preachers/
Which in turn links to:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10907763/Its-not-just-Harry-Meghan-lecture-world-saving-planet-dont-walk-talk.html
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“NASA’s Failed ‘Fact Check’ of Daily Sceptic Climate Article”
https://dailysceptic.org/2022/06/12/nasas-failed-fact-check-of-daily-sceptic-climate-article/
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Just watched “what killed the whale” on CH4 – https://www.channel4.com/programmes/what-killed-the-whale
to many comments I could make, but the answer at the prog end by Biologist Ella Al-Shamahi – “what killed the whale – me & you” and climate change figured big as usual.
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Front page of today’s Times: “Energy market reform will cut fuel bills.”
(Of course, unless you have a subscription, or the paper in your hand, you can’t read the story. Fair enough!)
A government source calls the reforms “fiendishly complicated.” Well, that is the system they have created.
As I understand it, offers to supply are accepted in order from the cheapest until demand is filled, then all suppliers get paid at the price the last supplier to enter offered. Thus at the moment wind can offer to supply at low cost, gas comes in last, and everyone gets paid the same as gas. Of course, wind has subsidies that allow it to offer to supply at lower cost than gas at the moment.
I suppose the system wouldn’t be “fiendishly complicated” if it wasn’t split into a hundred different suppliers.
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Welcome to Net Zero Britain. I am noticing a lot more kickback about this sort of thing now that it’s starting to affect the south, whereas to date it has traditionally damaged the environment in Scotland and the north of England:
“Norfolk steam train museum’s fear over new power line”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-61775646
“A stream train museum said it feared for its future due to plans for a power line to cut across its rail lines.
Bressingham Steam Museum and Garden, between Thetford and Diss in Norfolk, said a “significant proportion” of its site would be affected by new pylons.
The proposed 112 mile-long (180km) high voltage line would run between Norwich, Suffolk and Essex.
National Grid said it was “carrying out assessments” to find “the most appropriate way” to run the line.
The pylons are part of a proposed 400kV electricity transmission line between Norwich and a new Bramford substation near Ipswich, and then to Tilbury in south Essex, called the East Anglia Green Energy Enablement project.
National Grid said the line was needed to carry electricity from offshore wind turbines.”
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Beware of calling Norfolk part of the South. Norwich lies further north than Birmingham (which is part of the MIDLANDS). We the inheritors of the Iceni, reject the softness of the real south. I realise that to inhabitants of the northern Cumbrian wastelands we might appear as southern weaklings, but we ain’t.
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Well I learn something new every day from the BBC. This morning a politician from Devon was boasting about a university having more climate scientists than anywhere else in the U.K. and it wasn’t UEA. Several hours later a Google search revealed that Exeter University boasted having seven contributors to The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; more than any other university in the world. Is this widely known?
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Alan
“South” is always relative. I used to have neighbours who would say they were going “sooth ta Scotland”
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From Patrick O’Flynn on Boris Johnson’s ‘relaunch’ in the Spectator:
Given the state of things, at some point this bluffing (aka lying) will lead to electoral oblivion. The article is called Starmer has spotted Boris’s big weakness. The leader of the opposition hasn’t impressed me much so far but it should be a slam-dunk. And that can’t be a good outcome for any climate sceptic, unless I suppose Graham Stringer is appointed Energy Minister!
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R4 Drama : 7 episodes about the oil industry (Repeat from 2015)
Do you think they will be positive ??
“The Price of Oil season of factual dramas explores the history of oil – and the price we’ve paid for it. It takes us from 1951 to 2045, and around the world from Iran to Alaska, Libya, Nigeria, Turkmenistan, Washington and onto Scotland’s offshore rigs, to explore the role oil has played in shaping our world.”
Ep 1 Family descended from Eskimos
The woman works for BP, her brother bizarrely is an anti-oil activist
she thinks the oil corps have had him murdered.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06cv5l1
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stewgreen: ‘R4 Drama : 7 episodes about the oil industry (Repeat from 2015)
Do you think they will be positive ??’
I listened to MP3ed recordings of The Price of Oil while out walking a few years ago. It’s good radio drama. Biased? Yes, probably, here and there, but I mostly remember it as being (have I already mentioned this?) good radio drama. And perfectly suited for long walks (or bedtime listening) because it’s engaging but it doesn’t matter if you miss bits of it because the story lines are fairly predictable.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06cv5l1/episodes/guide
IIRC, the one about Carlos the Jackal was less walkworthy than the others because it was too gripping.
The one about Iran was also a bit too distracting
And the one about Inuits.
Oh gawd, perhaps they all were. I’m gojng to dig out my MP3s and listen again.
Thanks for the reminder, Stew.
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Alan, that surprised me. I thought it had to be the University of Plymouth. Here’s what I had to say about the University of Exeter in “The Green Degrees”:
“The mismatch now becomes even more pronounced. The website of the University of Exeter tells us that it has “25,000 students, including 5,450 international students from 140 countries.” Both as a proportion and in terms of absolute numbers, that puts the University of Plymouth in the shade. In fairness, the University of Exeter’s website is much less “in your face” than the website for the University of Plymouth when it comes to banging on about “climate action” and the like.”
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Alan, as Bill says, everything’s relative. When I worked in the north east, work took me to Norwich on occasion. I thought I was never going to get there. On a good day the drive took 5 hours. It seemed as though it must be a long way south, though in fairness I suppose a lot of the time I must have been driving east rather than south.
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just had an email from – “A message from TUI Managing Director, Andrew Flintham about “delays and cancellations”
normally I just delete as I’m not on a TUI hol this year.
but had a quick read in case it may affect my other hols.
relevant climate snippet – “TUI holidays rely on a complex ecosystem of services”
ecosystem !!! seems you can add “eco” to anything to sound good (they are all doing it)
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“Licensing plan for seabed carbon capture sites”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-61783349
Complete with quote from one of the usual suspects – in this case, Friends of the Earth:
“Friends of the Earth Scotland has long opposed carbon capture and storage, describing it as a “dangerous distraction” from the need to phase out fossil fuels.
Campaigner Ryan Morrison added: “Public money would deliver more jobs, faster emissions cuts and bigger boosts to wellbeing if it was invested in a range of renewables and energy efficiency measures instead of being wasted on more illusory carbon capture projects.
“This industry has a long history of over-promising and under-delivering. Politicians and CCS backers in the fossil fuel industry want us to trust our future with a technology that has shown repeatedly it cannot be relied upon.””
Instead they want to rely on a different industry that over-promises and under-delivers while damaging the environment and which has shown repeatedly that it cannot be relied upon.
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dfhunter:
Ecosystem is being used by TUI as a metaphor, just as it often is in software, especially the burgeoning world of open source software. So the ‘Microsoft ecosystem’ for software developers can be compared to the ‘Ruby ecosystem’, a subset of which is the important ‘Ruby on Rails ecosystem’. Such figurative language (which I rather like) doesn’t imply at all that the bogus claims of an imaginary climate crisis and its impacts on ecosystems are being slipped in. Well, it doesn’t imply that for this reader 😉
Metaphors. They aren’t rocket science.
(See what I did there. They can of course be clichés.)
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This I think is fun, though I fancy Alan may complain to anachronisms anonymous
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More on this story from the deep south (or midlands, depending on your perspective):
“Norwich to Tilbury National Grid pylon consultation has ‘legal deficiencies'”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-61791752
In other news:
“Woodsetts fracking: Gove throws out test site plans”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61785769
And elsewhere:
“Climate change: New fossil fuel funding is ‘delusional’ says UN chief
By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61786545
“Spending money on new coal, oil and gas as a result of the war in Ukraine is “delusional” according to the UN Secretary General.
Many countries want to increase their own fossil fuel production in order to depend less on Russian supplies.
Mr Guterres says that our global energy mix is broken, and more coal will only reinforce the “scourge of war, pollution and climate catastrophe.”
The UN chief says that renewable energy is the peace plan of the 21st century.”
What was that about delusional?
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“Met Office issues heat alert warning for England
Temperatures could hit 30C or 34C in the south-east and 28C in north-west”
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/14/met-office-issues-heat-alert-warning-for-england
I wonder what they mean by northwest? Northwest London? I have been under the deluded impression for some time, apparently, that living in Cumbria means that I live in the northwest (of England). The BBC online forecast for where I live has the following top temperatures forecast up to and including 27th June (in celsius), starting tomorrow: 18, 18, 19, 14, 15, 16, 15, 15, 15, 14, 15, 15, 15.
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Twitter is pushing EC IU promoted tweets into my search lists
Why ? and Why is that org paying ?
Pic .. https://twitter.com/BiasMonitor/status/1536801394312810498
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The Iran one about BP being forced out ..i dropped from this series
.. I listened to the Inuit one ..no big propaaganda
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Bottomline they are about the same, whereas Scunny is much further north, and Oxford much further south
However southerners have a funny idea of what is south
Newark is actually half way between the Scottish border at Berwick and Dover
So Newark s is true midlands and anything south of Stamford is SOUTH
52.486 Birmingham latitude
52.629 Norwich latitude
0.143 difference
53.589 Scunthorpe latitude
1.103 difference to Brum
51.752 Oxford latitude
-0.734 difference
54.978 Newcastle latitude
2.4918 difference
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Speculation ..not news
So likely to be agenda pushing
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Mark all 4 local new sources I monitor : 2 BBC stations, BBC local TV and ITV local TV news
all carried the CCS in a cutNpaste way of North Sea Transition Authority material
without adding any eco-warriors
BBC Humb “could 30 million tons of carbon dioxide be soon star of the east Yorkshire coast by 2030 ? The government is issuing licences for carbon storage”
– Doh CCS is a Holy Grail but no one can get it to work economically never mind stopping The chambers from leaking.
– 2030 is NOT “soon”
Then they played a clip of the North Sea Transition Authority guy
(government body formerly known as North Sea Oil and Gas Authority)
https://www.nstauthority.co.uk/news-publications/news/2022/bids-invited-in-uk-s-first-ever-carbon-storage-licensing-round/
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BBC video stories
“Drone footage shows scale of recycling plant fire.”
Birmingham & Black Country
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Radio Lincolnshire local news : 8am Tue
Item #2 “Local Tory MP says there should be a further cut in fuel duty”
then quite a long clip of him
It’s quite unusual for them to air a Tory voice.
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Very weird, and why’s it come in in the middle of the night ?
“The Government has responded to the petition you signed – “End the ban on fracking”.
Government responded:
The Government does not agree we should lift the pause on hydraulic fracturing at this time given the lack of new, compelling evidence that shale gas extraction can be done safely.”
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Oz, 3 crises from new government
#1 Stock market dropped 4% in one day
#2 Third boat of illegals arrived in Oz .. cos gov is making extraordinary signals for people to come.
#3 Shortage of electricity and gas
5 areas had to ask customers to switch off
PM “not our fault that the energy grid is bad”
Bolt he’s the idiot that wants to get rid of more coal.
“that’s economic suicide”
.. https://youtu.be/xPWRS4TKn10
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Another video about the blackouts
.. https://youtu.be/jXeBMviF5lw
Partly cos they are boycotting Putin
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“There are 349 new coal powered plants being built around the world, many will be fed by Ozzy coal
yet we suicide by closing our own”
.. https://youtu.be/yA4KACpevuk
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I think this seems like a reasonable experiment:
“Pembrokeshire phone mast can run off wind energy”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-wales-61805112
“The UK’s first “off-grid” mobile phone mast is being switched on in a two-year pilot to deliver 4G coverage to a remote village.
The mast near Eglwyswrw, Pembrokeshire, has its own wind turbine, solar panels and battery storage.
Vodafone said if successful it could mean connectivity for ‘not-spots’ in other remote and rural locations.
Ofcom Wales called it a positive initiative that could help bring more equal access to the digital economy.”
For small-scale projects like this, it might well help. The problem is when you try to scale it up to run a modern economy on energy solely produced in this way.
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“Second Trump term would push warming past dangerous limit, warns UN climate chief”
https://www.politico.eu/article/un-climate-chief-warn-of-consequences-of-second-trump-term/
“A second Donald Trump presidency would be a killer blow for efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, said the outgoing U.N. climate chief.
Speaking to POLITICO on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Bonn, Patricia Espinosa was asked whether she believed a Trump return to the White House — or another Republican with similar climate policies — would end any hope of hitting the Paris Agreement’s lower climate change target.”
Is it legitimate for UN officials to seek to interfere in the internal politics of member states? (Not that I am a Trump supporter – far from it – but I have doubts, grave doubts, about the legitimacy of unelected officials of transnational states using their power and influence so as to seek to obtain the results they want from democratic elections).
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