Saturday, July 20, 2013

Links

[Fairly entertaining 5-minute pro-global warming hoax rant from Bernie Sanders]: Through the Looking Glass - YouTube
With Vermont and most of the country in the grip of another summer heat wave, Republicans on the Senate environment committee repeatedly tried to cast doubt on whether climate change is even occurring, let alone what should be done about it.
State Of The Climate Report | Real Science
Slowest tornado season on record in the US
Eight years since a major US hurricane strike – longest such period since the Civil War
71% of the US below normal temperatures
Record Antarctic sea ice
Third highest July western Arctic sea ice coverage on record
No global warming for 17 years
One of the slowest US fire seasons on record
Record corn crop forecast

Obama is convinced that the climate is falling apart, even though he was sure he fixed it in 2008.
UK spends £39m fighting climate change abroad | The Sun |News|Politics
BRITAIN is splurging an extra £39million on fighting climate change abroad — as squeezed taxpayers face more austerity at home.
Diplomat £8.5m air travel rap | The Sun |News|Politics
DIPLOMATS blew almost £8.5million of taxpayers’ cash on posh plane seats last year — despite a crackdown on fancy travel.

Links

Has the Earth not warmed in past decade? | Fact Checker
Neil Carlson of Reno writes: “There has been no global warming for more than a decade — despite the fact that prodigious amounts of carbon dioxide have been released to the atmosphere.”

If Carlson had mentioned a source showing this no-warming trend, it would help in understanding where he got this idea.
Rowers Almost Make It To The Beaufort Sea After Dragging the Boat Again | Real Science
Now they are faced with open sea, wind and ice. No more dragging the boat.
July 21, 1901 : Hottest Day In US History? | Real Science
This heatwave was extremely inconvenient for climate alarmists, so NCDC/USHCN has tried to eliminate it by subtracting an amazing 2.5 degrees from reported July, 1901 temperatures. The graph below shows the difference between NCDC reported temperatures and raw USHCN temperatures.
Can You Say It Ain't So? | National Review Online
[Rupert Darwall] As Popper argued, evidence can be found for virtually any proposition, so when global temperatures don’t rise as anticipated, evidence is sought in ocean temperatures, sea ice extent and glacier retreat. The absence of a falsifiability test renders the science of global warming inherently weak. Instead acceptance of the central proposition of global warming – that the earth’s atmosphere is rapidly warming thanks to man’s activities – marks a reversion to pre-scientific standards, principally its reliance on consensus, peer review and appeals to authority….

Links

Günter Ederer: How I Got On The “Black List” Of The German Federal Environment Agency | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
Here, along with my highly esteemed colleagues Dirk Maxeiner and Michael Miersch, we are the journalists who have been specifically named in the publication as those who deny climate change and spread nonsensical things. Since then, I’ve been torn between a sense of pride for having been taken so seriously, and complete amazement by how recklessly a state authority is prepared to go in defaming freedom of expression.
Energy program shows the dishonesty of climate change arguments: Guest opinion | OregonLive.com
Because Obama has no scientific education, he can hardly be expected to understand the details of what we are saying. But as an attorney, he should know what constitutes honest argument.

Gordon J. Fulks lives in Corbett and can be reached at gordonfulks@hotmail.com. He holds a doctorate in physics from the University of Chicago, Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research.
Morning Star joins AB 32 lawsuit; claim cap-and-trade auction is unconstitutional | star, morning, auction - Colusa Sun-Herald
Morning Star Packing Co. is one of 12 plaintiffs suing the California Air Resources Board over the state's cap-and-trade auction program enacted by the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also know as AB 32.
Twitter / aDissentient: Economist writes about IPCC ...
Economist writes about IPCC report. Strong caveat re draft status. IPCC says 'but it's draft'! Mann says 'misrepresentation by Economist!'
God's Will? | J Henry Fair
Maybe the geometric increase in deadly weather events we have witnessed in the last years is God (or the spiritual unity that seems to run through all things) punishing us for defiling the Garden of Eden with which we were gifted, at least metaphorically.

Links

July 20, 1930 : More Than Half Of The US States Were Over 100 Degrees | Real Science
CO2 was below 310 PPM at the time, and Hansen tells us that heatwaves like this were impossible with CO2 that low.
Major cold/snow into Brazil while antarctic ice nears record falsifies polar amplification idea | The Next Grand Minimum
[Joe D'Aleo] It is behavior consistent with what you should expect as outlined in Leon Festinger’s ‘When Prophecies Fail’. First after the cessation of warming for 16 years and cooling for 10 and the slowing of sea level rises proved to be persistent, they switched to hyping extremes. Roger Pielke Jr in the EPW hearing pretty much disabused the congress of that idea by presenting the facts that showed there were no trends in any of these although don’t expect the media to get it. You see extremes gets eyeballs and sells newspapers or used to.So they have moved onto the Trenberth’s ‘Where’s Waldo’ idea that the heat somehow is hiding in the deep oceans and if nothing else this threatens sea life and coral and fisheries and will eventually reemerge to destroy life as we know it. But the oceans have shown no trend down to 300m in the tropical Pacific which the theory says should be warming most significantly.
The New Last Refuge
Which side more resembles the Aztecs?
Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: The Saturday Summary looks ...
[7-minute video] The Saturday Summary looks GLOBALLY at a cold July.. and why your coffee prices may got thru the roof!

Links

Lomborg: Let’s get our priorities right | Watts Up With That?
The biggest environment problem, by far measured in human deaths, is air pollution.
Global warming, which creates a lot of attention, is on an entirely different and smaller level.
NOLA Culture Leaders Speak Out on Climate Change
Chefs, musicians, tour guides, artists, and event planners have gathered here to urge action to end climate change
Let's protect the only planet we have: As I See It | PennLive.com
we are pumping more fossil fuels into the air.

This insane. We already have enough carbon dioxide in the air to last for decades
Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: S Hem ice above record for ...
S Hem ice above record for day 198 of year, last set in 2010

Links

2013 Ice Free Arctic Forecasts From The World’s Top Experts | Real Science
Many leading experts have predicted an ice free Arctic in about six weeks.
Global Warming May Have Prevented Several Weather Disasters | Heartlander Magazine
Global warming may have prevented several deadly weather disasters from striking the United States during the past year, according to an analysis by climate scientist Chip Knappenberger.

“For every billion-dollar weather disaster identified as being ‘consistent with’ human-caused global warming, there are probably several other potential billion-dollar weather disasters that human-caused global warming averted,” Knappenberger observed in his analysis.
More bad news for the UN IPCC.: ‘The two satellite records continue to show cooling; All three surface air temperature records continue to show negative temperature trend for the last 5 & 10 years’ | Climate Depot

Twitter / NoDirectAction: The Roman Warm Period, Medieval ...
The Roman Warm Period, Medieval Warm Period and Modern Warm Period look so good together

After Revkin references "decline in landfalling hurricanes", Mann tweets "Andy, U miss the point. obs sample size small, predictive value poor. That's why modeling like Emanuel's is key"

Twitter / Revkin: #EPW #AGW circus. J.Francis, ...
#EPW #AGW circus. J.Francis, Dem. witness: decline in landfalling hurricanes
are distraction; R.Spencer for #GOP: creation beats evolution.
Twitter / Revkin: @robhon @toxicpath @MichaelEMann ...
@robhon @toxicpath @MichaelEMann *Societal* questions on hurricanes all concern landfall. A hurricane that stays at sea is a statistic.
Twitter / MichaelEMann: @Revkin @robhon @toxicpath ...
@Revkin @robhon @toxicpath Andy, U miss the point. obs sample size small, predictive value poor. That's why modeling like Emanuel's is key.

Links

Why Everybody Loves Tesla - Businessweek
For those worried about resale values should electric cars prove a fad, Musk has pledged his $5 billion-plus fortune to guarantee the value of the Model S...Better Place plowed about $1 billion into a quest to build a global network of battery-swapping stations, beginning in Israel. Carmakers, however, were reluctant to adopt the underlying technology needed to make Better Place’s stations work, and the company spent too much money trying to expand quickly. A group of investors have since acquired its assets for about $12 million.
...Should something go wrong with your car, Tesla will send a concierge with a new Model S loaner, repair your car, and return it...“When it comes to manufacturing, Detroit is much farther down the learning curve,” says Willy Shih, a professor at Harvard Business School. Shih says he’s skeptical of electric cars in general, and of Tesla’s chances of building the infrastructure it needs to support the charging and battery-swap systems, because so many pieces of the Tesla equation rely on immature technology. “As a result, they’re at the expensive end of so much new technology,” Shih says. “It’s a very costly and challenging proposition.”
Twitter / RichardTol: Contradicting the Economist ...
Contradicting the Economist on the IPCC leak, @dana1981 and @michaelemann either bluff or leak IPCC AR5 on climate sensitivity.
Twitter / ClimateRealists: Solar Cycle forecast for SC25 ...

Solar Cycle forecast for SC25 is very low...How cool/cold will Earth be in 2050?

Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: Climate Change would be a ...
Climate Change would be a sideshow to distract from real problems, except enacting measures based on it is a huge problem, led by POTUS,EPA
Bad Day at Black Rock for the Climate Alarmists | Power Line
Not exactly Black Rock, but the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, which conducted a hearing today titled: “Climate Change: It’s Happening Now.” That title alone will prompt a snicker from all knowledgeable people; climate change has been happening for millions of years, and will continue for as long as the Earth exists...

Links

Twitter / DrShepherd2013: @usNWSgov say 100 million under ...
@usNWSgov say 100 million under heat advisory warnings yet many won't react with same urgency as tornado/hurricane but temp extremes kill 2
Twitter / DavidBernardTV: @DrShepherd2013 @usNWSgov ...
@DrShepherd2013 @usNWSgov Thousands died past couple winters in Europe from cold on the other end. #extremes
News Agencies Begin Ignoring Climate Change, Because America Doesn't Care
Rather than being the evidence of a global, anti-science, climate-denying cabal, Reuters's decision reflects a far more troubling trend: the news is covering it less because, frankly, we just don't care anymore...Chances are, though you will mock and debate climate change deniers until your dying breath, climate change ranks low in your list of priorities...No matter how much we know climate change is happening, increasingly we can't be bothered.
Doc's Rainy Day Web Site » Dear Global Warming Denier
My ultimate goal here is to write the last global warming article you'll ever need to read. The idea is to get everything right up front and get all those pesky questions answered, once and for all. There aren't any mysteries here.
Twitter / shubclimate: There is one simple, basic ...
There is one simple, basic rule for defective papers: follow the trail of non-released raw data.

Links

Do-it-yourself glaciers: The iceman cometh | The Economist
If climate change takes your local glacier away, why not build another?
Waiting For The Warming | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
Looking back at what was reported in the late 90s and the early years of this century everyone was expecting the rise in global temperature seen in the 90s to continue at an IPCC sanctioned rate of 0.3 deg C per decade. Only years later in the face of no temperature rise was it mentioned that what might have been meant was an average rate of 0.3 deg C per decade, sometimes it could be less, sometimes more. Hold onto your hats it was implied, today’s slower rate would soon be replaced by a much larger one, as part of regression to the mean.
Barack Obama urged to act on deal for global aviation pollution | Environment | guardian.co.uk
"For me and I think for the European parliament this is a test case: how serious is Obama on climate change? Is it only a speech, or is it serious? " Liese said.
On a power trip: US rides energy wave
The new McDonald's pays a $300 sign-on fee to get workers, according to BusinessWeek and there is a rumour the shelf stackers at the Walmart are making $70,000 a year.
The Alex Jones Show - Friday, July 19, 2013 (Full Show): Lord Christopher Monckton - YouTube
[Looks like the Monckton segment starts at the 2 hour 10 min mark]

CO2-induced crop failure update: Production at each of the four top corn exporters (US, Argentina, Brazil, and Ukraine) may hit an all-time record this year

Forecast for Huge Harvest Weighs On Corn Futures - Barrons.com
IT'S NOT JUST THE U.S. where production is likely to surge this year. Both Argentina and Brazil—expected to be the world's second- and third-biggest corn exporters in the next crop year, behind the U.S.—produced record harvests this year, the USDA estimates. Argentina's corn harvest rose 26% on the year to 1.04 billion bushels, and Brazil's rose 5% to 3.03 billion bushels, according to the USDA. And production in Ukraine, the fourth-biggest exporter, is expected to rise 24% to a record 1.02 billion bushels in the next crop year.

Mixed messages from National Geographic: CO2 emissions are evil, and also, why not get in your private fossil-fueled car and take a good long unnecessary Drive! this summer

Drive!
As heat and humidity soar, and air quality declines, our friends at National Geographic suggest we get in our cars and Drive!

2012: Warmist William Chameides sees CO2-induced "bad times" that "might parallel the period when the plague wiped out a third of the world's population"
The annual conference, presented by the Aspen Institute and National Geographic, is titled “Living in the New Normal” this year. The opening discussion carried the same name, but it soon became evident that there is no new normal.

“We're living in a new abnormal, perhaps,” said Dennis Dimick, National Geographic magazine's executive editor for the environment. He showed detailed graphic displays that demonstrate how global temperatures have increased 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the 1970s...Moderator and National Geographic magazine senior environment editor Rob Kunzig called Trenberth “the go-to guy” for journalists writing about extreme weather events...He gave a sobering assessment that humans are headed toward “bad times.” It might parallel the period when the plague wiped out a third of the world's population, [William Chameides] said

Links

Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: US generated climate model ...
US generated climate model insists on cool 45 days in front of much of the nation. Very little run to run change
Twitter / RyanMaue: Tuesday, GFS forecasts heavy, ...
Tuesday, GFS forecasts heavy, accumulating snow in Santa Catarina & Rio Grande do Sul -- coastal growing regions
Pennsylvania Governor Refuses To Control The Climate | Real Science
Wicked times we live in – when elected officials lack faith in the official government religion.
Sprechen Sie “Green Energy”? ¡No Más! | RedState
As President Obama doubles down on his green energy initiative, maybe it’s time to look around the world and see how the foray into the future of rainbows and unicorn farts is working out for our more progressive and forward-thinking allies. We’ll visit Spain, Germany and Australia and see how their campaigns to replace fossil fuels and nuclear energy in favor of wind and solar energy are working out for their economies...The moral of this story is that if you leave your energy planning up to a bunch of greenies, you get an unreliable and impractical solution that no one can afford. It might warm the cockles of your heart for a while but it will freeze the other ones off.

Links

The Handsomest Fox In The Henhouse | Watts Up With That?
Global warming supporters say that the science is all on their side … so who did the global warming folks send to plead their case to Congress?

An insurance company lawyer who says “fill our pockets with money, suckers, it’s all ever so green, and oh, you’re picking up the tab for lunch” …

I must say, however, that if Heidi Cullen and Frank Nutter are part of the global warming supporters “A-Team”, that we skeptical folk must be winning. That’s a pretty pathetic lineup.
New study details EPA's regulatory incompetence | United Liberty | Free Market - Individual Liberty - Limited Government
This executive-level agency, a creation of then-President Richard Nixon, has long been a thorn in the side of energy consumers, property owners, and businesses by enacting regulations often with little to no congressional oversight or pursing legal action to please the anti-capitalist, radical environmental Left. And while he is relying the agency to implement his new agenda, President Obama apparently isn’t aware of just how incompetent the EPA is.
Obama Energy Tax Will Kill Economic Growth, Jobs - Investors.com
[Sen. John Barrasso] The president's approach reverses any economic growth of the last four years and has little effect on global emissions. Doing it through a naked power grab that ignores the will of the people would be even worse.
July snow at Loveland Ski Area
Just 70 days before Loveland is set to begin snowmaking operations.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Links

DC Court affirms Michael Mann’s right to proceed in defamation lawsuit against National Review and CEI | Climate Science Watch
Having been investigated by almost one dozen bodies due to accusations of fraud, and none of those investigations having found Plaintiff’s work to be fraudulent, it must be concluded that the accusations are provably false...Plaintiff has been investigated several times and his work has been found to be accurate
Climatologist Dr. Judith Curry on Sen. Boxer’s key warmist expert on ocean acidification: ‘Doney’s [Senate] testimony didn’t score too high on my credibility meter’ | Climate Depot
Curry cites Idso’s research: ‘Are coral reefs really in their last decades of existence? Will the shells of other calcifying marine life also dissolve away during our lifetimes? The NRDC film certainly makes it appear that such is the case; but a little scientific sleuthing reveals nothing of substance in this regard. In fact, even a cursory review of the peer-reviewed scientific literature reveals that an equally strong case – if not a more persuasive one – can be made for the proposition that the ongoing rise in atmospheric CO2 concentration will actually prove a boon to calcifying marine life. Sadly, however, the NRDC chose to present an extreme one-sided, propagandized view of ocean acidification’
Inhofe's lesson | Tulsa World
[cartoon of a polar bear threatening James Inhofe]

Baked planet update: Destructive cold outbreak underway for South America thru Paraguay into Brazil main growing regions

Twitter / RyanMaue: Destructive cold outbreak ...
Destructive cold outbreak underway for South America thru Paraguay into Brazil main growing regions.
Coffee Futures Jump to Eight-Week High on Brazil Frost - Bloomberg
“Cold temperatures are moving into the coffee belt, and prices are rallying on frost fears,” James Cordier, the founder of Optionsellers.com in Tampa, Florida, said in a telephone interview.

Veteran firefighter on the Yarnell fire deaths: "Not one hotshot I know believes that climate change was a factor in their deaths, and neither do any in the rest of the firefighting community"

Letter: Don't blame the Yarnell fire deaths on climate change — The Daily Climate
I spent 25 years on fire crews and as a hotshot squad boss before retiring in 2011.

An extraordinary blow-up of a wild land fire in Yarnell, Ariz., killed 19 hotshots. Not one hotshot I know believes that climate change was a factor in their deaths, and neither do any in the rest of the firefighting community.

Links

Symptoms of Fossil Fuel Addiction
[David Suzuki] We’re witnessing the terrible effects of fossil fuel addiction every day: frequent, intense storms and floods, extended droughts, rapidly melting Arctic ice, disappearing glaciers, deadly smog and pollution, contaminated waterways and destroyed habitats.
Twitter / RyanMaue: In 2015, when the GOP takes ...
In 2015, when the GOP takes over the Senate, I will be happy to help organize some really exciting climate change hearings.
Twitter / RyanMaue: @CColose in comparison to ...
...@CColose in comparison to Hansen's 25-yrs ago, not even remotely close. Boxer was just checking a box for the leftist donors.

Links

Twitter / HaroldAmbler: Once again: Attending to a ...
Once again: Attending to a non-falling sky when real enviro problems exist is illogical, wasteful, and sad. #nownotwarm
Fire crews managing wildfires happy with July snow
July snow in British Columbia puts wildfires on ice.
Greens are the new Reds (but more pessimistic) - Telegraph
Environmentalists would have us believe the end is nigh, says former chancellor Nigel Lawson as he accuses Labour of destroying Britain’s banking system .
Orchard growers see less peaches during 47th Annual Porter Peach Festival; cold snap delays crop
[Oklahoma] Owner Dawna Livesay of Peaches Barn in Porter says the cool weather in the spring is causing peaches to ripen at a shorter pace.
Corn Traders Most Bearish Since 2009 as Weather Aids U.S. Crop - Businessweek
Corn traders are the most bearish since 2009 as warm, wet weather in the U.S. boosts expectations that the world’s top grower will harvest a record crop.

Links

Twitter / HaroldAmbler: Lost in digital confusion: ...
Lost in digital confusion: just how hot northeast summers have always been. via
Senate EPW Hearing: “Climate Change: It’s Happened Before” « Roy Spencer, PhD
Roger Pielke, Jr. was absolutely devastating in his testimony. Here’s a guy who claims to largely support the IPCC party line, even claiming increasing CO2 is having a “profound” effect on the climate system, yet he chides those who would try to use severe weather as evidence of climate change. The evidence simply isn’t there.
West Virginia vs. the EPA | National Review Online
West Virginia to President Obama: We’ll see you in court.
When Name-Calling Passes for Journalism | NoFrakkingConsensus
What journalism has now come to: calling industries you don’t like outlaws, rogues, and evaders of ‘climate justice.’
Dendro Analysis Finds No Increase In Extreme Weather | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
Analysis of European tree rings back to AD 962 finds no evidence of changes in extreme rainfall or droughts throughout the period.
Twitter / climatebrad: Remember what actually motivates ...
Remember what actually motivates climate deniers -- refusal to accept responsibility for fellow human suffering.

Today's puzzler: If the Obamas dry their underwear on a clothesline outside The White House, will that prevent the formation of CO2-induced hurricanes?

Clothesline at The White House
More than 6% of residential electricity consumption is due to the tumble dryer. We are facing devastating climate change impacts, largely brought on by consumption habits in the developed world. This symbolic act could provide an example to the world of the way families can save energy and money.

Links

Twitter / ClimateDesk: House GOP proposes eliminating ...

House GOP proposes eliminating State Dept's funding to "combat climate change and promote clean technology"

July Afternoon Temperatures Declining In The US | Real Science
The five hottest July’s in the US were 1936, 1901, 1934, 1930 and 1931.

During July, 1936 – US afternoon temperatures averaged 33.6C (92F) compared to 30.1C (86F) so far in July, 2013.

The two coolest July’s occurred in 1992 (Pinatubo affected) and 2009.
July 18, 1934 : Unprecedented Heat In America – Deadly Floods In Europe | Real Science

Shock News : The Rowers Say That Ice Is Blocking Their Route | Real Science
The limiting factor for us – so far anyhow – is not the ice choking the route ahead but rather the wind strafing it.

Links

The Face Of Climate Change: Our Children's Health | Molly Rauch
Ground level ozone harms little lungs
Twitter / Revkin: .@KenCaldeira refutes assertions ...
. refutes assertions CIA is studying geo-engineering approach to global warming:...
[Baking globe update]: Five days of rain amid very cold weather forecast across South Australia
Bureau forecasters warned that today's expected maximum of 11C will make it the second coldest July day in eight years. The cold snap will last well into next week.
BOR: Texas' Environmental Agency Censors Climate Scientists
"It is basically saying that the state of Texas doesn't accept science results published in Science magazine," said Anderson. "That's going pretty far."  [Gasp!!]

Links

Twitter / IPCC_CH: #IPCC statement on #Economist ...
statement on article about sensitivity and forthcoming report
King Coal gets a chill as the World Bank tackles global warming – Telegraph Blogs
Greens point out that hydropower dams also cause grave environmental damage
Global warming scare is dying | Columnists | Opinion | Toronto Sun
an editorial in the Herald Sun begins with these words:

“And so the great global warming scare dies. Around Australia, bruised taxpayers will ask each other: ‘What the hell was that about?’ ”

You can take those words to the idea bank.

When historians look back at this era, they will write about the billions of dollars swindled out of ordinary people all over the world, in the interests of saving the world, to which we say: Chill already. Just chill.
The phase relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperature
We find a high degree of co-variation between all data series except 7) and 8), but with changes in CO2 always lagging changes in temperature.

CO2-induced drought update: "Most regions display increases in precipitation frequency during both wet and dry seasons accompanied by a decrease in length of dry spells"

Shifting seasonality and increasing frequency of precipitation in wet and dry seasons across the U.S. - Pal - Geophysical Research Letters - Wiley Online Library
Water management, agriculture, and ecological systems are sensitive to the frequency and timing of precipitation. Here we document historical trends in these characteristics for station-specific wet and dry seasons over the U.S. from 1930-2009. Simulations based on Markovian precipitation occurrence models are used as a null against which to test observed trends without resorting to area-averaging. Most regions display increases in precipitation frequency during both wet and dry seasons accompanied by a decrease in length of dry spells. Prominent increases (decreases) occur over the Central and Great Plains during the dry season. An exception is the Atlantic Plains, which experienced a decrease in frequency and an increase in dry spell length, especially during the wet season. Regionally consistent trends in the timing of wet and dry seasons are also evident, particularly over the Ohio (Missouri) river valleys where the dry season now arrives up to 2-3 weeks earlier (later).

Links

Team Obama plans August 13 assault on ‘climate deniers’ | JunkScience.com
What will the ‘Gore Effect” bring on that day — an August snowstorm?
Climate science: Sensitive information | The Economist
A peek inside the next IPCC assessment
...With two months to go before the assessment is to be published, however, one sign suggests it might be less terrifying than it could have been.

The sign in question is about climate sensitivity.
Climate Change Could Wipe Out Amazing Baobab Trees in Madagascar | Extinction Countdown, Scientific American Blog Network
the massive trees of the genus Adansonia ... can live thousands of years
Renewable energy in Spain: The cost del sol | The Economist
It has been a chastening experience. The government failed to cut subsidies when renewables were booming, so the cuts have had to be draconian. It imposed no cap on new capacity and stood by while that grew uncontrollably (this also happened in Germany). The promised jobs have vanished. The solar-energy business has lost tens of thousands of jobs from its peak. And after repeated retroactive cuts no one is willing to invest in renewable energy any more. Yet because projects often receive subsidies for 20 years, the costs remain. Even after the cuts, renewables subsidies are running at €7 billion-8 billion a year. It is not hard to think of better ways of spending such large sums of taxpayers’ money. [Via JP]

Prepare for measurably better weather, Topekans!: 1000 heroic men to have planet-healing operations on their private parts

Get excited: 1,000 vasectomies will stream live on World Vasectomy Day | Grist
the vasectomies will reduce humanity’s carbon footprint by 1 million metric tons
If this article inspires anyone to throw their kids' winter coats in the garbage, please let me know.

Most transparent administration ever update: "Lawmakers concerned new carbon [dioxide scam] metric developed in secret"

Lawmakers concerned new carbon metric developed in secret - The Hill's RegWatch
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are worried that an Obama administration decision to increase the value used to calculate costs and benefits of carbon emissions was done without public scrutiny.

Legislators on Thursday charged that the administration developed and issued the estimated cost, used to attach a dollar figure to environmental and energy regulations, without comments from the public, and warned that such opacity could set a bad precedent and cause business owners to doubt the certainty of regulations coming out of Washington.

Obama's hip new internet-savvy planet-healing EPA Administrator: "Guess I need to learn how to tweet now"

Uh oh: "Boxer’s Own Experts Contradict Obama on Climate Change"

Boxer’s Own Experts Contradict Obama on Climate Change | Heartlander Magazine
Expert witnesses called by Sen. Barbara Boxer to testify during Senate Environment and Public Works hearings Thursday contradicted a key assertion made by President Barack Obama on climate change.
...
During Thursday’s Environment and Public Works hearings, Sen. David Vitter asked a panel of experts, including experts selected by Boxer, “Can any witnesses say they agree with Obama’s statement that warming has accelerated during the past 10 years?”

Nobody said a word. After several seconds of deafening silence, Weather Channel meteorologist and global warming activist Heidi Cullen attempted to change the subject. Cullen said our focus should be on longer time periods rather than the 10-year period mentioned by Obama. When pressed, however, she contradicted Obama’s central assertion and said warming has slowed, not accelerated.

Several minutes later, Sen. Jeff Sessions returned to the topic and sought additional clarity. Sessions recited Obama’s quote claiming accelerating global warming during the past 10 years and asked, “Do any of you support that quote?”

Again, a prolonged and deafening silence ensued. Neither Cullen nor any of the other experts on the panel spoke a word, not even in an attempt to change the subject.

Links

Links

Twitter / clim8resistance: Ultimately, the IPCC itself ...
Ultimately, the IPCC itself will become a 'denialist' organisation as estimates of CS reduce. @Foxgoose @aDissentient @TheEconomist
Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: Climate Central is to ...
Climate Central is to weather/climate what voodoo is to medicine.Voodoo weather claiming patterns that happened before r something else now
Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: Tell you what. this heat would ...
Tell you what. this heat would be alot more deadly if we didnt have fossil fuels powering our air conditioners and making life easier
Barack Obama=BIRD KILLER! ‘Those giant wind turbines kill around 600,000 birds annually according to a recently published scholarly article in the Wildlife Society Bulletin. But the number is likely higher’ | Climate Depot

Why you'll be paying £3,250 extra for gas and 'leccy in coming years • The Register
It's not 'gas prices': It is the Will of The People, says Psychohistory prof

Links

Quadrant Online - A fine tool for de-programming warmists
If one approaches the subject of man’s effect on climate with an open and sceptical mind, it is difficult to comprehend how the zealots of warmism managed to fool so many people for so long. The tide has turned on that little scam since the high-water mark of the Copenhagen circus, and now Taxing Air: Facts and fallacies about climate change, by Professor Bob Carter and Age cartoonist John Spooner, marks the hysteria's further retreat.
Alaska’s Most Famous Glacier Retreated Eight Feet Per Day Between 1794 And 1879 | Real Science

NASA’s Josh Willis Apparently Believes That It Is OK To Lie To The Press | Real Science
Our best estimates of sea level rise in the next 100 years are 3 to 4 feet
July 19, 1936 : 120 Degrees In Oklahoma | Real Science
Most of Oklahoma was over 110F on July 19, 1936 and Altus reached 120F.

Tomorrow’s forecast for Altus is 25 degrees cooler than the same date in 1936.
Settled Science Update | Real Science
Since 1998, GISS temperatures are diverging from RSS at a rate of 1C per century.
The real climate drivers - ocean and solar cycles amplified by levels of volcanism
These are the major league players in our climate. CO2 didn’t make the team.

Links

Scientist: Global warming not causing extreme weather | The Daily Caller
In a Senate hearing Thursday, environmental scientist Roger Pielke of the University of Colorado said it’s “incorrect” to claim that global warming is spurring more extreme weather disasters.

“It is misleading and just plain incorrect to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally,” Pielke said in his testimony before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “It is further incorrect to associate the increasing costs of disasters with the emission of greenhouse gases.”
Insight: young scientist predicts that he will retire before global climate models become good enough for use in agriculture - environmentalresearchweb
I am a young researcher with plenty of years ahead to solve some of the problems that society will face as a result of climate change. But it is disconcerting to discover that I will be retired by the time global climate models are of sufficient quality to plug directly into agricultural models.
- Bishop Hill blog - 100% of poll respondents don't believe Mr Davey and the CCC
what this poll does show is that the government is failing to convince a key constituent (the equity market) that its affordability projections are plausible
The July – August 1936 Oklahoma Heatwave | Real Science
From July 11 to August 30 1936, Altus Oklahoma was over 100 F every day but two. This included thirty-five days over 105F, fourteen days over 110F and two days over 120F.

Settled science: "Global Warming is the fifth most edited entry in Wikipedia"

Someone is wrong on Wikipedia… | Digging in the Clay
According to today’s Telegraph Global Warming is the fifth most edited entry in Wikipedia. This is of course no surprise, with the well-known hyper-revisionism of climate zealot William Connolley.

Links

IPCC Draft Lowers Global Warming Projections | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
It is clear that some IPCC scientists think the projected rise in CO2 levels might not have such a big warming effect as was once thought.
Morality is missing from the debate about sustainable behaviour | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional
Moral values, not facts and figures, will inspire support for tackling climate change, argues Adam Corner. Behaviour change will follow
Australia's two major parties both score poorly on climate policy | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The Climate Institute's Pollute-o-Meter gives full marks only to the Greens for commitment to climate action policies
Kevin W. Corrado: Climate change activism is precious wedding gift : Ct
Perhaps the most precious wedding gift that I can give to my son and daughter-in-law is to speak out about the reality of climate change...
'Drunken' Weather Pattern Leads to Deadly Heat | Climate Central
Jon Gottschalck acting chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, told Climate Central in an email that it’s not yet clear exactly how unusual the recent weather pattern has been, or what has been driving it..."...From a climate-forcing perspective, there is no clear climate pattern right now that we can point to as a contributing factor and so we can really only attribute this evolution to natural internal variability, at least at this stage.”
Twitter / HaroldAmbler: @algore @RealityDrop Denial ...
@algore @RealityDrop Denial of past climate doings the great crime here. Holocene, so far, not unusual. Eemian way warmer. #DealWithIt
John Kemp: UK Government Over-Estimating Future Fuel Prices | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
Britain’s government is basing its policy recommendations on outdated and unrealistically high projections of future fossil fuel prices – which could be causing it to over-estimate the cost of imports and threatening to skew cost-benefit analyses of alternative policies.

Links

Carbon programs’ backlash in Australia, EU bode ill for U.S. efforts to fight climate change | allfiredupmedia.com
Recent stumbles in Europe and Australia to implement ambitious climate change programs are providing a “cautionary tale” for the Obama administration and U.S. lawmakers as they consider how to fulfill President Obama’s drive to reduce U.S. greenhouse gases.
China ratchets up solar trade war | RTCC Climate Change News
China has landed a blow in its ongoing solar trade war with the US by imposing import duties on one of the main components of solar cells.
McCarthy Confirmation to Lead EPA Clears Way for Rules - Bloomberg
Gina McCarthy’s confirmation to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency puts the former Republican aide in charge of developing wide-ranging climate-change rules that business group oppose.
Billions spent in Obama climate plan may be virtually useless, study suggests | Fox News
As President Obama last month launched a sweeping new national program to combat "climate change," including tens of billions of dollars in likely new subsidies for solar and wind power and bio-energy, a separate, groundbreaking study by the National Research Council has warned that those kinds of subsidies are virtually useless at quelling greenhouse gases .
Twitter / robhon: @MichaelEMann @Revkin Andy, ...
[retweeted by Michael Mann] @MichaelEMann @Revkin Andy, Francis' statement was correct. Spencer's borderline insane.

Hottest year ever update from global warming's ground zero: During "record late" whaling season in Barrow, large crowds gathered on the beach to pray for a break in the ice

Fermented 'stink whale' landed in Barrow, and it's a blessing during tough season | Alaska Dispatch
...Such lucky finds happen occasionally across the North Slope's whaling villages. But it's especially important to Barrow this spring, an unusual season marked by little open water as wind-driven sea ice hugged the shore, keeping crews from hunting. The poor conditions led to community prayers alongside the beach that drew large crowds, with captains pleading for a break in the ice, said Diaz.

Spring hunting typically brings several whales. Last year, for example, the whaling season was done before the start of June, after Barrow captains had landed 14.

But this year, the whaling has extended past mid-July, a record late season according to some captains.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Links

Extreme hiring events at climate central | Herald Sun Andrew Bolt Blog
Global warming policies cost us much more than global warming itself:
Know your enemy: the establishment journalist. | Pointman's
It is the self-censorship, compliant silence and cowardly refusal by establishment journalists to question anything about green policies and their damaging effect on ordinary people, which makes them the real enemy, not the propagandists masquerading as journalists. At the same time, I think it’ll be the establishment journalist who’ll eventually start to push the skeptic viewpoint, and that is a more realistic expectation than you might think. We have three things going for us which I think will make that happen.
Twitter / algore: Working to #SpreadTruth and ...
Working to #SpreadTruth and #DestroyDenial about the #climate crisis is essential to our planet's survival - use @RealityDrop today
Twitter / KOAAstephen: Would you believe me if I said ...
Would you believe me if I said SNOW fell on higher slopes around Loveland Pass today? CDOT confirmed it! That's right. SNOW fell in JULY!

Fraudulent headline at washingtonpost.com: "Snow and Arctic sea ice extent plummet suddenly as globe bakes"

CO2-phobic Harry Reid: "You cannot deny the impacts of climate change: It is making the devastation from wildfires far worse"

Twitter / SenatorReid: You cannot deny the impacts ...
You cannot deny the impacts of climate change: It is making the devastation from wildfires far worse. http://youtu.be/dS_VqUoLgmk
[my responses]
@SenatorReid @climatebrad Worse than the 1871 Peshtigo fire? (Killed over 1000 people; burned 1.2 million acres;wall of flame a mile high)
@SenatorReid @climatebrad Worse than the 1894 Hinckley fire? (Destroyed six towns, killed 600 people)
@SenatorReid @climatebrad Worse than the 1918 Cloquet fire? (Killed nearly 1,000 people, destroyed 10 towns, blackened 1,500 square miles)

Judith Curry to warmists: "overconfidence or snarky putdowns of scientists on the other side of the debate does not go over well, since this triggers reminders of Climategate and detracts from your credibility"

U.S. Senate Hearing “Climate Change: It’s Happening Now” | Climate Etc.
On the “warm” side, overconfidence or snarky putdowns of scientists on the other side of the debate does not go over well, since this triggers reminders of Climategate and detracts from your credibility. On the more “skeptical” side, aligning yourself with consensus is an effective strategy, which was used both by Roy Spencer and Roger Pielke Jr. in this Hearing.   [Via Justin Templer]

Links

You Can't Deny Ezra Klein Knows Next To Nothing About The Global Warming Debate - Forbes
Klein and his fellow global warming alarmists purposefully focus their attention on the Little Ice Age being over because this is the only one of the four necessary preconditions of a human-induced global warming crisis that is supported by scientific evidence.
Twitter / ChairmanAl: Shock news! 97% climate ...
Shock news! 97% climate scientists believing in AGW is wrong. Nearer 100% scientists believe man has some impact on climate. #wrongquestion
- Bishop Hill blog - Did the IPCC just blink?
Now of course, it's draft and its WG3, not WG1, so we have to be cautious. But there is at least a possibility that they are going turn down the alarm somewhat.

Links

World Bank to Developing Nations: Drop Dead | Power Line
I am not aware of any nation that has grown prosperous without a fairly significant amount of coal-fired power.
Energy Notes | Power Line
Reporting on the rolling epic fail of renewable/alternative energy schemes has taken on a Groundhog Day feel: what, another story of subsidy cuts and common sense backlash against hamster-wheel energy systems? Still, we do it here at Power Line so you don’t have to.
Northwest key in fight against climate change, environmentalist says
"This area has emerged as this great choke point," McKibben said.
...
In the evolving climate movement, McKibben dismissed the notion that he and others on the front lines are "radical." All they want is a planet that works like the one they grew up with, he said. But there’s undeniable urgency, he said.
Senate Confirms Gina McCarthy to Head EPA - NationalJournal.com
But McCarthy's work on climate change will keep her in the crosshairs of powerful lawmakers from coal-producing states, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo.

"As for Gina McCarthy, I have no doubt she's a well-meaning public servant," McConnell said in a statement. "We had some good conversations when she came to visit my office earlier this year." But he added, "But as the head of the EPA's air division, she's overseen the implementation of numerous job-killing regulations. These regulations, along with others promulgated by the EPA, have had devastating consequences in states like mine. They've helped bring about a depression—depression with a D—in parts of Eastern Kentucky.... As someone sent here to stand up for the people who elected me, I cannot in good conscience support a nominee who would advance more of the same. Someone who is not willing to stand up to this administration's war on coal."

Hmm: Warmist Roger Harrabin spends a lot of time stressing the point that if temperature rises by a small amount, people don't really notice

BBC News - Chill out, save energy, no sweat
A glance around the lobby of the Marriott Hotel in Kensington reveals no sign that the unsuspecting guests are part of a remote-controlled experiment.
...
The chillers have been turned off by a signal from a computer in an office miles away.
Do the punters notice? They do not. Are they wallowing in a pool of perspiration when I return later? They are not. Has any customer complained about the temperature whilst this six-week experiment in the heat wave has been underway? No.
Has anyone even noticed? Apparently not.
...
Over an hour, the temperature of the pipes rises from a very cool 4C to a pretty cool 6C. Small wonder no one can tell. If the experiment works Marriott may ratchet up the switch-off time to see when people start to notice.

Links

Flood Insurance Needs Fixing Thanks to Climate Change | TIME.com
The event was held at the NASDAQ headquarters in Times Square, where the temperature threatened to push past 100°F. Global warming was on everyone’s mind, even though the air-conditioning inside was on full and shades blocked out the droning city sun. “What keeps us up at night is climate change,” Smith said. “We see the long-term effect of climate change on society, and it really frightens us.”
Climate change forces US Forest Service to shift its strategy on larger fires | Pacific Swell | 89.3 KPCC
Global warming has increased the intensity of fires, forcing the USFS to spend more and more of its money fighting them.
...
In 1991, the US Forest Service’s spent 13 percent of its budget on fire management. Today, because of climate change, that figure is more than 50 percent, officials say.
Roger Pielke Jr: Testimony On The Current State Of Weather Extremes | The Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF)
It is misleading, and just plain incorrect, to claim that disasters associated with hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or droughts have increased on climate timescales either in the United States or globally. It is further incorrect to associate the increasing costs of disasters with the emission of greenhouse gases.
The IPCC Chairman’s Fake Second PhD | NoFrakkingConsensus
Having examined the IPCC closely, I can’t say I’m surprised. Rather than being atypical behaviour, this is par for the course. Neither Pachauri nor the organization he leads can be trusted to deliver the straight goods.

Again and again, we see them rounding up – exaggerating and inflating. Whatever these people value, it isn’t precision or accuracy.

Links

U.N. on PR drive as investment in carbon market slumps - News - Point Carbon
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters Point Carbon) – The number of projects seeking U.N approval to earn carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) fell 75 percent in the first six months of the year compared to the first half of 2012, according to data published on the U.N. climate body’s website.
Twitter / Wikisteff: @michaelemann @NOAA I live ...
[retweeted by Michael Mann] @michaelemann @NOAA I live in quavering fear of the next strong El Niño year.
Kayaker is 3rd 'dry drowning' in lake community this summer
LELAND, Mich. — The death of a kayaker in Lake Michigan this week was the third caused by "dry drowning" -- in which cold water closes off airways -- in the Grand Traverse region of northern Michigan this summer.
...
Miles Percy Smith, 16, of Wyandotte, Mich., and Michael Anthony Michalski, 53, of Fife Lake, Mich., both died June 23 in separate incidents that were ruled dry drownings. Houghton said colder-than-normal water temperatures this summer explain the three dry drowning deaths: surface temperatures where Womac was found were 67 degrees.
UPDATE 1-Ex-Im Bank won't finance Vietnam coal-fired power plant
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Export-Import Bank board of directors voted on Thursday not to proceed with the financing of U.S. exports to help build a coal-fired power plant in Vietnam, following a plea from U.S. environmental groups to stop the project.

Links

Dartmouth Drills at Denali to Document Climate Change | Dartmouth Now
The same region of Greenland is now inundated with mosquitoes each summer, when only a decade ago colder summer temperatures kept the mosquitoes in check.
States battle surging seas -- despite uncertainty among climate scientists | Fox News
“The sea level has been rising since about 1800, at the end of the 'little ice age'," a period of cooling that stretched for a few hundred years, explained William Happer, who researched ocean physics for the U.S. Air Force and who currently is a physics professor at Princeton University.

"Assuming that the high rate of rise continued for a century, there would be a rise of about ten inches by the year 2113. This is much less than the difference between high and low tide for most localities,” he told FoxNews.com.

“I can't see how a sea level rise of less than one foot in a century makes any difference, and it certainly is no reason for busybody politicians to launch grand schemes in a variant of the old protection racket of organized crime,” Happer added.
Inhofe attacks Obama’s ‘secret talking points’ on global warming | www.krmg.com
[Inhofe] Around the same time the President gave his speech on global warming last month, his campaign team developed a secret talking points memo that was crafted to provide alarmists around the country with specific instructions about how they should talk about global warming.

The President wants everyone to be on the same page. He’s tested and tried these talking points on focus groups, and he even came up with a list of “Do’s and Don’t’s” when talking about climate change, which you can see on the Chart behind me.

These talking points are not honest or straight forward. They’re purely political.

Links

Twitter / clim8resistance: The main warmist tactic in ...
The main warmist tactic in the Senate hearing appears to be to repeat unscientific claims, and to make innuendos about sceptics' funding.
Twitter / RogerPielkeJr: Majority witnesses helping ...
Majority witnesses helping Democrats on EPW to dig the extreme weather hole deeper and deeper. Does that really help?
Twitter / suzyji: Boxer: in a few short years, ...
Boxer: in a few short years, we can just look out window and see evidence of #climate change all around us
Like Father, Like Daughter: Science Denier Liz Cheney To Run For Senate In Warming-Threatened Wyoming | ThinkProgress
She also went on Sean Hannity’s show in June to respond to President Obama’s climate plan, saying that “the science is just simply bogus, you know, we know that temperatures have been stable for the last 15 years.”

Links

Inhofe: Obama is using his administration to ‘advance a radical agenda’ - The Hill's Floor Action
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) accused President Obama of using his administration to “advance a radical” environmental agenda.

“President Obama has had a war on fossil fuels long before becoming president,” Inhofe said on the Senate floor Wednesday. “He’s gaming the system and using his administration to advance a radical agenda.”
Twitter / RyanMaue: Senator Sanders waited until ...
Senator Sanders waited until his second sentence to mention Exxon & Koch brothers. 4th sentence to use "deny". 5th "97% consensus"
Twitter / RyanMaue: Honestly, Senator Sanders pissed ...
Honestly, Senator Sanders pissed off approach to lecturing committee comes off as hysterical -- monitor him for a coronary.
Twitter / HeartlandInst: RT @EnviroClimate: ARKANSAS: ...
RT : ARKANSAS: Gov. Beebe loses $19 million taxpayer dollars playing bad subsidy bingo with wind.

Links

Twitter / LFFriedman: Climate change envoy Todd Stern ...
Climate change envoy Todd Stern says #COP19 in Warsaw isn't about deliverables for 2013 but hopes to see "positive momentum" for 2015 #COP21
Twitter / Chris_C_Horner: What's the right amount to ...
What's the right amount to spend, # of fuel poverty deaths, perfect level of eco-imperialism for no climatic impact?
Ethanol Still a Boondoggle | Via Meadia
The EU is planning on nearly halving its biofuels targets in the face of studies disproving the energy source’s green credentials. For once, the US should follow Europe’s lead on green energy policy.
Twitter / RyanMaue: That Senate EPW hearing moved ...
That Senate EPW hearing moved the needle on the climate issue exactly zero. Press will report it occurred but will be no mention of contents
The Daily Caller » Senate GOP criticizes past global warming claims ahead of hearing » Print
The report also quotes remarks from Roger Pielke, Jr., environmental studies professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder: “The U.S. is currently experiencing the longest absence of severe landfall hurricanes in over a century—the last Category 3 or stronger storm was Wilma, more than seven years ago… While it’s hardly mentioned in the media, the U.S. is currently in an extended and intense hurricane ‘drought.’”

More JunkScience.com tweets from today's Senate hearing: "25 years after Jim Hansen birthed warmism in Senate hearing, skeptics all but stomped warmism to death in Senate hearing"

Steve Milloy (JunkScience) on Twitter
25 years after Jim Hansen birthed warmism in Senate hearing, skeptics all but stomped warmism to death in Senate hearing.
In closing hearing statement, Whitehouse defends warmism by saying NASA is driving a vehicle on Mars.
Spencer: Today's record high for Wash DC was 103 -- set in 1887!
Spencer: Makes no sense to blame all present warming on CO2.
Where are the warmists? Senate hearing a disaster for warmism. Warmist tweeters have vanished.
Roy Spencer: Models amplify warming by 2x because of mishandled water vapor.
Righteous: Roy Spencer turns tables... asks Sen. Whitehouse to explain model failure.
Sen. Sessions & Roy Spencer absolutely burying climate models.
Sen. Whitehouse now trying to explain why models failed to predict non-warming of past 15 years.
Roy Spencer wrecks Sen. Whitehouse's attempted climate model ambush. Then warmist witness admits models can't even replicate past climate.
Attempted ridicule: Sen. Whitehouse asks Roy Spencer about scientific basis of creationism vs. evolution. Spencer knocks it out of park.
Warmist witness: Can't look at national averages for extreme weather, gotta look at what works for warmism (right now regional weather).
Sen. Whitehouse admits it's reasonable to debate climate models.
Pielke Jr: It will take many decades and even centuries before we could attribute hurricanes to manmade climate change.
Spencer: 'As lead scientist on NASA satellites that monitor sea ice, sea ice is increasing.'
Spencer: 'All skeptics are part of 97% consensus... what the consensus believes is innocuous... sensitivity is where opinions differs'
Spencer: Climate system 'relatively insensitive to CO2.'
Roy Spencer: 'Yes it is unusually warm today... just like it was 1,000 and 6,000 years ago... but those obviously weren't our fault.'
@RogerPielkeJr demolishes extreme weather claims at Senate hearing.
Warmist: We've added CO2 so fast, the atmospheric temperature hasn't had time to catch up. So how many years does it need?
Dem witness: Without global warming, storm surges apparently wouldn't be a problem for low-lying areas.
@suzyji The hearing is not going well for warmists is it, Suzi?
Sen. Wicker hits alarmists witnesses for making CO2 sound "sinister," like "carbon pollution" and "carbon dumping"
Democrat Sen. Hirona abandons argument over cause of extreme weather.
Sen. Deb Fischer asks if social cost of carbon is being manipulated so EPA regs pass cost-benefit test. IER economist says yes.
Heidi Cullen says increase "mean global temperature" -- which occurs nowhere -- is changing weather.
Bizarre: Maryland Sen. Cardin cites 104-deg heat index in Baltimore today as evidence of global warming.
Sen. Sessions shows Roy Spencer's devastating graph debunking climate models -- their "epic fail." pic.twitter.com/LZqodNMLlt
Sen. Sessions devastates warmist witnesses on hurricanes and tornados.
Heidi Cullen: Don't look at nation as an average -- look at regional changes. So no global warming -- regional warming!
Heidi Cullen: Claims 73% increase in downpours in Northeast since 1950s. @BigJoeBastardi
Heidi Cullen: It's warming quickly and it will warm even quicker -- but don't pay attention to past 15 years.
Classy: Boxer attacks GOP witnesses as funded by ExxonMobil, Kochs... likens them to tobacco company scientists.
IER Economist: Social cost of carbon is not objective. Generated by futuristic computer simulations.
Institute for Energy Research economist: Social cost of carbon is arbitrary and not appropriate for public policy.
Manhattan Inst. economist: Many less economically harmful measures than U.S. carbon cuts -- 4 those worried about warming.
Heidi Cullen misleads Senate panel: Claims 'Climate Central takes no public policy positions.'

Links

Twitter / dbiello: should be painted in all pools ...
should be painted in all pools MT : I prefer this version of the swimmable [drowned] city:
Twitter / afneil: @joabbess I find baying mobs ...
@joabbess I find baying mobs of zealots desperate to shut down any debate by intimidation and insults are rarely right. And to be resisted
Is Obama's "Power Africa" Simply Enabling More Climate Change? | D.A. Barber
how that electricity is generated depends on whether "Power Africa" is a green technology leader, or a climate-change enabler.

One signal was President Obama's choice to give a second energy speech in Tanzania during a tour of the diesel-powered Ubungo electric plant recently upgraded by GE and Washington, D.C.-based Symbion Power.
Sens. Boxer, Inhofe jostle in climate change 'theater' - The Hill's E2-Wire
Passing carbon regulations through the Senate would prove difficult, as there's a bloc of centrist Democrats that's more aligned with GOP senators on the matter than with liberals.

“It’s not just me — it’s two-thirds of the United States Senate,” Inhofe said.

Junkscience.com's live tweets from Senate climate hearing

Steve Milloy (JunkScience) on Twitter
Heidi Cullen blames Yarnell firefighter deaths, Superstorm Sandy on global warming.
Sen. Tom Udall: Proof of global warming -- desert doesn't have any water.
Odd: Sen. Sanders trashes weathermen as not part of 'scientific community' -- but Heidi Cullen is lead-off warmist witness! @BigJoeBastardi
Sen. Deb Fischer: Should we harm our economy w/climate rules when 75% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck -- and China, India do zero?
Sen. Bernie Sanders: Weathermen and women are 'not part of scientific community' @BigJoeBastardi
Sen. Sessions: We need to know what the science is that justifies making poor people pay $50-$100/month more to drive to work.
Sen. Sessions: EPA has refused to provide evidence that temperatures have not flattened. Obama continues to mislead public on temps.
Senate GOP opening statements rock at climate hearing. Senate Dems sound like they're trying to pass an ESL reading test.
Sen. Inhofe: "You couldn't get 35 votes out of liberal Senate for cap-and-trade." Boxer says "Let's not talk about cap-and-trade."
Sen. Inhofe: Cites Richard Lindzen -- "When you control carbon, you control life."
Sen. Inhofe: Alarmists can't talk about climate realities because Obama has scripted them.
Sen. Inhofe: Obama NRC nominee says weather not "extreme" but "normal"
Sen. Inhofe: Obama team scripted warmists w/dos-and-don'ts when talking about climate change. "Don't talk about economics"
Sen. Barrasso: Compliance costs of Obama attack on coal plants is $130 billion -- Obama won't stop at coal, either.
Barrasso: Obama has "pummeled" coal industry with "perverse clean energy agenda"
Sen. Barrasso: Disappointed Obama climate adviser could attend Politico event 8:00am but not 10:00am Senate hearing.
Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin confuses global warming with air pollution -- Maryland is not downwind of CO2 emissions!
Vitter: Interested in talking about what part of climate science is "settled" as all climate models are wrong.
Vitter: Senate climate hearing not called "Global Warming: It's Happening" because there's been no warming in past 15 years.

UK--New poll is packed with dismal news for alarmists: Only 28% think climate change is mainly caused by human activity; peak oil, not climate change worries most Britons

COLUMN-Peak oil, not climate change worries most Britons: Kemp
Nearly 2,500 people were surveyed across England, Scotland and Wales in August 2012. The results, published on Tuesday in a report on "Transforming the UK energy system: public values, attitudes and acceptability," provide a trove of information about public opinion on climate and energy policy.

By a large majority, respondents were either very concerned (24 percent) or fairly concerned (50 percent) about climate change and thought it was partly (48 percent) or mainly (28 percent) caused by human activity.
...
Keeping bills affordable was the most important single priority for respondents (40 percent) followed by making sure the United Kingdom has enough energy to prevent blackouts and fuel shortages (32 percent). Tackling climate change came a distant third (27 percent).

Turning the question on its head, climate change was the least important priority for almost half of the respondents (48 percent).
...
When asked for their reasons, respondents cited concerns about fossil fuels running out, being unsustainable or non-renewable (48 percent), costly (7 percent) and implied dependence on other countries (5 percent), compared with worries they are harmful to the environment and polluting (19 percent) or contribute to climate change (17 percent).
...
Cost is clearly central in discussions about energy and climate change, though the study's authors tend to downplay its importance.

Links

Minnesota wind farm booster faces new federal indictment - TwinCities.com
Greg Jaunich has been down this road before.
In 2007, Jaunich of North Oaks was indicted for overcharging a utility company and the state of Minnesota $500,000 for wind-generated electricity.
But as that case played out, he already was raising money for another wind farm venture, dubbed the Averill Project, according to a new indictment filed this week.
Those charges, filed in federal court in Minnesota, include five counts of mail fraud. All of the counts are related to letters Jaunich sent to investors in June 2008, in which he allegedly made false claims about the progress of the Averill Project, which was planned for Clay County, Minn.
Twitter / ToryAardvark: Why did David Cameron promise ...
Why did David Cameron promise to lead the 'greenest government ever'? News because he thought there were votes in it
Twitter / BigJoeBastardi: @MichaelEMann @chronsciguy ...
According to data here

52 of 73 Julys have had 90 or higher

Links

Aviation is a rogue industry on a runway to nowhere | Damian Carrington | Environment | guardian.co.uk
The right question is how many flights can the climate withstand?
Twitter / CHedegaardEU: New #LIFE programme triples ...
New programme triples climate spending. Over 860 mln euro for more action projects:
Twitter / clim8resistance: Funny that the evidence of ...
Funny that the evidence of catastrophe always lies in the most hostile and remote places @RogTallbloke @afneil @RichardTol @dougmcneall
- Bishop Hill blog - Chalk up another for low climate sensitivity
Nicola Scafetta has a new paper in Energy and Environment, which finds a figure for climate sensitivity of 1.35, some what lower than even the torrent of EBM papers over the last year or two.
Twitter / RichardTol: IPCC WG2 AR5 will introduce ...
IPCC WG2 AR5 will introduce Scary Cherries: Anecdotes selected to frighten the bejesus out of you.
An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism | Observer
Transportation accounts for just 5 percent of the energy used by agriculture, so it’s the wrong place to look for efficiencies. Food production uses much more, but from that standpoint, urban farming gets the logic of nearness backward. A big rural farm is a marvel of efficient proximity, with hundreds of fertile acres bunched up against each other; when tractor drivers or tomato pickers finish one acre, they can start right in on the next. By contrast, urban farming works a far-flung, fragmented landscape, each cropped acre separated from the next by miles of crowded streets and buildings. Working those tiny, scattered city plots introduces huge dis-economies. Inputs like fertilizer and soil have to be hauled in pennypackets through stop-and-start traffic. Compost may be the best thing since holy water, but collecting, processing and distributing it in dribs and drabs burns fuel. Worse, the great expanses separating urban farmplots mean that labor and machinery can’t be efficiently deployed.