climatedepot--2020-09-09--Warmist Andrew Dessler: Leave Fracking Alone! (Joe Biden splits the climate alarmists)

It came as a surprise to see this climate alarmist extraordinaire ( aka Angry Andy ) demote fracking as a burning climate issue .
What gives ?
!
The answer is Joe Biden , who recently reversed course to support fracking in such swing states as Ohio and Pennsylvania .
Presumably Joe would want New York State to open itself up to this new drilling technology if asked by the media .
Well , banning fracking is a huge issue for climate activists in the United States .
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren called for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ concerns , as did Kamala Harris .
Booker , Gabbard , Inslee , and Steyer , Williamson–they were banners too .
Back to climate scientist/activist Andrew Dessler , long a target here at MasterResource .
He might as well have blessed all drilling since as a peak-supply believer , fossil fuels would run out on their own accord .
Dessler stated as much in mid-2008 .
Fracking is a technology that continues to improve .
And as costs go down with selling prices of oil and natural gas , drilling becomes an in-the-money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Peak-supply not .
If Dessler is bootlicking Joe Biden , it comes at a price .
Believing that fracking is dead because of bad economics is naive .
Dessler , no doubt , is covering for Joe and longs for a plum Biden Administration job in Washington , DC where he can work to regulate the rest of us .
But just maybe it will be four more years–in College Station , Texas , an oil and gas intellectual center of the United States .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Record Heat Claims In California Last Month Are Fake

You will recall the media hype over “ record heat ” in California last month .
I published some graphs showing the claims were nonsense , but promised to update them when all the data was in : Rather than using the big city sites , loved by the media , I focussed on smaller towns in California , with long , high quality records on USHCN .
They cover most of the state geographically , roughly in a north to south direction .
The graphs below plot the highest temperature recorded each summer , using the CLIMOD database of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nothing “ record breaking ” about any of these sites , and at most of them there is a clear decline in temperatures since the early to mid 20thC .
Probably the only exception to this is Pasadena , where the temperature station is next to the busy runway of Burbank Glendale airport !
[ Livermore still has no data for August , but according to CLIMOD the airport site there reached 108F ] I gather the media is now claiming that although temperatures may not be any higher than the past in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into spring and autumn .
This is another lie .
Below is the plot of the number of days 100F and over in Los Angeles for the full year ( UHI not withstanding !
! )
.
This year , by the way has only seen one 100F day .
Even with the UHI at Downtown LA , there is no increasing trend in duration of heatwaves , which if anything seem to have peaked in the 1950-90 period .
Secondly , I have tracked down the weather station where the “ record @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hills was recorded : It is located close to a line of scrubby bushes , with trees close by as well .
Looks like a bit of a sun trap to me .

Thank you for being patient. We are doing some work on the site and will be back shortly.


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Amid Blackouts, Kamala Harris Links California’s Green Schemes To Biden’s

Democrat vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris is using past praise on social media for California ’ s climate change policies to connect followers to former Vice President Joe Biden ’ s 2020 environmental campaign platform .
The move comes as California energy infrastructure has descended into crisis and recently required help from the Trump administration .
“ CA ensures that 1/3 of electricity is from renewable sources , ” Harris first tweeted in February 2016 .
“ Here ’ s how we can make it a model nationwide : ” The link in the 2016 tweet now directs to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ site describing his environmental plan .
Biden ’ s plan focuses on climate change and environmental justice includes the creation of an “ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity at HHS ” and launching an “ infectious disease defense initiative.
” IT would also use federal taxpayer funding for “ clean energy ” by “ targeting investments made through programs related to clean energy and energy efficiency deployment ; clean transit and transportation ; affordable and sustainable housing ; training and workforce development ; remediation and reduction of legacy pollution ; and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The San Francisco Chronicle reported on the disastrous situation in California on Tuesday : Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said up to 172,000 customers across 22 counties will have their power cut beginning late Monday to reduce the risk of an electrical line or another piece of equipment sparking life-threatening blazes amid high winds that raise the risk of fires .
Power is restored in stages , location by location .
During shut-offs last year , PG & E said workers might need up to five days to restore power , but most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ running in two days .
The company must inspect all lines for damage before restoring power .
PG & E envisions restoring power for the current round of shut-offs by Wednesday evening .
PG & E instituted the precautionary outages to prevent its equipment from starting wildfires in October 2018 , a year after some of its power lines were blamed for the devastating Wine Country wildfires .
Bill Johnson , then the company ’ s CEO , told state regulators last year that his company is working to make forced power shut-offs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a decade to accomplish .
The report also warns that solar panels in California are connected to the power grid and will therefore be shut down too .
The newspaper told readers how they will shoulder the burden of bad energy policies : • Keep phones and other electronics charged while also having backup charging methods available .
• Build or replenish emergency kits that include flashlights , spare batteries , a first-aid kit , emergency food and water , and cash .
• Learn how to manually open your garage door .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ circuits and preventing fire hazards when power is restored .
• Store drinking water — 2 gallons per day per person and more for pets , as water delivery services could be affected by a shutdown .
The post Amid Blackouts , Kamala Harris Links California ’ s Green Schemes To Biden ’ sfirst appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--As Green Energy Flounders, Environmentalists Embrace Nuclear

Environmentalists have long promoted renewable energy sources as better for nature .
But a new study suggests that the expansion of mining for the materials to make solar panels and wind turbines may pose a greater threat than climate change to endangered species .
“ Most mining areas ( 82 % ) target materials needed for renewable energy production , ” note the authors in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications .
And , they add , “ these new threats to biodiversity may surpass those averted by climate change mitigation.
” The study comes at a moment when the expansion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local opposition , raising electricity prices , and contributing to electricity shortages .
Recent electricity outages in California forced the state ’ s governor to acknowledge the dangers posed by attempting to rely on unreliable sources of renewable energy .
“ We can not sacrifice reliability , ” Gov .
Gavin Newsom said on August 17 .
“ We have to sober up to the reality that… we ’ re going to have to do more , and be much more mindful , in terms of our capacity to provide backup and insurance.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ panels is that the sun sets during peak demand , which is between 5 pm and 10 pm , requiring a massive ramping up of natural gas power plants .
And the same lack of wind behind the heatwaves has also meant a lack of electricity from industrial wind turbines .
Meanwhile , environmental resistance is blocking and slowing the expansion of industrial wind and solar energy projects .
In Britain , Greenpeace has opposed a massive new solar farm , “ arguing that ‘ vast continuous fields of panels on agricultural land @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to go solar.
’ ” New York environmentalists , meanwhile , “ say large-scale solar installations will spoil beautiful farmland , ” reported Financial Times .
As renewables have faltered , pro-nuclear environmentalists have become increasingly vocal , even in Germany , the world ’ s most anti-nuclear nation .
Last Saturday pro-nuclear activists organized by the German pro-nuclear organization Nuklearia dropped a banner in front of Greenpeace ’ s Germany headquarters .
It read , “ Climate Crisis ?
Nuclear energy !
” Pro-nuclear activists similarly protested in front of Greenpeace ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ denouncing the NGO ’ s role in replacing nuclear plants with fossil fuels .
“ Several dozen protesters — wearing face masks — carried banners in front of the Greenpeace headquarters in Paris , with slogans such as ‘ Less nuclear means more coal , ’ ” reported Reuters .
“ In the following weeks , there will be similar rallies , ” reported the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ( FAZ ) last week , “ where the five other German nuclear power plants that are still running but whose operating licenses will soon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there will be over forty pro-nuclear demonstrations around the world organized by the Nuclear Pride Coalition .
( My nonprofit organization , Environmental Progress , is a member of the coalition , but did not organize the demonstrations in Germany , France , or other nations . )
The chairman of Nuklearia is Rainer Klute , a computer scientist and eco-modernist .
That ’ s someone who , according to FAZ , ” wants to save the world by relying on modern technology , not on using jute bags.
” FAZnoted that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who oppose wind turbines out of concern for noise and the landscape.
” It wasn ’ t the first pro-nuclear demonstration in Germany .
In December 2019 , 120 people from Germany , Poland , Switzerland , Austria , the Netherlands , and the Czech Republic rallied near the Philippsburg nuclear power plant , forty-five minutes from the French border , which the German government had forced to close prematurely .
While Klute emphasizes the need for nuclear to combat climate change , Peters stresses the need for nuclear energy to avoid over-dependence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Concerns about over-dependence on Russian natural gas are growing in Germany .
Earlier this year , the Russian parliament effectively gave President Vladimir Putin the power to govern for life .
And late last month , Russia ’ s top opposition political leader was nearly assassinated in a nerve gas attack .
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the attempted murder raises “ very serious questions that only the Russian government can answer — and must answer.
” But she has so far not taken any practical action to hold the Russian government to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out before .
Merkel publicly declared former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ’ s decision to work for Russia ’ s natural gas company “ not acceptable.
” But she did , in the end , accept it .
Merkel used similarly strong language after the Russian government intervened in Ukraine .
“ Merkel issues rebuke to Russia , ” aNew York Times NYT +2.2 % headline blaredin 2014 , “ setting caution aside.
” But in the six years since , Merkel has deepened Germany ’ s dependence on imported Russian gas .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ kept its nuclear plants open , and even expanded them , the nation could be as free both of coal and of Russian gas , as France is .
That nation ’ s nuclear-heavy electricity supply produces one-tenth of the carbon emissionsper unit of electricity as Germany ’ s , for little over one-half the price .
Klute acknowledges that he is a long way from winning over a majority of support from his fellow Germans , but stresses that popularity isn ’ t the only factor nations must consider when deciding what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Klute notes that the times are changing .
“ When Angela Merkel is no longer Federal Chancellor , ” he notes , “ politicians will also dare to take our side.
” Merkel will leave office next year .
In the end , it may take a more serious rattling of the global order , such as the withdrawal of the United States from NATO , to persuade a nation like Germany to hang on to its nuclear plants .
As the failings of renewables have become more apparent , journalists have started @ @ @ @ @ @ @ than they had in the recent past .
Der Spiegel , the largest newsweekly in Germany , covered last December ’ s pro-nuclear protest with undisguised anti-nuclear hostility .
But in June , France ’ s anti-nuclear Le Mondecovered the pro-nuclear protest of Greenpeace in Paris far more fairly .
“ We are here to denounce the untruths of Greenpeace on nuclear power , ” pro-nuclear leader Myrto Tripathi is quoted as saying .
German media , too , appear to be changing .
In mid-July , Die Zeit , a major newspaper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s colleagues titled , “ Stop the Nuclear Phase-Out !
” And in mid-August , Der Spiegel published a long debate that gave equal space to pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear activists .
“ Public opinion towards nuclear energy is changing , ” said Bjorn Peters , who helped organize the December 2019 demonstration at Philippsburg nuclear plant .
But the biggest change to nuclear ’ s reception and perception can be seen on social media .
As recently as 2016 , I had to routinely refute on Twitter obviously false claims , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ energy .
Such claims have largely disappeared from view .
And , in the rare instance they are still made , I find others debunking them before I have a chance to .
And there have been some recent surprises .
Over the last few weeks , Isabelle Boemke , a 29-year-old Brazilian model with a large social media following , has released a series of videos about the environmental benefits of nuclear .
“ One uranium pellet , about the size of a gummy bear , has as much energy as 2,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a September 6 Tik Tok video that has been viewed a half-million times .
“ This means we can create an insane amount of energy in smaller spaces , which means it requires less land , which is great news for the environment , ” she explained .
Financial Times columnist Jonathan Ford made a similar point in his recent article about Greenpeace ’ s opposition to the proposed solar farm .
“ It all goes to illustrate one of the awkward truths about renewables , ” wrote Ford , “ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ statistics showing the declining cost of solar panels and wind turbines .
Their relatively low ‘ power density ’ makes them more consumptive of resources.
” The low power density of renewables is behind rising conflicts in New York over efforts to spread solar and wind projects over the landscape .
Solar and wind projects require , on average , 300 – 400 times more land than a nuclear or natural gas plant .
“ One [ New York ] resident handing out flyers opposing the [ wind energy ] project found a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reported The Financial Times .
“ This project is tearing our previously peaceful community apart , ” he says .
And it ’ s their low power density that scientists say may make renewables a greater threat than climate change to endangered species .
Michael Shellenberger was Time Magazine ’ s “ Hero of the Environment , ” Green Book Award Winner , and president of Environmental Progress , a research and policy organization .
He is also the author of several bestselling books.
, his latest being Apocalypse Never .
The post @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nuclear first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Boston’s Phony Sea-Level Scare Debunked – Again

Yesterday on Climate Realism , we debunked a fake sea-level scare promoted by Boston ’ s National Public Radio affiliate , WBUR .
WBUR claims global warming has caused 28 trillion tons of ice to disappear since 1994 , which WBUR claims is a worst-case scenario for global sea level , and especially for Boston .
In addition to the scientific evidence we presented yesterday , let ’ s add another piece of scientific evidence today .
Actual sea level data show no acceleration in Boston ’ s sea level since 1994 .
So much for WBUR ’ s Boston @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Boston , reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration .
Where is the cataclysmic rise in sea level since 1994 ?
It simply isn ’ t there .
The reason it isn ’ t there is that ice has been slowly and steadily melting – and sea level has been slowly and steadily rising – in Boston and throughout much of the world since at least the mid-1800s .
The ice melt since 1994 is nothing unusual or extraordinary .
Utilizing 19th- and 20th-century technologies , humans have adapted to rising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is odd that climate alarmists claim that with all the advantages of 21st-century technologies , humans suddenly won ’ t be able to adapt to modest sea-level rise .
The post Boston ’ s Phony Sea-Level Scare Debunked – Again first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Traffic ‘Not A Key Contributor To Air Pollution’, Study Finds

The significant reduction in vehicle journeys at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown – which saw traffic levels fall by as much as 80 percent – did not reduce the level of toxic ‘ fine ’ particles in Scotland ’ s air , according to experts at the University of Stirling .
A new report published today shows that harmful particulate matter emissions , also known as PM2.5 , remained consistent during the first month of lockdown , despite a 65 percent decline in the number of vehicles on Scotland ’ s roads .
The study concluded that ‘ traffic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air pollution ’ – and went on to warn that people ‘ may be at greater risk from air pollution in their own homes ’ .
The university study analyzed data from 70 roadside monitoring stations around Scotland from March 24 – the day after the lockdown was introduced in the UK – to April 23 .
The team of experts then compared the data to comparative 31-day periods in 2017 , 2018 , and 2019 .
They found that , across Scotland , the geometric mean concentration of PM2.5 was 6.6 micrograms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) in the observed period in 2020 – similar to the levels in 2017 ( 6.7 µg/m3 ) and 2018 ( 7.4 µg/m3 ) .
The 2020 figure was substantially lower than the markedly high concentrations observed in 2019 ( 12.8 µg/m3 ) , however , the authors pointed out this was an ‘ outlier ’ likely caused by a meteorological event that caused fine particulate dust from the Saharan desert to impact on UK air quality in April of that year .
Significantly , removing the affected period from the 2019 analysis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ µg/m3 ) .
The team did , however , note a reduction in nitrogen dioxide ( NO2 ) due to the lower traffic levels during the opening month of the pandemic .
Measurements of NO2 emissions , which are specifically associated with vehicle exhaust emissions and closely linked to thousands of premature deaths a year globally – were noticeably lower in 2020 compared to the other three years .
Dr. Ruaraidh Dobson , who led the study , said : ‘ It has been assumed that fewer cars on the road might have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of air pollution outdoors and , in turn , reduce the number of cases of ill health linked to this pollution .
‘ However , our study – contrary to research from places such as Wuhan in China , and Milan – found no evidence of fine particulate air pollution declining in Scotland because of lockdown.
’ While it has widely been believed that vehicles are a major contributor to these types of pollutants being in the air , the University of Stirling claimed otherwise having looked into their results .
Dr. Dobson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suggest that vehicles aren ’ t an important cause of this very harmful type of air pollution in Scotland.
’ He said people may be at greater risk of exposure in their own homes , ‘ especially where cooking and smoking is taking place in enclosed and poorly ventilated spaces ’ , he explained .
The university ’ s results have conflicted with other research that has claimed there have been vast improvements in outdoor air quality in some areas as a result of fewer people driving during the lockdown .
Some studies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ positive health effects .
Dr. Dobson and colleague Dr. Sean Semple said that exposure to ‘ potentially harmful air ’ could have actually increased during the lockdown , due to people spending more time at home .
The post Traffic ‘ Not A Key Contributor To Air Pollution ’ , Study Finds first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--United Nations: COVID ‘is demonstrating what we all know: millennia of patriarchy have resulted in a

United Nations: COVID ‘is demonstrating what we all know: millennia of patriarchy have resulted in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture which damages everyone – women, men, girls & boys’

The # COVID19 pandemic is demonstrating what we all know : millennia of patriarchy have resulted in a male-dominated world @ @ @ @ @ damages everyone – women , men , girls & boys .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Canadian documentary ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ nominated for SIX Alberta Film and Television Awards including

Canadian documentary ‘GLOBAL WARNING’ nominated for SIX Alberta Film and Television Awards including BEST DIRECTOR – DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Canada is fast becoming the leading global example for what can happen when climate politics meet traditional energy industry .
It has the third largest known reserves of oil and gas on the planet and could provide affordable , reliable energy to many parts of the world but it ’ s not .
It ’ s not even producing enough for it ’ s own people .
It is a country living a potentially tragic story of climate politics with important messages for people everywhere who are ready to see a new way forward .
Global Warning Documentary : Politics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by Mathew Embry Produced by Peter Beyak Featuring : Catherine Abreu , Ian Clark , Patrick Moore , Gwyn Morgan , Stephen O ’ Neill , Ray Owl , John Perkins , Danielle Smith , Fritz Vahrenholt , Robert Watson , and others When climate change politics have devastating social and economic impact on his hometown , internationally acclaimed filmmaker Mathew Embry goes searching for answers and discovers a divided nation living a cautionary tale of warning for the whole world .
Here is the website to visit and support GLOBAL WARMING the @ @


climatedepot--2020-09-09--Trump praised by Politico: ‘People who live near most toxic sites in America say they saw a level of

Trump praised by Politico: ‘People who live near most toxic sites in America say they saw a level of attention they hadn’t seen in decades under Trump’ – ‘Some [will be] voting GOP for the 1st time in their lives’

And if all politics is local , Superfund plays there too .
“ Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat , if you live near a site , or you ’ re a member of Congress with a site in your district , you want that site cleaned up , ” she added , noting that cleanups bring cash infusions into regions in the form of contract work for construction and remediation .
Superfund , Probst said , “ is not the same as anything else at EPA.
” “ The success during the Trump administration thus far , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for Health , Environment and Justice , wrote in a recent report , “ is mostly due to an ability to find responsible parties who were willing to foot the bill.
” In sites in Nevada , Montana and Texas , the agency has threatened to sue polluters for triple the damages they caused , a trump card in the statute that has rarely been invoked .
In May , as environmentalists decried the agency for loosening enforcement in the face of the coronavirus pandemic , the cities and corporations responsible for polluting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and asked the administration to reduce the scale and cost of the cleanup .
The agency refused .
“ You know the last time I saw something like this ?
” Gibbs asked .
“ Never.
” Early in the administration , Kelly , Pruitt ’ s ex-banker buddy , became an unexpected ally , too .
He visited activists ’ homes , dropping off documents in person .
He remembered when a family member had a surgery and handed out his cellphone number to worried mothers .
Multiple people told me they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plaguing residents near toxic sites .
The outsider with no environmental experience became a favorite among the exhausted , embittered activists .
“ Some people say , ‘ Oh , girls , he ’ s playing you.
’ But I don ’ t think he was .
There were no points to score , ” said Chapman , the toxic landfill activist outside St. Louis .
“ He ’ s the reason why we were able to—and I ’ m going to throw this word in—forgive .
He challenged us , I think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beings , too , at EPA.
” Each quarter Gibbs gathers a dozen or so local activists and residents like Worley-Jenkins and Chapman , flies them out to Washington and marches them up to the third floor of the EPA ’ s imposing Federal Triangle building .
At the meetings , which Covid-19 has now made virtual , residents who have often endured decades of being ignored by Washington discuss the fine-toothed details of their hometown cleanups with administrator Wheeler and a bevy of other political appointees .
It ’ s a bizarre @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the table from staffers at the most business-friendly EPA ever .
At regular intervals , EPA representatives file out of the room because a specific case has been brought up that involves a company where they previously worked—a potential conflict of interest .
But each activist Gibbs takes to the quarterly meetings has a story , a success or a breakthrough that only happened because of their remarkable access to the agency ’ s political leaders .
At one meeting in early 2018 , Worley-Jenkins recalled , her tale of Minden ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anger .
The Superfund boss slammed his fist on the table and turned to the staff attorney sitting next to him .
“ What the hell are we going to do about this , ” he bellowed .


climatedepot--2020-09-09--GOP Rep. Chip Roy: Biden suddenly flip-flops on fracking, but his administration would cripple Ameri

GOP Rep. Chip Roy: Biden suddenly flip-flops on fracking, but his administration would cripple American energy

“ I am not banning fracking… no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me , ” Biden said confidently on August 31 to supporters in Pittsburgh .
But don ’ t let him fool you .
During a primary debate in March against Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt. , when his audience was not Western Pennsylvania , Biden agreed with Sanders ’ s fracking ban legislation .
“ No more – no new fracking , ” Biden chirped .
That shouldn ’ t surprise anyone .
Months before , he “ guaranteed ” a young woman in New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fuels ” if he became president .
Former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris , D-Calif. , have been very clear – for years — on their policy positions when it comes to energy .
They want to end fracking , upend America ’ s energy independence and kill high-paying jobs for thousands of Americans .
The two Democrats realize that is not a palatable message in a politically important swing state like Pennsylvania , so Biden is suddenly trying to walk back his numerous promises to end @ @ @ @ @ @ @ PERMITS IN RUN-UP TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION “ I am not banning fracking… no matter how many times Donald Trump lies about me , ” Biden said confidently on August 31 to supporters in Pittsburgh .
But don ’ t let him fool you .
During a primary debate in March against Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt. , when his audience was not Western Pennsylvania , Biden agreed with Sanders ’ s fracking ban legislation .
“ No more – no new fracking , ” Biden chirped .
That shouldn ’ t surprise anyone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” a young woman in New Hampshire that he would “ end fossil fuels ” if he became president .
OIL PRICES TUMBLE MORE THAN 1 % AS SAUDI ARABIA MAKES DEEP CUTS His running mate , Harris echoed a similar sentiment in a primary debate broadcast on CNN , “ There ’ s no question I ’ m in favor of banning fracking.
” Instead of embracing the Green New Deal , Harris may want to focus on keeping her constituents ’ power on , considering the rolling blackouts affecting millions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ backpedal on his promises in Pittsburgh ?
The clearest answer is that hundreds of thousands of families in Pennsylvania depend on the oil and gas industry directly or indirectly to make a living .
Western Pennsylvania is not unique , as the oil and gas industry directly employed 428,234 Texans in 2019 .
Those numbers don ’ t account for the indirect employment attributable to oil and gas operations , which PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated at 10.3 million U.S. jobs in 2015 .
The concept of a federal fracking ban is not based on economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a shallow policy talking point used by candidates charging to the left to appease the Sanders/Ocasio-Cortez base of the Democratic Party .
According to Baker Hughes , nearly 90 percent of all new oil and gas wells drilled today are horizontal , fracked wells – you can not shut this down without painful geopolitical and economic consequences .
Under the leadership of the Trump administration and my former boss , ex-Energy Secretary Rick Perry , the United States has reached new heights in energy .
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Middle Eastern and Russian oil and now lead the world in oil and gas production .
And even while accomplishing this , since 2005 no country in the world has reduced their CO2 emissions more than the United States , primarily driven by fracked natural gas used in electricity production .
Abundant , affordable energy benefits all Americans .
The White House Council of Economic Advisors estimates that increased oil and natural gas production due to the fracking revolution is saving American families a combined $ 203 billion annually , or around $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a larger proportion of their income on energy bills , so expensive energy and utilities would harm these families more than the private jet elitists lecturing them about carbon footprints .
We can responsibly address environmental concerns and maintain low energy costs by pursuing a comprehensive policy of energy production that focuses on low cost , abundant , clean energy options – including natural gas , oil , nuclear , and renewables .
A competitive marketplace of ideas that does not restrict investment in specific industries will ensure that the United States is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ issues of the future .
The pandering positions of Biden and Harris are not simply disingenuous and confusing , they pose a threat to the economic and national security of the United States .
A Biden administration – and those who would openly align with it – would cripple American energy , no matter how many times he dances around the subject .
Republican Chip Roy represents the 21st Congressional District of Texas and is the former first assistant attorney general of Texas .


climatedepot--2020-09-10--Biden drilling ban would cost 1 Million jobs and cause $700 billion drop in GDP Industry study finds

Joe Biden ’ s pledge to block oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters would force the United States to rely more on foreign energy sources , cost nearly 1 million jobs by 2022 , and cause carbon emissions to increase by prompting a rebound in coal .
That ’ s according to a study Wednesday from the American Petroleum Institute , the oil and gas industry ’ s largest trade group .
The study does not name Biden , but the Democratic nominee has consistently pledged to ban new federal oil and gas leasing and development on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s one of the centerpieces of his agenda to tackle climate change .
API ’ s study , prepared by the energy consulting firm OnLocation , finds a federal drilling ban would cause U.S. GDP to fall by a cumulative $ 700 billion through 2030 .
U.S. oil imports would increase by 2 million barrels a day , while natural gas exports , which have boomed during the Trump administration , could decrease by 800 billion cubic feet in a decade .
“ It ’ s clear a federal leasing ban should be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ far too much at stake for American workers , local economies , and our nation ’ s energy security , ” said Mike Sommers , API president and CEO .
In an attempt to assuage swing voters , Biden has pledged not to ban fracking , the method of extracting oil and gas underground that facilitated the shale boom .


climatedepot--2020-09-10--Pelosi: ‘Resilient’ Is Now Code for ‘Green’ Because ‘The Word ‘Green’ Is Scary to Some People’

Climate Depot Publisher Marc Morano , who stars alongside actor Kevin Sorbo in the upcoming Climate Hustle 2 documentary skeptical of radical environmental policies , tells CNSNews.com that the change to `` resilient '' is proof that even some Democrats have doubts about the Green New Deal : `` Pelosi knows just how toxic the Green New Deal has become to many Americans , including many Democrats .
Pelosi 's morphing from calling it the 'green dream ' to now avoiding the word 'green ' in favor of 'resilient ' shows just how uneasy many of the Democratic leadership is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrats have renamed their climate agenda action items “ resilient , ” because people have become turned off by the word “ green , ” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ( D-Calif. ) said Thursday during a press conference .
Expressing hope that some of the climate actions proposed by House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis Chair Rep. Kathy Castor ’ s ( D-Fla. ) report could be included in an infrastructure bill , Speaker Pelosi revealed that now , when Democrats like former Vice President Joe Biden say “ resilient , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ adopted the code word because people are now afraid of “ green , ” Speaker Pelosi told reporters : “ I wish that…we could pass a bill having some of those green – resilient , we call it resilient , because ‘ Green ’ is a word that is scary to some of the people around here .
So , when Joe Biden says , ‘ Build back better , ’ that better includes building back in a way that is resilient , that is green , that protects the planet.
” In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ disparaged the moniker of Democrats ’ “ Green New Deal ” by referring to it as “ The Green Dream , or whatever they call it.
” Climate Depot Publisher Marc Morano , who stars alongside actor Kevin Sorbo in the upcoming Climate Hustle 2 documentary skeptical of radical environmental policies , tells CNSNews.com that the change to “ resilient ” is proof that even some Democrats have doubts about the Green New Deal : “ Pelosi knows just how toxic the Green New Deal has become to many Americans , including many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ calling it the ‘ green dream ’ to now avoiding the word ‘ green ’ in favor of ‘ resilient ’ shows just how uneasy many of the Democratic leadership is with the Green New Deal .
”


climatedepot--2020-09-10--Bare-chested women lock themselves to UK parliament in climate protest

LONDON ( Reuters ) – Thirty bare-chested women locked themselves to the railings outside Britain ’ s Houses of Parliament on Thursday in an Extinction Rebellion protest to demand action against climate change .
The women carried a large banner reading “ Can ’ t bare the truth ?
” and had words painted on their chests representing predicted consequences of global warming such as war , drought , starvation , wildfires , violence and famine .
Some of the women used metal D-locks normally used to lock up bicycles to attach themselves by the neck to the parliamentary estate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the government to inform the public about the risks of allowing average global temperatures to rise by 4 degrees centigrade , which Extinction Rebellion says is what will happen by 2100 unless countries take action now .
The activist group restarted its protests in Britain last week following a long lull due to the coronavirus pandemic .
On Saturday , Extinction Rebellion protesters blockaded two printworks to disrupt the distribution of newspapers the group accuses of failing to accurately report on climate issues .
On Tuesday , Home Secretary ( interior minister @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eco-crusaders turned criminals whose “ guerilla tactics ” must be stopped .


climatedepot--2020-09-10--Call to ban new roads to fight ‘climate change’ – Bye-bye roads to achieve ‘net-zero’ targets

BBC : A ban on new roads , gas power plants and incinerators is needed if Wales is to play a leading role in tackling climate change , a report from Friends of the Earth Cymru ( FOEC ) .
...
The charity 's report , seen exclusively by BBC Wales , said ministers should set out to achieve effectively a 100 % cut in climate-warming gases - known as a net-zero target - well before 2045 .
... To achieve the goal , it wants the government to set a rule for it not to invest in or give @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as new roads , gas power plants or incinerators ...
The use of fossil fuel energy should be banned with immediate effect for all new homes and public bodies told to divest their pension schemes from firms involved in coal , oil and gas .
... Haf Elgar , FOEC director , said : `` We urgently need to set targets that are in line with the international Paris agreement so that we do n't go over 1.5 degrees of global warming .
A ban on new roads , gas power plants and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ play a leading role in tackling climate change , a report has said .
Friends of the Earth Cymru ( FOEC ) also wants to see an end to subsidised flights between Cardiff and Anglesey .
The charity ’ s Climate Action Plan said the Welsh government must outline steps for “ much deeper and faster ” cuts to greenhouse gas emissions .
The Welsh government said it welcomed the report .
FOEC said the Welsh government ’ s plans were not consistent with its goal for a “ globally responsible Wales ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen exclusively by BBC Wales , said ministers should set out to achieve effectively a 100 % cut in climate warming gases – known as a net zero target – well before 2045 .
To achieve the goal , it wants the government to set a rule for it not to invest in or give permission for any high carbon infrastructure such as new roads , gas power plants or incinerators .
The use of fossil fuel energy should be banned with immediate effect for all new homes and public bodies told to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in coal , oil and gas .
The report also suggested the financial support given to provide north-south flights within Wales is “ clearly out of step with climate change goals ” .
It wants to see funding to prepare for the effects of climate change – such as flooding – targeted at deprived communities .
Adequate green space should also be provided within five minutes walking distance of every home – with car parks repurposed and roads closed to achieve this .
Haf Elgar , FOEC director , said : “ Wales @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history and needs to address multiple emergencies right now – Covid-19 recovery , the climate and ecological emergencies and ongoing inequalities in our nation .
“ We urgently need to set targets that are in line with the international Paris agreement so that we don ’ t go over 1.5 degrees of global warming .
“ Wales has historically been a big polluter and produced a lot of emissions and we need to do our fair share now and reduce our emissions very quickly.
” But Stuart Cole , emeritus professor of transport @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said some of the report ’ s proposals went too far : “ Underlying any economy is a very efficient transport system and unfortunately that does have some environmental disadvantages from time to time .
“ But I think we ’ ve seen a reasonable balance with the Welsh government in cancelling the M4 relief road which was going to be an environment disaster in the Gwent Levels , and spending £800m on a new electrified train services from the valleys into Cardiff.
” A Welsh government spokesman said : “ We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and organisations to shape the next all-Wales plan for reducing Wales ’ emissions .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Report: The Earth was 570.9% more abundant in 2019 than it was in 1980

`` The Simon Abundance Index ® 2020 uses the time price of commodities and change in global population to estimate global resource abundance .
The Index represents the ratio of the change in population over the change in the time price , times 100 .
It has a base year of 1980 and a base value of 100 .
In 2019 , the Index reached a level of 670.9 .
That is to say that the Earth as a whole was 570.9 percent more abundant in 2019 than it was in 1980 . ''
`` The world ’ s resources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number of piano keys is finite .
The instrument has only 88 notes , but those can be played in an infinite variety of ways .
The same applies to our planet .
The Earth ’ s atoms may be fixed , but the possible combinations of those atoms are infinite .
What matters , then , is not the physical limits of our planet , but human freedom to experiment and reimagine the use of resources that we have . ''
Last year saw the mainstreaming of a Voluntary Human Extinction @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its American founder who goes by Les U. Knight , “ I ’ ve seen more and more articles about people choosing to remain child-free or to not add more to their existing family than ever.
” He is right .
In recent years , articles embracing the benefits of human extinction included The New Yorker magazine ’ s “ The Case for Not Being Born , ” NBC News ’ “ Science proves kids are bad for Earth .
Morality suggests we stop having them ” and The New York Times polemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
” A CNN report on the United Nations ’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services findings noted that “ we must act now , consuming less , polluting less , having fewer children.
” But are people really that bad for the planet ?
In 2018 , we co-authored a study titled , The Simon Abundance Index : A New Way to Measure Availability of Resources .
In that paper we looked at the prices of 50 basic commodities between 1980 and 2017 .
Counterintuitively , we found that resources @ @ @ @ @ @ @ abundant .
Our calculations confirmed the insights of the University of Maryland economist Julian Simon who observed in his 1981 book The Ultimate Resource that humans are intelligent beings , capable of innovating their way out of shortages through greater efficiency , increased supply and the development of substitutes .
To arrive at our conclusions , we came up with four new concepts : Time Price Toolkit ( i.e.
, time price , abundance multiplier , percentage change in abundance , compound annual growth rate in abundance and years to double abundance ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Abundance Framework and Simon Abundance Index .
The time price denotes the amount of time that a person has to work in order to earn enough money to buy something .
To calculate the time price , the nominal money price is divided by nominal hourly income .
( We got the former from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund , and the latter by combining the World Bank ’ s GDP figures with Conference Board ’ s estimate of annual hours worked . )
The average time price of 50 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ means that for the same length of time that a person needed to work to earn enough money to buy one unit in our basket of 50 commodities in 1980 , he or she could buy 3.87 units in 2019 .
In other words , the average person saw his or her level of abundance rise by 287.4 percent .
That amounts to a compound annual growth rate of 3.63 percent and implies a doubling of abundance every 19.45 years ( see Figure 1 ) .
The price elasticity of population ( PEP @ @ @ @ @ @ @ resource availability to population growth .
Between 1980 and 2019 , the world ’ s population increased from 4.458 billion to 7.677 billion or by 73.2 percent .
The time price of commodities fell by 74.2 percent .
As such , the time price of commodities declined by 1.014 percent for every 1 percent increase in the world ’ s population .
Put differently , over the last 39 years , every additional human being born on our planet appears to have made resources proportionately more plentiful for the rest of us .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ values to distinguish between different degrees of resource abundance , from decreasing abundance at one end of the spectrum to superabundance at the other end .
Considering that time price of commodities decreased at a faster proportional rate ( -74.2 percent ) than population increased ( 73.2 percent ) , we conclude that humanity is experiencing superabundance .
( To learn more about the framework , please see our original paper . )
The Simon Abundance Index ® 2020 uses the time price of commodities and change in global population to estimate global @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ratio of the change in population over the change in the time price , times 100 .
It has a base year of 1980 and a base value of 100 .
In 2019 , the Index reached a level of 670.9 .
That is to say that the Earth as a whole was 570.9 percent more abundant in 2019 than it was in 1980 ( see Figure 2 ) .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Everything Bad In History Was the Patriarchy’s Fault, Claims United Nations

“ If civilization had been left in female hands we would still be living in grass huts ” , Camille Paglia once famously said .
But the United Nations didn ’ t get the memo : No , really .
According to the United Nations , the “ millennia of patriarchy ” which gave us , among many other things , the Greek and Roman philosophers , Christianity , the Taj Mahal , Habeas Corpus , the art of the Renaissance , the collected works of Shakespeare and Goethe , Johann Sebastian Bach , penicillin , central heating , air @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and space travel , have actually been damaging to “ everyone ” .
Also , according to the UN , “ we all ” know this .
Who exactly is this “ we ” , Kemo Sabe ?
Indeed , is there any sane and sentient being in the world who has the remotest sympathy with this revolutionary cultural Marxist bullshit ?
That revolutionary cultural Marxist bullshit is also in direct contravention of the UN ’ s founding principles .
The UN was established in the aftermath of the Second World War to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
One of its subsidiary purposes , according to its two founding Articles , is : How does picking on men and blaming them for everything that is wrong square with that particular clause ?
And just how deludedly , monstrously arrogant would you have to be to declare that you know better how to order society and run the world — in a non-patriarchal way , apparently — than pretty much every civilisation in the entirety of human history ?
The UN is a terrible organisation : a bloated talking shop for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ beggars , globalists , socialists and other overindulged , grasping cry-bullies , meddlers , and no-hopers .
Current Secretary-General António Guterres — the pillock responsible for those outrageous statements about men — is typical of the kind of pond-life it attracts and promotes .
Guterres was leader of Portugal ’ s Socialist Party and later became the country ’ s prime minister .
Why should a leftist from a relatively tiny economy have any say on the world stage excepted as an elected politician in his own country ?
Would Guterres have got @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conservative , rather than a leftist stooge ?
( Answer : no . )
It generated and promoted the disastrously expensive , dishonest and anti-free-market global warming scare , via its offshoots UNEP ( United Nations Environment Program ) and the UNFCC ( United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ) .
It has made a similar hash of coronavirus via its similarly corrupt , mendacious , anti-science , China-controlled World Health Organisation ( WHO ) .
While the UN has long been a deeply suspect institution , it has not until now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hard-left , tyrannical , One World Government agenda of revolutionary change .
That latest tweet screams one message loud and clear : defund the United Nations ; have nothing more to do with it ; raze every one of its buildings to the ground ; sack all its staff ; consign it to the dustbin of history .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--UN report: Covid lockdowns have done little to slow ‘climate change’ – As world returned to work, 20

UN report: Covid lockdowns have done little to slow ‘climate change’ – As world returned to work, 2020 emissions rose to within 5% of previous year

BBC : `` The study shows that global lockdowns had a significant and immediate impact on emissions of greenhouse gases , with daily levels in April 2020 falling by 17 % compared with 2019 .
But this steep drop has n't been maintained .
As the world returned to work , emissions rose and by June were within 5 % of the previous year .
Over 2020 , the expectation is that emissions will fall 4-7 % . ''
The global response to Covid-19 has barely made a dent in the causes of climate change , according to a major @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plummeted during lockdown , concentrations of the long-lasting gas have continued to rise in the atmosphere .
The period from 2016 to 2020 will likely be the warmest five years on record , the study finds .
The authors say “ irreversible ” climate change impacts are increasing .
The United in Science report brings together experts from a large number of international organisations , including the UN and the World Meteorological Organization ( WMO ) , to give an updated snapshot of the state of the global climate .
The study shows @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediate impact on emissions of greenhouse gases , with daily levels in April 2020 falling by 17 % compared with 2019 .
But this steep drop hasn ’ t been maintained .
As the world returned to work , emissions rose and by June were within 5 % of the previous year .
Over 2020 , the expectation is that emissions will fall 4-7 % .
This new study shows that is exactly what ’ s happened at a couple of key monitoring stations around the world .
At the Mauna Loa observatory @ @ @ @ @ @ @ measured in air samples has increased from 411 parts per million ( ppm ) in July 2019 to 414ppm in July this year .
Similarly , at Cape Grim monitoring station in Tasmania , concentrations were also up from 407 to 410ppm in the year to July .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--California Blackouts Now, America Next: Courtesy Of Unreliable And Toxic Renewables

Vijay Jayaraj : `` In his recently unveiled $ 2 Trillion Clean Energy Plan , Biden says that he will “ move ambitiously to generate clean , American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
” In other words , he intends to put $ 2 trillion of irreversible funding into making the American power sector completely devoid of coal , oil , and natural gas , from which America currently generates more than 62 percent of all its electricity .
Would Biden ’ s plan usher in a California-like situation in the rest of the country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yes .
Even if Biden implements a proportion of what he has promised , there will be a considerable impact on energy security on a national level . ''
Recently , California experienced one of its largest blackouts .
The state ’ s energy system operator declared a stage 3 emergency , one that has not been issued in two decades .
The mainstream media blamed it on forest fires , but Governor Gavin Newsom admitted that the failure of renewable energy systems was the primary reason behind the blackout .
Both Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mate Kamala Harris have expressed support for the Green New Deal , which is pro-renewable and anti-fossil fuels .
A Biden presidency is likely to implement renewable energy policy at a rate that that could be far more aggressive than California ’ s .
In his recently unveiled $ 2 Trillion Clean Energy Plan , Biden says that he will “ move ambitiously to generate clean , American-made electricity to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035.
” In other words , he intends to put $ 2 trillion of irreversible funding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ devoid of coal , oil , and natural gas , from which America currently generates more than 62 percent of all its electricity .
Would Biden ’ s plan usher in a California-like situation in the rest of the country ?
The answer to that question is yes .
Even if Biden implements a proportion of what he has promised , there will be a considerable impact on energy security on a national level .
Here is why .
Gov .
Newsom described the California blackout as a result of “ gaps in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he says will persist during the state ’ s ambitious transition from fossil to renewables .
Regardless of the size of the wind or solar farm—or , rather factory—intermittency in electricity generation will always be a big problem .
Storage capacities , such as batteries , are not advanced enough to store and provide backup to renewables on a large scale .
It is estimated that California would need $ 19 billion worth of additional battery storage to prevent blackouts of such magnitude in the future .
Not only is that expensive , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time to procure .
More worryingly , renewables fail on days when they are most needed .
The additional storage required in California alone is three times the storage capacity expected to be built globally—not just in California !
—in 2020 .
This means that California is expected to encounter more blackouts in the future .
Even if they do manage to procure this much storage , it is still a very expensive exercise for paltry returns .
The gaps in reliability—caused by the intermittency of wind and solar and the lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the states if the federal government lays siege to the fossil fuel resources and forcefully makes all the states transition to renewables .
Of course , these gaps could be met by powering the grid with fossil energy .
But the Biden plan is all about abolishing fossil fuels , and there would be no question of backup from them .
Soon , many citizens may have to experience a California-like blackout in their own homes .
The extent of damage—frequency and duration of blackouts—will depend on how much of the promised plans @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even if consumers manage to receive power , it is likely to be more expensive than power from grids that are connected to fossil fuel sources .
Renewables are infamous for their role in increasing electricity rates .
Far from Clean : Renewables Are Bloody and Toxic The worst part of it all is that the people would have to suffer for a lost cause .
Renewables are not going to save the planet , and they are not clean .
In fact , renewables are among the biggest killers of birds in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States kill some an estimated “ 140,000 to 500,000 birds per year , ” according to the U.S .
Fish and Wildlife Service , which says that under Department of Energy mandate America is likely to have six times as many turbines by 2030 , resulting in a proportionate increase in bird kills .
They are also known to be the nemesis of some key endangered species .
They kill so many that countries have allotted “ bird kill quotas ” for wind operators .
Both wind and solar are also toxic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ used in them involves processes with toxic waste that has killed people and turned lakes toxic .
The recycle value of wind and solar is not great either .
As wind blades near end-of-life , they are dumped under the soil and can not be recycled .
So why should American consumers pay higher electricity bills for a power source that is unreliable , bloody , toxic , and non-recyclable ?
They should not .
When politicians call renewables clean , remember the blood on the wind blades , the toxic byproducts , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their proven inefficiency and inability to provide affordable electricity .
Vijay Jayaraj ( M.Sc.
, Environmental Science , University of East Anglia , England ) , is a Research Contributor for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Robbing the poor to subsidize the rich: New UK gas & diesel cars could be made more expensive to sub

Robbing the poor to subsidize the rich: New UK gas & diesel cars could be made more expensive to subsidize electric vehicles

New petrol and diesel cars could be made £1,500 more expensive to subsidise electric vehicles Of course , if we won ’ t do as we ’ re told , we will have to be punished !
A feasibility study commissioned by minsters on ways to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles has suggested making new petrol and diesel cars £1,500 more expensive .
The report , published by the Department for Transport this week , said the funds generated by the additional cost of motors with internal combustion engines could be used to subsidise battery vehicles , which are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the motor industry ’ s trade body has blasted the suggestion , saying such a move would penalise those who can ’ t afford electric cars currently , or don ’ t have the facilities to charge them .
The report was co-written by the Behavioural Insights Team , who have this to say about themselves : The Behavioural Insights Team exists to improve people ’ s lives and communities .
We work in partnership with governments , local authorities , businesses and charities , often using simple changes to tackle major policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a seven-person unit at the heart of the UK government to a global social purpose company with offices around the world .
Our work spanned 31 countries in the last year alone .
Our mission remains the same .
We generate and apply behavioural insights to inform policy , improve public services and deliver results for citizens and society… We are jointly owned by the UK Cabinet Office , innovation charity Nesta and our employees .
In other words , they are just another parasitical quango , puffed up with taxpayers ’ money @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to live our lives , whether we like it or not .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Biden’s ‘Building Back Better’ Is a Fable — Code for ‘Net-Zero’ – ‘Equivalent of imposing multi-tril

Biden’s ‘Building Back Better’ Is a Fable — Code for ‘Net-Zero’ – ‘Equivalent of imposing multi-trillion dollar tax hikes’ on economy

Rupert Darwall : “ 'Build back better ' ” is code for decarbonization—and the promise that , out of the ashes of a U.S. economy devastated by the coronavirus , a new economy will emerge under the beneficent guidance of the federal government , setting America on a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions .
We don ’ t need to “ build back ” anything , though .
America ’ s physical infrastructure is intact .
Its power stations and energy infrastructure , its roads and bridges , its railways and airports are almost exactly as they were before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Germany in 1945 , after Allied bombs had reduced it to rubble .
COVID-19 has done no damage to American physical assets . ''
... `` The Green New Deal and Biden ’ s plan for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 are the last things that a recovering economy needs .
Mandating net-zero is the equivalent of imposing multi-trillion dollar tax hikes—and with not one cent for deficit reduction , the proceeds going instead to controlling the “ global climate.
” And there ’ s more .
While America—with the glaring exception @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needs , Biden wants to spend $ 1.7 trillion on alternative energy , a gargantuan outlay that would pile on to an already rapidly growing federal deficit . ''
... `` Climate activists draw many spurious links between COVID-19 and climate change , but they have one thing in common : zero tolerance .
For COVID-19 absolutists , society should be organized around the principle of zero Covid .
For climate absolutists , society should be organized around the principle of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions . ''
... `` We can see the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ society , and to human freedom from the draconian measures adopted to contain this virus .
On climate , Biden promises drastic action but avoids telling voters what it might mean .
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is more honest .
It says that net-zero requires “ rapid , far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.
” That ’ s true . ''
Not letting a crisis go to waste , climate change advocates have seized on COVID-19 to press their agenda to decarbonize the American economy .
The World @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the pathogen ’ s emergence is linked to fossil fuels , though Chinese authorities have banned investigators from visiting the source of the virus in Wuhan .
The Green New Deal overlaps “ so perfectly ” with the coronavirus , says Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez .
And Larry Fink , CEO of the world ’ s largest asset manager and likely Treasury Secretary in a Biden administration , views environmental sustainability and COVID-19 as “ one and the same , ” representing “ huge physical changes in our lives.
” Democrats have seized on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , transformational federal investment in “ resilient , sustainable , and inclusive infrastructure , ” their 2020 platform declares .
“ We can , and we will , deal with climate change .
It ’ s not only a crisis , it ’ s an enormous opportunity , ” Joe Biden said in his acceptance speech .
“ We ’ ll not only build it back , we ’ ll build it back better.
” “ Build back better ” is code for decarbonization—and the promise that , out of the ashes of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , a new economy will emerge under the beneficent guidance of the federal government , setting America on a path to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions .
We don ’ t need to “ build back ” anything , though .
America ’ s physical infrastructure is intact .
Its power stations and energy infrastructure , its roads and bridges , its railways and airports are almost exactly as they were before the virus struck .
We are not Germany in 1945 , after Allied bombs had reduced it to rubble .
COVID-19 has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What COVID-19 has destroyed is lives and livelihoods , and corporate and household balance sheets .
Businesses have fixed costs that they can ’ t recover .
Despite the best efforts of the Fed and its unprecedented monetary loosening , time won ’ t stand still for capital and the debt used to finance it when economic activity grinds to a halt .
The best antidote isn ’ t some building program but strong , sustained economic growth .
At this stage , the most pro-growth economic policy is adopting proportionate COVID-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economy while protecting the most vulnerable citizens and treating them with the most efficacious medical therapies .
You won ’ t get any of that from “ building back better.
” The Green New Deal and Biden ’ s plan for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 are the last things that a recovering economy needs .
Mandating net-zero is the equivalent of imposing multi-trillion dollar tax hikes—and with not one cent for deficit reduction , the proceeds going instead to controlling the “ global climate.
” And there ’ s more .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has all the energy it needs , Biden wants to spend $ 1.7 trillion on alternative energy , a gargantuan outlay that would pile on to an already rapidly growing federal deficit .
Climate activists draw many spurious links between COVID-19 and climate change , but they have one thing in common : zero tolerance .
For COVID-19 absolutists , society should be organized around the principle of zero Covid .
For climate absolutists , society should be organized around the principle of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions .
We can see the collateral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and to human freedom from the draconian measures adopted to contain this virus .
On climate , Biden promises drastic action but avoids telling voters what it might mean .
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is more honest .
It says that net-zero requires “ rapid , far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society.
” That ’ s true .
In January , the British government ’ s chief scientific adviser notified Prime Minister Boris Johnson that achieving net-zero will require “ fundamental changes in our society and economy.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the government should “ consider and manage the impacts in areas where existing industries will be disrupted ” —a euphemism for being wiped out .
In the U.S. , that means the oil and gas industry .
“ Kiddo , ” Biden was filmed telling a voter , “ look in my eyes .
I guarantee we ’ re gon na end fossil fuels.
” He didn ’ t tell her that fossil fuels meet 80 % of U.S. energy needs .
Despite Biden ’ s subsequent denial that he would ban @ @ @ @ @ @ @ says otherwise .
Its unavoidable implication is the progressive outlawing of all fossil fuel energy .
Fracking ended America ’ s dependence on imported energy and transformed it into a global hydrocarbon superpower .
The technique has created hundreds of thousands of high-paying blue-collar jobs , both in the shale fields and in downstream manufacturing .
It has cut energy prices , making a family of four better off by an average of $ 2,500 a year .
That ’ s an awful lot to give up for Joe Biden ’ s fable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Darwall is a senior fellow of the RealClear Foundation and author of THE CLIMATE NOOSE .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Michael Shellenberger: Environmental Alarmism Is Making Forest Fires Worse – Up to ’12 million acres

Michael Shellenberger: Environmental Alarmism Is Making Forest Fires Worse – Up to ’12 million acres burned in California annually before the arrival of Europeans’

I woke up an hour later than normal yesterday morning because smoke from northern California ’ s forest fires had blotted out the sun .
My bedroom windows glowed orange .
It looked like a scene out of the 1983 made-for-TV movie , “ The Day After , ” about nuclear war .
I wasn ’ t the only one creeped out by the apocalyptic hue .
“ ’ A Nuclear Winter ’ Over Bay Area , as Wildfires Blot Out the Sun , ” read aNew York Times headline .
“ Without the smoke , it would be a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ This is all generated from the fires.
” The same mechanism that caused the orange sky is what could destroy agriculture in the wake of thermonuclear war : particulate matter from burned wood blocking parts of the light spectrum from reaching the ground .
And yet the air quality wasn ’ t nearly as bad as it looked .
“ The good thing about it is most of the ( smoke ) is staying aloft , ” the air quality meteorologist for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ( BAAQMD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is able to scatter those smoke particles that produce this apocalyptic orange color that we ’ re seeing.
” And while the 2 million acres that have burned in California so far in 2020 is 10 times more area than burned in 2019 , it ’ s still 2 million acres less than the lowest estimate for acres burned within modern state borders annually before Europeans settled in America .
“ California was a very smoky place historically , ” says Malcolm North of the US Forest Survey.
“ Even though we ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s still probably less than what used to be burned before Europeans arrived.
” Many reporters note that more area has burned this year in California than at any other point in “ the modern period , ” but that period began in 1950 .
For the last half of the 20th Century , the annual area burned in California was just 250,000 acres a year , whereas the best-available science suggests 4.4 and 12 million acres burned in California annually before the arrival of Europeans .
“ On reflection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we had for the lower estimate , ” said the lead author of that paper , Scott Stevens of UC Berkeley .
“ You talk to Native American elders and they say they burned oak woodlands every 2-3 years.
” Other scientists were less confident in those annual figures .
“ I wouldn ’ t say this happened every year , ” said Jon Keeley of the United States Geological Service .
“ Our historical fire climate studies show that in California forests some years are cooler and moister and have much less @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have occurred in the past.
” The real problem , scientists say , is that today ’ s mountain forest fires are hotter and kill more trees than many forest fires killed in the past .
Is that due to climate change ?
In part , say scientists .
“ Climate dries the [ wood ] fuels out and extends the fire season from 4-6 months to nearly year-round , ” explains North , “ but it ’ s not the cause of the intensity of the fires .
The cause of that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of wood fuel.
” For most of the last 100 years , Californians suppressed fires in forests , resulting in the accumulation of roughly five times more wood fuel debris than existed in forests before Europeans arrived .
So does that mean the smoke in the air is a function not of area burned , but instead , a function of wood fuel density ?
“ Yes , ” says North .
He pointed out that the 2013-2014 Rim fire , which burned 250,000 acres , exposed five times more people to unhealthy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have if the same area had been burned regularly with smaller “ prescribed ” fires .
As such , even though the intense heatwave spread fires faster than firefighters could put them out , it ’ s possible we would have awoken to an orange sky even had the planet ’ s temperature not risen one-degree Celsius over the last 100 years .
High temperatures , forest fires , and smoky skies also occurred in California in the nineteenth century .
“ It ’ s hot – monstrous hot !
” wrote the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Times on September 17 , 1860 .
“ An unusual thing for San Francisco.
” On September 2 , 1894 , the New York Timespublished an article headlined , “ The Cause of the Hazy Air – All Due to the Unusual Prevalence of Forest Fires.
” Said a scientist , “ Similar conditions have been noticed in the past , notably on the ‘ dark day ’ in 1781… probably caused by smoke .
In 1881 there was another dark day.
” Things seemed apocalyptic back then , too .
“ In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many persons thought the day of judgment had come.
” While fire suppression has allowed the build-up of wood fuel in California ’ s mountain forests , such as the Sierra Nevadas , big , hot fires burned in southern California ’ s chaparral or shrubland forests in 1889 , 1919 , and 1932 , long before fire suppression .
Keeley and his colleagues reviewed 100 newspaper reports from the 19th Century and found that “ large , high-intensity wildfires predate modern fire suppression policy ” and concluded that “ the 1889 Santiago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California history.
” In 1895 , San Francisco was affected by haze from fires .
“ The bluish haze that brooded everywhere , ” noted the Times ’ San Francisco correspondent in 1895 , “ and to many , the trouble was just fog .
But it was real smoke that rode in on the winds.
” “ California Forests Burned , ” reported the Times on September 3 , 1899 .
“ Fire Which Started a Week Ago Has Traversed 700,000 Acres and Can not Be Controlled.
” US government scientists and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they claimed that forest fires resulted in “ sterilization of the soil…for thirty years.
” The US Forest Service adopted a policy of fire suppression .
President Teddy Roosevelt and his Forest Service chief , Gifford Pinchot , drummed up fears of timber scarcity in order to expand federal control over forests and to suppress fires .
A turning point was the Federal government ’ s effort to battle the Great Fire of 1910 , otherwise known as the Big Burn .
Over two days in August , fires burned 3 million acres @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in Idaho , Montana , Washington , and British Columbia .
Like the fires burning in California this year , the Big Burn was started by dry lightning and moved quickly through dried-out forestlands .
Seventy-eight firefighters were killed and Pinchot turned them into martyrs for the Forest Service .
Congress doubled its budget and expanded its policy of fire suppression .
Public support for fire suppression , including from California ’ s elites , grew in the 1920s and 1930s after forest fires wiped out 1,000 homes in Berkeley , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ half a century , scientists realized that fire suppression was a mistake .
“ By the 1960s when we realized it was a problem , ” said Keeley .
“ Vast amount of fuels had accumulated for 50 or more years .
The fires became far bigger than what could easily be handled.
” Historians agree .
“ But by putting out every fire , ” noted Timothy Egan , who wrote a book on the Big Burn , “ they created the greatest wildfires.
” Over the last 50 years , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to use more prescription burning , in part due to community resistance .
“ Very often people complain about it , ” says Keeley , “ and oftentimes slow it down and limit it .
And I understand why .
While I agree with prescription burning , I also understand that smoke is obnoxious and unhealthy.
” And sometimes foresters lose control of the fires .
“ In the early 1960s they called them ‘ controlled burns ’ but they couldn ’ t control them and so they called them ‘ prescription burns.
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ losses , ” Keeley says .
Indeed , politicians are already blaming the US Forest Service for not putting one of northern California ’ s fires out sooner .
“ Butte County Supervisor Bill Connelly , ” reportedthe Sacramento Bee , “ said the US Forest Service ‘ let this fire smolder for weeks .
They could have put it out.
’ ” Mechanical harvesting or “ thinning ” of forests by crews with chainsaws is an alternative to prescribed burns , but far more expensive , the scientists note .
Indeed , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ loggers are allowed to cut down larger trees , a policy that has traditionally been opposed by conservationists .
Another obstacle stems from the fact that the training of the fire crews is focused on simply extinguishing fires .
The national parks , in contrast to the national forests , take a different approach .
“ In Yosemite [ National Park ] , they get forecasts and do models to see where the smoke will go , ” says North .
“ When it looks crappy like the smoke will blow into Reno @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fire into granite outcrops or other areas with low fuels so it piddles along .
Then , when there are good conditions , where the smoke will loft high , they pull the fire across the landscape , ” North explains .
North is hopeful the public will be more accepting of smoke if they know it ’ s inevitable and are better prepared for it .
“ It ’ s all going to burn at some point .
If we stay with business-as-usual , then you can plan on most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ produce the massive fires where we have no control over the timing or direction of the smoke .
“ If the public realizes that you ’ re going to get fire and smoke one way or another , ” said North , “ and pushes the agencies to have fires in a more predictable manner , they might say , ‘ Let ’ s do it if you give me more warning.
’ ” What matters is giving people a feeling of control over the fires .
“ People say , ‘ This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fires everywhere.
’ But it ’ s a whole different world when you decide the conditions , ” says North .
And yet the news media , particularly environmental journalists writing for East Coast newspapers , seem intent on painting the fires as apocalyptic , and due mostly to climate change , even though the skies would still be smoky and orange from fires burning the accumulation of wood fuel .
The problem isn ’ t the misleading coverage per se .
The problem is that the misleading coverage risks making people feel @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , everyone knows that emissions reductions won ’ t change the amount of area burned or smoke produced any time soon .
Climate change or no climate change , scientists say somewhere between 500,000 and 4 million acres of forest land needs to burn annually in California .
Accepting that reality , and managing it in a practical and more nuanced way , requires moving beyond the kind of environmental alarmism that got us into this mess in the first place .
If we do that , then we might be able @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the number of days in the future when we have to wake up to orange skies .
Michael Shellenberger was Time Magazine ’ s “ Hero of the Environment , ” Green Book Award Winner , and president of Environmental Progress , a research and policy organization .
He is also the author of several bestselling books.
, his latest being Apocalypse Never .
The post Environmental Alarmism Is Making Forest Fires Worse first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Leftists Blame Climate Change For West Coast Fires—Why They’re Wrong – ‘Environmentalism is why Cali

Leftists Blame Climate Change For West Coast Fires—Why They’re Wrong – ‘Environmentalism is why California stopped grooming forests or doing controlled burns to get rid of deadwood’

The West Coast is aglow but not in a good way .
Instead , fires are raging throughout California , Oregon , and Washington .
The property damage is appalling , and ten people have already died .
Leftists , predictably , have announced that their goddess , Mother Gaia , is again crying out from the horrors of anthropogenic climate change .
The reality is that there ’ s something bigger and more real going on , which is the actual climate .
La Nina is afoot in the northern hemisphere , and she ’ s having some extra @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have prevented California from protecting against fires .
The data from the fires is appalling .
In California , at least 2.5 million acres have burned .
In Oregon , 900,000 acres have burned , with one of the worst fires being attributed to arson .
In a nod to the cliché that everything that happens hits women and minorities the hardest , the Washington Post reports that “ In a small Oregon town , a wildfire devastates a Latino community.
” And in Washington state , 480,000 acres have burned .
Leftists @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s Anthropogenic Climate Change , which is the nearest thing they have to a religion .
Religions are unfalsifiable because faith ties all events to a deity .
In that vein , climate change is the answer to all weather and climate events .
Whether it ’ s too hot or cold , too still or windy , too wet or dry , it doesn ’ t matter .
The blame always falls on humans and their love affair with fossil fuels .
Therefore , it ’ s unsurprising that one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Barack Obama , would weigh in on the admittedly disturbing orange sky in California .
In his usual pompous way , he announced that humankind was at fault : Others wiser than Obama have pointed out that climate change is not the problem .
Instead , the problem is environmentalism .
Environmentalism is why California stopped grooming forests or doing controlled burns to get rid of deadwood ( aka tinder ) .
It was because of environmentalism that PG & E poured all of its money into building renewable energy facilities , such @ @ @ @ @ @ @ California ’ s recent heatwave , and stopped repairing old power lines ( some going back 90 years ) or trimming back tinder around those power lines .
And all this misbegotten environmentalism has controlled California even as more people have moved into fire zones over the past several decades .
Even those awful environmental policies , though , do not tell the entire story .
There are two bigger things at play .
First , there ’ s California ’ s actual climate .
For all the hysteria about the epic heatwave @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hottest temperatureever recorded on Earth was 134 degrees in California ’ s Death Valley .
That doesn ’ t even mean it was the hottest temperature ever .
It was just the hottest temperature ever recorded .
People have been recording temperatures in a consistent way only since the Victorian era .
That means that , long before the last 150 years , the Earth has almost certainly been setting all sorts of records about which we know nothing .
Second , the leftists are ignoring the most significant thing of all about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is a La Nina year , and it ’ s going to wreak havoc all over America : La Nina — a phenomenon that occurs when the surface of the Pacific Ocean cools — has officially formed , the U.S .
Climate Prediction Center said Thursday .
It triggers an atmospheric chain reaction that stands to roil weather around the globe , often turning the western U.S. into a tinder box , fueling more powerful hurricanes in the Atlantic and flooding parts of Australia and South America .
“ We ’ re already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Nina puts us in a situation where fire-weather conditions persist into November and possibly even December , ” said Ryan Truchelut , president of Weather Tiger LLC .
“ It is exacerbating existing heat and drought issues.
” The effects are already evident .
Rising temperatures and an extreme mega-drought across the U.S. West are fueling fires from Washington to Arizona .
California is having its worst fire season on record , torching an unprecedented 2.5 million acres .
And in the Atlantic , a record number tropical storms have formed by September @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than a dozen people across the Caribbean and the U.S. last month .
No matter where you are , you ’ d better batten down the hatches , because anything that can go wild and dangerous with the weather will .
These unusual weather phenomena will have nothing to do with the lefts ’ favorite explanation of Gaia in crisis due to evil people .
Instead , they will reflect normal weather patterns around the globe , including in California .
The only unusual thing will have been the California greenies ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their state from predictable weather events .
The post Leftists Blame Climate Change For West Coast Fires—Why They ’ re Wrong first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--Environmentalists Destroyed California’s Forests: ‘Environmentalists have gone to the extreme to pre

Environmentalists Destroyed California’s Forests: ‘Environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns, and as a result we have this catastrophe today’

Millions of acres of California forest have been blackened by wildfires this summer , leading to the usual angry denunciations from the usual quarters about climate change .
But in 1999 , the Associated Press reported that forestry experts had long agreed that “ clearing undergrowth would save trees , ” and that “ years of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have been cleared away by wildfires.
” But very little was done .
And now fires of unprecedented size are raging across the Western United States .
“ Sen .
Feinstein blames Sierra Club for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provocative headline on a 2002 story in California ’ s Napa Valley Register .
Feinstein had brokered a congressional consensus on legislation to thin “ overstocked ” forests close to homes and communities , but could not overcome the environmental lobby ’ s disagreement over expediting the permit process to thin forests everywhere else .
Year after year , environmentalists litigated and lobbied to stop efforts to clear the forests through timber harvesting , underbrush removal , and controlled burns .
Meanwhile , natural fires were suppressed and the forests became more and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for the same water , soil , and light a healthier forest would have used , rendering all of the trees and underbrush unhealthy .
It wasn ’ t just excess biomass that accumulated , but dried out and dead biomass .
What happened among California ’ s tall stands of Redwood and Ponderosa Pine also happened in its extensive chaparral .
Fire suppression along with too many environmentalist-inspired bureaucratic barriers to controlled burns and undergrowth removal turned the hillsides and canyons of Southern California into tinderboxes .
In 2009 , after huge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to evacuate , Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich observed : “ The environmentalists have gone to the extreme to prevent controlled burns , and as a result we have this catastrophe today.
” In 2014 , Republican members of Congress tried again to reduce the bureaucracy associated with “ hazardous fuel projects ” that thin out overgrown forests .
True to form , the bill got nowhere thanks to environmental lobbyists who worried it would undermine the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ) , the law that requires thorough impact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lands .
In a blistering report published in the California Globe on how environmentalists have destroyed California ’ s forests , investigative journalist Katy Grimes interviewed Representative Tom McClintock , a Republican who represents communities in and around the Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California .
McClintock has worked for years to reform NEPA and other barriers to responsible forest management .
“ The U.S. Forest Service used to be a profitable federal agency , ” McClintock told Grimes .
But these zealots have not protected the forests .
They have destroyed them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people , including the experts , bother to point out how overgrown forests reduce the water supply .
But when watersheds are choked with dense underbrush competing for moisture , precipitation and runoff can not replenish groundwater aquifers or fill up reservoirs .
Instead , it ’ s immediately soaked up by the trees and brush .
Without clearing and controlled burns , the overgrown foliage dies anyway .
A new activist organization in California , the “ California Water for Food and People Movement , ” created a Facebook group for people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ environmentalist zealotry .
Comments and posts from long-time residents of the Sierra foothills , where fires have exploded in recent years , yield eyewitness testimony to how environmentalist restrictions on forest management have gone horribly wrong .
Examples : “ With the rainy season just ahead , the aftermath of the Creek Fire will challenge our water systems for years to come .
Erosion will send toxic debris and sediment cascading into streams , rivers , and reservoirs , reducing their capacity to carry and hold water .
Dirty air , dirty water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on full display right now , brought to us by the environmental posers who will no doubt use this crisis to unleash a barrage of ‘ climate change did it ’ articles.
” “ Many thanks to Sierra Club and other environmental groups .
You shut down logging/brush removal and had a ‘ don ’ t touch ’ approach to our forests .
You shut down access roads and let them get overgrown , so now they can ’ t be used for fire suppression and emergency equipment .
You fought ranchers for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ floors clean .
You made fun of Trump when he said we need to rake the forest .
Trust me these forest rakes and logging would have prevented the devastating fires we see now.
” The economics of responsible forest management , given the immensity of America ’ s western forests , requires profitable timber harvesting to play a role .
But California has no commercial timber operations on state-owned land .
And since 1990 , when the environmentalist assault on California ’ s timber industry began in earnest , its timber industry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Reviving California ’ s timber industry , so the collective rate of harvest equals the collective rate of growth , would go a long way towards solving the problem of catastrophic fires .
Instead , California ’ s environmentalists only redouble their nonsense arguments .
Expect these fires to justify even more “ climate change ” legislation that does nothing to clear the forests of overgrown tinder , and everything to clear the forests , and the chaparral , of people and towns .
Expect these fires to fuel a new round @ @ @ @ @ @ @ suburban densification , with increased rationing of energy and water .
Expect the “ climate emergency ” to accelerate in synergistic lockstep with the pandemic emergency and the anti-racism emergency .
Expect all three of these emergencies to become issues of public health , thereby eliminating inconvenient constitutional roadblocks to swift action .
Meanwhile , tragically , expect California ’ s politically powerful firefighters ’ union to do little or nothing to support the timber industry or rural inhabitants who don ’ t want to move into urban condos .
As Steve Greenhut @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Orange County Register : No wonder firefighters are overwhelmed during California ’ s wildfire season .
The state can ’ t afford to hire enough of them .
And when these firefighter unions could have been pushing for legislation to clear the forests back in 2019 , where instead did their leftist leadership direct their activist efforts ?
They marched in solidarity with the striking United Teachers of Los Angeles .
The teachers ’ unions have done to California ’ s public schools what environmentalists have done to California ’ s forests .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the early 21st century is ever written , the verdict will be unequivocal .
Forests that thrived in California for over 20 million years were allowed to become overgrown tinderboxes .
And then , with stupefying ferocity , within the span of a few decades , they burned to the ground .
Many of them never recovered .
This epic tragedy was the direct result of policies put in place by misguided environmentalist zealots , misinformed suckers who sent them money , and the litigators and lobbyists they hired , who laughed all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have immolated millions of acres of forests in the Golden State were preventable , and for decades , everyone knew what had to be done .


climatedepot--2020-09-11--What Really Led To California’s Incessant Blackouts: A Timeline

Journalist H. L. Mencken described the unintended consequences of governance like this : “ Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want , and deserve to get it good and hard.
” In energy and environmental policy , California ’ s gotten it “ good and hard ” in recent years .
Record wildfires .
Rolling blackouts .
Politicians like Democrat Gov .
Gavin Newsom blame global warming and President Donald Trump for California ’ s woes .
Yet Newsom has cautiously moved to mitigate some of his state ’ s past policy missteps by increasing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowing some natural gas power plants to remain open for a few more years to reduce the threat of blackouts caused by an overreliance on unreliable wind and solar power .
Giving policymakers the benefit of the doubt—that they didn ’ t intend to promote policies that resulted in burned towns , scores of deaths , and widespread power outages—how did they arrive at this point ?
A brief timeline of key events illuminates how policy is made and how it can go terribly wrong .
Prehistoric : California ’ s climate , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , is Mediterranean , with generally low humidity and an average annual rainfall of 18 inches ( falling mostly in the winter ) , leaving much of the state very dry by the late fall .
Mountains and cool ocean waters combine to create inversion layers in many of the state ’ s basins , trapping smoke and dust .
Before the 1840s : Spanish explorers and then Mexican migrants totaling fewer than 10,000 people settle around a string of 21 Catholic missions along the coast from San Diego to just north of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ross in 1812 , about 80 miles up the coast from San Francisco .
Most of California ’ s interior remains the domain of Native American tribes who frequently burn the pine forests to create grassland , which produces more food and game animals .
1849 to 1970 : With the discovery of gold in 1849 , Americans—and others as far away as Europe and China—rush into California , rapidly increasing the population by 300,000 .
The fires Native Americans purposefully set are discouraged , as they threaten permanent structures and destroy valuable @ @ @ @ @ @ @ gradually become more organized .
Through 1990 , approximately as much timber is harvested as grows naturally every year .
1959 : California ’ s first air quality law is passed as growing postwar urbanization , combined with persistent inversion layers primarily in the Los Angeles basin , causes frequent smog .
1968 : The first major high-voltage line connects California to the Pacific Northwest ’ sabundant hydroelectric resources .
California imports power from the Northwest during the summer and exports power during the winter .
In time , California will become the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , partly driven by air-quality regulations that discourage the construction of new fossil-fueled power plants in the state .
1976 : California enacts a ban on the construction of “ new nuclear fission power plants until the California Energy Commission ( CEC ) has determined that technologies exist for the reprocessing of nuclear fuel rods and the disposal of high-level nuclear waste.
” 1994 : Due to concerns over the Northern Spotted Owl population , whose habitat ranges from Northern California to Washington , a federal judge ruled that President Clinton ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a blow to the Western timber industry , from which it never recovers .
Forests begin accumulating more fuel than is harvested or burned .
1996 : California partially deregulates its electric market , allowing consumer choice and wholesale competition , but regulating retail prices .
2001 : California ’ s partial electric deregulation builds to a crisis with widespread blackouts caused by capped retail prices , delays in the construction of new power plants , and market manipulation by suppliers and energy traders .
2002 : California adopts its Renewable Portfolio Standard @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its use of renewable generation for electricity to 20 percent by 2017 .
2003 : The electric crisis and tax increases needed to address a large budget shortfall led to the recall of Democratic Gov .
Gray Davis in November 2003 .
2005 : California Republican Gov .
Arnold Schwarzenegger supports five government reform ballot measures during a November special election .
Labor unions and other interests spend more than $ 150 million to defeat the measures , often deploying harsh personal attacks on the governor .
All five are defeated .
Political @ @ @ @ @ @ @ improbable political career will end in defeat after the 2006 election .
2006 : Moving to the left , Schwarzenegger signs a series of environmental energy bills : SB 1 , the Million Solar Roofs Initiative , to incentivize mostly upper-class homeowners to install 3,000 megawatts of rooftop solar panels ; AB 32 , the California Global Warming Solutions Act , which aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and then reduce them by another 30 percent—leading to 10,000 megawatts of renewable power generation in work by 2010 ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Standard by at least 1 percent of retail sales annually to reach 20 percent by 2010 ( the Great Recession allowed the target to be met by greatly reducing electrical demand ) ; and SB 1368 , banning the renewal of electricity contracts from mostly out-of-state coal power plants .
One argument used in urging the shift away from natural gas power was that North America was running out of natural gas , with the expectation that nine large liquified natural gas import terminals would have to be built along the West Coast @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Wellhead natural gas prices in California had moved from $ 1.50 per thousand cubic feet in 1994 to $ 7.45 in 2005 , a 397 percent increase .
Modern hydraulic fracturing ( fracking ) techniques soon upended those projections , reducing the cost of natural gas by 70 percent and unexpectedly reducing the cost to California consumers of the transition to renewable energy .
2006 : On July 24 , California hits its largest peak demand for electricity , 50,270 megawatts .
2007 : A bill ( sponsored by this article ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s ban on new nuclear power plants to meet the state ’ s ambitious greenhouse gas reduction law fails in committee .
2008 : Schwarzenegger signs Executive Order S-14-08 , increasing California ’ s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33 percent by 2020 and further accelerating the renewable goal from 20 percent by 2017 to 20 percent by 2010 .
Meanwhile , the deep recession reduces electrical demand , allowing politicians to claim credit for the increased percentage of renewable power even as the total amount of renewable power produced declined .
2012 : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 20 percent of Southern California ’ s power supply and leaving one remaining nuclear-generating station in California—Diablo Canyon Power Plant ( pictured ) , which provides about 8 percent of the in-state generation and is due to close in 2024-25 .
2012 : PG & E , California ’ s largest electric utility , requests a $ 4.84 billion rate increase for powerline safety upgrades and maintenance .
The request is denied as environmental groups fret that the higher energy costs would undermine public support for renewable energy .
The decision leads to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ later in a preventable wildfire .
2015 : SB 350 , by state Sen. Kevin de León , the leader of the California Senate , passes .
The law further increases California ’ s renewable electricity procurement goal from 33 percent by 2020 to 50 percent by 2030 .
De León uses the bill in his unsuccessful campaign to unseat California Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein in 2018 , even winning the endorsement of the California Democratic Party .
2018 : California again increases its renewable electricity goals with SB 100 , hiking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 100 percent zero-carbon by 2045 .
2018 : In November , the powerline-sparked Camp Fire becomes California ’ s deadliest wildfire , killing 85 people .
Politicians widely blame climate change and PG & E for the conflagration .
But years of not harvesting and cleaning the forests have led to a dangerous fuel build-up while PG & E , ordered to heavily invest in renewables by politicians and regulators , had little money for powerline safety upgrades .
2019 : PG & E cuts power to wide swaths of its Northern California @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sparking fires during a high-wind event .
2019 : The Navajo Generating Station in Northern Arizona near Page , the West ’ s largest coal-fired power plant , goes offline in November after reliably providing 2,250 MW of electricity for more than 40 years .
Originally intended to be part of a larger system of hydroelectric power plants on the Colorado River , environmentalists briefly pressured for a nuclear power plant to be built instead—the coal plant was a compromise .
With a large source of cleaner-burning coal on the nearby Navajo Nation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ high-paying jobs , mostly to Native Americans .
Before its decommissioning as a result of California ’ s policies ( cheap solar ) , the Obama administration ’ s war on coal , and inexpensive natural gas due to fracking , it provided almost two percent of the entire Western Interconnection ’ s power .
2020 : California experiences rolling blackouts due to insufficient electricity supplies for the first time since 2001 .
Newsom suggests that four aging natural gas powerplants will have to stay operational beyond 2020 to prevent blackouts , saying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as we move forward in this transition… We failed to predict and plan [ for ] these shortages… ” Some of us have been predicting these electrical shortages for some time now .
Unfortunately for California ’ s electric ratepayers , something must give .
Physics and economics—not policy and good intentions—dictate that some combination of three things will happen : more blackouts ; far higher electric rates to build $ 300 billion in battery farms and billions more for upgraded power lines to meet the 60 percent by 2030 renewable goal ; @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fossil fuels and nuclear must be in the mix .
Read more at The Federalist The post What Really Led To California ’ s Incessant Blackouts : A Timeline first appeared on Climate Change Dispatch .