Despite the push by the UN through its recently approved Agenda 2030 by member nations this past August, the words of President Obama declaring that Global Warming is the most pressing issue this country is facing, and the brainwashing of school children through the Common Core science curriculum that man is responsible for Global Warming, there are still skeptics of global warming who have not been intimidated into remaining silent about what is now a contentious world-wide issue.
One such individual is Steve Goreham, Executive Director of the Climate Science Coalition of America, a speaker and author on environmental issues, a former engineer and business executive, and a father of three. He is a frequent invited guest on radio and television, as well as a free-lance writer and a policy advisor to The Heartland Institute. Goreman has authored two books on climate change: “Climatism! Science, Common Sense, and the 21st Century’s Hottest Topic” published in 2010 and The Mad, Mad, Mad, World of Climatismpublished in 2012. Steve is now working on his third book.
Steve Goreham was the featured speaker at an event sponsored by the North Shore Tea Party held at the Northfield Community Building on Tuesday, October 13, 2015. His topic: “Energy and Climate Change: The Rest of the Story.” As Goreham initially related as insight into what was to follow, in light of all the manure that resulted from the popularity of horse drawn carriages (taxis) in cities such as NYC before the automobile, when automobiles replaced horse drawn carriages they were considered the anti-pollutants.
Steve then went on to describe the 20th Century as a “Golden Age for Mankind”, when income increased by a factor of seven times from the proceeding century, along with an increase of life expectancy. Why? The driver of both can be attributed to the low cost of energy that ushered in the “Golden Age.”
Global Warming Theory
An equation was developed in the 1970s (I= P A T) during the course of a debate between Barry Commoner, Paul R. Ehrlich and John Holdren. Commoner argued that environmental impacts in the United States were caused primarily by changes in its production technology following World War II, while Ehrlich and Holdren argued that all three factors were important and emphasized in particular the role of human population growth. Such was the thinking behind the I=P A T hypothesis: that Environmental Impact Increases with Population,Affluence, and Technology.
The “Environmental Kuznets Curve” proves otherwise. As wealth increases in a nation, its people will address the pollution issue. The air and water in this nation is much cleaner than it was three decades in ago.
The theory of man-man global Warming includes these four components:
- The Greenhouse Effect.
- Rising Atmospheric CO2 Level.
- Rising Global Temperatures
- Computer model projections of temperature readings in the future.
Obsession over Carbon Dioxide
Proponents of man-made global warming obsess over the level of CO2 in the atmosphere (The Greenhouse Effect).
First of all, Carbon Dioxide is not a pollutant. CO2 is an odorless, harmless, invisible gas. We inhale air with little CO2, but breathe out 4% CO2. Furthermore, Greenhouse Gasses account for only 1% – 2% of the Earth’s atmosphere. Nature’s most abundant greenhouse gas is water vapor. Water vapor and clouds account for 75% of the greenhouse effect; natural sources (ocean activity, volcanoes, plants & animals) are responsible for 24%; while only 1% of greenhouse gasses are man-made, making mankind responsible for about 1 part in 100!
Despite the push (and the billions spent) for renewable energy to replace carbon-based sources such as fuel, coal, gas, and oil, the reality is that coal, gas, and oil dominate as power sources. Following is the U.S. Energy consumption by Fuel sources in 2014. As a power source nuclear supplied 8.5%, with Hydro at 2.5%. Other renewable energy sources, lumped together, supplied a mere 7.3% of energy needs and are broken down accordingly: Biomass (Including Ethanol) 4.8%; Wind, 1.8%; Geothermal, 0.2%; and Solar, 0.4%.
Climate madness in Europe an California
Through his slide presentation, Steve Goreham spoke about climate madness in Denmark where there are 5,000 Wind Towers with an average output of 1.3 GW (A GW is equal to one billion (109) watts or 1 gigawatt = 1000 megawatts.). All 5,000 Wind Towers in Denmark could be replaced by one Conventional Power Plant!
In Germany there is solar and wind power mania despite limited sunlight in parts of Germany. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a massive commitment to ‘renewable’ energy and has gone further down the ‘renewables’ path than any country in the world. Now it’s paying the price.
A situation in the UK could qualify for an entry in “Believe It Or Not.” The Drax Power Station in the UK is being powered by wood from the USA! Not classified as a pollutant, wood burning is allowed in England. Half of the Drax Power Station, with an output of 3,960 Megawatts, was converted to wood chips at a cost of $1.1 billion. The U.S. ships 7.5 million metric tons of wood per year to Drax Power Station. Even though the plant receives a subsidy of about $1 billion, the cost of electricity produced by Drax Power Station is double the price of what it was before its conversion from coal to wood.
This truism exists in Europe, and the same will exist for this nation if solar and wind mania craze is successful:
The more a country depends on wind or solar power for its energy, the more a country will pay for power.
Europe can no longer afford its green revolution. Accordingly, subsidies to invest in and develop green energy sources are being cut.
It is not surprising that the state of California is promoting the same renewable energy sources that Europe now perceive as unworkable and expensive. The California Valley Solar Ranch covers an area of 1,000 acres, 100 times the area of a gas-fire plant. Its average output of 57 MW amounts to 10% of what a gas fired plant would produce. Although the California Valley Solar Ranch receives $1.4 billion in federal and state subsidies, the price per kilowatt hour is 15 – 18 cents, three times the current California wholesale rate.
The Role Played by History
History tells us many things, one of them being that weather and climate are not the same thing. During the Medieval Warm Period (900 – 1300 AD) the Vikings settled in Greenland. The settlement grew to 5,000 by 1300, but dies out by 1408 as the climate cools. The Little Ice Age (1300 – 1850 AD) resulted in shorter growing seasons, famine in Europe, and the Thames froze over at London to hold ice fairs on the ice.
In the 20th century, widely reported in the 70’s was the threat of an approaching mini ice age. Less than thirty years later, the American people were told that 2000 – 2009 represented the warmest years on record. How could this be so when for the last 18 years, since 1997, there has been no global warming? To be questioned are the 102 climate models and their faulty projections. Consider also that government record keeping of temperatures only dates back 100 years.
Do 97% of Scientist Believe in Global Warmng?
In 2007 the following Global Warming Petition was signed by 31,478 American Scientists, Including 9,029 with PhDs:
“…There is no convincing scientific evidence that human release of carbon dioxide, methane, or other greenhouse gases is causing or will, in the foreseeable future, cause catastrophic heating of the Earth’s atmosphere and disruption of the Earth’s climate. Moreover, there is substantial scientific evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide produce many beneficial effects upon the natural plant and animal environments of the Earth.”
How then did the 97% consensus figure of scientists agreeing with man-made global warming originate, which is meant to construe that the science is settled and can no longer be questioned?
It was through an AGU (American Geophysical Union) climate survey sent out seeking the opinions of the most complete list of earth scientists they could find around the world as listed in the 2007 edition of the American Geological Institute’s Directory of Geoscience Departments. Two questions were asked:
1. When compared with pre-1800 levels, do you think that mean global temperatures have generally risen, fallen, or remained relatively constant?
2. Do you think human activity is a significant contributing factor in changing mean global temperatures?
Of the 10, 257 surveys sent, 3,146 were returned. Of those returned it was determined 77 of the returned responses came from climate scientists. Of the 77 climate scientists, 75 had answered “Yes” to question two, so it was concluded that 97% of scientists accepted man-made global warming.
A newer 2013 study shows only 36% of geoscientists and engineers believing in AGW
Al Gore’s War
Al Gore is well known for his war against hydrocarbons, organic compounds made of only hydrogen and carbon atoms found in crude oil and natural gas. In Gore’s prize winning documentary of 2006, “An Inconvenient Truth”, he tried to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide.
Even before Al Gore’s war on hydrocarbons in 2006, there was Amory Lovins. He has been writing misguided books since the 1970’s. Lovins most recent book with the Rocky Mountain Institute, “Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era”, was published in October of 2011. Notable is that the forward is by John W. Rowe, who at the time was Chairman and CEO, Exelon Corp. President Bill Clinton described the book as “A wise, detailed, and comprehensive blueprint.”
It would be foolish to go the way of Europe, when it has become apparent to European leaders that renewable energy sources are responsible for soaring energy prices. Yet this nation is being told that renewable energy sources represent the future. How is this so? It is fact that CO2 is not a pollutant, even though the EPA declared it to be so under the Clean Water Act in 2009. Then too, mankind is responsible for about 1 part in 100 of the Greenhouse Effect in Earth’s Atmosphere. Yet Illinois and other states have mandated unrealistic and unobtainable goals of how much energy is to be produced by renewable sources at a given time in the not so distant future. Illinois’ renewable mandate status of 25% for 2025 is not on track. Here are individual State Renewable Portfolio Standard and Goals, updated October, 2015.
It is low cost energy that drives our economy. Without low cost energy (and there is the miracle of shale shock), not only would electricity rates soar, but the price of all goods would rise and blackouts could result because of insufficient energy supply. In other words, the American people would experience a reduced standard of living.
Crucial is the UN Paris climate conference to be held from November 30 to December 11. The governments of more than 190 nations will gather in Paris to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and thus avoiding the threat of dangerous climate change.
Educate yourself and challenge the consensus over what many consider a hoax by the elites to gain power and control over the masses.
[Originally published at Illinois Review]
Nancy J. Thorner is a writer, cellist, and Tea Party activist based in suburban Chicago.
