Climate Change Weekly #44
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions that would effectively ban the construction of coal-fired power plants. EPA’s proposed restrictions would remove the least expensive source of electricity from the menu of power plant options.
EPA is justifying its carbon dioxide restrictions by claiming ongoing increases in global carbon dioxide emissions pose a threat to human health and welfare. However, punishing U.S. consumers with higher electricity prices is attacking the wrong party for the alleged problem. While global carbon dioxide emissions have risen approximately 33 percent this century, U.S. emissions have declined this century.
China emits more carbon dioxide than the entire Western Hemisphere and is increasing its emissions by approximately 10 percent per year. If all U.S. emissions were to be eliminated today, the mere growth in Chinese emissions would make the elimination of U.S. emissions moot in less than a decade.
What we are left with, even if we assume for the sake of argument that humans are causing a global warming crisis, is substantial self-induced economic pain for no significant real-world environmental impact.
EPA will accept comments for 60 days after publishing the proposed rules. The agency also will conduct public hearings.
SOURCE: Forbes.com
IN THIS ISSUE
Growth in Antarctic ice sheet is ‘loss of ice’ … IPCC report finds no link to extreme weather damages … Another litmus test for ‘science deniers’ … When is a ‘subsidy’ not a subsidy? … Princeton’s Happer documents computer model failures … Michael Mann claims smear campaign, again.
GROWTH IN ANTARCTIC ICE SHEET IS ‘LOSS OF ICE’
The University of Texas at Austin has issued a press release claiming some cracks in a portion of the West Antarctic ice shelf are “potentially amplifying an already accelerating loss of ice to the sea.” Satellite imagery, however, shows Antarctic sea ice is above the 30-year average and has been in a long-term growth phase since at least the mid-1980s.
SOURCE: Watts Up With That?
IPCC REPORT FINDS NO LINK TO EXTREME WEATHER DAMAGES
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its Special Report on Extremes, which fails to find increasing property damage caused by global warming. The report also addresses property damage trends for particular types of extreme weather events, finding no link between trends in tornado damages and global warming, and no link between flood damages and global warming. Environmental scientist Roger Pielke Jr. has published an interesting, brief discussion of the report.
SOURCE: Roger Pielke Jr.’s blog
ANOTHER LITMUS TEST FOR ‘SCIENCE DENIERS’
Global warming alarmists and their media allies have branded as “science deniers” people who have doubts about speculative computer models and uncertain feedback mechanisms. A newly written paper illustrates just how crazy it is for “deniers” to question these computer models. According to the paper, “A global climate model that does not simulate current climate accurately does not necessarily imply that it cannot produce accurate projections.”
SOURCE: Climate Science: Roger Pielke Sr.
WHEN IS A ‘SUBSIDY’ NOT A SUBSIDY?
One of the ways global warming activists are attempting to “skin the cat” of carbon dioxide emissions is to single out carbon-based energy sources for higher taxes. U.S. Senator James Inhofe has published an excellent explanation of why the latest political campaign to “end oil subsidies” is nothing more than an attempt to single out oil companies for unique tax burdens not imposed on other industries.
SOURCE: U.S. Senator James M. Inhofe blog
PRINCETON’S HAPPER DOCUMENTS COMPUTER MODEL FAILURES
Princeton University professor of physics Will Happer has written an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal documenting how real-world climate conditions are contradicting alarmist computer model projections. Happer also rebuts claims that global warming is causing an increase in extreme weather events.
“It is important to distinguish between what the climate is actually doing and what computer models predict. The observed response of the climate to more CO2 is not in good agreement with model prediction,” writes Happer.
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
MICHAEL MANN CLAIMS SMEAR CAMPAIGN, AGAIN
Disgraced Climategate figure Michael Mann is claiming in a CNN.com article that he is a reluctant warrior who was thrust into the global warming debate against his will when industry shills began personally attacking him because his scientific research was inconvenient for them. Mann repeatedly brings his six-year-old daughter into the global warming debate, claims Climategate emails on such topics as evading Freedom of Information Act laws were “taken out of context,” and reluctantly tries to sell his new book.
SOURCE: CNN.com
