Heliogenic Climate Change

“For example, if you open the [Wikipedia] article about global warming and press the “history” button, you will see several edits every day made by William M. Connolley, [a former climate modeller, a RealClimate contributor, and] a blogging official in the British Green Party. Most of them are trying to protect what he calls the “consensus” – i.e. to keep a high degree of contamination of the articles by ideological crap and misinformation. He’s doing the same thing to dozens of key articles about the climate. Because Connolley has made it into some kind of a “moderator” of Wikipedia, it shouldn’t be hard to expect that the articles about the climate simply can’t be objective.” “Wikipedia: edit wars“
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“In one of his slides, Enriquez showed a group of microscopic worms that were snacking on a small piece of coal. And just like a baby that eats beans, the worms, said Enriquez, are releasing a lot of methane. By genetically engineering those small animals, Enriquez said, “We can increase the amount of gas that comes out of coal by 10 or 20 or 30 fold. And we are scaling that.” He went on saying that through genetic manipulation, “We can program cells for various functions and we are going to program them to take methane out of coal.” In addition, they aim to program them “to make chemicals” and program them “to make octane.” He warned that his vision of the future “seems wild” but he declared that the coming boom in genetic engineering will be “the single biggest change to the global economy in your lifetimes. And your business is going to get hit a lot faster than the pharmaceutical industry.”

After his speech, Enriquez delivered my favorite quote of the conference. Asked about biofuels and corn ethanol, Enriquez replied “Growing corn to make fuel is galactically stupid.”” “Galactically Stupid and Other Random (Tardy) Notes from CERAWee“

“The chief executive of Duke Energy Corp., one of the nation’s biggest power companies and a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, said Friday that a proposal by President Obama to place a price on carbon emissions would drive up electricity rates in some areas of the U.S. by 40% and warned that it could also lead to “a redistribution of wealth” from Midwestern industrial states to coastal states.

Duke Energy CEO James Rogers said he was also concerned that some of the roughly $646 billion that Mr. Obama hopes to raise by making companies pay for the right to pollute would be diverted to causes unrelated to fighting climate change.

“My view is they’ll try to use the money from Ohio and Indiana to subsidize the West coast and the Northeast and to use it for purposes that are different from addressing the climate issue,” Mr. Rogers said Friday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.” “Duke Energy CEO: Cap-and-Trade Plan Would Raise Electric Rates 40%“

“And as far as middle-class tax cuts are concerned, Obama’s cap-and-trade program will be a huge across-the-board tax increase on blue-collar workers, including unionized workers. Industrial production is plunging, but new carbon taxes will prevent production from ever recovering. While the country wants more fuel and power, cap-and-trade will deliver less.” “Obama Declares War on Investors, Entrepreneurs, Businesses, And More“
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“China, the world’s No. 2 enegy consumer, plans to build nine crude oil refining bases in coastal areas during the next three years, local media reported Thursday, citing the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning agency.

According to China Knowledge news service, under the country’s petrochemical stimulus plan, three of the new bases, each designed with refining capacity of 30 million tons of crude oil annually, will be built in coastal cities of Ningbo, Nanjing and Shanghai.

The other six bases, with annual crude oil refining capacity of 20 million tons each, will be constructed in such as Guangzhou, Quanzhou and Tianjin. In 2011, China’s annual crude oil refining capacity is expected to total 440 million tons and the total oil reserve capacity to reach 44.60 million cubic meters, the report said.” “China to build 9 refining bases in 3 years“

“DES MOINES, Iowa – Nothing says summer in Iowa like a cloud of dust behind a combine.

But what may be a fact of life for farmers is a cause for concern to federal regulators, who are refusing to exempt growers from new environmental regulations.

It’s left some farmers feeling bemused and more than a little frustrated.

“It’s such a non-commonsense idea that you can keep dust within a property line when the wind blows,” said Sen. Charles Grassley, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee who still farms in northeast Iowa.

Under rules imposed in 2006, rural areas would be kept to the same standards as urban areas for what the Environmental Protection Agency calls “coarse particulate matter” in the air. …

In a letter sent Wednesday to the EPA, Grassley wrote that compliance would be impossible because of the dust produced in farmers’ day-to-day activities.

Grassley also has noted that because many rural roads are not paved, particulate readings could be affected by wind gusts that constantly change.

“After all, God decides when the wind blows, not Chuck Grassley,” he said. …

But farmers insist the regulation will affect their operations and eventually their bottom lines. And they said … they have few options for limiting dust from their fields and roads.

Roger Zylstra, a director with the Iowa Corngrowers Association, said if left alone, farmers can compete worldwide. But regulation could impede their success.

He said there seems to be a disconnect between farmers and policymakers.

“Many of the people that are making the rules, it feels like they really don’t know what (farming) issues are,” said Zylstra, a Lynnville resident who has worked on a farm for 35 years.

Zylstra said it’s hard not to get frustrated.

“We think we’ve met the demands that have been put upon us and lo and behold, we have new and even more stringent demands. It seems really unrealistic.”" “EPA says farm dust open to regulation“

“ALLIGATORS bask off the English coast, the Sahara desert stretches into Europe and 10 per cent of humans are left.

Science fiction?

No, this is the doomsday prediction if global temperatures make a predicted rise of 4C in the next 100 years. Some fear it could happen by 2050.

A report in 2007 by the conservative [LOL!] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted a rise of between 2C and 6.4C this century.” “Humans facing huge population cull if global temperatures rise 4C in next 100 years“
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“The world faces a final opportunity to agree an adequate global response to climate change at a U.N.-led meeting in Copenhagen in December, the European Union’s environment chief said on Friday. …

“It is now 12 years since Kyoto was created. This makes Copenhagen the world’s last chance to stop climate change before it passes the point of no return,” European Union Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a climate conference in Budapest on Friday.” “World faces last chance to avoid fatal warming: EU“
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“The House passes a bill allowing Sunflower Electric Power Corp. to build two coal-fired power plants in western Kansas.

The vote Friday was 79-44 – five votes short of the two-thirds needed to override a promised veto by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

House Speaker Mike O’Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, said he will have the 84 votes when it comes time to override.

The bill overturns a decision by the Sebelius administration to deny an air-quality permit to the Hays-based utility over concerns about carbon dioxide emissions.” “Kan. House passes coal bill“
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Obama said he wouldn’t raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year, yet he is introducing a cap-and-trade scheme that will cost consumers $300 billion a year, a tax increase of $1,000 per year for every American man, woman and child. What a blatant government power grab. Is this the change you voted for?
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“Georgia simply doesn’t have the wind, solar or biomass resources required to meet proposed new federal regulations for renewable energy generation, Georgia Public Service Commissioner Stan Wise told members of Congress on Thursday.

As a result, Georgians’ electricity bills would rise by as much as 25 percent and billions in taxpayer money would flow out of Georgia to import renewable energy from other states or to pay for government-sponsored credits to offset proposed renewable goals, Wise warned members of a House energy subcommittee.

“Ultimately it’s going to be a substantial wealth transfer from Southern states … and ultimately cost us jobs, growth and industry —- and be a significant cost to the ratepayer,” Wise said.” “Feds’ Energy Rules Will Hit State Hard“

“California regulators Thursday adopted the world’s first mandatory measures to control highly potent greenhouse gases emitted by the computer manufacturing industry.

The new rules would cover 85 plants, mostly in Silicon Valley. They require most computer chip makers to slash releases … by more than half over the next three years. …

“The financial impact is going to be severe,” Gus Ballis, a spokesman for chip maker NEC Electronics America Inc., a subsidiary of NEC Electronics Corp. in Japan, told the board. The Sacramento-area facility, one of California’s largest high-tech plants, will have until 2014 to comply because it is retooling.

But, Ballis warned, “We’re potentially on the chopping block — whether they are going to keep us or pull our production back to Japan.”" “Silicon Valley manufacturers must reduce greenhouse gas emissions” h/t CCNet

“THE painful loss of 1850 jobs at Pacific Brands in NSW, Victoria and Queensland is more than a byproduct of the global recession. The company’s bankers have reportedly increased the company’s interest bill, but the main reason for shifting to China, chief executive Sue Morphet said on Wednesday, is that manufacturing in Australia “is no longer a competitive advantage” to the company. However iconic to Australia, Bonds and King Gee are better value for consumers when produced at lower cost and imported.” “Painful lessons as Chesty Bond defects” h/t CCNet
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“As noted in a recent study by the American Energy Alliance, an industry research group, developing our offshore energy resources would create in the coming years:

• $8.2 trillion in additional GDP.

• $2.2 trillion in total new state and federal tax revenues.

• 1.2 million new jobs at high wages.

• $70 billion in added wages to the economy each year.

All this for doing nothing other than letting oil companies do what they do best: Find and develop potential energy sources.

Add to this the potential from opening the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge’s 10 billion-plus barrels of oil to potential development, and the 20 billion barrels or so in Alaska’s Chukchi Sea, and there’s an awful lot of easy stimulus to be had.” “Crude stimulus“

“The Obama administration has proposed eliminating what it termed “oil and gas company preferences” as it released its proposed fiscal 2010 federal budget on Feb. 26. The move would raise nearly $31.48 billion of revenue by fiscal 2019, it said [costs which oil and gas companies will pass on to you -- my comment].

In the budget’s mandatory and receipts proposal table, it called for the repeal of the manufacturing tax deduction for oil and gas companies, which it said would raise an estimated $13.29 billion over 10 years, and the percentage depletion allowance, which it said would raise some $8.25 billion during that period.

It also recommended repealing the enhanced oil recovery credit, the marginal well tax credit, the expensing of tangible drilling costs, the deduction for tertiary injectants, and the passive loss exception for working interests in oil and gas properties.

The proposals also included placing an excise tax on Gulf of Mexico production, which the budget said would raise $5.28 billion, and increasing the geological and geophysical amortization period for independent producers to seven years from five to raise nearly $1.19 billion, essentially reversing a provision in the 2005 Energy Policy Act.” “Obama’s proposed budget would repeal oil, gas tax breaks“
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“Award-winning Princeton University Physicist Dr. Will Happer declared man-made global warming fears “mistaken” and noted that the Earth was currently in a “CO2 famine now.” Happer, who has published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, made his remarks during today’s Environment and Public Works Full Committee Hearing entitled “Update on the Latest Global Warming Science.”

“Many people don’t realize that over geological time, we’re really in a CO2 famine now. Almost never has CO2 levels been as low as it has been in the Holocene (geologic epoch) – 280 (parts per million – ppm) – that’s unheard of. Most of the time [CO2 levels] have been at least 1000 (ppm) and it’s been quite higher than that,” Happer told the Senate Committee. …

[H]e warned “children should not be force-fed propaganda, masquerading as science.” …

“I believe that the increase of CO2 is not a cause for alarm and will be good for mankind,” Happer told the Committee. …

“There have been similar and even larger warmings several times in the 10,000 years since the end of the last ice age. These earlier warmings clearly had nothing to do with the combustion of fossil fuels. The current warming also seems to be due mostly to natural causes, not to increasing levels of carbon dioxide. Over the past ten years there has been no global warming, and in fact a slight cooling. This is not at all what was predicted by the IPCC models,” Happer testified. …

“The IPCC has made no serious attempt to model the natural variations of the earth’s temperature in the past. Whatever caused these large past variations, it was not due to people burning coal and oil. If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future?” he stated. …

“CO2 is not a pollutant and it is not a poison and we should not corrupt the English language by depriving ‘pollutant’ and ‘poison’ of their original meaning.” …

“Like the temperance movement one hundred years ago the climate-catastrophe movement has enlisted the mass media, the leadership of scientific societies, the trustees of charitable foundations, and many other influential people to their cause. Just as editorials used to fulminate about the slippery path to hell behind the tavern door, hysterical op-ed’s lecture us today about the impending end of the planet and the need to stop climate change with bold political action.”" “Scientist Tells Congress: Earth in ‘CO2 Famine’“
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“Glaciers in Antarctica are melting faster and across a much wider area than previously thought, a development that threatens to raise sea levels worldwide and force millions of people to flee low-lying areas, scientists said Wednesday.

Researchers once believed that the melting was limited to the Antarctic Peninsula, a narrow tongue of land pointing toward South America. But satellite data and automated weather stations now indicate it is more widespread.

The melting “also extends all the way down to what is called west Antarctica,” said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

“That’s unusual and unexpected,” he told The Associated Press in an interview.

By the end of the century, the accelerated melting could cause sea levels to climb by 3 to 5 feet — levels substantially higher than predicted by a major scientific group just two years ago.

Making matters worse, scientists said, the ice shelves that hold the glaciers back from the sea are also weakening.” “Antarctic glaciers melting faster than thought“

“COLTON, Calif. — Only a few years ago, CalPortland planned on keeping its plant here operating as long as Mount Slover’s limestone held out. For more than a century, Colton’s kilns and crushing machines have been churning out cement for the streets and buildings of Los Angeles.

But the company says the plant’s future is now uncertain. … And the company says it faces new expenses: the cost of meeting California’s new requirements that manufacturers take steps to curb emissions of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas linked to global warming.

State regulators have projected that retrofitting the state’s 11 cement plants would cost $220 million and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 12 percent per ton of cement. But CalPortland’s executives say it would cost more than that to retrofit the Colton plant alone. …

If he closes the plant when the new rules take effect, Mr. Repman said, 140 jobs will disappear.” “Economic Crisis Complicates California’s Goals on Climate” h/t Tom Nelson
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If you have any doubt about what finding EPA will make on the greenhouse gas (GHG) endangerment issue, just look at EPA’s “Climate Leaders” website:

“Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Partner companies commit to reducing their impact on the global environment by completing a corporate-wide inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions based on a quality management system, setting aggressive reduction goals, and annually reporting their progress to EPA. Through program participation, companies create a credible record of their accomplishments and receive EPA recognition as corporate environmental leaders.” “Climate Leaders“

I thought EPA was supposed to be objectively considering whether or not GHGs are, in fact, dangerous (just kidding of course). The fix is in. h/t Tom Nelson
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“Current climate model projections assume that climate is very sensitive to CO2. We’ve
found however, that during warming episodes, clouds step up their cooling effect. When
model output is tested this way, not one model mimics this cooling effect – in fact the
models’ clouds lead to further warming, not cooling as seen in nature. We hypothesize
that poor cloud properties cause models to overstate warming rates. We’ve also found
that current popular surface temperature datasets indicate more warming than is actually
happening in the atmosphere because they are contaminated by surface development.” “Testimony of John Christy” h/t Tom Nelson
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“In November 2007, hundreds of dead and bedraggled seabirds washed up on the shores of Monterey Bay in California. …

The suspicion initially was that the mysterious deaths might be related to the Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay the same month, or to controversial aerial insecticide spraying on the Central Coast to control the light brown apple moth.

But Raphael Kudela of the University of California, Santa Cruz, … says autopsies of the dead birds turned up no evidence that the oil or insecticide had been involved. Instead, researchers found that they had died from hypothermia – a puzzling cause of death for seabirds.

The timing and location of the three waves of strandings offered a clue to what had happened. Each coincided with a distinct and intense “red tide” – a bloom of microscopic algae suspended at the surface of the ocean. The algae that caused the tides, a species called Akashiwo sanguinea, produces powerful surfactants – the “wetting agents” that are added to soaps and shampoos to make them foam. …

When he and his colleagues analysed samples of the slime they cleaned off the birds’ feathers, they found evidence of the algal surfactant. The surfactant disrupted the feather structure, making them less waterproof and exposing the birds to the cold that eventually killed many of them.” “‘Red tide’ sent seabirds to their deaths“
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