Heliogenic Climate Change

“A new generation of biofuels, meant to be a low-carbon alternative, will on average emit more carbon dioxide than burning gasoline over the next few decades, a study published in Science found on Thursday.

Governments and companies are pouring billions of research dollars into advanced fuels made from wood and grass, meant to cut carbon emissions compared with gasoline, and not compete with food as corn-based biofuels do now.

But such advanced, “cellulosic” biofuels will actually lead to higher carbon emissions than gasoline per unit of energy, averaged over the 2000-2030 time period, the study found.

That is because the land required to plant fast-growing poplar trees and tropical grasses would displace food crops, and so drive deforestation to create more farmland, a powerful source of carbon emissions.

Biofuel crops also require nitrogen fertilizers, a source of two greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide (CO2) and the more powerful nitrous oxide.

“In the near-term I think, irrespective of how you go about the cellulosic biofuels program, you’re going to have greenhouse gas emissions exacerbating the climate change problem,” said lead author, Jerry Melillo, from the U.S. Marine Biological Laboratory.” “Advanced Biofuels Will Stoke Global Warming: Study“

” Environmental campaigners have today vowed to seek an appeal after a High Court judge blocked their attempt to bring legal action against the Treasury and RBS [Royal Bank of Scotland] over the taxpayer-controlled bank’s continued investment in carbon intensive businesses …

“Official figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed the number of fuel poor in the UK have doubled from 2 million in 2004 to 4 million in 2007. During the same period domestic energy prices rose by up to 80 per cent.

Households that are forced to spend more than 10 per cent of income on energy bills are considered “fuel poor”.

DECC estimated that the number of fuel poor in England alone will rise from 2.8 million in 2007 to 4.6 million in 2009.

Watchdogs Consumer Focus said if the increase is applied to the UK, the total number of households in fuel poverty in the UK could be as high as 6.6 million this year. The Government’s own advisers the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group said the total could reach 7 million within 18 months.

Charles Hendry, energy spokesman for the Conservatives, said the number equated to one in four homes.

“High energy bills are a serious problem for millions struggling with the consequences of Gordon Brown’s recession. The number of people living in fuel poverty has tripled in the last five years, yet warm words are all Ministers have offered the millions of families who are falling into debt to heat their homes,” he said.” “One in four households will be pushed into fuel poverty this year fear campaigners“

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper is too clever by half on global warming.

Politically, he’s taken the smart position — Canada will match whatever U.S. President Barack Obama does. …

The problem is with the centrepiece of Obama’s plan — creating a U.S. cap-and-trade market in carbon dioxide emissions into which Canada will be sucked, along with the rest of the world.

This is the wrong policy for a resource-rich, energy-exporting country, like Canada. Cap-and-trade will cost Canadians jobs. It will make Canadians poorer. It will slow our recovery.

It will hike not just the cost of electricity far beyond what governments are already doing under the guise of “going green,” but the cost of everything.

It will give speculators and giant energy corporations undeserved profits.

It will create the potential for destabilizing financial bubbles, because the price of a “carbon credit,” the stock on which cap-and-trade is built, is vulnerable to corruption and fraud.

Finally, cap-and-trade will do nothing for the environment.

This isn’t speculation. It’s the reality of Europe’s five-year-old cap-and-trade system.

Harper knows all this. Back when he was opposition leader, he correctly denounced the Kyoto accord, the political deal that is driving cap-and-trade, as a socialist, money-sucking, wealth-redistribution scheme.

He should be warning Canadians about that now and urging Obama, since he won’t abandon cap-and-trade, to at least proceed with extreme caution.

But Conservatives have convinced themselves if they talk honestly about this folly it will cost them at the polls, leaving them vulnerable to charges from the left they don’t care about the planet.

Sadly, many Conservative voters have bought into this logic — arguing Harper has to pay lip service to what he doesn’t believe in to win a majority government — and then try to minimize the economic damage.” “Harper’s inconvenient truth“

“The proposed 1,500-megawatt Desert Rock facility near Shiprock, NM has been sent back to the EPA for a new air pollution permit. (1) The EPA originally issued a permit in 2008, but under the new administration appealed to the Environment Appeals Board for permission to rescind the permit and the permission was granted on September 25. Needless to say, opponents of coal-fired power plants around the country were quite pleased.

This appears to be the plan for the future. No new coal plants, no new nuclear plants; rather rely on wind and solar for energy while prices go through the roof.

What did the Navajos think about this latest turn of events? The president of the Navajo Nation joined other Native American leaders in assailing environmentalists who have sought to block or shut down coal-fired power plants that provide vital jobs and revenue to tribes in northern Arizona.

“These are individuals and groups who claim to have put the welfare of fish and insects above the survival of the Navajo people when in fact their only goal is to stop the use of coal in the US and the Navajo Nation,” said Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., who presides over America’s largest Indian reservation, which sprawls over three states and claims a population of about 250,000. (2)

In 2005, environmentalists successfully closed the Mojave Generating station in Laughlin, NV after a pollution lawsuit. That shutdown cost the tribe more than $6.5 million per year, and closure of the Navajo Generating Station would wipe out another $11 million. (2)

At this point in time the Navajos would be much better off if they were located in Europe or Asia. Europe, which has led the way in implementing Kyoto Protocol accords will have 40 new coal-fired power plants by 2015. Germany plans to build 27 coal-fired electrical generating plants by 2020 and Italy plans to double its reliance on coal in just five years. (3)

China is building a new coal-fired power plant every week and India will double its coal-based electricity generation by 2020. (3) The combined carbon emissions from the new coal-fired power plants that China and India are building between now and 2012 are five times the total savings of the Kyoto accords. (4)” “Inequalities About Coal-Fired Power Plants” h/t Junk Science

Many of you have probably read the breathless media reports ( here, here, here) trumpeting that “changes occurring at a remote Arctic lake are unprecedented over the past 200,000 years and likely are the result of human-caused climate change, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder”. Of course, the alarmist blogosphere went predictably nuts. Patrick Michaels takes the reports apart (read his entire post):

“There is a bit of press covering a just-published paper that concludes that the current climate and ecological conditions in a remote lake along the north shore of Canada’s Baffin Island are unique within the past 200,000 years—and anthropogenic global warming is the root cause. Which of course, spells t-r-o-u-b-l-e.

Somehow, that temperatures there were several degrees higher than present for a good third of the past 10,000 years and that there has been virtually no temperature trend in the area during past 50 years—the time usually associated with the greatest amount of human-caused “global warming”—was conveniently downplayed or ignored.

Go figure. …

Figure 1 shows the summer (June, July August) average temperature from the weather station located at Clyde, Northwest Territory, which is located on Baffin Island very near the site of the lake. There is no trend here from 1943 to 2008, the period of available data. The most remarkable events are a couple of very cold summers and one very warm summer—all in the 1970s. Summers in the most recent decade are little different than summers in the 1950s—hardly a sign that human-caused “global warming” has made environmental conditions there particularly unique.” “Baffling island“

h/t Tom Nelson
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h/t Tom Nelson
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“For the heck of it, let’s look back to last week, when [Canadian Prime Minister Stephen] Harper dropped into Edmonton to announce $343-million of federal money for a coal-fired TransAlta Corp. carbon-capture and storage (CCS) project. Simultaneously, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach announced a contribution of $436-million, for a total investment of $774-million of taxpayers’ cash.

That Harper-Stelmach announcement followed an earlier Ottawa-Alberta one for a coal-fired Shell carbon storage project. In that case, the combined federal and provincial contribution was $865-million.

The two announcements – both for coal-fired facilities, the oil sands therefore remaining untouched – mean about $1.6-billion in taxpayer money in the years ahead, or about $220 for a family of four.

What do we get for that sum?

We get, at best, a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions of 2.1 million tonnes. “At best” because the announcements were tempered with hedging words such as “could” achieve and “up to one million tonnes.” Therefore, something less than 2.1 million tonnes might actually be captured.

Let’s be generous and assume the two projects costing $1.6-billion do in fact bury 2.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, the most-prevalent gas contributing to global warming. Such a reduction would mean a per-tonne carbon-reduction cost of about $761 – staggeringly, wildly, mind-blowingly higher than any other conceivable measure designed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. Want a contrast? Alberta has a piddling carbon tax on emissions over a certain level that companies can avoid by paying $15 a tonne into an technology fund.” “On a cost basis, carbon-capture projects are madness” h/t JunkScience

“[P]laintiffs’ lawyers may be a gloating a bit, after a favorable ruling Friday from the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans, which is regarded as one of the more conservative circuit courts in the country. Here’s a link to the ruling.

The suit was brought by landowners in Mississippi, who claim that oil and coal companies emitted greenhouse gasses that contributed to global warming that, in turn, caused a rise in sea levels, adding to Hurricane Katrina’s ferocity. …

For a nice overview of the ruling, and its significance in the climate change battle, check out this blog post by J. Russell Jackson, a Skadden Arps partner who specializes in mass tort litigation. The post likens the Katrina plaintiffs’ claims, which set out a chain of causation, to the litigation equivalent of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”

The central question before the Fifth Circuit was whether the plaintiffs had standing, or whether they could demonstrate that their injuries were “fairly traceable” to the defendant’s actions. The defendants predictably assert that the link is “too attenuated.”

But the Fifth Circuit held that at this preliminary stage in the litigation, the plaintiffs had sufficiently detailed their claims to earn a day in court.

In so holding, the court notably quoted a recent Supreme Court opinion that “accepted as plausible the link between man-made greenhouse gas emissions and global warming” along with the fact that “rising ocean temperatures may contribute to the ferocity of hurricanes.”

So what is the broader significance of the ruling? We checked in with Jackson for his take.

At a minimum, he says, the ruling will invite more climate-change litigation in the future.” “Hurricane Katrina Victims Have Standing To Sue Over Global Warming” h/t Environmental Capital. Prior insane Circuit Court ruling here. Ultimate insane Supreme Court ruling here.

“Of all the insanities committed in the name of green politics, one of the most insane is the production of biofuels from food crops. In pursuit of increased proportion of energy from renewable sources, governments have realized that wind and solar power cannot make sufficiently large contributions. They have therefore turned to biofuels, a move that hugely delights their farming lobbies.

Left at that, this might not have done too much damage outside of a massive misallocation of resources, but in a move that compounds insanity with thoughtless wickedness, they have chosen to do so out of food crops, rather than push forward the development of fuels from biological waste products such as husks, stalks and other cellulose surplus.

Now Robin Pagnamenta reports in the Times that “Britain’s self-sufficiency in wheat will end next year because a giant new biofuel refinery needs so much of the staple crop that home-grown supplies will be exhausted.” Yes, we are now buying wheat on world markets to turn into fuel that is more expensive than that we can buy elsewhere or pump out of North Sea wells. That puts upward pressure on world prices, forcing up the price of foodstuffs. To affluent people this will be an inconvenience; to the poor it might mean starvation.

We have, in effect, reintroduced the Corn Laws which were abolished in 1846, ensuring that the poor have to pay more for their bread as landowners and farmers benefit from higher prices. Well-to-do ladies driving their children to school in 4x4s can feel good that they are driving on ‘green’ fuel, even as people in poorer countries go hungry. Already there have been pasta protests in Italy and tortilla riots in Mexico, as poor people protest as the higher prices.” “Feeling green while the poor starve” h/t Planet Gore
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“The headline, if true, would be a news story indeed: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, according to a press release e-mailed to journalists this morning, had decided to reverse its opposition to strong climate change legislation. But that’s false. Some unknown group decided to punk the Chamber. And in the process, at least one news organization, Reuters, fell for it.” “Fake “Chamber” Press Release Dupes Reuters” Update: CNBC, NYT, and WaPo also duped.
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“Public relations executive James Hoggan says there’s no doubt that his new book is provoking some angry reactions from people with its revelations about what is shaping public opinion on global warming.

In fact, the Vancouver businessman says the point of the book, Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, was to shock people.

The book examines the research organizations and academics who question whether human activity is causing dangerous global warming, and trace their arguments back to funding from the fossil-fuel industry and internal plans that explain their goal is to confuse the public and slow down or stop government action.

“My message is just really simple,” said Hoggan, 63, during a recent stop at the University of Ottawa as part of the book launch.

“This should be illegal. People should not be able to pull off this kind of deception and get away with it. And I’m not saying let’s bring out the chains and lock up free speech. What I’m saying is that we should know who is paying for these things.” …

Even after the book was published, Hoggan, who is chairman of the David Suzuki Foundation and co-founder of the desmogblog.com climate-change website, said there have been new developments and tactics at play in the U.S., that will force him to write a second edition.” “Book draws attention to climate change ‘coverup’ by fossil-fuel industry“
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“The proposed construction of massive wind and solar energy projects on public land in the California desert would hasten destruction and further fragment land that is home to 17% of state’s rarest plants, botanists said Saturday.

“Most of the solar and wind projects currently under review are in the wrong places,” said Greg Suba, conservation program director for the California Native Plant Society. He and other experts spoke at Cal State Fullerton for the Southern California Botanists’ 35th annual symposium.

“We believe that full surveys of all plants — not just of targeted species — should be required for all these project sites,” Suba said. “Plant species represent the underlying fabric of an ecosystem.”

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and California Energy Commission are reviewing 130 applications to build wind and solar projects on more than a million acres of public land. Companies hope to begin construction on about a dozen of those projects by late next year. …

“It’s the end of much of the California desert,” said Andre. “Millions of acres could eventually be bulldozed and fenced off. It’s your land, but you won’t be able to go there.”” “Renewable energy projects threaten some of California’s rarest plants“
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Long term sea level has been rising at the rate of 2 to 4 inches per century, but has actually declined the last four years, yet AP gives us this “news” story:

“This city [Shanghai] of 20 million rose from the sea and grew into a modern showcase, with skyscrapers piercing the clouds, atop tidal flats fed by the mighty Yangtze River.

Now Shanghai‘s future depends on finding ways to prevent the same waters from reclaiming it.

Global warming and melting glaciers and polar ice sheets are raising sea levels worldwide, leaving tens of millions of people in coastal areas and on low-lying islands vulnerable to flooding and other weather-related catastrophes.

Shanghai, altitude roughly 3 meters (10 feet) above sea level, is among dozens of great world cities — including London, Miami, New York, New Orleans, Mumbai, Cairo, Amsterdam and Tokyo — threatened by sea levels that now are rising twice as fast as projected just a few years ago, expanding from warmth and meltwater.” “Rising seas threaten Shanghai, other major cities“

“Buried in the 416-page preamble of its greenhouse gas “tailoring” rule, EPA makes plain that the owner of the local Dunkin Donuts should be very concerned. While EPA proposes to exempt such a facility from draconian greenhouse gas permitting obligations under the Clean Air Act, it also notes that this GHG exemption does not apply at the state level. Furthermore, the exemption is only temporary; EPA says that after studying the issue for 5 years, it could very well devise a regulatory scheme that covers greenhouse gas emissions from pizza parlors, nursing homes, and apartment buildings. …

In addition, schools, farms, hospitals, and nearly everything else would not be immune from so-called “citizen suits” under the Clean Air Act. NRDC thinks such suits are mere figments of industry’s imagination. “And who is going to take [Lisa Jackson] to court? Damned if I know,” wrote NRDC’s Dave Doniger. The Center for Biological Diversity just might. “The EPA,” according to the CBD, “has no authority to weaken the requirements of the statute simply because its political appointees don’t like the law’s requirements.”

NRDC is convinced that EPA only wants to cover power plants and big factories. This is plainly wrong according to the rule itself. And, as EPA made clear, exempting your local mom-and-pop store from the Clean Air Act isn’t so easy.” “EPW POLICY BEAT: THE TAILOR’S EMPTY SUIT” (prior post here)
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“Putting all the best estimates together, here is a view of the Temperatures, CO2 and Sea Level throughout the past 526 to 570 million years.” “Searching the paleoclimate record for estimated correlations: temperature, CO2 and sea level“
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The ice melt across Antarctica during the antarctic summer (October-January) of 2008-2009 was the lowest ever recorded in the satellite history, ice is expanding on the continent, and antarctic sea ice continues its 30-year growth trend. How ignorant can this journo be?

“Hoping to better understand how a melting Antarctica could swamp the planet, a NASA plane outfitted with lasers and ground-penetrating radar made its first flight over the icy continent on Friday.

The DC-8 left Punta Arenas, Chile, on a mission to fly as low as 1,000 feet (300 meters) over Antarctica. Like the NASA satellite that has provided shocking data on how quickly Antarctic ice is disappearing, this plane will measure snow cover and ice thickness. But it also has equipment that will enable scientists to see under the ice shelves, measuring the water below.

The goal is to understand just how warm ocean currents may be pulling the ice sheets seaward, melting their undersides. These ice sheets are rapidly collapsing — as fast as nine meters (27 feet) a year according to a study published in the journal Nature last month. If they disappear, far greater ice masses that lie on Antarctic bedrock could then melt into the sea, submerging coastal communities around the globe.” “NASA flies over Antarctica to measure icemelt“

“On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2454, the Waxman-Markey bill. Generally, Waxman-Markey bill is thought of as a cap-and-trade bill, but it is far more than that. Of the bill’s 1,428 pages, merely half are dedicated to cap-and-trade. Dr. Robert Michaels, a Senior Fellow with IER, examined the non-cap-and-trade provisions of the Waxman-Markey bill. He found that the rest of the bill is packed with regulations that would completely alter the United States’ economy. He argues that even without cap-and-trade, Waxman-Markey is the most repressive package of new taxes, wealth transfers and obstacles to economic activity that a Congress has ever assembled.” “The Other Half of Waxman-Markey: An Examination of the Non-Cap-And-Trade Provisions“
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(The bit of alarmism below is the subject of a Marc Morano editorial here.)

“Global warming will leave the Arctic Ocean ice-free during the summer within 20 years, raising sea levels and harming wildlife such as seals and polar bears, a leading British polar scientist said on Thursday.

Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at the University of Cambridge, said much of the melting will take place within a decade, although the winter ice will stay for hundreds of years.” “Arctic To Be Ice-Free In Summer In 20 Years: Scientist“