Jennifer Marohasy

a forum for the discussion of issues concerning the natural environment

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Australian Government to Invest in Solar

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LAST night the Australian Government handed down its budget for the coming financial year.  The centre piece of planned spending on the environment is $4.5 billion for “clean energy”.   This is defined as energy that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost employment.

Most of the money, $2.4 billion, will be used for the development of low-emissions coal technologies.   This announcement could be interpreted as an attempt to appease the coal industry and unions – it is certainly unlikely to benefit the environment.

There is $1.6 billion for solar energy technology, ostensibly to position Australia as a world leader in solar energy technology.   This may produce some benefit particularly if the investment is in new solar thermal technology and it eventually becomes a commercial reality.

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Arctic Activists to be Rescued

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THEY went to the Arctic lamenting global warming, but ever since they got there they have been wishing for warmer weather.   That was how I started a post earlier this year, about three Brits who set off for the North Pole in February hoping to draw attention to the issue of global warming and take a few measurements of ice thinning along the way. 

Still 500 kilometres from the North Pole the team now plan to be “lifted off the ice” by the end of this week because it’s just too cold – too cold to keep going and too cold to get the measurements they intended.

According to Steven Goddard blogging at WUWT, “I believe that they have done a fantastic job educating the public about the Arctic.  Their mission has been followed breathlessly by BBC and Guardian reporters, who previously believed that the Arctic had melted and become a place for sunbathing. 

“Following the daily reports of ice, cold, frostbite, hypothermia, pain and general misery being endured by the team – even the most daft newspaper reporter must be aware now that the Arctic is a very cold and icy place.”

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Changing the Lexicon to Progress the Green Agenda

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PRESIDENT Obama likes the concept of cap and trade, but apparently not a lot of people understand that the “cap” in his proposed cap-and-trade legislation refers to the limit that the government would impose on industrial emissions of greenhouse gases and that the trade refers to the need for industry to buy emission permits from the government and from other companies to “trade.”

Furthermore, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times, President Obama’s strategist are realizing that the term “trade” reminds people of the volatile stock market, which makes them uneasy about the policy.

So, the President plans to change the language he uses.  

According to yesterday’s article by Peter Nicholas and Jim Tankersley pollsters have tested 19 phrases and found “clean energy jobs” had the widest appeal, with 42% of the respondents “very enthusiastic” about it.

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Ocean Cooling Falsifies Global Warming Hypothesis

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ACCORDING to the anthropogenic global warming (AGW) hypothesis while surface temperatures may vary from year to year, as long as we spew out carbon dioxide there will be a gradual accumulation of heat in the climate system eventually resulting in a climate crisis.

In 2005, NASA boss James Hansen stated in an article in the journal ‘Science’ that confirmation of the planetary energy imbalance can be obtained by measuring the heat content of the oceans which are the principal reservoir for excess energy. 

A problem for the AGW hypothesis now, is that the oceans have been cooling.  Indeed there is no known mechanism to account for what some describe as vast amounts of missing heat, suggesting that contrary to the AGW hypothesis, heat is not accumulating in the climate system and there is no longer any radiative imbalance from all the carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

According to William DiPuccio, in a guest post at the blog ‘Climate Science’, this not only demonstrates that the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models are failing to accurately predict global warming, but also presents a serious challenge to the integrity of the AGW hypothesis.   

Mr DiPuccio concludes “When all is said and done, if the climate system is not accumulating heat, the hypothesis is invalid.”

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Obama’s Plans for Cap n Trade Criticised

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An artificial market in US government-mandated carbon credits would be “monstrously stupid to do right now,” Berkshire Hathaway Inc. CEO Charlie Munger told CNBC, adding that the move is “almost demented” considering other nations’ intention to continue industrial development, emitting vast amounts of greenhouse gases.  Read more here.

AGW Law Costs the UK

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Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband admits the cost of laws aimed at tackling global warming has soared to £404 billion. Laws aimed at tackling global warming could cost every family in Britain a staggering £20,000 – double the original forecast.  Ian Drury, Daily Mail, 5 May 2009