Fossil Fuels

The Making of a Climate Skeptic – at University

usissuescom CAGW Alarmism, Education , , , , ,

Foreword by Anthony Watts -Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com
This essay is written by a student at the University of Wyoming, who finds herself in the middle of a set of circumstances that are pushing her further into the realm of being a climate skeptic. It is an eye-opening read. I have verified the identity of the student, but per her request (due to the backlash she fears) I am allowing her to write under the pen name of “Clair Masters”

Guest essay by Clair Masters

The class was languid, most kids were on their phones, or surfing Facebook on their laptops. I sat with my notebook open in front of me, empty except for the lecture title at the top of the page. The professor put a slide up on the projector showing a chart relating CO2 and temperature over the course of a few million years, the one we’ve all seen by now. The CO2 curve lags after the Temperature one, and anyone’s first reading of the chart would probably be that temperature is driving the CO2 changes, not the other way around, if there is any trend at all. I perked up slightly, it was new for a professor to show alternate data, and looked around expectantly at other students, waiting for some kind of reaction—confusion, frowns, anything to show they’re seeing something that fights what we’ve been told since elementary school. I saw a few yawns, dull stares, people on their phones, though one loud girl who was a religious global warming fanatic was glaring at the slide, slouching in her seat so her hand could pet her (dubiously trained) service dog.

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Yet Another Renewable Energy Boondoggle

usissuescom Energy Policy, GDP & Employment, Regulation , , , , ,

By Paul Driessen – Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com

Wilkinson Solar wants to catch the solar wave, and make bundles of money sending electricity to the grid whenever it’s generated, even if it’s not needed at the time. The company’s proposed 288,120 solar panels would blanket 600 acres of now scenic farmland next to a school near the North Carolina coast. The project carries lessons for the rest of America – and all locales considering solar.

Locals are not happy. The electricity would be exported out of the area, which has been hit by Category 3 and 4 hurricanes and multiple tropical storms over the years. Another big one would likely send glass shards flying all over. Meanwhile, the Tar Heel state averages just 213 sunny days per year and 9 hours of bright sun per day; that translates into electricity just 20% of the year – unpredictably, unreliably, less affordably. Carbon dioxide reduction benefits? None. These and other issues must get a full hearing, before regulators issue any approvals.

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Wind Power–Some Basic Facts

usissuescom Energy Policy , , , , , ,

By Paul Homewood – Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com

We see many glowing articles about wind power, and renewable lobbyists, such as Renewable UK, are often given undue space in the media to peddle mistruths.

This article is designed to lay out some of the basic facts. It will naturally concentrate mainly on the UK, but I believe it will have relevance elsewhere too.

 

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Top Electric Grid Regulator Will Make Keeping Coal Plants Online One Of His Main Goals

usissuescom Energy Policy, Regulation , , , , ,

By Michael Bastasch – Re-Blogged From Daily Caller

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Neil Chatterjee said he would look for ways to “properly compensate” coal plants for providing reliable electricity during his time as a top energy regulator.

“These are essential to national security. And to that end, I believe baseload power should be recognized as an essential part of the fuel mix,” Chatterjee said in a video interview FERC officials posted online Monday.

“I believe that generation, including our existing coal and nuclear fleet, need to be properly compensated to recognize the value they provide to the system,” Chatterjee said.

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Tesla Battery, Subsidy and Sustainability Fantasies

usissuescom Energy Policy, Regulation , , , , , , , ,

By Paul Driessen – Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com

More subsidies from exhausted California taxpayers cannot compensate for hard realities

The first justification was that internal combustion engines polluted too much. But emissions steadily declined, and today’s cars emit about 3% of what their predecessors did. Then it was oil imports: electric vehicles (EVs) would reduce foreign dependency and balance of trade deficits. Bountiful oil and natural gas supplies from America’s hydraulic fracturing revolution finally eliminated that as an argument.

Now the focus is on climate change. Every EV sale will help prevent assumed and asserted manmade temperature, climate and weather disasters, we’re told – even if their total sales represented less than 1% of all U.S. car and light truck sales in 2016 (Tesla sold 47,184 of the 17,557,955 vehicles sold nationwide last year), and plug-in EVs account for barely 0.15% of 1.4 billion vehicles on the road worldwide.

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‘WASI’ Paris Climate Agreement

usissuescom CAGW Alarmism, Foreign Policy, GDP & Employment, Regulation , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

By Paul Driessen – Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com

Foreword: Following President Trump’s exit from the Paris Climate Treaty, a number of states, cities, universities, companies and institutions formed a “We are still in” consortium. Its members insist that they remain committed to Paris and are determined to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and prevent climate change.

As our article explains, this is all puffery and belief in tooth fairies. The issues and questions we raise ought to shame and embarrass WASI members – for spending countless billions of other people’s dollars to prevent an undetectable and irrelevant 0.01 degrees of global warming. We also ask whether jurisdictions within WASI states can take the “progressive” route and declare themselves sanctuary cities or counties, to protect their jobs and families against WASI dictates. Perhaps our article will persuade more Americans to make their voices heard, ask hard questions – and start resisting The Anti-Trump Resistance.

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The Lure of Free Energy

usissuescom CAGW Alarmism, Energy Policy , , , , , , ,

By John Popovich – Re-Blogged From http://www.WattsUpWithThat.com

The U.S. government tried to get private industry to process nuclear fuel but had a difficult time finding takers. Union Carbide made an offer that required government guarantees and big upfront cash. Maybe Union Carbide knew something about nuclear fuel processing cost since they were operating a government nuclear fuel processing plant in Tennessee which happened to be the biggest electricity user in the U.S. Other concerns about nuclear electricity cost include the fact that much of the nuclear fuel available today is a result of a scaling back in nuclear weapons by the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and of course the processing waste and the plant closure cost.

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