We have created an updated version of this page to reflect changes made for 2023. You can visit the new page here. … [Read more...]
As coal use surges, America finds it’s hard to unplug from carbon
So much for the myriad claims about going “beyond coal.” According to a new report from the Rhodium Group, U.S. coal consumption jumped by 17 percent last year compared to 2020 levels. That’s a huge increase, which Rhodium says was “largely driven by a run-up in natural gas prices.” Rather than burn gas, which averaged about $4.93 per million Btu last year — more than two times the price in 2020 — many electricity producers chose to burn coal instead. The surge in domestic coal use … [Read more...]
Two More Contributions On The Impossibility Of Electrifying Everything Using Only Wind, Solar And Batteries
My previous post highlighted the work of Ken Gregory, who has attempted to quantify the costs of fully electrifying the U.S. energy system using as sources only wind, solar, and batteries. My post got circulated among my excellent colleagues in the CO2 Coalition, two of whom then provided me with links to their own work on closely-related subjects. The two pieces are: (1) “How Many km2 of Solar Panels in Spain and how much battery backup would it take to power Germany,” by Lars Schernikau and … [Read more...]
California’s Zero Carbon Plans: Can Anybody Here Do Basic Arithmetic?
In California, as we all know, the inhabitants and their elected officials are far more sophisticated and virtuous than the rest of us rubes who inhabit the other parts of the country. This particularly goes for the arena of climate change, where California is leading the way to saving the planet by rapidly eliminating all of the carbon emissions coming from its electricity sector. California’s CO2 emissions are about 1% of the world annual total, and its electricity sector accounts for about … [Read more...]
More Snow Hits the Fan this Week: Climate Change Alarmists Still Want it Both Ways
As I predicted, climate change has been blamed for the recent New England blizzard (e.g. from Bloomberg here). During that storm, Boston tied its 24-hr snowfall record at 23.6 inches. Yet, as recently as January 6, we were told by USAToday that Boston’s lengthy 316-day streak *without* one inch of snowfall as of January 1st was caused by global warming. So, which is it? Does global warming cause less snow or more snow? When science produces contradictory claims, is … [Read more...]
Creating God-awareness through Intentional Faith Integration in the Science Classroom
“And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” –Genesis 2:7 (ASV) Back in the 70s when I was in college, pop culture had co-opted a quote from Carl Sagan1 that “we are stardust.” Joni Mitchel echoed this theme and Crosby, Stills, and Nash embellished on it in the song “Woodstock,” adding that we are nothing more than “billion-year-old carbon.” Another 70s songwriter, Kerry … [Read more...]
Alarmists Embrace Authoritarianism, Ignore Lessons of History
A rump group of the environmental movement has always been wedded to authoritarianism—primarily the movement’s intellectual leadership. Going back to the beginnings of environmentalism as a movement, progressive-era politicians such as President Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot (Roosevelt’s friend and choice to be the first head of the newly created U.S. Forest Service) believed democracy and markets were both ill-suited to manage natural resources. Progressives believed natural resources … [Read more...]
Environmental regulations can sometimes do more harm than good
Contrary to popular perceptions, all around the world, environmental conditions have improved dramatically in recent decades. There is less air pollution and more widespread access to clean water than ever before. Anyone who wants to learn more about this astounding progress should read Stephen Pinker’s Enlightenment Now and Hans Rosling’s Factfulness. These environmental performance gains are largely due to the global spread of economic freedom, because – as numerous studies show – … [Read more...]
Are Climate Lockdowns Coming Because of a ‘Climate Emergency’? (No, It’s Not a Conspiracy Theory)
In early December, the Washington Post reported that because of climate change, snow in the Mountain West "may vanish for years at a time." The headline did not age well. Only days later it started to snow in the West. And snow. And snow. An incredible photo on Twitter showed a towering wall of snow on Donner Summit in California around Christmas. Lake Tahoe got 18 feet of snow in December, an all-time record. In Virginia, some motorists were stuck on … [Read more...]
Fossil Fuels Surge After U.N. Conference
It has been a little more than a month since the United Nations climate meeting at Glasgow, yet global use of fossil fuels has increased rapidly. For instance, U.S. President Joe Biden canceled domestic oil projects and vowed to stop funding for international fossil fuel projects. But as fuel prices rose, Biden responded to his self-induced energy insecurity by releasing 50 million barrels of oil from the reserves and even called for an increase in domestic oil … [Read more...]
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