Ever since Germany’s announcement that it will go coal-free by 2022, one question keeps popping up in my head: Will mighty Germany be the first developed economy to commit energy suicide?Earlier this year, Germany announced that it will close all of its 84 coal-fired power plants by 2038. Ronald Pofalla, chairman of the government commission that developed the plan, remarked “There won’t be any more coal-burning plants in Germany by 2038”.But are Germany’s aspirations practically achievable? In … [Read more...]
Will My Carbon Footprint Benefit or Harm the Environment?
My cousin in California is excited about buying a Tesla. “It is environmentally friendly” he says. Maybe you agree. My friends in India, too, are excited about buying electric cars. They think doing so will help them prevent global warming.But the evidence suggests otherwise.Almost every environmental policy now makes reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the only way to “go green.” Advocates have even persuaded school children to strike against fossil fuels.But as a climate scientist, I’ve … [Read more...]
The Pop Culture Transition from Population Growth to Global Warming
For many of us Millennials, especially in densely populated developing countries like India and China, it was a no-brainer. Population growth was the world’s biggest problem. At least, so we learned in our schools.But as we grew into our 20s, the focus of the world turned more toward climate change.Was population growth really a problem? Is it still? Why are we now so obsessed with climate change instead?There are always two kinds of environmentalists: those who genuinely care for nature, and … [Read more...]
Is Brazil’s Climate Stance Justified?
The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change was scheduled to take place in Brazil this year. Not anymore. Brazil pulled out.Brazil once offered to host this year’s Latin America and Caribbean Climate Week. It just withdrew the offer.Brazil has also declined an invitation to attend the on-going UNDP-sponsored Good Growth Conference in Lima, Peru.And recently President Jair Bolsonaro fired Alfredo Sirkis from his position at the top of the Brazil … [Read more...]
Some Tricks Climate Alarmists Play
When empirical data show so clearly that computer climate models grossly exaggerate the warming effect of carbon dioxide, how do climate alarmists maintain public alarm?Tricks.Among the more famous was “Mike’s Nature trick.” University of East Anglia climate scientist Phil Jones wrote that he had used “Mike’s Nature trick” of “adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie [sic] from 1981 onwards) amd [sic] for Keith's to hide the decline" [emphasis added].The result hid a … [Read more...]
The Global Nuclear Push: Pathway to a Bright and Secure Energy Future
I believe the future of energy is nuclear. Many others do, too.Despite the unfounded fears surrounding their safety, almost all major economies in the world have embraced nuclear technology with both arms.Here is a look at the current nuclear energy scenario and recent developments that offer a hope of a bright and secure energy future.Nuclear Energy: Standing Tall and StrongIn 2017, nuclear plants supplied 2,487 Terra Watt-hours (TWh) of electricity, constituting nearly 11 percent of all … [Read more...]
Whose Business Is It Anyway? When I Got Climate-Bullied on Twitter
The hate level on Twitter can far exceed any other on social media.But many sane, civilized, intelligent people on Twitter continue to make our world a better place. They share ideas and communicate life-altering, life-saving information to the larger public.Twitter also provides a platform to engage with peers. As a climate researcher, I love the fact that Twitter allows me to connect with other climate scientists.Climate AlarmistsOne such person is Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a Canadian climate … [Read more...]
Climate Madness Might Cost Elections: Lessons from the Canadian Carbon Tax Fiasco
Politicians who favor policies to fight global warming that will impose big costs on consumers might take a lesson from what’s happening in Canada.The Trudeau government imposed a new carbon tax on its citizens effective April 1, 2019. (Yes, indeed, April Fool’s Day!) But it faces legal challenges in the provinces of Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and New Brunswick, none of which has its own carbon tax, which is why the federal tax went into effect in them.Even provinces like Alberta, which … [Read more...]
Beyond Partisan Ideology and Big-Oil Interests: Why Climate Skepticism Thrives
It is easy to associate climate skepticism with the Republican Party and climate alarmism with the Democratic Party. It’s also easy to brand skeptics as beneficiaries of big oil and proponents of unfettered capitalism and alarmists as in the pocket of big wind and solar and boosters of socialist central planning.But attitudes about climate change transcend political ideologies, and they should.Here are a few reasons why I, as a climate scientist, am a skeptic.1. Will the Real Climate Change … [Read more...]
Wind and Solar Energy—Never Meant to Work?
What would you think if someone told you that one of the most important early champions of wind power touted it precisely because he thought it couldn't work for advanced, industrialized societies?"Aww, can't be true"?Well, it can be, and it is.In "The Question Concerning Technology" (1954), Martin Heidegger---one of the twentieth century's most influential philosophers, argued that "modern technology ... puts to nature the unreasonable demand that it supply energy which can be extracted and … [Read more...]
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