Former Exxon Exec has Passed to an Even Hotter Place

The essential video above starts with remarks from former Exxon CEO and Trump Secretary of State, and friend of Putin, Rex Tillerson – but includes video of Lee Raymond in classic Climate Denial form.
Raymond passed last weekend, no doubt to a hotter place.

Heatmap:

Today, people throw around the “climate change denier” label often enough that it has lost some of its charge. But Raymond was the genuine article, a true villain. It was Raymond who turned ExxonMobil into one of the world’s most important funders of falsehood and denial about fundamental climate science research. 

Raymond, an engineer by training, straightforwardly rejected the mainstream scientific consensus that carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels cause climate change. Even though Exxon’s in-house climate research arm knew by the late 1970s that “there is no doubt” fossil fuels worsened the “potential problem of CO2 in the atmosphere,” Raymond did everything he could to elevate more industry-friendly perspectives. And he was willing to muddy the truth to win. 

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“Absurd” June Set Up Threatens Midwest

“I never saw anything like this” is something we hear a lot these days.

Last night I attended a Planning Commission meeting in nearby Tittabawassee Township, where they were considering a permit for a 200 MW battery storage facility.

I usually don’t bring up climate change, or even weather, in these events – but this community was just hit by a very rare tornado last week, so fresh in mind, and we had another severe storm the following day, and forecasts are for more coming this week.
With that in mind, I argued that creating more resilience and capacity on the grid was essential for the safety of local communities in an era where we are seeing more extreme weather, “..no matter WHAT you think is causing it.”
Slight nods all around.

Permit passed by a 4-3 vote. We are gaining momentum.

Another Youtuber Meteorologist report below.

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Put Data Centers to Work – Lowering Electric Rates

Jigar Shah:

Every bill introduced, every executive order signed, every public hearing held has asked the same question: how do we stop trillion-dollar tech companies from making your electric bill go up? A handful of researchers, one Minnesota utility, and one forward-looking UK think tank are now asking a better quesion: what if we required data centers to actively lower your bill as the price of building in your community?

The context is this. At least 25 U.S. data center projects were canceled in 2025 due to local community opposition — quadruple the number canceled in 2024. Communities are saying no, not because they’re anti-technology, but because the deal on offer is a bad one. A million-square-foot facility rises on the edge of town, draws enough power to light a small city, and residents get what, exactly? An electric bill that may or may not go up depending on how well regulators did their jobs.

The Centre for Net Zero — Octopus Energy’s research arm — just modeled what happens when you flip that deal. They surveyed public attitudes toward different data center connection models. The results should be required reading for every governor with a data center in their state.

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Another Severe Outbreak Coming in Midwest

Atmospheric pressures forecast for Michigan and Wisconsin equivalent to a Cat 1 Hurricane.

Meteorologist Pushes Back on Trump Weather Tweets

PBS Horizons: Fact Checking on Data Centers

Michael Webber of University of Texas is the featured expert.

Money quote: “It can be that they’re part of the solution.”

Graph from Lawrence Berkeley Lab shows that some states have increased electricity demand, in part from Data Centers, and seen rates increased. A larger number of states have seen rates decline after the same demand growth

More Examples: Tornado Alley Moving East

Tornado Alley is moving.

WGN Chicago, May 8, 2023:

If it seems like you’re preparing for tornado threats a little more than usual lately, there’s some truth to that, at least if you live in Illinois. 

According to the National Weather Service, Illinois is leading the nation in tornadoes this year. Eighty-six tornadoes have already rolled through the Prairie State in 2023, nearly double the state’s average of 50 twisters per year.

The National Weather Service reports, as of Saturday, Illinois has braced through more than double the number of tornadoes in any other state this year aside from Alabama (80) and Georgia (45). 

Per NWS, Illinois also leads every state in severe weather reports (466) this year aside from Texas. That number represents the total of confirmed tornadoes, plus hail and wind damage reports.

Among this year’s tornadoes, some have posed threats east of St. Louis. On March 31, an EF-1 tornado ripped through Salem, Illinois, damaging dozens of homes and peaking up to 105 mph gusts. On April 14, a series of tornadoes slammed the Metro East, with winds reaching up to 100 mph again and damaging parts of Belleville, Swansea, Hecker and Valmeyer. 

One tornado up north caught national attention. In Belvidere, a tornado ripped off the roof of a local theater on March 31, leading to one person’s death and dozens of injuries.

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