Month: June 2021

Take out-of-context email quote, blow up into bogus scandal, attack the messenger.
Rinse and repeat.

Buzzfeed:

More than 3,200 pages of emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by BuzzFeed News — covering the period from January to June 2020 — provide a rare glimpse into how Fauci approached his job during the biggest health crisis of the last century, showing him dealing directly with the public, health officials, reporters, and even celebrities. (The Washington Post also received more than 800 pages of emails and published a story about them on Monday.)

The emails reviewed by BuzzFeed News reveal him sparring over an antiviral drug with Ezekiel Emanuel, a former Obama administration health adviser, fielding questions about vaccines, and receiving an update from Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook’s plans for a coronavirus “information hub.” Zuckerberg also asked whether the social media company could provide resources to accelerate vaccine testing. And Fauci even responded to an offer from actor Morgan Fairchild to use her Twitter account on his behalf.

BBC:

Some conservative politicians and media pundits have cited the emails in their calls to sack Dr Fauci for his work on the pandemic response.

US Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who has frequently clashed with Dr Fauci in hearings on Capitol Hill, said the emails make it “abundantly clear” the doctor is “a massive fraud”.

Michael Mann in Newsweek:

Those of us on the front lines of the climate wars know how it feels. For decades, we’ve been under assault by politicians and fossil fuel attack dogs because of the inconvenient nature of our science—science that demonstrates the reality of climate change.

I have received death threats, and endured a multitude of attacks from conservative media outlets, Republican congressmen and attorneys general, all because of the “Hockey Stick” graph my co-authors and I published more than two decades ago. The Hockey Stick demonstrated the devastating effect burning fossil fuels has on our planet—and therefore threatened those profiting off them. So they sought to discredit my science and me personally, while orchestrating a campaign of vilification against climate scientists like me.

Now, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, represents a threat to Donald Trump. Fauci’s prescription (and that of the mainstream public health community)—continued social distancing to stem the spread of the coronavirus pandemic—is undeniably in the best public interest, and the economy cannot recover until the virus is under control. Yet Trump believes he needs results fast to win re-election, and so he is ignoring Fauci’s advice and reopening the economy as the United States surpasses 5 million cases and 160,000 deaths.

It is sadly unsurprising that Fauci, too, has found himself at the receiving end of death threats. It’s the logical conclusion of a concerted, months-long disinformation campaign by Trump supported by Republicans and conservative news organizations. As Steve Schmidt, former presidential campaign co-adviser for the late Senator John McCain, put it: “The injury done to America and the public good by Fox News and a bevy of personalities from Limbaugh to Ingraham…will be felt for many years in this country as we deal with the death and economic damage that didn’t have to be.”

Continue reading “Scientist Attacked Over Emails. No, Not a Climate Scientist”

Another non-conclusive report on UFOs, or UAPs as they are now called.

Above, classic UFO in Film.

Below, report from Channel 8 in Las Vegas. where UFOs are covered as local news.

Below, former SecDef, Sec/CIA Leon Panetta weighs in.

Continue reading ““Close Encounters” Flight Control Scene with Deleted Footage”

Other than a matter of fact mention of rising water, nothing else about climate in this sci fi trailer.

Sign of the times?

The great thing about clean energy is that you don’t have to even go into the climate debate to explain the overwhelming advantages communities gain from wind and, increasingly, solar energy.

One of my newest good friends is a hard-core conservative Republican farmer whose farm has been in the family for more than a century. He has a “Trump – Pence” bumper sticker in his kitchen where we recently shared a welcome, in-person post-covid conversation over coffee.
He loves his new wind turbines, doesn’t give a rip about climate. I’m fine with it.

Terrific long piece in Christian Science Monitor is worth a read to understand. Excerpts here.

Christian Science Monitor:

For five generations, Andrew Bowman’s family has worked the land in Oneida, population 700-ish – a flat and fertile swath of Illinois his father always said was good for growing crops and kids. Today, he farms soybeans and corn, as well as specialty popcorn, which he sells under the label Pilot Knob Comforts.

Mr. Bowman hopes to have a new resource to harvest soon, as well: wind.

This past year, Mr. Bowman took a lead representing local landowners in negotiating with Orion Renewable Energy Group, one of the many companies installing wind farms across Illinois, to build a new 100-turbine project in his part of Knox County. Clean energy would not only help keep the local school open and support the fire department and library, he says, but would also offer a new income stream to farmers who agree to lease some of their land for the project – some $30 million over 25 years, according to the proposal.

“It’s going to be life-changing for people who sign up,” Mr. Bowman says.

For Mr. Bowman, embracing wind power is part of stewarding the land for the next generation – and one of many steps he and his brother-in-law, Matt Hulsizer, have taken to ensure resiliency on their 1,800 acres. They are acutely focused on soil health, low tillage, and reducing fuel consumption; they have tried organic practices and are investigating cover crops to retain nutrients and prevent erosion.

But none of this is because they are trying to fight climate change.

They care deeply about the environment, they say; after all, they live and work in it. But they cringe at the cries for climate action, and they bristle when city people suggest their outdoor, low-consumption life is problematic. (“The difference between growing up on dirt and growing up on asphalt,” Mr. Hulsizer says.) If human-made climate change is happening, they say – something they find dubious – they doubt there’s much anyone can do to stop it.

For them, tending soil and harvesting wind for clean energy – two initiatives climate scholars say are crucial for reducing carbon emissions – is simply about taking the best steps economically.

Continue reading “Clean Energy Benefits Bypass Climate Debate”

Recharge News:

Clean energy investment remains far below what’s needed to effectively combat global heating, despite early signs that some of the world’s largest fossil energy players are accelerating their spending on green projects and technologies, warned the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The world will see $750bn of investments in clean energy technologies and efficiency this year – but that needs to triple to give a chance of hitting net-zero emissions by 2050, said the IEA.

The Paris-based body said total global energy investments will rebound from pandemic-induced falls seen in 2020 to see a 10% increase to $1.9 trillion in 2021.

The power sector will with a record $820bn for the sixth year in a row outstrip oil & gas investment, the IEA predicted, with renewables dominating spending on new generation capacity, accounting for 70% of the total.Investment giant BlackRock backs calls for oil supermajor BP to ‘accelerate’ climate plansRead more

There were signs of an accelerating shift by global oil & gas majors towards clean energy investments, the IEA reported, although fossil spending remains their overwhelming focus.

The body reckons capital spending on clean energy could reach 4% across the global oil & gas sector in 2021, up from 1% in 2020 – with some European groups reaching “well above 10%”.

European giants such as BP, TotalEnergies and Shell have led the charge into sectors such as solar and offshore wind, often under pressure from their own shareholders.Stiesdal: Net-zero report shows IEA’s renewables forecasts can finally be taken seriouslyRead more

But while the numbers are huge and the direction of travel for renewables is encouraging, the IEA in its World Energy Investment 2021 report said there is far further to go to keep the planet in line with ambitions for limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C.

“The rebound in energy investment is a welcome sign, and I’m encouraged to see more of it flowing towards renewables,” said Fatih Birol, IEA executive director. “But much greater resources have to be mobilised and directed to clean energy technologies to put the world on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Based on our new Net Zero Roadmap, clean energy investment will need to triple by 2030.”

A lot of the confusion ginned up about the transition to a clean grid seems to be from the assumption that we flip a switch, turn off all the fossil plants, and instantly turn on a full wind and solar portfolio.
That’s obviously not how it’s going to play out – there will be a gradual replacement of coal plants, and plans for new gas generation are already being put on hold as solar, wind and batteries continue to become more competitive.

Serious grid modelers presume that as clean energy rises above 50 percent in the US nationally, that existing gas generators will more and more be deployed in a firming and backup role, especially during those times of extremely low wind and solar output. This is relatively simple to model without assuming any new technology, which is almost certain to arise if the past 15 years is any guide.
I discussed these scenarios with former Lawrence Lab researcher Jonathan Koomey while researching my most recent Yale Climate Connections vid.

I spoke last year to Amol Phadke, and Sonia Aggarwal, authors of one of the most authoritative studies of the grid’s future, a “90 Percent by 2035” scenario from the University of California, Berkeley, below.

In Texas, new analysis of fatalities from the disastrous Valentine’s Day Blackout of the past winter show sharply increased estimates of the total.

Again, if you have not seen the summary of expert analysis and news reporting above on the event, hope you will review, share and bookmark.

Death toll from the event has been substantially raised in recent review of “excess fatalities” during the period.

KUT:

While Texas officials have confirmed that 151 deaths were related to the freeze in February, the death toll could actually be four or five times higher, according to a BuzzFeed data review.

Using mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BuzzFeed said it compared the number of deaths from all causes that were reported in Texas during and after the storm with the number of fatalities that are normally reported during ordinary conditions. That method is known as “excess fatalities” and has been employed during other disasters, like the COVID-19 pandemic, to estimate related death tolls.

“Our analysis, reviewed by three independent experts, suggests that between 426 and 978 more people than expected died in Texas in the week ending February 20 alone,” the BuzzFeed report says. “Our best estimate is that 702 people were killed by the storm that week. Even the lowest end of the range is almost three times the number officials have acknowledged. Neighboring states that were hit hard by the winter storm but did not experience the widespread power outages seen in Texas did not show a spike in deaths.”

The victims included medically vulnerable people with chronic conditions like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and kidney problems, BuzzFeed said.

Chief problems in creating the blackout were the freeze-up of natural gas pipelines from west Texas wells, which crimped supplies just as demand was spiking, in addition to frozen pipes and equipment at the power plants, primarily fossil gas, but also coal and nuclear.

New legislation has some requirements for weatherizing power plants, but does little to force the gas industry to upgrade its distribution system, leaving the grid still dangerously vulnerable in another freeze.

Houston Chronicle:

The proposals address several longstanding weaknesses, though still amount to a gamble in the wake of one of the state’s deadliest natural disasters, leaving its already isolated power grid vulnerable to similar disruptions for the coming winter, before key weatherization requirements would take effect.

Energy experts have warned that without quick structural improvements to power plants, gas wells and the supply chain that connects them, millions of Texas homes could again be without power in dangerously frigid conditions. February’s storm knocked out power to an estimated 4.5 million homes and killed at least 200 people — and likely many more.

Critics also caution that the final provisions leave broad discretion to gas suppliers, who provide most of the fuel for the electricity grid. The legislation allows for minimal fines against those that don’t comply and leaves oversight of infrastructure updates to the Texas Railroad Commission, whose members receive funding from the industry and have long opposed weather requirements.

The state’s gas production fell more than 20 percent over five days during the storm.

This month, Republicans in the House rejected amendments from Democrats that would have increased penalties for gas suppliers that don’t winterize and would have required progress on winterization within six months of the measure becoming law. Democrats still praised the reforms that made it into the final draft.

“I voted for this bill because there is a lot of good in it,” Rep. Jon Rosenthal, a Houston Democrat and engineer in the oil and gas industry, tweeted shortly after the vote. “But make no mistake – this bill is not enough to ensure that we won’t have another massive blackout. It leaves much discretion to RRC/PUC/ERCOT and the guardrails aren’t nearly tight enough.”

Continue reading “Texas Grid Reform Falls Short”

Heading into what appears likely to be a major heatwave across NorCal interior, Sierra snowpack is now down to ~0% of avg on statewide basis (there's still a tiny bit in Northern Sierra (3% of avg). Extremely rapid melt-out, w/very little runoff generated.#CAwx #CAdrought #CAfire pic.twitter.com/iOnuJspH7h

— Dr. Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) May 27, 2021

Weather.com:

The last exceptional drought in California was January, 2017, on the tail end of a multi-year drought. It was considered the worst in parts of the state in 450 years.

California’s Sierra snowpack typically supplies about one-third of the state’s water once it melts later in spring and summer, recharging the state’s reservoirs.

In 2021, a lack of spring snow and warm weather left the snowpack virtually gone by late May, about two months earlier than average, according to Peter Gleick, water and climate scientist at the Pacific Institute.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the early-vanishing snowpack amounted to about 685,000 acre-feet of water that didn’t replenish California’s reservoirs, enough to supply up to 1.2 million households for a year.

That’s left some of the state’s reservoirs very low for late spring, and dropping.

With increased evaporation in the summer and the need to draw down some reservoirs to preserve fish populations in rivers, these levels will continue to inch lower over the next several months. 

Sacramento Bee:

In the summer of 2001, local farmers and other activists armed with saws and blowtorches breached a chain-link fence and opened the headgates of a federal canal that supplies farmland in Oregon and far Northern California.

Local farmer Grant Knoll was among the activists there that year. The protesters forced the gates open three times but were eventually blocked by U.S. marshals. Now, with a drought just as severe as two decades ago — and with farmers’ water again cut off — he’s prepared to fight again. 

This spring, he and another farmer, Dan Nielsen, bought the property next to the headgates in Klamath Falls, Ore. They erected a red and white tent surrounded by American flags and protest signs, and they’re holding regular gatherings. And they’re working with a group with close ties to anti-government activist Ammon Bundy.

Knoll was blunt when asked about the possibility of activists storming the headgates this time around.

“I don’t see why not,” Knoll told The Sacramento Bee. “The federal government’s not following the law. They’re breaking the law continuously. And so we’re at a point where, you know, they’re abusing their power. So how do you stop the federal government when they’re abusing their power?”

Continue reading “In West: Water Already Critical as Summer Just Beginning”