Month: July 2022

By James Pethokoukis and Steven E. Koonin, AEIdeas, December 20, 2021

Is the world going to end in 10 years or 20 years? Absolutely not.

“The science is settled on climate change,” eco-pessimists tell us. But can science ever really be settled? In this episode, I’m joined by Steven E. Koonin to discuss the consensus within the climate science community, popular misconceptions about the climate, and how we should respond to warming global temperatures given the costs climate change will impose down the road and the costs of cutting our carbon emissions today.

Steve is a professor at New York University and a non-resident senior fellow here at the American Enterprise Institute.… Read more

On July 7, 2022, wind, solar and biofuels delivered only 3.3% of the province’s electricity needs

By Parker Gallant, National Post, July 12, 2022

Older readers will remember Frank Sinatra’s 1966 hit Summer Wind, with English lyrics by Johnny Mercer from the German original (Der Sommerwind). The song was about changeability and time passing. In the end, Sinatra/mercer concluded, the summer wind was a “fickle friend.”

It’s a tune Ontario power generators may be humming these days as they try to meet electricity demands with — an annual seasonal occurrence — wind falling off in the province.

Wind’s summer sag was evident on July 7, as Ontario’s industrial wind turbines (IWT), which have a total generating capacity of about 15.6 per cent of Ontario’s total supply when all sources of energy are operating flat-out, were at the bottom of the heap in respect to generation.… Read more

By Bryan Walsh, Vox, July 12, 2022

Germany’s decision to restart old coal plants rather than extend the life of its nuclear power facilities reflects a failure of environmental priorities

Peel away the politics and the passion, the doomsaying and the denialism, and climate change largely boils down to this: energy. To avoid the chances of catastrophic climate change while ensuring the world can continue to grow — especially for poor people who live in chronically energy-starved areas — we’ll need to produce ever more energy from sources that emit little or no greenhouse gases.

It’s that simple — and, of course, that complicated.… Read more

By Michael Shellenberger, July 12, 2022

Sri Lanka has fallen as, last week, thousands of protesters stormed the presidential palace and ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The proximate reason for the chaos is that the nation is bankrupt, suffering its worst financial crisis in decades. Millions are struggling to buy food, medicine and fuel. Between June 2021 to June 2022, food prices rose by 80 percent. Last month, annual inflation hit nearly 55 percent. Since the start of the pandemic, half a million people have fallen into poverty.

The underlying reason for the fall of Sri Lanka is that its leaders—starting with former President Maithripala Sirisena and continuing with his successor, the deposed Rajapaksa—fell under the spell of Western green elites peddling organic agriculture and “ESG,” which refers to investments made following supposedly higher Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria.… Read more