Walter Russel Mead summarizes the latest EU "greenfail":
The European Union’s ambitious low carbon plan collapsed yesterday when Poland vetoed plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions drastically after 2020. The move is the latest stage in the ignominious failure of EU carbon policy that has seen a grandiose carbon trading system bog down in a quagmire of scandal and price collapse. Europe will meet its current carbon reduction goals less because of any serious action than because the continent’s economic crisis brought on by the poorly constructed euro experiment has stalled economic growth.
Now the post 2020 picture is in near total disarray as EU law requires unanimous consent for new carbon targets to be set. Poland, which depends on coal for much of its energy production and has neither the money nor the desire to turn to Russian gas or oil, will not accept any European carbon policy that undermines its drive to raise local living standards.
Back in those halcyon times when the Davoisie were convinced that a global green carbon treaty was just around the corner, EU diplomats and journalists used to boast incessantly that climate activism was the centerpiece of a new and dynamic European diplomacy. Now both Europe and the climate agenda are in near-total disarray, and the EU has been unable to legislate for itself, much less for all mankind.
Read the entire blog post here
The Brussels eurocrats still speak and behave like nothing would have changed, although they must know that they have lost the game. And the failure involves much more than the carbon agenda.
Sunday, 11 March 2012
Excellent news from Cornwall: Illegal wind turbine to be removed
Here is a truly important piece of news - although widely ignored by the warmist MSM:
Illegal towering wind turbine to be removed
A £1.3 million wind turbine which was illegally installed last year is facing removal after councillors voted for enforcement action.
The 250ft (76m) structure at Callywith Farm at Bodmin in North Cornwall, was put in place last November, despite a stop notice issued by the local authority after it had earlier refused permission.
Graham and Ron Dingle, whose firm Dingle Brothers owns the site, could also face fines of up to £20,000 after Cornwall Council decided to launch legal action.
At a meeting behind closed doors this week, the council's east sub-area planning committee voted unanimously in favour of taking enforcement action to secure the wind turbine's removal.
They also agreed to take legal action with regard to the failure to comply with the terms of the stop notice.
The Dingles run an agricultural supply firm and recycling facility at the site, and said they would have gone out of business if the giant turbine had not been installed.
They argue that the renewable energy generated by the turbine has prevented 632 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
The wind energy people seem to think that they can get away with anything, because of their supposedly noble cause. Fortunately, the Cornwall Council sets an example for other decision makers on how to put an end to the worst type of wind power lawlessness.
Illegal towering wind turbine to be removed
A £1.3 million wind turbine which was illegally installed last year is facing removal after councillors voted for enforcement action.
The 250ft (76m) structure at Callywith Farm at Bodmin in North Cornwall, was put in place last November, despite a stop notice issued by the local authority after it had earlier refused permission.
Graham and Ron Dingle, whose firm Dingle Brothers owns the site, could also face fines of up to £20,000 after Cornwall Council decided to launch legal action.
At a meeting behind closed doors this week, the council's east sub-area planning committee voted unanimously in favour of taking enforcement action to secure the wind turbine's removal.
They also agreed to take legal action with regard to the failure to comply with the terms of the stop notice.
The Dingles run an agricultural supply firm and recycling facility at the site, and said they would have gone out of business if the giant turbine had not been installed.
They argue that the renewable energy generated by the turbine has prevented 632 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
The wind energy people seem to think that they can get away with anything, because of their supposedly noble cause. Fortunately, the Cornwall Council sets an example for other decision makers on how to put an end to the worst type of wind power lawlessness.
Saturday, 10 March 2012
German professor speaks out about the latest efforts to save the euro and Greece
Another German professor, who is prepared to speak out about the latest effort to "save" the euro and prevent Greece from bankruptcy:
Nearly 86 percent of private investors have agreed to join in the debt-swap deal that will help Greece avoid an uncontrolled default. But is that good news? Many experts have their doubts. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, economics professor Harald Hau argues that not only will the plan put the burden on taxpayers, but it will mean an even bigger crisis to come.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is the debt haircut enough to free Greece from its worst burdens?
Hau: No. The agreed-upon debt haircut is insufficient. No matter what, there will be a second, proper bankruptcy. It will probably take another nine months to three years, but then there will be a really big crisis, both economically and politically. The problem has only been deferred. The next time it will only affect the taxpayers, though.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why?
Hau: The banks have been stalling for time over the last one and a half years. They wanted to take as many interest payments with them as possible. Now they realize that time is running out and have thus changed their strategy. They are just trying to pass on as many debts as possible to the public sector. From their perspective, this is a smart move. But it will be a catastrophe for taxpayers in the end.
Read the entire interview here
Merkel, Sarkozy and the rest know all this very well, but they all have their own reasons to behave as though they would be saving Greece and the euro.
Nearly 86 percent of private investors have agreed to join in the debt-swap deal that will help Greece avoid an uncontrolled default. But is that good news? Many experts have their doubts. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, economics professor Harald Hau argues that not only will the plan put the burden on taxpayers, but it will mean an even bigger crisis to come.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Is the debt haircut enough to free Greece from its worst burdens?
Hau: No. The agreed-upon debt haircut is insufficient. No matter what, there will be a second, proper bankruptcy. It will probably take another nine months to three years, but then there will be a really big crisis, both economically and politically. The problem has only been deferred. The next time it will only affect the taxpayers, though.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why?
Hau: The banks have been stalling for time over the last one and a half years. They wanted to take as many interest payments with them as possible. Now they realize that time is running out and have thus changed their strategy. They are just trying to pass on as many debts as possible to the public sector. From their perspective, this is a smart move. But it will be a catastrophe for taxpayers in the end.
Read the entire interview here
Merkel, Sarkozy and the rest know all this very well, but they all have their own reasons to behave as though they would be saving Greece and the euro.
China blocking Airbus orders worth $12 billion because of EU´s senseless emission trading scheme
Representatives of the Brussels EU bureaucracy are still insisting that the inclusion of aviation in the European Union´s senseless emission trading scheme will take place as planned, but - as we have pointed out earlier - this is a fight the "EUSSR" will loose.
Trade war is looming, and China is blocking Airbus orders worth at least $12 billion. And this is just the beginning of a process that is bound to seriously hurt the already now weak EU economy. It cannot take long before saner voices will replace the Connie Hedegaard and the other Brussels climate fanatics:
China is blocking orders for at least $12 billion worth of Airbus jets to protest the European Union's emissions trading fees, in a new challenge to the program aimed at fighting global warming, the planemaker said Thursday.
With some analysts warning of a brewing trade war, Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said his company is seeing "retaliation threats" from 26 countries, "in particular from China."
Speaking to The Associated Press, he said 35 orders by Chinese airlines for A330 planes are on hold because China's government is refusing to approve them. He said orders for another 10 A380 superjumbos are also under threat, and that the combined list prices of the aircraft is $12 billion.
Read the entire article here
Trade war is looming, and China is blocking Airbus orders worth at least $12 billion. And this is just the beginning of a process that is bound to seriously hurt the already now weak EU economy. It cannot take long before saner voices will replace the Connie Hedegaard and the other Brussels climate fanatics:
China is blocking orders for at least $12 billion worth of Airbus jets to protest the European Union's emissions trading fees, in a new challenge to the program aimed at fighting global warming, the planemaker said Thursday.
With some analysts warning of a brewing trade war, Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath said his company is seeing "retaliation threats" from 26 countries, "in particular from China."
Speaking to The Associated Press, he said 35 orders by Chinese airlines for A330 planes are on hold because China's government is refusing to approve them. He said orders for another 10 A380 superjumbos are also under threat, and that the combined list prices of the aircraft is $12 billion.
Read the entire article here
Study: Replacing all coal plants with renewables would have practically no cooling effect 50 or 100 years from now
"I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration"
Al Gore
Robert Rapier, writing in the Consumer Energy Report, summarizes a new paper in Environmental Research Letters, which must be rather depressing reading for Al Gore, Greenpeace and the rest of the anti-coal warmists:
Even if you could in theory shut down all of the coal-fired power plants in the world and replace them with wind, solar, and hydropower — in 50 years the projected temperature is only one-twentieth of a degree C cooler than the base case of continuing to use coal. In 100 years, if I could replace all global coal-fired power plants with firm, renewable power — the temperature is only projected to be about 0.2 degrees cooler than under the coal base case. And the way this is being spun is that the 0.09 degree reduction from switching to natural gas is equivalent to an effect of “zero”, but the 0.2 degree reduction in hypothetically replacing everything with wind and solar power 100 years from now is significant. About the natural gas case, Romm literally said the 0.09 degree lower temperature in switching to natural gas means that “natural gas is a bridge fuel to nowhere”, but the 0.2 degree lower temperature in switching to renewables is “the worlds only plausible hope to avert catastrophic temperature rise.”
--
Bear in mind that this is for a global replacement of coal — most of which is used in Asia. Good luck trying to sell China and India on a 0.2 degree temperature difference in 100 years if they quickly abandon their coal-fired power plants and replace them with wind power.
---
To be honest, if I was devoting my life to fighting against the threat of climate change, this would be one of the most depressing papers I have ever read. If we could convince everyone in the world to shut down their coal-fired power plants — which we can’t — and replace them with renewable power — which isn’t available in quantities sufficient to replace coal-fired power — then by the end of my life there would still be no statistically significant temperature change to even be able to tell if my life’s work was successful.
Read the entire article here
Al Gore
Robert Rapier, writing in the Consumer Energy Report, summarizes a new paper in Environmental Research Letters, which must be rather depressing reading for Al Gore, Greenpeace and the rest of the anti-coal warmists:
Even if you could in theory shut down all of the coal-fired power plants in the world and replace them with wind, solar, and hydropower — in 50 years the projected temperature is only one-twentieth of a degree C cooler than the base case of continuing to use coal. In 100 years, if I could replace all global coal-fired power plants with firm, renewable power — the temperature is only projected to be about 0.2 degrees cooler than under the coal base case. And the way this is being spun is that the 0.09 degree reduction from switching to natural gas is equivalent to an effect of “zero”, but the 0.2 degree reduction in hypothetically replacing everything with wind and solar power 100 years from now is significant. About the natural gas case, Romm literally said the 0.09 degree lower temperature in switching to natural gas means that “natural gas is a bridge fuel to nowhere”, but the 0.2 degree lower temperature in switching to renewables is “the worlds only plausible hope to avert catastrophic temperature rise.”
--
Bear in mind that this is for a global replacement of coal — most of which is used in Asia. Good luck trying to sell China and India on a 0.2 degree temperature difference in 100 years if they quickly abandon their coal-fired power plants and replace them with wind power.
---
To be honest, if I was devoting my life to fighting against the threat of climate change, this would be one of the most depressing papers I have ever read. If we could convince everyone in the world to shut down their coal-fired power plants — which we can’t — and replace them with renewable power — which isn’t available in quantities sufficient to replace coal-fired power — then by the end of my life there would still be no statistically significant temperature change to even be able to tell if my life’s work was successful.
Read the entire article here
Friday, 9 March 2012
Another great speech by Daniel Hannan
Daniel Hannan, tory MEP, is without doubt one of the great political orators of our time. His recent speech at the Australian Institute of Public Affairs is further proof of his greatness:
Here is a link to more of Hannan´s speeches.
Here is a link to more of Hannan´s speeches.
Over 1,3 billion people to "celebrate" Earth Hour on March 29
Hundreds of activists are now busy planning the 2012 Earth Hour, "the largest environmental event in history". According to the official Earth Hour website "more than 5,200 cities and towns in 135 countries worldwide switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2011 alone, sending a powerful message for action on climate change".
But we already know that the 2012 Earth Hour, on March 29, is going to be an even bigger success, with over 1,3 billion people "celebrating" worldwide, particularly in Africa:
“Some 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity – and 45 per cent of those live in Africa".
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General
PS
In spite of the expected high "attendance", the WWF´s African activists are working hard in order to emulate last year´s success stories, like this one:
Kenya first took part in Earth Hour in 2009 and is organised by WWF. The highlight in 2011 was a high-level cocktail reception ..
But we already know that the 2012 Earth Hour, on March 29, is going to be an even bigger success, with over 1,3 billion people "celebrating" worldwide, particularly in Africa:
“Some 1.3 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity – and 45 per cent of those live in Africa".
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General
PS
In spite of the expected high "attendance", the WWF´s African activists are working hard in order to emulate last year´s success stories, like this one:
Kenya first took part in Earth Hour in 2009 and is organised by WWF. The highlight in 2011 was a high-level cocktail reception ..
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