Energy Transition Folly and Graphs that Hide or Reveal?

This week, SEPP's president Ken Haapala recaps headlines pertaining to climate change, energy, and the overall cost of the net-zero transition.

It is worth noting that Al Gore, proponent of the global warming theory, has been found to manipulate graphs to support his theory. The timelines are incorrectly presented, and causation is wrongly inferred.

To address this, Roy Spencer uses graphing techniques to demonstrate differences in datasets rather than hiding them. In another post, Spencer explores reasons for varying time periods and why different periods fit different models better than others.

Additionally, the high cost of wind and solar power has become apparent in Europe. Reports suggest that the transition to net zero is not progressing quickly enough. Dolly Parton's quote sums it up, "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

Finally, SEPP brings you quotes and summaries from notable journalists and think tanks to round out the week's news.

The Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)

Science is based on the tenet that one must not fool oneself, and yet, it is surprisingly easy to fool oneself. Data can be adjusted to give the most favorable results, and one can easily ignore data that questions their desired results.

Unfortunately, many passionate environmentalists have fooled themselves about the data regarding global warming. For instance, they ignore the fact that there are no standards for temperature measurements and that the data has been heavily manipulated by government agencies. Additionally, the timeline is incorrect, with temperature changes occurring before CO2 changes by approximately 800 years.

Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA-GISS, has criticized the work of Roy Spencer and John Christy for allegedly misleading the presentation of data. In response, Spencer demonstrates that his method of presenting data reveals differences rather than hiding them. He correlates model temperature metrics with models' equilibrium climate sensitivities (ECS) and finds the highest correlation early in the record. This demonstrates the superiority of his method.

Which Time Period?

Spencer explores reasons for varying time periods and why different periods fit different models better than others. He correlates models' ECS with temperature trends for different start years and finds that the correlation peaks around 1945. This is when CO2 emissions increased substantially after World War II. However, the correlations start to fall off after that date because of increasingly different aerosol forcings.

Energy Transition

Western governments are attempting to force an energy transition onto their populations against their will. The high cost of wind and solar power has become apparent in Europe. Security specialist Professor emeritus Gwythian Prins of the London School of Economics (and Political Science) argues that the transition to net zero creates national security problems for the UK.

Net Zero Watch published "Retreat from Net Zero is Under Way," by Ross Clark, a lead writer and columnist at the Spectator. He argues that the transition to net zero is not progressing fast enough, and its failure will be due to the chosen strategy's mismatch with the energy trilemma constraints of security, affordability, and sustainability.

Conclusion

Finally, Ken Haapala of SEPP brings you quotes and summaries from notable journalists and think tanks to round out the week's news.