The Warmers Are Punishing The Poor

Posted on January 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

A recent posting on WUWT by Willis Eschenbach titled “We Have Met The 1%, and He Is Us” illustrates that the  people that get hurt the most by energy rationing are the poor.   Eschenbach’s experiences as a sailor got him to many parts of the globe where living is a daily struggle and the high cost of energy, if it is even available, doom those people to suffering and short lifespans. I recommend that you read his posting which can be accessed by clicking here.
I recently ran across a story that helps illustrate how the zeal of the warmers is punishing the poor. The West Bengal government wants to provide electricity to 1076 Sundarbans villages. The government believes there will be a 10 to 20 fold increase in electricity demand between 2010 and 2020. However the environmental groups oppose this action because the grid will supply coal based electricity.

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Climate Models, CO2, fossil fuels, Global Temperatures, Renewable Energy, solar cells

Does Al Gore Think Glenn Beck Is More To Be Feared Than An Oil Nation?

Posted on January 9, 2013 | 2 comments

Al Gore’s syndicate is selling the Current TV Network to Al Jazeera, the Qatar-owned news network, for something like $500 million. Glenn Beck had earlier tried to buy Current TV but he was turned down with the stated reason being that Current TV wanted to sell to someone that shared their views and Beck didn’t.  However it seems that Qatar does have the same views.  This is difficult to get your mind around.   Gore has made a fortune bashing anyone associated with crude oil and the products from crude like gasoline (petrol) thus fossil fuel-financed Al Jazeera would seem an unlikely candidate.  One can only conclude that if Gore has to decide between money and principal, money wins.  Gore is reported to get $100 million from this sale.
A little background.  Current TV was founded in 2005.  Current TV has been a ratings disaster.  It had access to some 40 million households via contracts with companies like Time-Warner Cable but its programing was so dismal that it has been said that total daily views were in the 50,000 range.  Time-Waner Cable cancelled their association with Current TV following the announcement of the sale to Al Jazeera.
We know how Gore feels about fossil fuels, but how does Al Jazeera match up with Gore’s liberal views that would not let him sell to conservative Glenn Beck.  USA Today reports that some people are skeptical about this being a good thing. The following are excepts from their report which can be read in its entirety by clicking here.
Media watchers in the Middle East say the Arabic news network Al Jazeera is well known for promoting radical Islamist causes overseas, but it remains to be seen how it will present the news on its newly purchased U.S. cable channel.
Itamar Marcus, director of Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli research institute that studies Palestinian society and the Arab world through their media and educational materials, said there is “a big difference” between Al Jazeera’s Arabic programming and its international English-language broadcasts.
“The Arab broadcasts very often promote a very radical Islamist approach,” said Marcus.
“What’s brilliant,” Marcus said, is the way the company “binds this in with all the latest technology and even occasionally interviews with differing opinions, including Israeli leaders.” This creates a “perception” of balanced reporting, Marcus said, “but in fact, the overall underlying agenda is very radical.”
Daoud Kuttab, the Jordan-based director of the Community Media Network, a Middle East media group, said Al Jazeera’s Arabic-language programming “is very different” from its English counterpart.
 Al Jazeera was begun in 1996 and owned by the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, an Arab monarch who has offered support to Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group in Gaza, and presides over an authoritarian regime.
Freedom House, a U.S.-based group that monitors repression worldwide, has given Qatar its lowest rating of “Not Free.” Homosexuality is a crime in Qatar, journalists are sometimes jailed and non-Muslims are discriminated against.
The news media watchdog Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America or CAMERA, which frequently takes U.S. outlets to task over errors in reporting on Israel, says the network has been assailed for bias even in the Middle East.
In 2004, interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi temporarily shut down Al Jazeera’s broadcast in Iraq because he said it was inciting violence and racial hatred. In 2008, former ABC-TV Nightline reporter Dave Marash, brought on to anchor Al Jazeera English for American audiences, quit after two years and said the anti-American bias at the station was “reflexive.”
The agreement by Al Jazeera cable television network to buy Current TV is not necessarily a plus for U.S. cable operators or their audiences,” said Andrea Levin, president and executive director of CAMERA. Al Jazeera Arabic “is not the Middle East equivalent of CNN, as it is often but mistakenly described,” Levin said.
CAMERA says one of the network’s most popular programs is Shariah and Life, hosted by Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a former “spiritual guide” of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qaradawi has called for conversion of Europe and North America to Islam and a Muslim-led genocide of Israel and the Jews, Levin said.
Al Gore is an opportunist.  His stardom in the green movement came about from the movie, “An Inconvenient Truth” despite the fact that it is full of half truths and deceptions.  He has recently said he made a mistake backing the ethanol fuel initiative.  When I heard this, I thought that perhaps he was finally getting it.  But in view of this sale, I have to wonder if he was taken off the payroll by the ethanol producers and he got back at them by saying it was wrong to mandate ethanol into gasoline.
cbdakota

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Posted in AGW, Al Gore, Al Jazeera, CO2, Domestic Energy, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Media Bias

NASA Revises Cycle 24 Sunspot Prediction.

Posted on January 9, 2013 | Leave a comment

David Hathaway, NASA solar cycle expert, has a revised forecast for Solar Cycle 24 Sunspot number and Maximum timing.  In May 2012, he forecast the smoothed sunspot number maximum at 60 and the timing of the maximum as the spring of 2013.  His January 2013 Cycle 24  revised forecast is for 69 spots and maximum in the Fall of 2013.  He adds:
“ We are currently over four years into Cycle 24. The current predicted and observed size makes this the smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14 which had a maximum of 64.2 in February of 1906.”  
 jan13hathawayssn_predict
       Hathaway’s  NASA Revised January 2013 Sunspot Number Prediction

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Posted in Ap index, NASA/GISS, Solar Activity, Solar Cycle 24, Solar Flux, Sun, sun and climate, Sunspots

Global Temperatures 12th Highest In The Last 34 Years

Posted on January 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

Satellite temperature measurements began 34 years ago.  The satellites are the most comprehensive measurements of global temperatures and largely can avoid the errors so pervasive in the land-based measuring devices.
Accordingly, they are the gold standard of atmospheric global temperature recorders.
For 34 years these satellites have been managed by the University of Alabama at Huntsville.  Principals in this effort have been Dr.s Roy Spencer and John Christy.   They report that the year 2012 was the 9th warmest globally in the 34 years of satellite measurement.  The temperature anomaly for 2012 was +0.161.  The warmest year in the 34 years was 1998 followed, in order, by 2002,2003, 2005, 2006, 2007,2009,and 2010.  From that list, one can see that the trend for the global temperatures is downward.

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Posted in AGW, Climate Models, CO2, CRU Temps, Environment, Global Temperatures, IPCC, Storms/hurricanes

2012 Volt and Leaf Sales

Posted on January 4, 2013 | Leave a comment

The 2012 Volt sales were 23,461 which surpassed by a wide margin the 2011 sales of 7,671.  As reported, Californians were responsible for more than half of the 2012 sales. The HOV (high occupancy vehicle) lanes now allow the Volt even if there is only one person in the vehicle.  Initially, the Volt emission levels weren’t low enough when operating on gasoline to qualify for driving in the HOV lanes. This problem was corrected. If you have ever driven in California, you know just how packed roads can be out there.

My wife and I have been driving South several times a year. We use the HOV lanes when driving south out of Washington, DC, around Charlotte, North Carolina and through downtown Atlanta, Georgia.  Two things are noticeable;  one is that we hardly have to slow down from normal interstate driving speeds and  the other is that ours is often the only vehicle in the HOV lane. The vast, and I mean vast majority of the cars, trucks, etc, have only one person in the them. I can understand the allure that driving in the HOV lane must have in Los Angles.

In addition GM worked up an attractive leasing program for the Volt.  According to Money.CNN website:”….. the Volt has also been helped by aggressive leasing incentives offered in 2012. Last year, GM was offering the car for $289 a month with a $2,800 down payment. That was far less than a car with the Volt’s nearly $40,000 purchase price would ordinarily lease for, even factoring in a $7,500 plug-in car tax credit.”

The Nissan Leaf improved over last years sales by about 1.5% with total 2012 sales of about 9,800 vehicles.

The sales of the Volt,  along with the Toyota Prius are the most successful hybrids on the market, are really not that impressive when you consider  2012 total vehicle sales in the US of 14.5 million. EVs, like the Leaf, are even less impressive.  My guess is that gasoline prices are not going to skyrocket in the near term because of the continued world-wide recession and the introduction of a lot of new fossil fuels from fracking.  Low fuel prices will depress hybrid and EV sales.  And one has to wonder how long GM will be willing to subsidize the Volt.

cbdakota

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Posted in Alternative Energy, Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Environment, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Green Jobs, Personal Automobiles, US Manufacturing Companies

Two Mile Wide Comet Passing By Earth In 2013.

Posted on December 31, 2012 | 1 comment


NASA confirms that a 2 mile wide comet, discovered by amateur Russian Astronomers,  is coming our way.  The comet is know as ISON.  According to NASA:
“Comet ISON appears on course to achieve sungrazer status as it passes within a solar diameter of Sun’s surface in late 2013 November. Whatever survives will then pass nearest the Earth in late 2013 December,” NASA astronomers explained in a posting. ‘Astronomers around the world will be tracking this large dirty snowball closely to better understand its nature and how it might evolve during the next 15 months’  “The comet, which is estimated to be nearly two miles wide, will likely be one of the largest comets to ever pass Earth. While there is a chance that ISON will disintegrate when it approaches the sun, some astronomers say heat from the sun will vaporize ices in its body, creating what could be a spectacular tail.”
To read more click here.
I think that a bright object in the sky at the end of December may remind some of      another bright object in the sky several thousand years ago.
Just saying.
cbdakota
 

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Posted in Asteroids, Astronomy, comets, Solar System, Sun, Watching the Night Sky

Russia’s Federal Budget Depends On High Price Crude Sales

Posted on December 29, 2012 | 2 comments

A summary of the Russian Federal budget was posted by Reuters in July of this year.  It said that Russian crude oil had to be sold at or above $116 per barrel or the budget would show a deficit for the year.  A cursory look at the Ural blend (Russian Trading System, comparable to the WTI or Brent) crude pricing for the year suggests that it probably fell short of the goal.  To get some feel for whether or not they accomplished the price requirement, understand that the Ural and Brent crude price indices have been essentially the same for 2012.  The posting tables the Draft Three Year Budget:

DRAFT THREE-YEAR BUDGET 2013-2015 (in trillion roubles unless

stated)

Year                                         2012    2013     2014      2015

Break-even oil price ($)  116.2    113.9     106.0    105.4

Average oil price ($)              115      97        101      104

Nominal GDP                         60.6     65.8      73.4     81.5

Revenues                                  12.7     12.4      13.6     15.2

Expenditures                          12.7     13.4      14.1     15.3

Deficit (% GDP)                      – 0.1      1.5       0.6      0.11

Non-oil deficit (% GDP)     10.6     10.1      8.9      8.6

$1  =  31 rubles

By 2015, the draft budget forecasts break even price at $105.4.

Both Poland and Romania have shale oil and natural gas potential and are known to be evaluating whether it can be profitably exploited.  This is a real threat to Russia.  Any development of Western European shale is a major problem for Russia.  Like crude oil sales, natural gas sales are a major source of income for Russia.  Russia currently provides most of the natural gas and much of the oil to Western Europe.  Russia has not been reluctant to shut off supplies.  In 2009 a dispute between the Ukraine and Russia over unpaid bills resulted in shutting off natural gas to the Ukraine.  Other countries felt the effect with low  pressure or no  pressure in their pipelines.  While the official story was about unpaid bills there was a belief that Russia’s real reason was to warn neighboring countries not to join NATO. They probably are prepared to put pressure on these nations to persuade them to not develop shale gas or oil.

Below is a 2009 map of the Russian natural gas pipelines supplying European nations.

Russiannaturalgassupplylines573px-Major_russian_gas_pipelines_to_europe

Stefano Casertano,  managing director of the Berlin based “The Energy Affairs Company” posted “From Fracks to Riches” on the Stratfor website.  A number of countries are dependent on sale of oil and natural gas to provide the revenue to balance their budgets. In addition to the numbers above for Russia,  Casertano lists what he says are the crude oil prices (in dollars per barrel) to achieve the needed revenue for several other countries as follows:

Iran——-$117

Libya —-$117

Algeria–$105

Iraq—–$112

The US economy can get an enormous boost from an ample supply of low priced fossil fuels. The fear is that the President does not really see this boost as aligning with his political objectives.  He can use his rigged fracking safety study group to impose many “safety” restrictions as a means to cut short this very beneficial exploitation of our shale.  The consequence of slowing or even stopping the US shale boom will be appreciated by Russia and OPEC.

cbdakota

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Posted in Alternative Energy, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Government Regulations, Middle East Resources, Oil and Gas Exploration, OPEC

Why Is US Crude Oil Priced Lower Than European Crude?

Posted on December 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

 
 
The price standard for US crude oil is West Texas Intermediate (WTI). WTI is called light and sweet referring to its density and relatively low sulfur content.  It is often considered the premium crude and historically has been the benchmark for global oil pricing.  Brent Crude from the North Sea and an OPEC Reference Basket are other standards by which crude is valued.  WTI should carry a wellhead price premium over other crude sources.  But about two years ago,  Brent and WTI prices began separating and the price today, 26 December 2012,(at 4 pmEST) for Brent per barrel is $108.80 and WTI is $88.75.  The  Wikipedia chart below shows the historic trend since the beginning of 2001 through the later part of 2012.   (Click on Charts for clarity.)

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Posted in Alternative Energy, Domestic Energy, Energy Development, fossil fuels, Fracking/Shale Gas, Oil and Gas Exploration

Doha COP18- Warmers Now Citing Weather As Evidence of Global Climate Change

Posted on December 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

The 18th Conference of Parties (COP) in Doha achieved little in the way of results.  The renewed Kyoto Treaty was only signed  by 37 of the 194 nations in attendance and nothing beyond vague promises of monies to be given by the developed countries to the poor countries for the past and future damage resulting from global climate change.  
 
The vague promises were to provide,  beginning in 2020 at least $100 billion a year  to poor countries,  help in coping  with the “devastating effects” of climate change and “extreme weather.”  In COP17 there was a promise of monies for this purpose but it never materialized. Now in COP 18,  delivery of those funds have been put off until 2020.  No nation has volunteered to provide all or part of the funds.  This will obviously be brought up again at COP19 where, if the economy is no better globally than it is now,  it is likely to only be vague promises again.  
 
The “devastating effects of climate change” is the new mantra. This is the fall back position for those who would want to control our energy usage in view of the 16 year run of no discernable increase in global temperatures while atmospheric CO2 increased roughly 30%. That debunks the “CO2 is causing man-made global warming” theory. And it is reasonable to assume that Solar Cycle 25 will be even less active that the current Cycle 24, thus extending the years of no increase and it might even result in a global temperature decrease.  

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Posted in AGW, Environment, Global Temperatures, Hurricanes, Storms/hurricanes

Comments On COP18 Doha, Qatar Meeting—Kyoto II And Reparations

Posted on December 19, 2012 | Leave a comment

 The 18th Conference of Parties (COP) met in Doha, Qatar from 26 November to 7 December. Initially the purpose of these COPs was to monitor the Kyoto treaty which was designed to control greenhouse gas emissions. The people who set up this treaty hoped that it would give global governance of world’s energy to the UN bureaucracy.  It has failed to do that. The Kyoto Treaty  expires on 31 December 2012.  Undeterred, the attendees replaced it with  Kyoto II. The response to Kyoto II by the COP 18 attendees was underwhelming.  And this new version has even less chance of accomplishing their desired result.The COP meetings have a new raison d’etre that alleges that the developed nations have damaged or will damage the undeveloped nations and thus owe them reparations. The idea is that developed nations send money to the UN who then decide what to do with it. Surpassed only by a few despots such as Duvalier and Amin, UN bureaucrats have mastered the art of siphoning money out of similar programs into their own Swiss bank accounts.  The “OIL FOR FOOD”  program is an example.  Do you want give your money to the UN?  I don’t. Continue reading →

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Posted in AGW, Alternative Energy, Climate Models, CO2, Global Temperatures, Government Regulations, Green Jobs, Renewable Energy, United Nations