Category Archives: News and Views

BoM Autumn temperature Outlooks not so hot

The current cold snap and snow on the Alps etc has got the media chattering.

I have had people asking me – did the BoM predict this cold snap? Well – their daily weather forecasting saw it coming – but the three month Outlooks are on another time scale altogether for a cold snap that might last a few days or a week.

Anyway – I checked out the BoM Outlook predictions for Autumn, March-April-May – and tried to assess real world results to date.

This link shows you the two Outlook maps, one for maximum (day) and one for minimum (night) . Looking at the SE alpine area max – Melbourne to Sydney approx – Autumn days are predicted to be warmer and a prominent cool patch is predicted over SE Queensland. Minimums in the SE are predicted to be warmer again compared to the maximums.

After that I tried to assess real world results to date at this BoM page. Now making maps for the Maximum Anomaly – choose a “1 month” timespan – that should bring up the map for April then if you carefully click on the little grey “EARLIER” tab – you can flip the map back to March. It is clear that the SE maximum temperatures have been anomalously cool those two months. You can also change the time from “1 month” to “1 week” – and it is clear that early May days were were anomalously cooler in Victoria but just slightly warmer over the Alps.

On balance, I think the BoM Autumn maximum temperature Outlook will probably be proven too warm when all the May data is in.

To the Minimum Outlook for Autumn – just change your map selection to Minimum Anomaly – and follow the same procedure as above for the maximum.

  • The March map shows the SE was patchy but on average fairly neutral.
  • The April map shows the SE was cooler than normal.
  • The “1 week” map shows most of May to date has been notably cooler than normal in the SE.

So on balance the real world minimum temperatures in the SE have been cooler than normal – not very warm as the Autumn Outlook predicted. But we have a couple of weeks to go.

In a nutshell, the BoM needs a scorcher late May heatwave in the SE to bring Autumn temperatures to match their Outlook.

“I’m a Climate Scientist” – ABC video

Somebody please assure me that our taxpayer funded broadcaster – the Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC – has nothing to do with funding this desperate pro IPCC video – which is on an ABC webpage. (warning – offensive language)

I can understand many of the cast hiding behind dark glasses.

HT Anthony Watts’ epic site.

Reasons to Oppose a Carbon Tax #4

Dear Government Member of Parliament,

Just before the Copenhagen climate change conference in December 2009 (COP15) – an event known now as Climategate rattled the IPCC world as over a thousand emails and hundreds of other computer files were released, hacked or stolen from the University of East Anglia, Climate Research Unit (CRU).

Here is one summary – but a few minutes using Google will find many more. A Superstorm for Global Warming Research

Climategate was originally ignored by our mainstream media and even today is seldom reported – but Climategate still rolls on with revelations of poor IPCC science periodically making news to this day.

Where this affects your GreenLabor Government is that Climategate has played a part in convincing many Australian voters that there is something basically wrong with IPCC science that needs addressing before we rush to implement a Carbon Tax.

Now let me show you what a Westminster Labour MP has to say – Mr Graham Stringer MP for Blackley and Broughton in Manchester.
Continue reading Reasons to Oppose a Carbon Tax #4

Organic farms more energy efficient – not so says Mischa Popoff

A study at York University – Toronto, finds Organic farms more energy efficient.

Now this blog has no track record commenting on Canadian farming but when Mischa Popoff sent me this reference, the bells it rang for me is that for decades I have heard what I think are unjustified claims about organic produce here in Australia.

Now if consumers enjoy paying high prices for pest affected inferior produce while believing it carries some Green benefits by being “organic” – I suppose that is their business.

Anyway – read on for Misha’s comments.

Okay… now I’ve heard everything.

A new study co-authored by a member of the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University claims organic farms can be more energy efficient than conventional operations. That’s like saying “Hey! I can be a faster runner than Usain Bolt!”

In case you don’t know, Usain is the fastest man in the world (he’s also referred to as Lightning Bolt). So, how the heck can I claim to run faster than him? Well, you see, the key words in my dubious claim are “can be.” I mean, sure, if Usain is fast asleep I can be way faster than he is. It all depends on the circumstances. And, until Usain and I have a race, well… my statement stands! So there.

This study is a total sham. Really. I mean, how much of my taxes were wasted on this? But, alas this is what happens when people who’ve never worked a day on a farm and who work at a university located in the downtown core of a large city decide to attack modern farming in a fight against the phantom menace of climate change.

As I show in my book, organic farming is less efficient than conventional farming. In most cases, far less so. But that’s perfectly fine! There’s nothing wrong with burning fossil fuels, especially on a farm! And since when is organic farming supposed to fall into line with every single “green” desire environmentalists have?

We’re supposed to produce food that’s purer and more nutritious in the organic sector. We rely on time-proven methods that have sustained humankind for thousands of years; so who cares if we burn a bit more diesel? Every organic farmer I know will tell you straight up that he burns more fuel for every bushel he produces compared to his conventional neighbors. And you know what? It doesn’t bother him in the least. What bothers organic farmers, young and old, is when they’re used as pawns to fight someone else’s environmental battle, in this case, the crazy battle against climate change.

Attention, anyone working in the environmental department of a university! North-American farmers don’t care about climate change! Never did, never will.

In case you haven’t heard about this study, click here. And if you have, and thought perhaps it might be true, ask yourself why Al Gore never mentions organic farming. It’s because he knows organic farming requires more fossil fuel than conventional farming, and it releases more CO2. Too bad the authors of this study don’t know what Gore knows.

If you haven’t heard about my book that debunks this type of malarkey while promoting true, honest, domestic organic farming, please go to my website. For my specific comments on the issue of organics and CO2, just click here.

Mischa Popoff, B.A. (Hons.), IOIA Organic Inspector
Author of Is it Organic? The inside story of the organic industry
Some people hate this book, but if you’ve ever worked on a farm, you’ll love it
Osoyoos BC Canada
www.isitorganic.ca

Reasons to Oppose a Carbon Tax #3

Dear Government Member of Parliament,

Let us look quickly at your Government plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

From the above link – I have assumed your Government is aiming to reduce its emissions by between 5 and 15 per cent below 2000 levels by 2020. I have chosen the mid-range 10% reduction for the graphic below.

CO2 emissions China vs Australia

Let us further assume that Australian voters come to agree with your GreenLabor Government Carbon Tax plan – that the huge national sacrifice is worth the pain – to reduce our emissions by the ~80 million tonnes from current levels which gets us down to 10% below 2000 levels by 2020.

All those jobs exported to Asia – all those mortgage foreclosures – all those chilly winters as we try to reduce our rocketing electricity bills – all those rocketing grocery bills – fuel prices heading skywards – all will be worth it to do our bit to save the planet.

What will our decade long sacrifice mean in global terms if the above fairy story came to pass.

The figures show that China alone – not adding in the rest of the world – just China – will wipe out our tens years of painful ~80 million tonnes of carbon dioxide reductions in just 48 days of their emissions increase from 2008-2009.

48 days respite – that is what our decade of financial sacrifice will buy just from Chinese emission increases.

Luckily my little scenario was a fairy story – because Australian voters will not return your GreenLabor Government at the next election – whenever that is. An election could be held sooner than 2013 of course if the GreenLabor Government was to lose a seat in a byelection.

Your Government should do the decent thing – call a fresh election now and campaign on a platform to introduce your Carbon Tax – and then your Government could earn the mandate to introduce this colossal change to our national life.

PS: The BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2010 can be downloaded

Yours etc

Reasons to Oppose a Carbon Tax #2

Dear Government Members of Parliament and Senators.

Voters out here in the real world can not understand why tiny Australia is playing world leader by introducing a Carbon Tax.

Major global carbon emitters, China, India, Russia, Canada, Japan, France and the USA have either rejected or deferred ETS as a means of limiting CO2 emissions: That the Australian Government would rush in foolishly and go it alone to implement this utterly impractical Green policy – simply beggars belief !

And this, at a time when the US Dollar Index has tumbled fifteen percent in a year – harming our export industries by driving our dollar ever higher in value – while global debt concerns are ever present to threaten greater damage to markets.

Surely, this is the wrong time for Government to disrupt our economy by embarking on a windmill-tilting Green experiment to “do something about climate change” – an experiment which has not the slightest hope of having a detectable effect on global climate.

It is amazing that our Government has not done any due-diligence studies to assess the effect of a Carbon Tax on our economy. Voters out here in the real world value our national prosperity greatly and our Government should take heed of public opinion which is sixty percent against your Carbon Tax.

Your Government should call a fresh election now and campaign on a platform to introduce a Carbon Tax – and then your Government could earn the mandate to introduce this colossal change to our national life.

Yours

Letters to MP’s opposing a Carbon Tax

I have just faxed the following one page letter to the 20 Labor MP’s on the smallest majorities, plus eight relevant cabinet level people. I intend to follow this up with a series over the next two weeks – each dealing mainly with one aspect of the case against a carbon tax.

Everybody who opposes the Carbon Tax should write to or contact MP’s – we have few methods available to make our views heard.

Reasons to Oppose a Carbon Tax

You know that Prime Minister Gillard went to the last election saying there would be ‘‘no carbon tax under the government I lead’’.

You know also that The Deputy Prime Minister, Wayne Swan, said last August that if Labor won the election there would be no carbon tax during its three-year term.

Obviously these astute statements helped save your Labor Government from defeat last year – so voters out here know there is clearly no mandate for the carbon tax.

Do you know that Australian carbon dioxide emissions are less than 1.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions ?

So it is crystal clear that your Green-Labor Government could dismantle the Australian economy back to Stone Age levels – and the world could not measure the circa 1% change in global carbon dioxide emissions that would be produced by our sacrifice.

Do you know that CSIRO research in 1992 showed that the Australian landmass absorbed our emissions from industry and land clearing ? See www.publish.csiro.au/paper/BT9920527.htm

So from a global perspective Australia produces practically no net carbon dioxide emissions anyway.

Your Government should call a fresh election now and campaign on a platform to introduce a carbon tax – and then your Government could earn the mandate to introduce this colossal change to our national life.

Yours etc

15 reasons to oppose the GreenLabor carbon tax; by Paul Sheehan of the SMH

Paul Sheehan writes for the too often GreenLeft compliant Sydney Morning Herald. He has this thought provoking article listing 15 reasons why the Gillard Govt carbon tax is lacking in logic.

What do readers think ? Can we add to Paul’s list ?

Paul Sheehan says – The justification for this tax is that it will curb greenhouse emissions endangering the planet. It is an argument which covers a multitude of sins.

Here are just some:

1. There is no mandate for the carbon tax. It was expressly singled out by Gillard during the last election as a no-go, which helped save her government.

2. The tax will have almost zero effect on global carbon dioxide emissions.

3. It is a tax on everything, as higher energy costs flow through the economy.

4. It is regressive, harming households and small businesses on tight budgets.

5. It is a massive exercise in tax churning.

6. It does not address the structural inefficiencies in the energy sector.

7. It is a prelude to a emissions trading scheme, a derivatives market.

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9. It will introduce a new layer of complexity to the economy.

10. It ignores significant energy savings possible without a punitive tax.

11. The federal government has an abysmal record in delivering large-scale interventions.

12. Australia contributes about 1.5 per cent of global carbon emissions and any local measures will be irrelevant without a global carbon tax regime.

13. It will not introduce certainty to energy pricing as promised.

14. Solar and wind power generation are prohibitively expensive and cannot meet baseload power needs.

15. The tax represents a massive transfer of wealth and power to the bureaucratic class which benefits most from a new labyrinth of compliance and compulsion.

In short, a carbon chasm is emerging in Australia and when it is all boiled down, I think Sue Isles is right and Julia Gillard is wrong.

There is no mandate for the carbon tax. It was expressly singled out by Gillard during the last election as a no-go, which helped save her government.

Myron Ebell of the CEI talking on Global Warming

This comes highly regarded but my connection is a little slow. Myron Ebell chairs the Cooler Heads Coalition, which comprises over two dozen non-profit groups in the USA and abroad that question global warming alarmism and oppose energy rationing policies.

Global Warming Event CEI from CEI Video on Vimeo.

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Does Professor Ross Garnaut play with words on the “Insight” TV show ?

The SBS TV Channel in Australia (State funded multicultural TV) runs a current affairs show called Insight.

Now on Tuesday 5th April 11 they discussed the proposed Carbon Tax – and fairly soon after the start – JENNY BROCKIE the compere brings in PROFESSOR ROSS GARNAUT, GOVERNMENT CLIMATE CHANGE ADVISOR.

In his second paragraph the transcript shows him saying –

“….there’s a way of dealing with it that won’t lead anyone to be poorer.””

About halfway through the transcript other contributors pick Garnaut up for saying that nobody will be worse off.

For example Tim Wilson says:

TIM WILSON: Sorry I actually want to go back there, because I think if you check the tape, you did say no-one would be worse off.

Then Ross Garnaut says;

PROFESSOR ROSS GARNAUT: I did not. That is simply not true.

Well I know what I think words mean – I wonder what readers think about this issue on national TV. Why did not an Insight staffer check this and tell Jenny Brockie during the program so she could inform Ross Garnaut what words he uttered?

I will tell you now for certain what the truth will be if this tax/scheme whatever goes ahead. Those of us taxpayers above some Labor chosen middle tax bracket will most certainly be worse off. The tax will be simply another Labor income redistribution scheme.

Below here is the long transcript. Continue reading Does Professor Ross Garnaut play with words on the “Insight” TV show ?