JunkScience Sidebar is here to provide the topical news and views that spin off from junk research and junk scientists. From pressure on global food supplies driven in part by climate hysteria and foolish “biofuel” mandates though the additional tax burden faced by the populace to “address” the panic du jour, here’s the place to see and comment on a wide variety of items.
All the Junk That's Fit to Discuss
On Green Hell Blog- Anti-pesticide cranks responsible for elevated childhood asthma? June 13, 2011Crawling culprit seen in urban kids’ asthma Researchers have identified cockroaches as a potential explanation for dramatic variations between neighborhoods in asthma rates among New York City children. In some New York City neighborhoods, 19 percent — nearly 1 in 5 — children have asthma; in others, the rate is as low as 3 percent. [...]
- Paul Driessen on Oregon Dems’ attack on skeptic’s kids April 26, 2011Political Payback – Oregon Style Paul Driessen Confused visitors will be forgiven for thinking Oregon State University is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Congressman Pete DeFazio and the “progressive-socialist” wing of the Democratic Party. Or for likening what’s going on there to political retribution as practiced in Third World thugocracies. (Townhall) […]
- Greenpeace assault on coal finance April 8, 2011Check out this assault on an Australian Bank for their involvement with the mining industry that quite literally sustains the country: h/t Jo Nova
- Further update on Oregon Dems attack skeptic’s kids March 28, 2011Crunch time: Payback machine grinding GOP candidate’s kids WorldNetDaily Earlier this month, WND broke the sensational story in which Art Robinson – the noted scientist who challenged Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio for Oregon’s 4th District congressional seat in November –alleged some extraordinarily nasty post-election political retribution was u […]
- Carbon tax coming to the EU? March 16, 2011The European Union’s taxation commissioner plans to propose a new two-part fuel tax, split into a carbon tax of 20 euros per ton of CO2 and a minimum energy tax on motor fuels and heating fuels. (Reuters).
- Study: Greens’ red tape costs GDP, jobs March 10, 2011A first-of-its kind study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that stalled energy projects are costing the New York economy $36.2 Billion and More Than 60,000 Jobs. (Progress Denied: A Study on the Potential Economic Impact of Permitting Challenges Facing Proposed Energy Projects).
- Update on Oregon Dems attack skeptic’s kids March 10, 2011Following on from Oregon Dems attack climate skeptic’s children Art Robinson has posted further information here. Follow the issue on Oregon State Outrage.
- EPA GHG regs put biomass plant at risk March 9, 2011Thanks to EPA’s new greenhouse gas permitting authority, a proposed Wisconsin biomass plant has come under fire from green activists. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel report: It doesn’t make sense to issue a permit for the project because it would add emissions of carbon dioxide at a rate much higher than a natural gas-fueled power [.. […]
- Africa’s killer dares to criticize March 9, 2011Check out this galling interview of William Ruckelshaus, the EPA administrator who banned DDT. While Ruckelshaus is correct in criticizing Members of Congress for essentially being willfully uninformed on environmental issues, his criticism is astonishingly arrogant given his own willful (and genocidal) ignorance of facts. During 1971-1972, the EPA held seve […]
- Coal exec: ‘More coal. All the time.’ March 9, 2011Don’t miss Peabody Energy exec Fred Palmer’s unapologetic interview with The Guardian (UK). Notable quotes include: “We’re 100% coal. More coal. Everywhere. All the time.” “We don’t have a political allegiance. We’re Americans and our political party is coal.” “Anyone who has the notion that we […]
- Scoundrel CFL makers lobby against consumers March 9, 2011Light bulb makers, in the form of the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, will be testifying against a repeal of the 2007 federal light bulb law on March 10 before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The trade group and its member firms have been making their lobbying rounds on Capitol Hill this week. According [...]
- Oregon Dems attack climate skeptic’s children March 7, 2011Democrat-run Oregon State University is apparently retaliating against climate skeptic and congressional candidate Dr. Art Robinson by taking action without cause against his three graduate student children. Robinson put together the petition against climate alarmism signed by 31,000+ U.S. scientists and unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Peter DeFazio in OR-4 l […]
- Sierra Club chief admits lobbying for business March 4, 2011At the Wall Street Journal ECO:nomics conference today, Sierra Club chief Carl Pope casually mentioned that the Sierra Club sits down with corporations having environmental regulatory problems and then uses its expertise in “changing public policy” to help the corporation solve its problem with the government — a novel role for a non-profit […]
- CAGW hysteria risks public health March 3, 2011Activists love to talk about the hypothetical far-future “health risks” of a less-cold planet. They are not so keen to discuss the very real harms caused by their hysterical anti-carbon claims here and now. We at JunkScience.com are not so reticent. The immediate trigger for this is an article in the Adelaide Advertiser from South [...]
- Shell wants you to walk March 2, 2011At the annual Rentseekers Ball (aka the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics Conference), Royal Dutch Shell gave attendees room-warming gifts — pedometers, with a note that was headlined “Take the First Step.” If they want us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so much, why do they sell us gasoline?
- How to speed nuke permits: ‘Issue them’ March 1, 2011At today’s House Energy and Power Subcommittee hearing on EPA’s job killing greenhouse gas regulations, Rep. Cory Power (R-CO) asked panel witness Dan Reicher — a longtime anti-nuke campaigner trying to position himself as some sort of “clean energy” expert — what could be done to accelerate the issuance of nuke plant permits. While R […]
- ‘Clean energy’ central planning misfires in India March 1, 2011New Dehli’s experiment with “clean” natural gas turned out to be not so clean after all. A University of British Columbia study reports that, “A pioneering program by one of the world’s largest cities to switch its vehicle fleet to clean fuel has not significantly improved harmful vehicle emissions in more than 5,000 vehicles – […]
- Arizona Public Service proposes ratepayer rip-off March 1, 2011Arizona Public Service is proposing a rate package that includes “decoupling” — i.e.: If approved, that would allow APS to collect a certain amount of revenue per customer regardless of how much energy was sold. Such plans essentially allow a company to earn more money for selling less electricity. Wake up Arizona. Decoupling should be [...]
- Is Obama With Eye On ’12 Mulling An EPA Rollback? March 1, 2011By Steve Milloy March 1, 2011, Investor’s Business Daily It looks as though President Obama may have decided that getting re-elected in 2012 is more important than saving the planet from the much-dreaded global warming. But then how does he break it to the people who helped elect him and whose support he will need [...]
- Is Obama prepping the left for bad news on EPA? February 28, 2011The coincidence of: Sen. Sherrod Brown’s letter to Obama about EPA regs; Pew Center chief Eileen Claussen’s “prediction” in today’s Guardian about Obama; and Grist.org’s howling about the Brown letter, may be signs that Obama is preparing his base for the impending news that the EPA will be delaying implementation of its g […]
- Anti-pesticide cranks responsible for elevated childhood asthma? June 13, 2011
- On JunkScience.com
- MoJo: Toxic Flame Retardants: Now In Your Food June 1, 2012Mother Jones gets it right only in that there are traces of flame retardants in food. But they don’t bother to explain that the science is clear that they don’t harm anyone at those levels.
- @NRDC Calls Chemical Industry “Pro-Cancer” June 1, 2012So much for calls for civility. In a blog posting, NRDC writes that the chemical industry wants to give you cancer.
- Hockey Schtick: New paper contradicts a tenet of global warming theory June 1, 2012A paper published today in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics finds that clouds located in the stratosphere over the poles act to cool the stratosphere by adiabatic cooling, which is the cooling of air parcels as they rise and expand, rather … Continue reading →
- S. Fred Singer: Romney’s Historic Opportunity: Low-Cost Energy Fuels Economic Recovery June 1, 2012Energy, the lifeblood of the economy, is the Achilles heel of President Barack Obama. Mitt Romney can win the November election if he concentrates his campaign on a sensible energy policy. Mr. Romney will have to make a case not … Continue reading →
- Pierre Gosselin: Despite Tens Of Billions Spent on Renewables And Steeper Energy Prices, Europe’s CO2 Output Climbs June 1, 2012It’s great to see what all those tens of billions of euros spent on renewable energies and the skyrocketing costs of electricity have accomplished. Nothing! According to the German Press Agency, dpa, European greenhouse gas emissions jumped 2.4% in 2010. … Continue reading →
- NIH asked to investigate misconduct at Environmental Health Perspectives in EPA Human Testing Scandal June 1, 2012Federal regulations require that allegations of scientific misconduct be thoroughly investigated. But Hugh Tilson, editor-in-chief of the NIEHS journal Environmental Health Perspectives only thoroughly stonewalled us in the EPA human testing scandal involving “killer” airborne fine particulate matter (PM2.5). We … Continue reading →
- An American Success Story in Paris June 1, 2012The production of natural gas from deep shale formations, thanks to the combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, was pioneered in the U.S. and it’s a technological breakthrough that continues to transform the nation’s energy economy. But this American … Continue reading →
- Standing trees better than burning ones for carbon neutrality June 1, 2012The search for alternatives to fossil fuels has prompted growing interest in the use of wood, harvested directly from forests, as a carbon-neutral energy source. But a new study by researchers at Duke and Oregon State universities finds that leaving … Continue reading →
- Article is [not] wrong to advise pregnant women to eat swordfish. June 1, 2012
- Japan Moves Closer to Restart of Nuclear Plant June 1, 2012Japan moved closer to restarting the first of the nation’s idled nuclear plants as the prime minister signaled that he might order a start-up as early as next week and as a new round of scrambling to persuade local leaders … Continue reading →
- Southern Great Plains could run out of groundwater in 30 years, study finds June 1, 2012A new study looking at key aquifers beneath the Great Plains and California’s Central Valley suggests that areas of Texas and Kansas are drawing groundwater at an unsustainable rate. Key farming regions in the US are drawing water from underground … Continue reading →
- Michael D. Lemonick: Fusion Energy: Climate-Friendly and Infinite . . . Someday June 1, 2012Walk the halls of the Princeton, N.J., Plasma Physics Laboratory in the middle of the workday, and two things leap to mind. The first is that they must do some pretty hard-core science here. The lab has plenty of conventional-looking … Continue reading →
- Oil sands fuel think-tank debate over Dutch disease June 1, 2012Is the boom a boon or a bane? Spurred in part by New Democratic Party Leader Thomas Mulcair’s political rhetoric, Canadians are debating the benefits of the oil sands boom, and whether its impact is a blessing or curse for … Continue reading →
- Car Battery Start-Ups Fizzle June 1, 2012Armed With $1.26 Billion in U.S. Grants, Firms Opened Nine Factories; Jobs and Production Lag Goals Since 2009, the Obama administration has awarded more than $1 billion to American companies to make advanced batteries for electric vehicles. Halfway to a … Continue reading →
- Germany plans to build wind power grid June 1, 2012Germany’s power-transmission companies have tabled plans to build four electricity Autobahns to link wind turbines off the north coast with manufacturing centres in the south – a boost for Angela Merkel after criticism from industry that Berlin has done little … Continue reading →
- Energy Commission poised to boost building energy standards June 1, 2012California homes and buildings are about to become a lot more energy efficient, if state regulators, as expected, approve new building standards. The Energy Commission has scheduled for Thursday a last debate and vote on triennial, 2013 energy efficiency rules, … Continue reading →
- Money meant for wind, solar power loses steam as customers shift from utility giants June 1, 2012“ComEd, Ameren supply most of budget for Illinois Power Agency, but as customers switch to other electricity suppliers, support for renewable energy dries up“ As dioxycarbophobes have long said, people respond to price cues and they are – by switching … Continue reading →
- Oh… most people really want their money spent fighting the phantom menace – they just don’t say so June 1, 2012Researchers see a silent majority supporting climate change action as a ‘social issue’ – America’s “silent jury” on climate change is seen by some researchers as an important majority that could swing society into action to confront rising temperatures. They’re … Continue reading →
- A.E.P. Backs Down on Coal Plant Retrofit June 1, 2012American Electric Power conceded defeat on Wednesday, at least temporarily, in its push to save Big Sandy, its 49-year-old coal-burning plant in eastern Kentucky, surprising state officials there by withdrawing its $1 billion plan to retrofit the power plant so … Continue reading →
- Threat of summer blackouts greatest in Texas, Calif. — report June 1, 2012If it gets hot enough for long enough, Texas and Southern California may not have the electricity to avoid outages this summer, the overseers of the nation’s power grid warned in a forecast today. Most parts of the country should … Continue reading →
- MoJo: Toxic Flame Retardants: Now In Your Food June 1, 2012
- On Corporate Energy Subsidies
- Obama moves to kill Cape Wind May 16, 2011The Obama administration is such a strong supporter of “clean energy” that it has moved to kill Cape Wind, the controversial offshore wind farm the Kennedy family has been fighting for 10 years. In a May 10 letter to Cape Wind’s developer, the Department of Energy said it wasn’t ready to provide the project with [...]
- China and the clean energy ‘race’ April 25, 2011Although this blog doesn’t care much for Bjorn Lomborg’s alarmist views of climate science, he recently had some trenchant observations about China and clean energy. Clean energy advocates claim that by failing to price carbon and to mandate so-called “clean energy” for electricity generation, the U.S. is losing the “clean energ […]
- Rentseekers comment on CES April 14, 2011Here are the rentseekers’ responses to the Bingman-Murkowski request for comments concerning a CES: American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
- Manufacturers oppose renewable mandate in CES April 13, 2011Large industrial users of electricity oppose a CES mandate for wind and solar power. In comments to the Senate Energy Committee, the Electricity Consumers Resource Council expressed concern that a CES could: Increase electricity costs by tens of billions of dollars because of increases in generation, transmission, storage and back-up costs; Jeopardize the re […]
- Tax credit extensions best CES industry to get in 2011 April 6, 2011Given the dim legislative prospects for a CES this year, extension of of tax incentives is about the best the “clean energy” industry can expect this year. According to the Clean Energy Report, “Senators are under pressure to move legislation that would extend certain tax credits, such as the so-called 1603 Treasury grant program for [...]
- Chu claims wind, solar competitive by 2019 March 25, 2011As reported by Bloomberg: Wind and solar power may compete with fossil fuels, without aid from government subsidies, within the next decade, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said. “It’s not going to be three decades,” Chu said today at an event in Washington sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trust… China and other nations are promoting [...]
- Ratepayer tax for ‘clean energy’ R&D? March 25, 2011David Garman, a former Bush Energy Department politico-cum-lobbyist, met with Obama Department of Energy staff to recommend that ratepayers be charged a tax to fund clean energy research and development. The meeting is summarized in this memo. Garman told the Clean Energy Report that, “… a charge could be designed in a variety of ways [...]
- Granholm’s plan to screw consumers and taxpayers March 24, 2011Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, former Sen. John Warner and Energy Secretary Steven Chu will be hitting the road soon to drum up support for a “clean energy standard” (CES). But as evidenced in an interview Granholm recently gave to E&E TV, her plan would mean consumer pain for rentseeker gain. The four legs of [...]
- Clean energy’s junk economics March 23, 2011The Center for American Progress offers its latest argument for a “clean energy standard.” The takedown is at JunkScience.com.
- Bingaman-Murkowski white paper on CES March 21, 2011Click here for a new white paper on a CES by Sens. Jeff Bingamn (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).
- Obama moves to kill Cape Wind May 16, 2011
For your debunking needs:
