The Australian Government is spending at least $800 million per year on research related to Climate Change. The cash is being sprayed across the country so that no university or research centre is missing out. More than 5,000 researchers are beneficiaries of government climate largess, but still they cannot forecast the weather more than a few days ahead.

Where does the money go? No one appears to know, so Carbon Sense asked Bob Greenelsh to see what he could dig up, and Bob has presented his preliminary findings.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is the big winner with government expenditure running at the rate of $400 million a year. After adding funds from the Coal Industry, the total for CCS is probably closer to $800 million a year. Other researchers are getting cash for projects on alternative energy, climate modelling, disaster predicting and research into the impact of climate change on subjects of interest to the researchers. For example, there is an intriguing $760,000 grant for research into the impact of climate change on native orchids.

With so much money being spent by so many, involving so many different organisations and on a vast variety of projects the obvious question is, does anyone really know what is going on? Is the cash being properly spent and will there be a proper reckoning of results and benefits? A second question is, do all the researchers believe that man-made CO2 is causing global warming and that such warming is going to cause other disasters? It is a good bet that their main focus is on getting cash for their project and knowing that there is global warming stimulus package they include “global warming” in the project application.

With those magic words the money will soon be on its way and they can do their stuff and forget about global warming.

See the initial report by Bob Greenelsh: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/research-spending-greenelsh.pdf [PDF, 35KB]

1. Fuelling Future Famines

This generation of pampered westerners is the first tribe in the history of the world that seems determined to destroy its ability to produce food.

The history of the human race has always been a battle for protein in the face of the continual challenge of natural climate change. Nothing has changed for this generation, except the wildfire spread of a destructive new religion that requires the sacrifice of food producers on a global warming altar.

Food creation needs solar energy, land, carbon dioxide and water. All four food resources are under threat…

The article as PDF: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/fuelling-future-famines-article.pdf [PDF, 78 KB]

2. The Monckton-Plimer Tour of Australia

3. There are Two Dead Elephants in Parliament

To find out more about this spectacular event see: http://carbon-sense.com/2010/02/14/dead-elephants/

4. The People’s Network beats the Media Monoliths and the Government Propaganda Machine

The climate consensus promoted by Big Business, Big Government, Big Media and Big Academia has come unstuck. The shoddy work and partisan promotion by IPCC and its cronies has been exposed, the romantic idea of powering the world with sunbeams and sea breezes has collided with engineering reality, and the public has caught a whiff of the true meaning of green politics – taxes, ration cards and big brother controlling every aspect of our lives…

Read the full newsletter: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/fuelling-future-famines.pdf [PDF, 105KB]

In his Two Dead Elephants in Parliament, Malcolm Roberts writes:

The UN IPCC ’s global warming alarm is dead. Killed by the stampeding revelations of the UN IPCC fraud and falsities.

Yet, there are two dead elephants in federal parliament—one each in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In each chamber, politicians are tiptoeing around the UN IPCC corpse. They’re pretending climate alarm is still alive—no one wants to be the first to break the news.

Kevin Rudd’s mob, cowed in silence imposed by party control and paralysed by fear of voter backlash, pretend the rotting corpses are not there. They aim to suffocate Australia through an Emissions Trading Scheme imposing a huge tax payable by every consumer.

Tony Abbott’s mob is paralysed by fear of sensational headlines labelling them anti-green. They too tiptoe warily around the putrid corpses. They think that to be seen as environmentally caring they need a plan for tackling global warming alarm. They’re trying to prove their plan is better. So they push a far less costly, far less risky and far less damaging alternative to suffocating Australia—they want to choke Australia through yet more unneeded regulation.

The growing majority of Aussies watch and laugh. Woken to reality, they look on and shake their heads with derision and disbelief. While politicians tiptoe around dead elephants, Aussies have figured out what really matters—global warming alarm has been fabricated.

Most Australians genuinely care for the environment. They’ve concluded climate alarm is a wasteful, costly derailment— a derailment that prevents addressing real environmental challenges.

Read the full document: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/dead-elephants.pdf [PDF, 415 KB]

I live in Texas, where it NEVER snows except maybe every three or four years. Though I will have to admit that “global warming” has really done a number on us because it has snowed SIX times this winter.

Thank gawd for global warming, because we would probably be BURIED under twenty feet of snow without it.

Yeah and if you believe that, I have some beach front property in Nebraska I want to sell you.

And I don’t mean that it is a “light dusting” of snowflakes. I mean it is huge globs of snow coming down.

Maybe if we are lucky [after all snow did shut down the government yesterday and today] it will only be a couple of inches.

Though to tell you the truth, it is already three inches deep.

Pat Wadley
11 Feb 2010
Texas, USA

PS. 13 Feb 2010:

It wasn’t three inches of snow, it is more than a foot.

Trees have fallen, some buildings have collapsed roofs and, despite the utility companies destroying a lot of gorgeous trees this summer, it has not stopped electrical lines from collapsing because of the weight of the snow. There are a lot of people without power.

It is gorgeous outside, as long as you are inside and looking out.

Pat

As of the end of January, the cumulative number of spotless days (days without sunspots) in the transition into solar cycle 24 now stands at 774. The number of spotless days is clamping down quickly. There were only 3 spotless days in January, 2010.

Solar minimums end rather abruptly. It appears very likely that the final number for this solar minimum will come close to 800. The transitions into the recent Solar Cycles (SC16-23) covering the past 7 decades averaged 362 cumulative spotless days. Therefore it is becoming obvious that the sun has undergone a state change.

The Average Magnetic Planetary Index (Ap index) is a proxy measurement for the intensity of solar magnetic activity as it alters the geomagnetic field on Earth. It has been referred to as the common yardstick for solar magnetic activity. An Ap index of “4” was the lowest recorded monthly value since measurements began in January 1932. In October and November 2009, this index record was broken with values of “3”. Then in December the index sunk even lower establishing a new record with a reading of “2”. Now in January of this year the Ap index is back up to “3”.

This solar minimum is rather unusual. If we define a period of quiet sun as those months that produced an Ap index of 6 or less and compare the total number of quiet months within each solar minimum, then the results would be:

Isn’t it interesting that the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing some of the coldest, snowiest weather in decades at the same time the sun’s magnetic field produced 25 quiet months? But history has shown that when the sun gets extremely quiet such as during the Maunder and Sporer Minimums, the world experiences great cold periods referred to as the Little Ice Ages.

Congratulations to Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia in smashing your all time seasonal snow record. Who will be next?

James Marusek

Perth Tuesday February 9th 2010
Wesfarmers Lecture Theatre
Business School,
University of Western Australia,
Hackett Drive
6:00pm – 8:00 pm (doors open at 5:00pm)
Details: monckton-perth-2.pdf [PDF, 430 KB]

Sydney Friday 12 February 2010 – 12:20pm
HILTON HOTEL SYDNEY, Grand Ballroom
Details: monckton-sydney-2.pdf [PDF, 252 KB]

Howard C. Hayden, Professor Emeritus of Physics, UConn, has written a submission to the US EPA.

His conclusion:

“To put it fairly but bluntly, the global-warming alarmists have relied on a pathetic version of science in which computer models take precedence over data, and numerical averages of computer outputs are believed to be able to predict the future climate.

“It would be a travesty if the EPA were to countenance such nonsense.”

Read the submission: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hayden-submission-epa.pdf [PDF, 65 KB]

An ALP politician, Nick Champion, has written a piece designed to scare the electorate. Rudd is concentrating on frightening little children.

Champion is quoting “National Security and the Threat of Climate Change” by General Gordon R Sullivan (Ret.) which paints a picture of “food and water scarcity, rising sea levels, increased threat of national disasters like hurricanes, storms and flooding, and a rise in infectious diseases. These threats could strike in Asia and the Pacific and could affect millions of people.”

He then goes on to talk about a ”threat multiplier” which includes every nightmare from failed states to resource scarcity all of which he sees as threatening our defences and our fault unless we introduce an ETS which would easily fix all the world’s problems.

He tries to blame us for all the natural disasters of the earth and would then deprive poor countries of modern coal fired power stations and confine them to dung and windmills in the name of responsible government and our national security.

Janet Barlow
Sydney, Australia

The Carbon Sense Coalition claimed today that those who vote for the Wong Ration-N-Tax Scheme are betraying every backbone industry in Australia, for no climate benefits whatsoever.

The Chairman of Carbon Sense, Mr Viv Forbes, said that there is no evidence that carbon dioxide drives temperature changes on earth.

He added:

“Even if the world did warm, there is no evidence that this would be harmful to life on earth. Ice ages cause mass extinctions; warm periods are always bountiful.

“Moreover, higher temperature must produce higher evaporation from the oceans and thus more rainfall. If this is combined with more abundant carbon dioxide, the aerial plant food, earth would have another green revolution.

“The war on carbon dioxide has been heavily promoted by European interests dependent on aging and costly nuclear power and unreliable Russian gas. Their goal is to hobble those competitors reliant on efficient and dependable coal power, chiefly the Anglo-American world and Australia’s major customers in China and India.

“Many foolish local politicians have thus become foreign agents.

“Any Ration-N-Tax Scheme will reduce Australian jobs in mining, farming, fishing, forestry, transport, travel, tourism and power generation, all of which are totally dependent on carbon fuels. It will benefit bankers, speculators, traders, lawyers, regulators and artificial industries dependent on subsidies.

“It will export jobs and assist all competitors who have no ETS shackles.

“The carbon killers in the Australian Parliament are thus assisting the world spread of nuclear power, encouraging the overuse of gas, promoting costly fantasies like wind power, assisting carbon speculators and destroying real Australian industry and jobs – all for no proven climate benefit whatsoever.”

Viv Forbes
Rosevale Qld 4340

For a commentary on how the Greens have promoted nuclear power and uranium mining see:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article7009629.ece

Jo Nova captures the mood in Australia: