The recent Earth Hour advertisements exhorted us to turn off the lights in the evening and enjoy a “candle-lit dinner” instead.

This crystallised in my mind the idiocy of this event – everyone knows candles produce more CO2 per lumen than the incandescent bulb, and lots more than a fluorescent bulb.

This is symbolic of the retreat from reason that is Earth Hour – not one single coal-powered station in the country will shut down for earth hour, so no power will be saved, it will instead be wasted.

The fact that “2,848 cities, towns and municipalities in 84 countries have already committed to Vote Earth for Earth Hour 2009” is evidence of nothing but a form of mass hysteria.

The fact that China, India and emerging countries lead the call for action on climate change is a cynical act of hypocrisy, given that they are calling for action by everyone else but China, India and emerging countries.

These countries are themselves the fastest growing “polluters” in the world – China now exceeds the carbon footprint of the USA, and India is not far behind.

The Vote Earth movement seems to me to be a rejection of the Age of Enlightenment in favour of a return to the dim glow of medieval ignorance, where modern-day peasants will sit smugly in the dark as a form of Mother Nature worship.

As Earth Hour asks us to symbolically turn off the light of reason, I have decided to Vote Human instead and turn every light in the house on tomorrow night – I encourage you all to do the same.

In the immortal words of Dylan Thomas: “Rage, rage against the dying of the light!”

ALLEN HORRELL
Oatlands
8th April 2009

See also:

http://www.rossmckitrick.com/uploads/4/8/0/8/4808045/earthhour.pdf
http://www.briansussman.com/environment/more-green-stupidity-earth-hour/
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/miloyiannopoulos/9307847/Earth_Hour_is_stupid_and_pointless_Leave_the_blasted_lights_on/

Some at the big end of town are worried that Mr Abbott may keep his solemn promise to repeal the carbon tax. No doubt they and their smart lawyers fear losing the clever green schemes that rely on ripping off tax payers, consumers and other businesses.

Australia’s wealth and jobs have always rested on three legs – mining and farming, making and processing things, and rich foreigners; in short, resources, manufacturing, and money from tourists and investors.

The Gillard carbon tax will white-ant all three legs.

Mining and farming rely on draglines, dozers, scrapers, trains, trucks, bulk carriers, tractors, generators, pumps and machines of all kinds. All need cheap reliable energy. Their energy comes from diesel fuel or coal powered electricity. A tax on carbon will sap their energy and reduce their ability to generate jobs and national wealth.

Our processing and manufacturing industries rely on cheap electricity produced from our marvellous deposits of coal and natural gas. Greens have demonised these national assets and their carbon tax will undermine all Australian industries. Investors always look ahead. Already the threat of a carbon tax has reduced the asset value of every base load power station in Australia. Already one of the biggest, running on Victorian brown coal, is reporting financial stress and may close. We cannot run steel works, refineries or big cities on sunbeams and sea breezes.

See: http://www.theage.com.au/national/carbon-tax-puts-heat-on-loy-yang-20111219-1p2kf.html

Australia is remote from most of the world, and tourists must travel vast distances to get here. They need planes, trains, ships, buses and cars, all powered by carbon energy from petrol, diesel or gas. The carbon tax will strike at the heart of this industry. Harassed by the carbon footprint harpies, tourists may choose to stay home and go camping in their own backyards.

Finally, Australia is leading the world with the most onerous and widely applied carbon tax. This is already deterring the foreign investors who for generations have risked their savings to create businesses and jobs in Australia. Even now, the threat of a carbon tax is increasing capital shortage and debt stress in Australia.

There is no good news in the carbon tax story – no climate benefits, no real jobs and more costs for consumers. And it is white-anting the three legs supporting the Australian economy. Unlike the big end of town, thinking Australians are worried that Mr Abbott may renege on his solemn promise to repeal the carbon tax.

That would really leave Australia powerless and legless in the global storms.

More:

• Saving the Suckers of the South Pacific
• First Successful Low Emissions Economy
• Wind Energy Lights Up
• SWindle Power
• Climatism failed in 2011, but the big battles are ahead in 2012
• Europe’s Green Lobby Fighting For Survival
• White Christmas 2012
• Global Temperatures? – Flat for 13 Years
• Have you checked your Carbon Footprint?
• What Really Happened in Durban?
• The Last Word for 2011

See: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/legless-in-storms.pdf [PDF, 546 KB]

In June this year the UNEP report announced that Global Renewable Energy investment reached $257 Billion in 2011. It’s so large it rivals the $302 billion invested in fossil fuel power. But how much electricity do we get for all that money? When the details are pulled from the fog, a quarter of a trillion dollars appears to produce only about 3% of all our global electricity, and even less of our global energy. All that money, so few gigawatts.

Source: http://joannenova.com.au/2012/08/renewable-energy-is-a-257-billion-dollar-industry-that-makes-only-3-of-our-electricity/

Cartoon Credit: Steve Hunter http://www.stevehunterillustrations.com.au/political-cartoons/

Tornadoes are a fact of life in USA, and the recent Moore, Oklahoma tornado is not unique – there have been many of similar strength and causing greater loss of life. For a summary on the statistics, politics and science of the latest American tornado see this report by Geoff Derrick using data from http://wattsupwiththat.com/.

More: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/newcastle-moore-tornado.pdf [PDF, 1.1 MB]

Green Energy is Part of the Past, not Fuel for the Future

The growing failure of green energy in Europe should warn Australia to abandon bi-partisan policies dictating targets, mandates and subsidies for “green” energy.

I grew up at the end of the last green energy era – solar energy powered our growing crops and dried the washing, but it was weak in winter and ceased under clouds and at night; wind energy pumped water, but only when the wind blew; draft horses powered farm machinery, but they had to be fed whether they were working or not; wood gave us home heating and cooking, but it consumed energy to collect and chop it up; kids walked to school or rode bikes or ponies and ladies took the horse and sulky.

Our only help from carbon energy was kerosene for the kitchen lamp and coke used to smelt and forge the metals for farm tools and machinery.

We also practiced “sustainability” – we purchased little, and most of the farm produce was consumed on the farm by family, farm labourers and draft horses.

We were rescued from this life of sustained labour by carbon energy – a kerosene-powered tractor, a petrol-powered truck, and coal-powered electricity for lighting, heating, cooking, refrigeration, milking machines and pumps. The horses and farm labour were no longer needed and, for once, the farm produced a decent surplus of food for the growing cities.

Wind, solar, wood and muscle power are tools of the past and they work no better now than they did then. Forcing people to use these ancient technologies will just return us to laborious poverty on the farms and hunger in the cities.

Green energy should not be forced on consumers – those who want it should pay for it.

Green energy will eventually be abandoned, but the cost rises for each day’s delay.

For those who would like to read more about the green energy disaster in Europe:

http://us4.campaign-archive2.com/?u=c920274f2a364603849bbb505&id=4a8f8201ec&e=e1638e04a2
http://www.cfact.org/2013/08/13/europeans-learning-the-hard-truth-about-wind-and-solar-energy/

More, as well as:

• Green Energy Twins are Parasitic Power Producers
• Abolish Renewable Energy Targets
• “The Oceans Ate my Global Warming”
• Election Day – “Put every Labor/Green candidate last”

Read the full report: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/green-energy-folly.pdf [PDF, 48kB]

Keywords: Green energy, wind power, solar power, renewable energy targets, global warming, computer model failures, oceans warming, election advice, how-to-vote, Labor, Greens, LNP, no-carbon-tax-party.

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on the Australian and New Zealand governments to boycott the UN Global Warming talkfest planned for Durban later this year.

The Chairman of “Carbon Sense”, Mr Viv Forbes, said that there was nothing useful left to discuss, so tax payers should be spared the costs.

“There are only two legitimate topics to debate in Durban – the science of global warming or the politics of the Kyoto agreement.

“Government climate mercenaries tell us at every opportunity ‘The science of global warming is settled’. They refuse to debate climate realists. Thus, according to them, there is no science to debate at Durban.

“The politics of Kyoto alarmism is equally settled. No one outside the Green Empire in UK, Europe and the Anzacs will renew Kyoto.

“Developing economies in Africa, India and China are never going to agree to carbon taxes and rationing that damage the aspirations of their millions many who still lack electricity. Others such as PNG, Indonesia and Brazil will participate only to the extent needed to rip off the gullible Green Empire by selling ephemeral ‘carbon credits’ to them.

“Thus the Kyoto deal is dead and there is nothing there to discuss in Durban.

“Almost every western government is guilty of massive overspending. Australia and New Zealand should reduce government waste by sending NO ONE to the pointless party in Durban.”

Viv Forbes
Rosewood Qld Australia
forbes@carbon-sense.com

Viv Forbes is Chairman of the Carbon Sense Coalition which opposes waste of resources, opposes pollution, and promotes the rational and sustainable use of carbon energy and carbon food. www.carbon-sense.com

The weather at any spot is usually defined by max/min temperatures, humidity, precipitation and wind strength/direction. Weather varies hourly, daily, season-to-season and place-to- place. These weather measurements at any place can be averaged over various time periods.

Climate is defined as the average of thirty years of weather.

[We and the cartoon creator, Steve Hunter, have full rights to this cartoon, and grant permission for anyone to reproduce it in any media as long as the Steve Hunter signature remains on it. For electronic media, the source link should also be displayed.]

Weather statistics can be averaged over larger areas, such as by region, state, continent or the globe. This is a mathematical abstraction, becoming less accurate and less meaningful as the time or area covered increases. A global average annual temperature which (after debatable adjustments) includes winter in the Antarctic and summer in the Sahara is irrelevant. No one lives in the global average temperature. Weather and climate have been so politicised that most commentaries are now merely propaganda.

In the Brave New World of global warming alarmists, a long frigid winter is “just weather”, but one stinking hot summer day is “clear evidence of dangerous man-made climate change”.

And despite an un-predicted 17 years of stable global temperature trends, their prophets still chant their doleful dirge: “Unless we have a carbon tax, extreme weather disasters are coming your way soon”.

If you would like to comment on the above article go to: http://pickeringpost.com/story/weather-vs-climate/3140

More, as well as:

• Modelling Madness
• Clive Palmer’s Climate Gift Horse
• Aliens Cause Global Warming?
• Budget Should Cut Climatism Costs
• New Book from Ian Plimer: “Not for Greens”
• Believe it or Not – Al Gore Grilled at Last

Read the full report: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/weather-vs-climate.pdf [PDF, 109KB]

Keywords: Weather, climate, models, forecasts, Clive Palmer, Budget, climate spending, Ian Plimer, Al Gore.

Media Statement by Viv Forbes

Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition.

Any quotes taken directly from this statement may be attributed to Mr Forbes

The Carbon Sense Coalition today called on the federal government to reduce the burden of the Climate Industry on all taxpayers and consumers.

The Chairman of Carbon Sense, Mr Viv Forbes, said that the biggest national scandal today was how the whole government apparatus, including the nationalised research and media industries and parts of the opposition, was totally captive to a religious belief that a destructive war on carbon energy will somehow provide benefits to some future generation of Australians by cooling the climate and preventing extreme weather events.

“This is a delusion.”

Quote:

It was the great Milton Friedman who said “There is only one tax on the people and that is government spending”.

Cutting expenditure, not re-arranging expenditure, must be the total focus of this budget.

And the first candidate for spending cuts must be the totally useless Climate Change Industry.

Every department, program, research grant, travel grant or salary with climate, warming, carbon, sustainability, renewable, sequestration, clean coal, ethanol or IPCC in its title or mission statement should be abolished forthwith together with its staffing. This list must include but not be restricted to:

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) and its dependants, saving about $3.2 billion.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, saving about $10 billion.

The Emerging Renewables Program, saving about $126 million.

The Clean Technology Innovation Program, saving about $200 million.

Subsidies to Coal-fired electricity generators, saving about $5.5 billion. (This has to be the ultimate madness – the government levies a crippling carbon tax on coal-fired electricity generation to force them to close and then pays huge subsidies to the same generators to delay their closure).

All Climate Change “Research” focussed on carbon dioxide, saving about $300 million.

“Contracts for Closure” – payments to ensure closure of some electricity generators (unbelievable – surely the carbon tax will do this).

The Coal Sector Jobs Package – payments to coal mines to offset the cost of the carbon tax- just abolish the tax.

Coal Sector Assistance Package – Subsidies to some Coal Mines (another stupidity – repaying some of the carbon tax they took in the first place).

Everything funded under the Clean Energy Future Plan.

All renewable energy subsidies.

The Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund.

The Ethanol Production Grants Program – a subsidy per litre of ethanol produced.

All climate change officials, lawyers, inspectors and auditors everywhere, maybe 13,000 of them saving, say, $2 billion per year.

The offices of the Climate Commissioner and the Clean Energy Regulator – whatever they cost is wasted money.

The whole Carbon Capture and Storage empire – The National Low Emissions Coal Initiative, the CCS Flagships Program, the National Carbon Dioxide Infrastructure Plan, and the Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.

Support for all the International Climate Forums and Conferences via APEC, CEM, G20, IEA, IEF, IPEEC, IRENA, IPCC and all the travel costs associated with attendance.

All handouts under the Green Precincts Fund – $15M spent to date.

All government advertising, market research, media monitoring, media advisers and logo designers promoting the carbon tax, the Department of Climate Change, smart meters or other climate and green energy initiatives.

Donations to Green Friends such as the Climate Institute, the Australian Conservation Council, Climate Works Australia, Green Cross Australia, and the ACTU – $3 million spent already.

To “balance” all of these reduced expenditures the government must also abolish the carbon tax and all fuel taxes not related directly to public road usage and applied to road construction and maintenance.

Note: The above list probably includes errors, double counting and omissions, but such is the confusion and proliferation of the alphabet soup of what poses as “Climate Policy” that it is doubtful if anyone could prepare an accurate and comprehensive list. The only feasible solution is to start cutting, biggest first. None of them will be missed, except with relief by taxpayers and consumers.

Viv Forbes,
Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition
www.carbon-sense.com
Rosewood Qld Australia
forbes@carbon-sense.com

Alarmists see a man-made calamity in every change in the Antarctic ice cap.

There is nothing unusual about ice caps melting, ice sheets splitting, icebergs calving or glaciers advancing or retreating. This has been happening naturally for eons.

[We and the cartoon creator, Steve Hunter, have full rights to this cartoon, and grant permission for anyone to reproduce it in any media as long as the Steve Hunter signature remains on it. For electronic media, the source link should also be displayed.]

Gullible Green Sailors trapped in Arctic sea ice:
http://www.cfact.org/2013/09/19/gullible-green-sailors-trapped-in-the-arctic/

Gullible Green Scientists trapped in Antarctic sea ice:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531159/Antarctic-crew-build-ice-helipad-help-rescuers.html

In 1513, a Turkish sea captain, Piri Reis, using ancient maps, produced an accurate chart of the coastline of Antarctica which is now covered by a kilometre of ice. Geological evidence suggests it was ice-free just 6,000 years ago. Several past eras of icing and melting follow the natural cycles of the solar system, totally ignoring man’s puny activities.

Apple has enabled a two-step verification for all iCloud mail users which has caused a disconnection from your Unroll.Me account. iCloud Download Sign in: we Guide you Create iCloud.com Account. Easy Steps to Backup Your Storage in iCloud Drive & iCloud Download on your iOS Devices

It is not surprising that most glaciers and ice sheets show melting and calving while snow is being added at their source. If this did not occur, much of Earth’s water would eventually become tied up in the ever-growing ice sheets, as happened in the Ice Ages. And when land-based ice caps melt during periodic warm eras, the sea level inevitably rises and all life-forms must adapt to the new shoreline.

More, as well as:

• Repeal the Renewable Energy Target, Now
• Poison Propaganda – the Mercury Scares
• Believe it or Not – Al Gore Grilled at Last – Retraction

Read the full report: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/false-alarms-frigid-zone.pdf [PDF, 463KB]

Keywords: Antarctica, Arctic, undersea volcanoes, RET, mercury.

When I was a kid, Mum did the washing in a copper of boiling water over an open fire in the back yard. We collected the wood from the back paddock with a horse and dray. It was all very “green” (but we thought it was just hard yakka).

Greens want us to return to this primitive method for generating heat, and even electricity.

It is sensible for industrial plants such as sugar mills to burn readily available organic waste such as bagasse to generate power. But to deliberately build power stations to run on wood chips is a step back to the BC (before coal) era when forests were clear-felled to produce fuel and charcoal to feed boilers and furnaces.

Coal is an energy-dense fuel, and often has huge deposits in a concentrated area. Long-life power stations can be built close to the coal deposits, thus minimising transport costs and land disturbance.

Wood, however, has very low energy density and biomass energy is always spread over large areas of land. The fuel gathering operation must move every day, with enormous waste of transport energy and displacement of plants and animals.

Burning coal or burning biomass produces exactly the same harmless combustion gases, and a switch of fuels will have no measurable effect on climate.

Even more stupid than wood power are Green dreams to feed power stations with low grade fuels such as wheat stubble or fowl manure. The collection and transport costs for such inferior fuels will exceed the value of electricity produced. It also robs the bio-sphere of valuable mulch, fertiliser and humus.

Burning biomass to generate electricity is Green madness. Speculators should be free to fritter their own funds on such nonsense but public subsidies, carbon credits and market mandates should not be used to support them.

Here is a new slogan for true environmentalists: “Don’t Burn the Bio-sphere”.

Read how one foolish island nation plans to burn its food (coconuts) in diesel generators:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/08/09/of-coconuts-the-sun-and-small-isolated-islands/

More:

• Why Bury the Essentials of Life in Carbon Cemeteries?
• Abolish the Two Big Climate Taxes
• The Real Agenda: Agenda 21
• Nothing New about Extreme Weather
• Has the LNP forgotten the battlers?

See: http://carbon-sense.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/burning-the-biosphere.pdf [PDF, 219 KB]

Keywords: Green Energy, biomass, wood power, biofuel, CCS (carbon capture & sequestration), climate taxes, electricity costs, carbon tax, renewable energy targets, Agenda 21, extreme weather.