The Somali pirates have nothing on the bunch who turned up in Copenhagen, seeking to plunder the world and divvy up the loot under the guise of ‘saving the planet’. I heard even Mugabe was there, after reducing his nation from rich Rhodesia to poor Zimbabwe, looking for a handout under the latest fable, ‘the Carbon Debt’ supposedly owed to the poor countries by the rich countries.

There is only one carbon debt, and that is the debt every inhabitant of this planet owes to carbon dioxide. Without adequate amounts of this in the atmosphere, plant life suffocates, and we could not grow enough crops to feed the population. To quote Freeman Dyson ‘The fundamental reason why carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is critically important to biology is that there is so little of it. A field of corn growing in full sunlight in the middle of the day uses up all of the carbon dioxide within a metre of the ground in about five minutes’.

Surely it’s time to confront the immorality of scaring children witless with images of ‘threatened bears’ (polar and koala) and ‘dying’ reefs and then exploiting their fears with cheap political stunts.

Please, no more scares and no more talkfests, whether in Mexico in 2010, or Cairns in 2011 (neither city has reported snow yet). The money would be better spent on improved and reliable water, power and transport systems. Education about how this country became prosperous would also be a good investment into a prosperous future otherwise we can descend from A to Z (Australia to Zimbabwe) faster than in a Mad Max movie.

John McRobert
Indooroopilly
Qld Australia

The Global Warming Policy Foundation has published (May 2011) a detailed report about the shale gas revolution and its likely implications for climate policy.

The report , written by Matt Ridley and with a foreword by Professor Freeman Dyson, finds that shale gas:

• is not only abundant but relatively cheap and therefore promises to take market share from nuclear, coal and renewable energy and to replace oil in some transport and industrial uses, over coming decades.
• will help to keep the price of nitrogen fertiliser low and hence keep food prices down, other things being equal.
• is unlikely to be a major source of pollution or methane emissions, but in contrast promises to reduce pollution and accelerate the decarbonisation of the world economy.

To read the full report see:

http://thegwpf.org/images/stories/gwpf-reports/Shale-Gas_4_May_11.pdf [PDF, 1.6 MB]

Naturally, after causing a boom in demand for gas, and promoting it, greens are now trying to prevent exploration and exploitation of this massive new energy source. And just as naturally they are being supported by competitive energy sources threatened by this gas bonanza – French nuclear, Russian gas, the coal geo-sequestration crowd and the whole wind/solar lobby.

Some of these shales will also produce significant oil. Nick Grealy looks here at the coming impact of oil and gas from “Wet Shale”:

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm/7415/Shale-Gas-LNG–the-Coming-Impact-of-Wet-Shale

[A journalist (“Louise”) asked recently who funds the Carbon Sense Coalition.]

I and a few friends around Australia and overseas founded the Coalition. I have paid for the business registrations, web servers and all such related matters. No one has reimbursed me. A computer friend built the web site and has not sent a bill. He maintains our web site and has not sent a bill.

Other members have helped with research, editing and writing, and none have been paid for it.
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By Dirck T. Hartmann Thursday, July 3, 2008

(Editor’s Note: To many in the know, Dirck T. Hartmann, who worked on the Apollo Space Program and many other significant NASA projects, was a fighter pilot in WWII, flying P38s. So when this gifted scientist/engineer/physicist and 87-year-old hero felt compelled to answer the questions of Man Made Global Warming, not only his son and grandchildren knew he had something to say with factual substance, truth and knowledge. What he has to say is clear and concise and should be read by everyone.)

What is your carbon footprint? That is the wrong question to ask. A more meaningful question is – How much carbon dioxide does it take to grow the wheat required to produce a loaf of bread? Or – How much carbon dioxide does it take to grow the corn for the chicken feed required to produce a dozen eggs?
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Speech by Hon Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic. March 4, 2008.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like first of all to thank the organizers of this important conference for making it possible and also for inviting one politically incorrect politician from Central Europe to come and speak here. This meeting will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the moving away from the irrational climate alarmism to the much needed climate realism.
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By Rocky Wood

Have you ever wondered if celebrities have a conscience? Whether they consider their impact of their words and deeds in much the way as the common man? Let’s investigate that matter in the context of the raging debate over climate change.

Did you tune into the Live Earth concerts promoted by Al Gore on the catchy date of 7/7/07? No? Well, you certainly heard of them, thanks to the free time given by the media. Concerts on seven continents, headlined by Madonna, Genesis and the Black Eyed Peas. Concerts designed to arouse awareness of the apparent threats of climate change and global warming.
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A: No, we are opposed to pollution.

Pollution is the transfer of unusual or harmful matter or energy to another person’s property without their consent. Thus I should not allow smoke, ash particles, industrial effluent, noise, noxious gases, bad smells or light from my property to annoy anyone else unless we have negotiated an agreement.

Burning of carbon fuels has been part of the natural cycle of the earth since the first plant was set on fire by the first lightning strike. All the products of burning natural carbon fuels are easily and beneficially absorbed by the atmosphere, dissolved by rain and go to fertilise the soil.

However there are some emissions that are annoying or dangerous in concentrated amounts, for example nitrous oxide, hydrogen chloride, sulphur dioxide. And others such as soot and ash that are not so dangerous, but visible and annoying. Bush fires produce all of these, but usually not in troublesome amounts.

Burning coal or oil in power stations can produce continual pollution in a small area, so modern clean plants remove almost everything from the emissions except water vapour and carbon dioxide, which are disseminated into the atmosphere via a tall stack. These two are normal beneficial atmospheric gases not pollutants. Taking them out of the emissions would be a silly and very expensive exercise for no benefit.

The newly formed Carbon Sense Coalition today described the Global Warming Policies of both Federal and State government and opposition parties as “Policies for Poverty”.

Chairman of the new group, Mr Viv Forbes, says that at a time when scientific and informed opinion was becoming more sceptical of the apocalyptic prophecies of the Global Warming Industry, politicians and the media were competing to propose the most extreme and expensive options to “solve” a non- problem.
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Australia’s PM Rudd, Santa Clause of the Global Warming Industry, wants to waste another $100 M per year of other people’s money on his Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.

All life on earth depends on our atmosphere for four essentials – oxygen, water, carbon and nitrogen. This foolish Institute aims to permanently sterilise two of them, carbon and oxygen. It destroys valuable resources and wastes extra energy doing it.

Every tonne of carbon buried in CO2 by CCS takes almost 3 tonnes of oxygen with it. It is more accurately referred to as Oxygen Capture and Burial (OCB).

Planets like earth gradually lose their life-sustaining atmosphere and end up as lifeless planets like Moon and Mars. It just takes time.

The essentials of life are already being continually lost by other processes, largely locked up in rocks as limestone or coal, lost to space, or buried in ocean sediments, land fill or human cemeteries.

These buried treasures are lost for eons, maybe forever, to the cycle of life. The OCB scheme would deliberately accelerate that deathly process.

Burning coal and oil, smelting metals, mining phosphate and calcining cement make small contributions to reverse this long term disappearance of essential elements from our atmosphere and biosphere.

There are no climate benefits of this silly proposal because CO2 in the atmosphere does not control climate – the tiny effect of man’s CO2 emissions is wholly beneficial.

The OCB Scheme will provide cushy jobs and Frequent Flyer Points for the Climate Change Industry, jobs losses in every real industry, and soaring costs in every home.

Green extremists know that OCB is a fantasy but see it as a weapon to cripple carbon industries with taxes, thus making solar and wind power look economic.

Our PM should reduce his carbon footprint and come home.

Australia cannot afford a world statesman.

Viv Forbes
Chairman, The Carbon Sense Coalition

It was the year 1799, during the “Dalton Minimum” when the sun was quiet that George Frederick Bollinger led a group of early pioneers from North Carolina to establish early settlements in Missouri. They hoped to cross their largest obstacle, the Mississippi River, on the ice, frozen solid in mid-winter.

The pioneers and their wagon train moved westward a few miles each day, making and breaking camp each night, fording the small streams and floating across the larger ones on rafts which they made from the nearby trees, following roads that were barely trails through forests and valleys.

They arrived on the east bank of the Mississippi River opposite St. Genevieve in late December, pitched camp and explored potential river crossings. St. Genevieve is located about a 100 miles downstream from St. Louis. Winter had come early and the Mississippi river was already covered with ice. It was bitterly cold. They determined the ice was not yet thick enough to support a crossing of ox-carts and covered wagons. Daily the thickness of the ice was measured and then on Dec. 31, a chopped hole in the ice indicated thickness well over two feet. They tested the ice by making a few trips across on foot and horseback. The believed the ice was thick enough to support a loaded wagon.

As a test, a wagon was selected to be driven across with no one riding and the driver would walk ahead watching the ice and leading his team. The trip across and back to camp was made without the ice cracking and preparations were made for an early crossing New Year’s Day.

The next morning final preparations were made to break camp and all supplies were loaded. The weather remained bitter cold with dark skies overhead and light snow falling, but the decision had been made to cross and there was no turning back. The group was devout German Reformed Protestants and they gathered together in the early cold gray dawn to seek guidance from their God for a safe crossing.

The cracking of whips like pistol shots rang out over the heads of the oxen to coax them out onto the ice; the crossing had began. All that were able, walked to lighten the loaded wagons, keeping a safe distance from the wagons, which were also spaced far apart to lessen the danger of breaking the ice. The crossing was made successfully with no mishaps, except extremely cold hands and feet.

The townsfolk of St. Genevieve had built a large fire to welcome and warm these new settlers. Safely across the Mississippi, they were relieved of their crossing fears and enjoyed the local hospitality. They exchanged news from the East for information of what they might expect ahead. Needed supplies were purchased and even the weather abated a little as the sun broke through the clouds. They settled along the Whitewater River where the soil was rich.

We are transitioning into Solar Cycle (SC) 24 and the sun has become fairly quiet. During most of the last century (SC 16-23) the sun has been in a Grand Maxima. As a result the Earth has experienced warming. But with SC 24 the sun is again changing states. From the peak year 1998, the lower Troposphere temperatures globally have already fallen around 1/2 degree Celsius. This is despite the fact that during that same time period, atmospheric carbon dioxide has risen 5% from 367 ppm to 386 ppm. Several solar scientist are predicting the sun will slide into a “Dalton Minimum” event in SC 25, about a decade from now. If that happens, the Earth will experience some bitterly cold winters for several decades.

The winters may once again resemble the winters 200 years ago during the time of the early pioneers. Imagine for a minute the west fork of the White River near Bloomfield freezing into a block of ice two feet thick.

James A. Marusek
Bloomfield USA

First published Greene County Daily Word, 19 Mar 2009.

http://gcdailyworld.com/story/1510388.html