One of the marks of helplessness is the frequent use of a specific word or a group of words to describe a situation you cannot change, which fact invokes the feeling of said helplessness.
Well done. It’s astonishing how eager these nameless people are to destroy our way of life. I don’t really understand any of it. I guess it’s the same impetus that drives communism. Of course, it’s a great system, but it has never been applied properly.
The impetus is smart people who know they are smart, looking at an exceedingly complex subject, and thinking it is simple, and that they understand it. When you explain it isn't simple, and they don't understand it, they take it as a personal insult and challenge. "By golly, I'll show THEM!"
After the inevitable failure, they still won't admit they were wrong, because not only would they have to admit that, but now they have to admit they were stupid for not listening. And the one thing these very smart people cannot abide is anyone thinking they were stupid.
So, inevitable, double down. The fallacy of sunk costs. And maybe the horse will learn to sing after all (look it up if you don't get the reference).
You just have to love people's claptrap. It was one of my mother's favorite words, most referring to our excuses about why we were coming in late!
Some people are so firmly convinced their plan is the right plan, and just like myself, are going to stick with it!
I do believe my claptrap is right and if you cover thousands of acres of solar panels, you will get just that, lost acres, and no transition, because it just can't do it the job at scale! The thing it can do is quickly provide you a little electricity when it feels like it.
No one has really looked at the REAL cost, nor do they care about the climate, that can be off-shored to someone else's back yard. They will all be dead and gone by the time their claptrap comes back to bite us all in the posterior.
Well I am going to take my claptrap to a meeting tonight and rally folks here to fight against a wind farm proposal - so glad Orsted's claptrap has lost them $575 million in the last quarter - maybe they won't want to build here in little ole Texas!
Orsted might have a little trouble getting financing - what private company or investor would loan money for a losing project to a company that's losing money - but I suppose it doesn't matter if the US gov. will subsidize them...
Unfortunately you are right! Easy to get the backing when you have the subsidies. Someone always wants to buy green credits to offset their dirty industry!
I'm going to do my best to sure no one will lease to them locally!
When I contemplate the irrational policies of English speaking countries I wonder if there has been too much emphasis on reading (especially fiction) and not enough on math and science.
Interesting point. I am partial to fiction because it has helped me develop my own critical thinking skills but I would readily agree that it shouldn't be taught at the expense of the sciences.
I too am partial to literature ( I was an English Lit major) and studied philosophy as well; however I had a classical prep education that grounded me in science and math as well. There seem to be many “well educated, smart people” who think and act as if science and math are esoteric and not necessary to making informed decisions. Worse still they cede the high ground to pseudo science and charlatans because they are unable to challenge them.
Those same people honestly believe "the science is settled" and are proud of "following the science". I am all for a general education that teaches all subjects (though I won't lie I enjoyed my A levels that I picked myself). All-subject, or classical as you say, education is we get here. The quality of that education, however, well, that depends on whether or not you get a decent teacher, which is probably the case everywhere. And then we get some progressive politicians in parliament suggesting children don't really need all that maths because what are they going to do with it later in life.
Do you ever feel like the transition leadership has read the half of science fiction with settings which are dark, poor, overpopulated, polluted and flooded (risen oceans) and never saw the optimistic half? Then, having read some speculative fiction, they've awarded themselves a "Vision" merit badge and are now convinced they know the one true future.
I also suspect that to the extent any scifi is considered "literary", it is only the dark, dystopian stuff that need apply.
Degrowthers [or wealthy elites, or WEF, etc; choose by context] are folks who read a dystopian novel or watch a dystopian film and afterwards think for a moment, then tent their fingers and remark, "Yes, that looks good. Let's do that."
Good one, Irina. Claptrap and hogwash - desperate words for journalists who have no real answer to facts that are contrary to their narratives.
Last summer in Oregon was one of the hottest I've seen in 55 years out here, I think largely because of a juxtaposition of El Nino and the Hunga Tonga undersea eruption, and this summer started out real hot, too, and our drought and fire season started early, which was worrisome, but then something happened - about 2 weeks ago it started to cool off, and we even got some rain to put out the forest fires. I can't help but wonder if this is the start of global cooling. Maybe July was "peak global heat". Who knows -that's as good a prediction as any of the "climate experts".
Irina, as always, I love your articles. Perhaps you can help me though, in your travels, maybe you can find out what the 'correct' temperature for the earth should be. I think that would help us all better understand the situation, especially if they can show why that is the correct temperature.
on a different note, given that the sun shines in the UK about once a week, why do they think solar power is a good idea?
You tell me, Andy, about solar and the UK. I myself am stumped by the idea of solar in the UK.
As for the correct temperature of the planet, you got me there -- I've sought for an answer to this question tirelessly and I have yet to find it. One thing we know because the science is settled is that the current temperature is incorrect. Hope that helps. :D
The climatocatastrophists are just plain stupid, you are correct.
And I love CO2, carbon, oil and gas, all extractive industries, and farmers that use fertilizer, and particularly farting livestock (as those that don’t are sick) for food.
Leftist greenies are harming the planet, just look at the results of their efforts. They should take heed and shut their claptrap’s!
It's the LOVE of money that is at the root of all these boondoggles. We're talking billions & billions of US dollars. The Grand Poobahs in the Climate Change ideology drool like Pavlov's dogs when they hear those amounts of money.
Moreover, many in the media have become the equivalent of televangelists. "Give me your money and you'll be healed!" has transformed into "Give me your money and the planet will be healed!"
The worst part? Most of our governments have joined the Climate Change pyramid scheme to FORCE the money out of the pockets of the less wealthy and into the pockets of the more wealthy.
From the poor to the rich via the power of government.
Jesus can't return soon enough!
In the mean time, we all have to keep exposing these nincompoops in the Climate Change ideology.
There is nothing quite like the Word of God to bring light into a dark place.
The love of money is a root of all evils - 1 Timothy 6
A few verses later the Apostle Paul warns the young Timothy of vain babblings and false science, masquerading as true.
Paul warns the Italians -
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools ... - Romans 1
These self appointed Climate Witch Doctors ...
... are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
But praise God ...
... wisdom is justified of all her children - John 7
The meek shall inherit the earth - Matthew 5
... and it will be in real good shape when we do.
We have God's Word for it.
And I will take His Word, over a politician's, any day.
Good one. Sun cable $24B for 6GW peak of Solar power to Darwin. And 2.2GW peak to Singapore. 20GWh of storage for one day's storage of 1GW of solar, providing power consumption is mostly in the daytime (i.e. non-industrial). The storage & solar will decline at >2%/yr and the batteries might last up to 15ys.
Funny $24B is just what the UAE's recent 5.6GW of APR1400's nuclear power plants cost. Not 1 GW of daily avg power (on Sunny days) but 5 GW of avg daily power. Not for 15yrs but for 60-100yrs. And still works during sandstorms, wildfire smoke, cloudy weather or volcanic eruptions (lots of volcanoes in that region). And won't get wiped out by an EMP or bad solar storm or major hurricane or hail storm or earthquake.
Little UAE could do all that in 12yrs, you would think Singapore could do the same. 5X the energy for the same cost. And doesn't have to destroy 120 sq. km, of natural habitat with ugly solar panels, as this project will do. Not counting the even uglier & dangerous, giant transmission lines. Which have proven to be prone to major failures. With the 500MW, 400kv HVDC Basslink 290km submarine transmission to Tasmania failure from Dec 2015 to June 2016. Imagine how vulnerable a 4500km submarine transmission line will be. Terrorism like Biden's blowing up of Russian gas pipelines? Earthquakes & landslides in that region?
Pretty obvious that the Malthusian Globalitarian Misanthropists are demanding obedience from all the politicians they control, promoting their EcoFascist Ideology. Malthusians have an intense hatred of Nuclear power, because it undermines their Scarcity Rent-Seeking agenda.
That's just it, isn't it? How in the word does this scheme make sense, when, at a fraction of the price, you could build a nuke plant that would safely generate power for decades?
Sheesh - build the nuke in a barge and anchor it offshore. Trust me - a fraction of the cost, and time, this boondoggle will take.
Not a good idea. Solar & wind are highly peaking energy sources. So your cable & substations must be sized for peak output whereas the avg output may be only 12-35% of peak. And the median output even less than that. If you are going to pay the hefty price of submarine transmission it is best to send reliable baseload electricity. Of course much easier and more economical to just locate those generators close to the demand centers. Except for hydro.
Russia will take care of that, like it did to their fiber optic cables in the Baltic. Accidentally on purpose had one of their trawlers forget to pull up its anchor as it was moving through the area. Oops!! Me bad. (Paybacks a bitch isn't it?)
Even better. Russia gets their allies in China to do the job, plausible deniability at its finest. And no I don't believe the moronic fable that some Ukrainians who once did some scuba diving pulled off those pipeline explosions.
This was more of a heads-up warning by Russia/China. That they can destroy the West's valuable undersea infrastructure more easily than they destroyed Russia's. Drop an anchor from a big ship and demolish a multi-$billion undersea power cable causing serious economic disruption. "It was just an accident".
You are right, of course. We especially don't like to dwell of the fact that we were wrong about something. Oh well.
You may want to review :- https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/the-hard-stuff-navigating-the-physical-realities-of-the-energy-transition?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck&hlkid=7bfa9c8729e74c5082b6af1cc2084781&hctky=14835808&hdpid=23e48d34-499b-4d9a-a88b-dbc6d045ee96
This is the latest report from mckinsey on the challenges of the transition
Good article. You can shorten the link:
https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/the-hard-stuff-navigating-the-physical-realities-of-the-energy-transition
I read it. It's good to see McKinsey acknowledging reality.
We had to destroy it in order to save it...
Well done. It’s astonishing how eager these nameless people are to destroy our way of life. I don’t really understand any of it. I guess it’s the same impetus that drives communism. Of course, it’s a great system, but it has never been applied properly.
The impetus is smart people who know they are smart, looking at an exceedingly complex subject, and thinking it is simple, and that they understand it. When you explain it isn't simple, and they don't understand it, they take it as a personal insult and challenge. "By golly, I'll show THEM!"
After the inevitable failure, they still won't admit they were wrong, because not only would they have to admit that, but now they have to admit they were stupid for not listening. And the one thing these very smart people cannot abide is anyone thinking they were stupid.
So, inevitable, double down. The fallacy of sunk costs. And maybe the horse will learn to sing after all (look it up if you don't get the reference).
Thank you Irina. Your piece fits well with Doomberg's latest, and one of the comments referred to an article of yours on Oilprice.
Off at a tangent, this may appeal to Irina irony: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/aug/22/trees-cut-down-site-tesla-gigafactory-germany-deforestation I'm very fond of trees.
Thank you, Ian. I'm quite fond of trees myself and this is a cruel irony.
You just have to love people's claptrap. It was one of my mother's favorite words, most referring to our excuses about why we were coming in late!
Some people are so firmly convinced their plan is the right plan, and just like myself, are going to stick with it!
I do believe my claptrap is right and if you cover thousands of acres of solar panels, you will get just that, lost acres, and no transition, because it just can't do it the job at scale! The thing it can do is quickly provide you a little electricity when it feels like it.
No one has really looked at the REAL cost, nor do they care about the climate, that can be off-shored to someone else's back yard. They will all be dead and gone by the time their claptrap comes back to bite us all in the posterior.
Well I am going to take my claptrap to a meeting tonight and rally folks here to fight against a wind farm proposal - so glad Orsted's claptrap has lost them $575 million in the last quarter - maybe they won't want to build here in little ole Texas!
Orsted might have a little trouble getting financing - what private company or investor would loan money for a losing project to a company that's losing money - but I suppose it doesn't matter if the US gov. will subsidize them...
Unfortunately you are right! Easy to get the backing when you have the subsidies. Someone always wants to buy green credits to offset their dirty industry!
I'm going to do my best to sure no one will lease to them locally!
Good - get the word out. You’re doing a good work.
Best of luck!
When I contemplate the irrational policies of English speaking countries I wonder if there has been too much emphasis on reading (especially fiction) and not enough on math and science.
You are wondering correctly!
Interesting point. I am partial to fiction because it has helped me develop my own critical thinking skills but I would readily agree that it shouldn't be taught at the expense of the sciences.
I too am partial to literature ( I was an English Lit major) and studied philosophy as well; however I had a classical prep education that grounded me in science and math as well. There seem to be many “well educated, smart people” who think and act as if science and math are esoteric and not necessary to making informed decisions. Worse still they cede the high ground to pseudo science and charlatans because they are unable to challenge them.
Those same people honestly believe "the science is settled" and are proud of "following the science". I am all for a general education that teaches all subjects (though I won't lie I enjoyed my A levels that I picked myself). All-subject, or classical as you say, education is we get here. The quality of that education, however, well, that depends on whether or not you get a decent teacher, which is probably the case everywhere. And then we get some progressive politicians in parliament suggesting children don't really need all that maths because what are they going to do with it later in life.
Do you ever feel like the transition leadership has read the half of science fiction with settings which are dark, poor, overpopulated, polluted and flooded (risen oceans) and never saw the optimistic half? Then, having read some speculative fiction, they've awarded themselves a "Vision" merit badge and are now convinced they know the one true future.
I also suspect that to the extent any scifi is considered "literary", it is only the dark, dystopian stuff that need apply.
Or they read it and took it as fact rather than the fiction it is...
Yes, one of my go-to comments is something like:
Degrowthers [or wealthy elites, or WEF, etc; choose by context] are folks who read a dystopian novel or watch a dystopian film and afterwards think for a moment, then tent their fingers and remark, "Yes, that looks good. Let's do that."
Yep. We are witnessing it in real time with "1984" and "Brave New World", all at once. Ambitious readers we have for leaders.
Yes dystopian stories are cautionary not descriptive
Or are they?
Well, it looks like some people have taken them all the way to instructive, even.
Do the bobbleheads know that, "You can't fix stupid." 🤘😎🤘
Good one, Irina. Claptrap and hogwash - desperate words for journalists who have no real answer to facts that are contrary to their narratives.
Last summer in Oregon was one of the hottest I've seen in 55 years out here, I think largely because of a juxtaposition of El Nino and the Hunga Tonga undersea eruption, and this summer started out real hot, too, and our drought and fire season started early, which was worrisome, but then something happened - about 2 weeks ago it started to cool off, and we even got some rain to put out the forest fires. I can't help but wonder if this is the start of global cooling. Maybe July was "peak global heat". Who knows -that's as good a prediction as any of the "climate experts".
We can hope, Al, and I certainly do. But we'll see. The Sun does what the Sun does.
Irina, as always, I love your articles. Perhaps you can help me though, in your travels, maybe you can find out what the 'correct' temperature for the earth should be. I think that would help us all better understand the situation, especially if they can show why that is the correct temperature.
on a different note, given that the sun shines in the UK about once a week, why do they think solar power is a good idea?
You tell me, Andy, about solar and the UK. I myself am stumped by the idea of solar in the UK.
As for the correct temperature of the planet, you got me there -- I've sought for an answer to this question tirelessly and I have yet to find it. One thing we know because the science is settled is that the current temperature is incorrect. Hope that helps. :D
🙃
The climatocatastrophists are just plain stupid, you are correct.
And I love CO2, carbon, oil and gas, all extractive industries, and farmers that use fertilizer, and particularly farting livestock (as those that don’t are sick) for food.
Leftist greenies are harming the planet, just look at the results of their efforts. They should take heed and shut their claptrap’s!
It's the LOVE of money that is at the root of all these boondoggles. We're talking billions & billions of US dollars. The Grand Poobahs in the Climate Change ideology drool like Pavlov's dogs when they hear those amounts of money.
Moreover, many in the media have become the equivalent of televangelists. "Give me your money and you'll be healed!" has transformed into "Give me your money and the planet will be healed!"
The worst part? Most of our governments have joined the Climate Change pyramid scheme to FORCE the money out of the pockets of the less wealthy and into the pockets of the more wealthy.
From the poor to the rich via the power of government.
Jesus can't return soon enough!
In the mean time, we all have to keep exposing these nincompoops in the Climate Change ideology.
They don't even want the money for themselves, they want to direct the money. That is the thrill.
Well said Gary.
There is nothing quite like the Word of God to bring light into a dark place.
The love of money is a root of all evils - 1 Timothy 6
A few verses later the Apostle Paul warns the young Timothy of vain babblings and false science, masquerading as true.
Paul warns the Italians -
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools ... - Romans 1
These self appointed Climate Witch Doctors ...
... are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
But praise God ...
... wisdom is justified of all her children - John 7
The meek shall inherit the earth - Matthew 5
... and it will be in real good shape when we do.
We have God's Word for it.
And I will take His Word, over a politician's, any day.
Irina - great article today - I almost spilled my coffee when I read that FT article. Classic Dunning-Kruger
Thank you! It was a treat, this story, no doubt about that.
Brilliant!
Good one. Sun cable $24B for 6GW peak of Solar power to Darwin. And 2.2GW peak to Singapore. 20GWh of storage for one day's storage of 1GW of solar, providing power consumption is mostly in the daytime (i.e. non-industrial). The storage & solar will decline at >2%/yr and the batteries might last up to 15ys.
Funny $24B is just what the UAE's recent 5.6GW of APR1400's nuclear power plants cost. Not 1 GW of daily avg power (on Sunny days) but 5 GW of avg daily power. Not for 15yrs but for 60-100yrs. And still works during sandstorms, wildfire smoke, cloudy weather or volcanic eruptions (lots of volcanoes in that region). And won't get wiped out by an EMP or bad solar storm or major hurricane or hail storm or earthquake.
Little UAE could do all that in 12yrs, you would think Singapore could do the same. 5X the energy for the same cost. And doesn't have to destroy 120 sq. km, of natural habitat with ugly solar panels, as this project will do. Not counting the even uglier & dangerous, giant transmission lines. Which have proven to be prone to major failures. With the 500MW, 400kv HVDC Basslink 290km submarine transmission to Tasmania failure from Dec 2015 to June 2016. Imagine how vulnerable a 4500km submarine transmission line will be. Terrorism like Biden's blowing up of Russian gas pipelines? Earthquakes & landslides in that region?
Pretty obvious that the Malthusian Globalitarian Misanthropists are demanding obedience from all the politicians they control, promoting their EcoFascist Ideology. Malthusians have an intense hatred of Nuclear power, because it undermines their Scarcity Rent-Seeking agenda.
That's just it, isn't it? How in the word does this scheme make sense, when, at a fraction of the price, you could build a nuke plant that would safely generate power for decades?
Sheesh - build the nuke in a barge and anchor it offshore. Trust me - a fraction of the cost, and time, this boondoggle will take.
Transporting solar energy via an undersea cable - really? I had yet to hear that one. What a knee-slapper.
Not a good idea. Solar & wind are highly peaking energy sources. So your cable & substations must be sized for peak output whereas the avg output may be only 12-35% of peak. And the median output even less than that. If you are going to pay the hefty price of submarine transmission it is best to send reliable baseload electricity. Of course much easier and more economical to just locate those generators close to the demand centers. Except for hydro.
UK is building an undersea line to...Morocco.
Russia will take care of that, like it did to their fiber optic cables in the Baltic. Accidentally on purpose had one of their trawlers forget to pull up its anchor as it was moving through the area. Oops!! Me bad. (Paybacks a bitch isn't it?)
That was a Chinese ship, they recently acknowledged the incident.
Even better. Russia gets their allies in China to do the job, plausible deniability at its finest. And no I don't believe the moronic fable that some Ukrainians who once did some scuba diving pulled off those pipeline explosions.
This was more of a heads-up warning by Russia/China. That they can destroy the West's valuable undersea infrastructure more easily than they destroyed Russia's. Drop an anchor from a big ship and demolish a multi-$billion undersea power cable causing serious economic disruption. "It was just an accident".