“The NAS … should be an organization that promotes careful examination of all factors involving climate change and not take sides on areas of controversy. Global temperature history and lack of climate model validation demonstrates lack of objectivity. Merging of science with politics may damage trust in the scientific community for decades.”
Last month, the United States National Academies of Sciences (NAS) issued the following news release inviting the public to a joint meeting with the UK Royal Society:
… Continue ReadingJoin NAS and The Royal Society for the Launch of a Joint Publication on Climate Change Science
On Thursday, February 27th, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and The UK’s Royal Society cordially invite the public to the release of Climate Change: Evidence & Causes, a new publication produced jointly by the two institutions.
“The Wind Energy Foundation says wind and gas make for a “mutually beneficial relationship” and experts have identified how fluctuating electrical demand requires baseload sources like natural gas to keep the lights on. Proposing a ban on fracking – and by extension the natural gas it unlocks – is, in effect, tantamount to proposing to banish renewables.”
“Does the fracking boom kill renewables?”
That headline has become common recently, with public discussions raging over whether hydraulic fracturing – or, more specifically, the affordable supplies of natural gas it has unlocked – is driving investment away from renewable technologies.
To be sure, many of the debates on this particular question – natural gas or renewables? – are sincere and conducted in the well-known, boring “big thinker” policy circles. A Venn diagram showing the people having that conversation and the general public likely shows two circles that don’t intersect.…
Continue ReadingAs stated at the website of the Rural Utilities Services (RUS), a division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), “the Federal government is the majority noteholder for approximately 700 electric systems borrowers in 46 states.” So many members of Congress represent districts with electric coops that are “regulated” by RUS. And as Public Choice economics might predict, there will be pork-fests in such situations.
This post reviews the little known “clean energy” and “climate action” activities of the USDA. More specifically, this article looks into the just-enacted Agricultural Act of 2014 (a.k.a. Farm Bill) as it pertains to the RUS’s energy efficiency programs. (RUS is USDA’s tributary to electricity issues.)
USDA’s ‘Climate Hubs’
On February 5, 2014, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the creation of seven new “climate hubs” as “part of the President’s Climate Action Plan to responsibly cut carbon pollution, slow the effects of climate change and put America on track to a cleaner environment.”…
Continue Reading