“Best Science” and the Problem of Land-based Thermometers (Anthony Watts’s Surfacestations project)

By Indur Goklany -- May 22, 2009

Editor Note: Readings from land-based temperature records are in dispute, with most concern centering on how much of the recorded warming in recent decades is attributable to local versus global processes. Climatologist Patrick Michaels has recently brought attention to the problem, and the post below describes some preliminary findings of an on-going survey comparing real-world thermometer siting practices to recommended standards–and its potential impact on global warming in theory and practice.

President Obama and his administration take pains to stress that their climate and environmental policies will be informed by the best science available. And that is as it should be, but the entire task can be complicated by the fact that sometimes the best available science may not be good enough for the task at hand.

Anthony Watts’s report on the Surfacestations project—Is the U.S.…

“The Unbearable Lightness of Wind” (EU update)

By Ross McCracken -- May 21, 2009

[Editor note: Ross McCracken is editor of Platts Energy Economist]

Where support mechanisms are sufficiently generous, wind power is racing ahead. In the European Union, where supported by feed-in tariffs in countries like Germany and Spain, wind power targets are very likely to be met, if not exceeded. Last year, more wind capacity was installed in the EU than any other energy source, for the first time outstripping even natural gas.

Wind has become the “market choice” because the technology is mature, bank lending is assured where prices are guaranteed, and the supply-side has been steadily ramping up production capacity. And wind is the only viable renewable that can deliver large amounts of installed capacity in the short term.

But just because you can doesn’t mean you should. As wind penetration increases, the pricing effects become more extreme, impacting the profitability of existing baseload and peaking power plant, albeit in different ways.…

The President’s New Cars (climate policy for motor vehicle transportation rears its ugly head)

By Jerry Taylor -- May 20, 2009

My op-ed in today’s USA Today is about President Obama’s proposed new fuel economy standards. Don’t like ‘em. Unfortunately, an editing snafu over at the newspaper inadvertently left out the fact that there are four models at present that meet the proposed new standard – the 2010 Honda Insight (41 mpg) and 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid (39 mpg) were left off the list.

Space prohibited me from making an additional point. Even if there is no rebound effect, my colleague Pat Michaels finds that global temperatures will only be reduced by 0.005 degrees Celsius by 2050 and 0.0078 degrees Celsius by 2100 once you plug those emissions reductions into the computer models used by the IPCC. (These are thousandths of a degree, mind you.) Of course, proponents contend that U.S. action on fuel efficiency will lead to like action abroad.…