“… fossil fuels are a convenient, condensed source of energy that has helped raise living standards throughout much of the world.”

“We must all be aware that demands for effective policies will yield only superficial change as long as the role of special interests in government remains unaddressed.” (- James Hansen)

James Hansen speaks truth to power in a number of areas regarding energy and climate. There is a lot to like. But when it comes to public policy, he refuses to go where his sober analysis tells him. He is not ready to make a tectonic shift toward adaptation rather than mitigation, despite the latter’s impossible economic and policy math.

“Magical Thinking”

Magical thinking has plagued climate policy. Vaclav Smil has explained the problem with little pushback. Smil, in fact, is in the mainstream as shown by the NYT’s April 2022 article, “This Eminent Scientist Says Climate Activists Need to Get Real.”…

“In order to solve the climate problem, the first thing we need to do is ignore the economists.” – Andrew Dessler, May 14, 2022

“If you’re pushing fossil fuels at this point, you’re anti-human.” – Dessler, June 28, 2022

Andrew Dessler is the alarmist’s alarmist, joining Michael Mann and others who have declared war not only against fossil fuels but also against anyone who thinks otherwise. The two bring to mind the infamous Joe Romm, who carried the ugly torch back in his heyday.

Dessler is angry. His message of doom-and-gloom is not convincing many outside of the Church of Climate. And his emotions and disrespect work against his (hyped) activism. Consider his sarcastic paraphrase of the IPCC Summary for Policymakers:

Hey assholes. We’ve been telling you for decades that this was going to happen if we didn’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“September [2017] sets alarming global temperature record and negates a favorite denier talking point … It was also the most active month on record for North Atlantic hurricanes.”

“2017 is so unexpectedly warm it is freaking out climate scientists.”

– Joe Romm, ThinkProgress, October 5, 2017

Remember Joe Romm? Head of his own nonprofit Center for Energy and Climate Solutions (CECS) until it folded? Climate pundit at the Center for American Progress until Climate Progress folded?

Romm might be busy elsewhere on the Progressive Left, but his exaggerations remain for the record. (Thankfully, CAP has left his posts up for historical evaluation.)

Here is one. Going on five years ago, Romm highlighted a +0.54C (about one degree Fahrenheit) monthly reading above the 30-year average for September 2017. He all but went nuts, stating:

September 2017 smashed multiple climate records, alarming scientists and further negating a favorite talking point of climate science deniers…. It’s

“Given the increasing normalization of solar geoengineering research, a strong political message to block these technologies is required. An International Non-Use Agreement on Solar Geoengineering is needed now.”

“The speculative possibility of future solar geoengineering risks becoming a powerful argument for industry lobbyists, climate denialists, and some governments to delay decarbonization policies.”

– Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement

It is hard being green. Battling against energy density in the age of high-energy civilization is a set-up for failure so long as citizen-voters have a say. People want reliable, affordable energy. And poor people without modern energy want and need it the most. That means oil, gas, and coal–not wind, solar, and batteries.

Those wedded to climate alarmism/forced energy transformation are in a desperate hour. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 was ignored and died.…