Quote of the day, ditch the scientific method edition

You’re allowed to say, well I think we should do nothing. That’s a policy choice. But what you’re not allowed to do is to claim there’s a better estimate of the way that the climate will change, other than the one that comes out of the computer models. It’s nonsensical to say ‘we know better’, you can’t know better.

Professor Brian Cox appears averse to the idea that data trumps hypothesis.

Salby in Blighty

Mike Haseler emails a link to a new video recording of Murry Salby's visit to the UK last year.

The ASA is a kangaroo court

Americans tend to be completely taken aback when they learn that the UK has a body that rules on what can and cannot be said in the public sphere; they see the Advertising Standards Agency as an affront to the hallowed principle of free speech. A ruling against an advertisement in the Telegraph by US unconventional gas company Breitling suggests that they are right to do so.

This is not the first time that the ASA has been called on to adjudicate in a shale gas case. Last year, shale gas operator Cuadrilla was hauled up in front of them after a complaint about a leaflet it had distributed. Some of the ASA's ruling was bizarre. For example, a statement that

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Climate emergency

The urge to do something about the alleged threat of climate change finally seems to have brought us to the brink of a real emergency:

Emergency supplies of electricity are being sought by the National Grid for this winter because of the threat of shortages of output from the UK’s coal, gas and nuclear power stations.

National Grid said on Tuesday it was extending its search for additional sources of temporary supplies, blaming emergency shutdowns at two nuclear power stations operated by EDF of France and unexpected fires at two key coal-fired stations during recent months – Ironbridge in Shropshire and Ferrybridge in Yorkshire.

Is it time that MPs demanded a statement from Mr Davey? Or do they not actually care?

10 old climate change controversies - Josh 290

Alice Bell has posted an interesting collection of articles on what she terms 'new' climate change controversies. They seem fairly well established sceptic topics to me - perhaps she has been reading the wrong sort of blogs. But it did make me think that the Road the Paris is looking rather sceptical in its approach. Maybe the message is finally getting through.

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Demand response

The Energy and Climate Change Committee are currently considering demand response, which is an interesting subject for those who quite like the idea of having energy when required rather than when permitted by the political classes. The hearing started a few moments ago and features:

• Duncan Burt, Head of Commercial Operations, System Operation, National Grid
• Phil Jones, Chief Executive, Northern Powergrid
• Sara Bell, Executive Director, UK Demand Response Association
• Yoav Zingher, Co-founder, KiWi Power (who make kit for demand management)
• Zoe Leader, Climate and Energy Specialist, WWF

(because you can't have any hearing at the ECC without a green on board). This is followed by a separate panel.

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Constraint payments

There has been an interesting exchange of views about windfarm constrain payments in recent days. Last week, the Telegraph reported that three windfarms had been received £11 million to switch off, prompting a mealy-mouthed response from DECC.

Constraint payments are nothing new. National Grid has been paying coal and gas generators - and others - to change their planned output well before wind farms joined the mix.

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Lost in self-loathing

On the Telegraph's blogs page today, Sean Thomas takes a pop at the political left and in particular their self-loathing, their contempt for the working classes and the pernicious effects this has had on the country.

...this shame and self-hatred now dominates Left-wing thought, whereas it was once balanced by the decent Left: who were proud to inherit the noble traditions of radical English patriotism.

Evidence for this disease is all around us, but shows up particularly in two red-button issues-of-the-day: the independence referendum, and the appalling revelations from Rotherham...

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On the way to the forum

Just in from GWPF:

Five years after its inauguration in 2009, the Global Warming Policy Foundation is pleased to announce that today sees the launch of its new campaigning arm, the Global Warming Policy Forum. 

The new organisation will be able to conduct campaigns and activities which do not fall squarely within the Foundation’s remit as an educational charity.

There is a separate website for the Forum, which can be seen here.

Tally ho!

Closing submissions

The closing submissions for the planning inquiry into Dart Energy's coalbed methane project at Airth have been published and for sheer entertainment value it's going to be hard to better m'learned friends' summary of the evidence submitted by our old friends Professor David Smythe and Dr Marian Lloyd-Smith

The Professor is retired and has been since 1998. He agreed he has been out of mainstream geology since 1998, because as he put it he had no longer has “slaves” to do “donkey work” for him. When the question was put directly again he answered with a simple “yes” that he has been out of the mainstream for fifteen years. Since his retiral he has lived in the South of France running a little business (in fact a B&B).

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IPPR does climate and energy

A reader brought to my attention a new report on climate and energy policy by Labour's favourite thinktank, the IPPR.

The report was funded by the European Climate Foundation, with a steering group including represenatatives of green NGOs like Greenpeace and renewable energy investors like BNEF. With a background like that, nobody would expect that the report would make lots of dodgy claims and thinly veiled demands for transfers of money to those involved, would they? Readers can make up their own minds, but here are a few things that I noticed:

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