NYT: Emerging Climate Accord Could Push A/C Out of Sweltering India’s Reach
By ELLEN BARRY and CORAL DAVENPORTOCT. 12, 2016
DELHI — A thrill goes down Lane 12, C Block, Kamalpur every time another working-class family brings home its first air-conditioner. Switched on for a few hours, usually to cool a room where the whole family sleeps, it transforms life in this suffocating concrete labyrinth where the heat reached 117 degrees in May.
“You wake up totally fresh,” exulted Kaushilya Devi, a housewife, whose husband bought a unit in May. “I wouldn’t say we are middle class,” she said. “But we are closer.”
But 3,700 miles away, in Kigali, Rwanda, negotiators from more than 170 countries gathered this week to complete an accord that would phase out the use of heat-trapping hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, worldwide, and with them the cheapest air-conditioners that are just coming within reach of people like Ms. Devi. Millions of Indians might mark the transition from poverty with the purchase of their first air-conditioner, but as those purchases ease suffering in one of the planet’s hottest countries, they are contributing profoundly to the heating of the planet.
HFCs function as a sort of supergreenhouse gas, with 1,000 times the heat-trapping potency of carbon dioxide. While they account for just a small percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, scientists say a surge in the use of HFC-fueled air-conditioners would alone contribute to nearly a full degree Fahrenheit of atmospheric warming over the coming century — in an environment where just three degrees of warming could be enough to tip the planet into an irreversible future of rising sea levels, more powerful storms and deluges, extreme drought, food shortages and other devastating impacts.
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Between 6 and 9 percent of Indian households use air-conditioning, and the purchase of a first unit — not a second or a third — is driving growth, said Ajay Mathur, the director general of the Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi. Every time government salaries are raised, he said, air-conditioner purchases surge, as civil servants gain confidence that they will be able to pay higher electric bills.
“It is me of 10 years ago. It is many of my younger colleagues,” Mr. Mathur said. “It is my driver, who after 20 years working for me, bought his first air-conditioner. It is a marker of social mobility.”
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A fast phaseout comes with big wins for the United States, since many of the replacement …
Obama Admin. Targets Fridges and Hairspray Over Climate Hysteria
By Brittany M. Hughes |
Get ready, guys. President Obama and all his “tree-hugger friends” are coming after your refrigerators and air fresheners for being giant, evil climate destroyers. But while the situation may be dire, if we’re extra-super-careful, they tell us, we could stave off the effects of the Maytag Monster and keep our planet from warming a devastating half a degree over the next 84 years.
I wrote that right. A half a degree over 84 years. Estimated.
The problem allegedly lies in our widespread use of hydroflourocarbons, which are commonly used as a coolant in fridges, air conditioners, fire extinguishers and aerosols. But quite ironically, the use of these dreaded HFCs only became common because they replaced other substances (CFCs) that depleted the ozone layer, which were also restricted.
We just can’t win for trying.
President Obama’s Clean Air Act has pushed for a phase-out out HFCs in recent years, particularly in the public sector. To combat these emissions, the Obama administration back in 2013 instructed federal agencies to purchase non-HFC-emitting devices “whenever feasible.”…
Statewide blackout plunges Australia into renewable energy debate
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-storms-idUSKCN11Z06O
| SYDNEY
An unprecedented power outage across South Australia state has stopped production at major miners BHP Billiton and OZ Minerals and left one steelmaker struggling to prevent molten steel from hardening and damaging its factory.
The statewide outage sparked political calls on Thursday for an inquiry into the power sector and questions over the state’s reliance on renewable energy. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said it was a “wake-up call” to ensure energy security.
Although power has been restored to 90 percent of the state after Wednesday’s statewide blackout, caused by severe storms, industrial areas north and west of the state capital Adelaide and the steel city of Whyalla are still without power.
Whyalla steelmaker Arrium Ltd said it had a blast furnace and four ladles full of molten steel and desperately needed to restore power.
“The situation is quite serious and a lot will depend on what happens in the next hour or two,” said a company spokesman.
The outage has halted more than 300,000 tonnes of annual copper production capacity and knocked out the state’s only lead smelter.
In the city of Port Pirie, the 185,000-tonnes-per-year lead smelter run by Nyrstar NV will be out of action for up to two weeks, the company said on Thursday.…
BACK TO THE DARK AGES AS BLACKOUT HITS S. AUSTRALIA: THE PRICE FOR HEAVY RELIANCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
The blackout will trigger renewed debate over the state’s heavy reliance on renewable energy which has put the electricity network in South Australia under stress.
Traffic in total darkness around the streets of Adelaide as residents are left without power on Wednesday night
Hard on the heels of a “near miss” in July when it narrowly averted widespread blackouts, South Australia was warned on Wednesday night to prepare for an extended loss of electricity in the wake of wild weather.
Described as a once in a 50-year storm, the statewide disruption prompted power companies to warn that users of medical equipment should prepare to use back-ups, and mobile phone users to conserve batteries.
“We are experiencing a state-wide outage which means we have no supply from the upstream transmission network,” electricity distributor SA Power Networks told clients late Wednesday.
In an unprecedented development, the state was cut-off from the national electricity network, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) said “resulting in a state-wide power outage in South Australia”. As a result, the entire electricity market in the state had been suspended as it sought to work with electricity transmission company ElectraNet “to identify and understand the severity of the fault, as well as determine a power restoration time”.
There were no implications for other states from the extensive blackout in South Australia, the energy market operator said.
The extensive disruption follows the narrow avoidance of widespread blackouts in South Australia in July. At that time, the state government brought pressure to bear on a local power company for an idled power station to be restarted to avoid potential disruptions, following a lack of electricity generated from wind and solar sources at a time when it was unable to “import” sufficient supply from Victoria.
But Wednesday’s event will trigger renewed debate over the state’s heavy reliance on renewable energy which has forced the closure of uncompetitive power stations, putting the electricity network in South Australia under stress.
Earlier this week, the Grattan Institute warned that South Australia’s high reliance on renewable energy sources left it exposed to disruptions. It pointed to the fact that while the renewable energy target had encouraged the development of wind and solar generation, it had the potential to undermine supply security at a reasonable price, because it forced the closure of inefficient power stations without encouraging …
The current climate era should be renamed ‘THE ADJUSTOCENE’
I…
Wash. Post writer: ‘I don’t need air conditioning, and neither do you’ – ‘A/C made Americans greedy and silly’ – Touts ‘lower carbon footprint’
By Karen Heller Style Section:
My family lives without air conditioning, except for one antique, semi-comatose window unit that “cools” the bedroom to approximately the same temperature as Dallas at dusk.
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One-third of American households don’t have air conditioning, according to the Energy Department. Many of those, of course, can’t afford it, but people don’t like AC for a variety of reasons beyond cost: environmental, aesthetic, nostalgic, social and cultural.
And, yes, to humble-brag, which I may be doing right now, about our greater tolerance, lower carbon footprint and puny electric bills, which are half the temperature outside.
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NYT laments: ‘How Bad Is Your Air-Conditioner for the Planet?’ ‘Releases 100 million tons of CO2 each year’
So can I use my air-conditioner guilt free?
Not quite. Air-conditioning presents other problems: As of 2009, nearly 90 percent of American homes have air-conditioners, which account for about 6 percent of all the country’s residential energy use. All that air-conditioning releases about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide each year.
Short Answers to Hard Questions About Climate Change
The issue can be overwhelming. The science is complicated. We get it. This is your cheat sheet.
According to historians and others, the widespread availability of air-conditioning has allowed for more development in the hotter parts of the country — the South and the Southwest — where air-conditioning use is the highest in the country.
And once developers could rely on heating and cooling technologies, they often built less energy-efficient homes, which means that you have to use more air-conditioning or heating to get to the temperature you want.…
STATE DEPT’S NOT-SO-WISE USE OF U.S. TAXPAYERS’ CASH…IN MOROCCO ($397,000 grant to help Morocco ‘go green’)
…Last week, the State Department announced a $397,000 U.S. taxpayer-funded grant for universities and private organizations to help the country of Morocco “go green.” Per Duke University:
Morocco and the U.S. share a strong commitment to combatting climate change which they are tackling aggressively at the international, national, and local levels. […] The proposed competition will assist Morocco in breaking down barriers between government, academia, and the private sector to encourage the formulation of strong, climate friendly public policies, foster local clean energy economies, and support Morocco’s renewable energy goals. [Emphasis added]
Since when have American taxpayers been responsible for Morocco’s renewable energy goals? Furthermore, on a global scale, the African nation’s carbon emissions are relatively nonexistent. Countries like the U.S., China, Russia and India, and the European Union overwhelm all others in terms of pollution production.
The United States is over $19.4 trillion in debt. Spending is expected to increase by $161 billion next year, which will result in a deficit of more than half a trillion dollars. But, yes, why not ship $400,000 to the African country of Morocco? After all, $400,000 is only the equivalent of seven U.S. median household incomes (but of course, I’m sure no one in the U.S. could use those resources).Perhaps the truly funny (no, actually, sad) issue with this grant — aside from the fact that this is actually happening in the first place — is that the rules prevent any applicants from fulfilling all requirements for less money! The grant specifically demands: “Applications should not request less than $396,000 and no more than $396,000”
With all the problems America is facing: swelling debts and deficits, a depressed median household income, higher taxes and healthcare costs, and a pivotal presidential election, you would think Washington bureaucrats and politicians would realize it is precisely these kind of practices that have Americans upset.
New Study: Guns and Tractors Threaten Biodiversity More Than Global Warming
Guns and Tractors Threaten Biodiversity More Than Global Warming
http://sunshinehours.net/2016/08/11/guns-and-tractors-threaten-biodiversity-more-than-global-warming
Finally … and so blindingly obvious to those not blinded by the AGW propaganda. The main driver of wildlife extinction is not climate change, but humanity’s harvesting of species and our ever-expanding agricultural footprint. This is according to a new study of nearly 9,000 ‘threatened’ or ‘near-threatened’ species. While scientists acknowledge climate change is a threat, they found that three-quarters are being over-exploited for commerce, recreation or subsistence. Demand for meat and body parts, for example, have driven the Western gorilla and Chinese pangolin to near extinction, and pushed the Sumatran rhinoceros – prized in China for bogus medicines made from its horn – over the edge. And more than half of the 8,688 species of animals and plants evaluated are suffering due to the conversion of their natural habitats into industrial farms and plantations, mainly to raise livestock and grow commodity crops for fuel or food. By comparison, only 19 per cent of these species are currently affected by climate change, they reported in a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature. Conservation budgets, the researchers argued, must reflect this reality. And then some of the usual BS ‘There is no need to see tradeoffs among different conservation priorities – we need them all,’ Peter MacIntyre, an expert on the ecology of fresh-water systems at the University of Wisconsin, told AFP. Translation: The AGW cult wants all the money.
— gReader Pro…
Nearly $300 Billion: The 7 most expensive regs in Obama’s climate plan
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/the-7-most-expensive-regs-in-obamas-climate-plan/article/2598653
By 8/8/16 12:01 AM
It has been just over three years since President Obama announced his extensive climate change agenda, called the Climate Action Plan.
The plan was his answer to Congress’ failure to pass comprehensive climate legislation, after action stalled in the Senate during his first term. Instead of relying on Congress, with its increased Republican opposition, Obama decided to enact regulations using his executive authority to meet his climate goals.
The Climate Action Plan directed the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department and other Cabinet-level agencies to begin working on new regulations, while speeding up existing programs to reduce greenhouse gases, which many scientists blame for driving man-made climate change.
The most notorious piece of the president’s plan is the rules for existing power plants, called the Clean Power Plan. The regulations for the first time use the EPA’s authority to hold states accountable for regulating carbon dioxide emissions, rather than just the owners and operators of power plants. While the EPA says it is not the most expensive of Obama’s climate rules, many critics beg to differ.
Meanwhile, the Department of Energy was charged with expediting energy-efficiency standards for appliances, placing more stringent requirements on manufacturers.
Increasingly stringent regulations for building low-emission vehicles are also a big part of the president’s agenda, including new rules that go into effect when model-year 2017 cars hit showroom floors.
The cost of the regulations is high, with critics arguing that the rules won’t do much to keep the Earth’s temperature from rising.
Other rules outside of the president’s climate plan, such as those for smog-forming ozone emissions, have been criticized by business groups as the most costly regulations in history because of their potential far-reaching impact on cities’ and regions’ economic growth. But there is no government pricetag for the rules, because the EPA said in the final 2015 rule that it does not have to assess their cost.