MORE BRAINWASHING TACTICS FROM THE CLIMATE CHANGE LOBBY

 There is only one reason why some scientists choose to misrepresent weather as climate and that is to try to brainwash the public. This has just happened again in respect of the extreme heatwave in NW USA and Canada. This article sets the record straight: Major Media FAIL on Reporting the Pacific Northwest Heatwave – Watts Up With That? 

Whenever this mis-reporting occurs it simply sets alarm bells ringing among those who check the actual facts for themselves instead of just soaking up the headlines. 

UK TEACHERS BRAINWASHED BY CLIMATE PROPAGANDA

 This article, Primary school children should be taught how to stage climate change protests, teachers say | Daily Mail Online raises some very worrying concerns. Our children are being fed with the diet of climate propaganda which the young teachers themselves were subjected to. 

I am a school governor myself and I once attended an assembly where the teacher was talking about communication and he displayed images of great communicators of the past, asking the children if they recognised them. One was Jesus and another was Florence Nightingale. Next he showed more modern figures such as Winston Churchill and David Attenborough, followed by Greta Thunberg. 

My example, above, is not to say that he was wrong to include Miss Thunberg. Clearly she has become a highly recognised modern communicator. This has happened because she has been given so much publicity by the media. The media make some people famous and they also promote certain ideology and not others.

Brainwashing is a slow drip of information over many months or years. It will take a lot of information to persuade these children and young adults that climate change is not a massive threat. It is much easier to get a message of fear out than one of calm.

SOLAR PANEL LOOMING WASTE CRISIS

 The dark side of solar power & the looming waste crisis

Harvard Business Review, 18 June 2021
 
By Atalay Atasu, Serasu Duran, and Luk N. Van Wassenhove,
 
The solar industry’s current circular capacity is woefully unprepared for the deluge of waste that is likely to come. The economics of solar would darken quickly if the industry sinks under the weight of its own trash.
 
It’s sunny times for solar power. In the U.S., home installations of solar panels have fully rebounded from the Covid slump, with analysts predicting more than 19 gigawatts of total capacity installed, compared to 13 gigawatts at the close of 2019. Over the next 10 years, that number may quadruple, according to industry research data. And that’s not even taking into consideration the further impact of possible new regulations and incentives launched by the green-friendly Biden administration.
 
Solar’s pandemic-proof performance is due in large part to the Solar Investment Tax Credit, which defrays 26% of solar-related expenses for all residential and commercial customers (just down from 30% during 2006-2019). After 2023, the tax credit will step down to a permanent 10% for commercial installers and will disappear entirely for home buyers. Therefore, sales of solar will probably burn even hotter in the coming months, as buyers race to cash in while they still can.

Tax subsidies are not the only reason for the solar explosion. The conversion efficiency of panels has improved by as much as 0.5% each year for the last 10 years, even as production costs (and thus prices) have sharply declined, thanks to several waves of manufacturing innovation mostly driven by industry-dominant Chinese panel producers. For the end consumer, this amounts to far lower up-front costs per kilowatt of energy generated.

This is all great news, not just for the industry but also for anyone who acknowledges the need to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy for the sake of our planet’s future. But there’s a massive caveat that very few are talking about. […]
 
The High Cost of Solar Trash
 
The industry’s current circular capacity is woefully unprepared for the deluge of waste that is likely to come. The financial incentive to invest in recycling has never been very strong in solar. While panels contain small amounts of valuable materials such as silver, they are mostly made of glass, an extremely low-value material. The long lifespan of solar panels also serves to disincentivize innovation in this area.

As a result, solar’s production boom has left its recycling infrastructure in the dust. To give you some indication, First Solar is the sole U.S. panel manufacturer we know of with an up-and-running recycling initiative, which only applies to the company’s own products at a global capacity of two million panels per year. With the current capacity, it costs an estimated $20-30 to recycle one panel. Sending that same panel to a landfill would cost a mere $1-2.

The direct cost of recycling is only part of the end-of-life burden, however. Panels are delicate, bulky pieces of equipment usually installed on rooftops in the residential context. Specialized labor is required to detach and remove them, lest they shatter to smithereens before they make it onto the truck. In addition, some governments may classify solar panels as hazardous waste, due to the small amounts of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, etc.) they contain. This classification carries with it a string of expensive restrictions — hazardous waste can only be transported at designated times and via select routes, etc.

The totality of these unforeseen costs could crush industry competitiveness. If we plot future installations according to a logistic growth curve capped at 700 GW by 2050 (NREL’s estimated ceiling for the U.S. residential market) alongside the early replacement curve, we see the volume of waste surpassing that of new installations by the year 2031. By 2035, discarded panels would outweigh new units sold by 2.56 times. In turn, this would catapult the LCOE (levelized cost of energy, a measure of the overall cost of an energy-producing asset over its lifetime) to four times the current projection. The economics of solar — so bright-seeming from the vantage point of 2021 — would darken quickly as the industry sinks under the weight of its own trash.

Full post
 
 
 
6) Solar power investors burnt by rise in raw materials costs
Financial Times, 21 June 2021

The rapid rise in prices for raw materials has reversed a decades-long decline in the cost of solar energy, denting investor interest in the sector following a record rally in 2020.

Shares in solar companies have fallen by 18 per cent this year, after more than tripling in 2020, according to the MAC Global Solar Energy Index, as companies face higher steel, polysilicon and freight costs.

The supply chain pressures are limiting the potential for further reductions in the costs of solar installations, just as governments pledge to focus on a “green recovery” from the pandemic.

The cost of solar energy fell by 80 per cent between 2010 and 2020, but those dramatic decreases have come to an end, according to S&P Platts.

“The narrative in the solar industry has shifted,” Bruno Brunetti, an analyst at S&P Platts, said. “We have seen steep declines in costs over the past decade, but we are seeing that stabilise now and even increase in some cases.”

The US price of hot-dipped galvanised steel coils, which are used in solar panel frames and structures, has more than doubled from early 2020 to record levels, according to S&P Platts. At the same time, prices for monocrystalline silicon cells, modules that allow for the conversion of light into power, have risen by a quarter from this time last year, BloombergNEF data show.

In addition, freight rates in China have also jumped by 41 per cent this year, according to the Shanghai Containerized Freight Index, which reflects rates for the export of containers from Shanghai.

John Martin, chief executive of the US Solar Fund, said higher raw material prices will probably increase the costs of installing new solar power by 20 per cent — putting solar costs back to the levels they were two years ago. “Decarbonisation costs will come down, but it’s not going to be free — capital will be required,” he said.

The US Solar Energy Industries Association said this week that “compounding cost increases across all materials are just beginning to affect installers”.

USA IMPORTS RECORD AMOUNT OF RUSSIAN OIL AS BIDEN'S CLIMATE POLICY HAMPERS HOME PRODUCTION

 As Biden goes green, US reliance on Russian oil surges to record high 

The Epoch Times, 17 June 2021
 
WASHINGTON—Russian oil imports have set a new record in the United States despite the strained relationship between Washington and Moscow. Industry experts believe the Biden administration’s climate policies will make the country more dependent on foreign oil producers.
 
The United States imported record levels of crude oil from Russia in March and is expected to continue importing at high levels in coming months, according to the Western Energy Alliance, a trade association that represents 200 independent natural gas and oil producers in the United States.

Imports of crude oil and petroleum products from Russia reached 22.9 million barrels in March, the highest level since August of 2010, according to International Energy Agency (IEA). Of the total amount, crude oil imports from Russia stood at 6.1 million barrels. Russia has become the third-largest oil exporter to the United States.
 
High levels of oil shipment from Russia have continued since March, according to ClipperData, a commodity intelligence company that monitors cargo shipments worldwide.
 
“Last month we saw a record 5.75 million barrels of Russian crude discharged in the US, and we’re projecting a further record this month of 7.5mn bbls,” ClipperData analysts wrote on Twitter on June 7.

Critics argue that Biden’s climate agenda is hard on the U.S. oil industry but soft on foreign producers.
 
“It’s disturbing to our industry that the Biden administration goes out of its way to disadvantage the American producer while buttressing the Iranian and Russian industries,” Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told The Epoch Times.
 
The recent spike in Russian oil imports has followed the “misguided climate policies” of the administration, including ending the Keystone XL pipeline and pausing new oil and natural gas permitting on public lands and waters, according to Sgamma.
 
President Joe Biden has “tipped us into oil dependence on Russia just a year after complete independence,” Sgamma said, calling it “a geopolitical gift” to the Kremlin.
 
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude surpassed the $70 mark last week, reaching the highest level in over two years. Top commodity traders now believe oil prices could see $100 per barrel due to supply constraints. Oil hasn’t traded above $100 per barrel since 2014.
 
“There’s been kind of a dearth of investment in fossil fuels, which is going to leave us undersupplied as we go forward,” Phil Flynn, senior energy analyst at the Price Future Group, told The Epoch Times in a recent interview.
 
He noted that the Biden administration’s climate policies, which will reduce the supply of oil and gas, have been a major factor in driving the prices.
 
“U.S. oil production has fallen by 1.715 million barrels [per day] from a year ago, so a large part of that void is being filled by Russia,” Flynn wrote in a recent op-ed on Fox Business.
 
“During Trump’s term, America was competing with Russia and Saudi Arabia to be the world’s dominant oil and gas producer, yet under Biden, we are retreating from that race in the name of climate change,” he wrote.

AIR POLLUTION - THE TRUTH BENEATH THE HYPE

This article - Are Britain’s pollution levels really a public health emergency? | NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT (wordpress.com) blows apart the nonsense that pollution levels are rising. We all know that modern vehicles fitted with cleaner engines and catalytic converters produce far cleaner exhaust gases than the older vehicles of the sixties and seventies. 

It's quite extraordinary what short memories some people have and how easily they become convinced of something which flies in the face of their own experience.

This issue of pollution has no connection to global warming or climate change, as the emissions which cause the health problems are not CO2, the two are deliberately put together as though they are the same in order to convince the public that the huge amount being spent on reducing CO2 is essential. The public are not convinced by the climate change arguments, as they cannot actually see the drastic change being predicted.

SWISS VOTERS VOTE DOWN CLIMATE TAXES

Swiss voters reject key climate change measures - BBC News 

The above link shows that even an environmentally aware nation like the Swiss will not support these kind of tax rises, and neither would the British if they had an opportunity to give our opinion. Time for a common sense party to step forward. 

BBC REPORTS ON NEGATIVE ISSUES WITH ELECTRIC VEHICLES (EV's)

 Here is a link to the report in this evening's news in the south: BBC iPlayer - South Today - Late News: 07/06/2021  I don't think they leave it up for long.

The report was the third item in a short 11 minute bulletin, beginning at 7 minutes in. It was said to be part of a series by Paul Clifton called 'The Road to Reducing Carbon'. It began by saying that motorists were put off switching to EV's by the fact that very few independent garages can repair or maintain them. An expert was interviewed who agreed that few mechanics were trained at the present and so they would need to be retrained and have new equipment.

Next he said that another issue was that damage from quite minor accidents could lead to the car being written off if the battery was damaged. He explained that although the battery meant that no CO2 was emitted as the car went along, there was a lot of energy and cost involved in the manufacture of the battery in the first place. Paul Clifton finished the piece by commenting that there was a sizable question mark over how much environmental improvement EV's really bring.

I was surprised by the tone of this report. It is unusual for the BBC to allow any negative reporting of anything to do with global warming. It shows that there is still some honesty in the media 

LETTER PUBLISHED IN MY LOCAL PAPER

 I am pleased to report that my latest letter has been published in the local paper, the Daily Echo, Southampton edition. Here it is: 

Has anyone wondered why Extinction Rebellion (ER) decided to make their protest outside the BP oil terminal at Hamble (Echo report June 2)  instead of outside the Chinese embassy? As we all know, the Chinese emit at least 25 times as much CO2 as the whole of the UK, and they continue to build large numbers of coal-fired power stations. If ER succeed in closing down British businesses then they will cause damage to our economy and simply export our jobs overseas to places like China and India who are still increasing their CO2 emissions, while ours are declining. 

ER want to destroy our economy and that is their number one objective as their leaders have stated. They must not be allowed to succeed as, if they do, we will all be very much poorer. 

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If you agree with me then feel free to send a similar (or the same one if you like) one to your local paper. It is one important way to get this vital message out to the public.

GAS BOILER BAN - A FIASCO IN THE MAKING

This article Ross Clark: A ban on gas boilers would be yet another pointless eco catastrophe - The Global Warming Policy Forum (thegwpf.com) gives the details of what is about to occur, unless the government can change course. It is a looming disaster of their own making. By fawning over the eco-fanatics they have made it very difficult to row back on the disastrous net zero policy upon which the boiler ban is deemed essential. They could claim the pandemic has cost so much that they can no longer afford net zero, or the only other option is to review the evidence and decide that global warming is no longer such an immediate threat, but that would put them at odds with most other nations who, for various reasons, want to keep to the present course.

EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE ACTIVISTS TRYING TO DESTROY UK JOBS GETTING LOTS OF PUBLICITY BY ITV

 

This piece was given prominence in our local ITV news last night with lots of very soft interviews with the small band of participants. I wonder why the broadcasters never ask them any hard questions, such as "do you own a petrol or diesel car" or do you heat your home with a gas boiler". Or how about "have you ever thought about protesting outside the Chinese or Indian embassies, as those countries produce far more CO2 emissions than the UK". of course they would never dream of giving these people a difficult time. 

Interestingly the BP spokesman was quoted as saying, 

"BP supports the goals of Paris Agreement and our ambition is to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner.

"To achieve this, our strategy will see us increase our spending on renewable energy ten-fold over this decade, to around $5 billion a year, and also reduce our oil and gas production by 40%.

"As examples of progress in this strategy, in the past six months we have entered offshore wind in both the US and the UK.

"We already operate the UK’s most-used electric vehicle charging network, bp pulse, and plan to more than double our chargers in the country over the next decade, including at our retail sites." 

You may have noticed that there is no attempt at defending the use of their product. Only agreement with the premise that they should comply with the protestors as quickly as possible. Why not say that their product is essential for the country to survive and that if they were to stop producing it then it would have to be imported from overseas. 

When will people wake up to the fact that achieving net zero is exactly what our competitors in China and India want? These protestors are being brainwashed into believing they are 'saving the planet', when in fact they are undermining their own country by destroying UK jobs and the wider economy to the benefit of our competitors. When will the media start to wake up and defend our prosperity?