Examining ESG

This week in science we do a fairly deep dive into recent studies of the known problems of land surface measurements and their bias and unreliability over time. Such measurements are often used to support the claim for dangerous man-made global warming, yet every time you carefully dig deep into the numbers you find an abundance of scientists who express caution about such interpretations.  In the investment/economics category, we have a substantial collection of recent articles focused on greenwashing, portfolio manipulation for ESG reasons, and even research showing that companies with higher CO2 emissions have higher returns.  Finally, in the theatre of the absurd, we have a look at the irrational ideas of multiple climate-related tipping points. Happy reading! Although urban areas occupy only about 4% of the land surface, most weather monitoring stations are located in urban regions. Those same regions have an abundance of concrete and asphalt, which have remarkable heat-a...

We sometimes see news articles proclaiming the virtues of wind and solar-generated electricity in a specific region. The example is chosen to highlight how good wind and solar are at providing electricity that is claimed to be "renewable" in some way. Not only does the idea of renewable ignore that it is an industrial process requiring immense mining projects and is very capital intensive, even the energy claims are usually false when examined in their full context. Consider this article:  Portugal powered solely by renewables last weekend  from November 1, 2023. The article was short but included this text, and I have made a few words bold to highlight what is misleading: Portugal relied solely on renewable energy last weekend, particularly wind and hydroelectric power, to meet electricity demand. It generated 172.5 GWh of renewable electricity and consumed 131.1 GWh between Friday night and Monday morning. Wind contributed 97.6 GWh, hydroelectric 68.3 GWh, and photovolta...

This week in the science category we have social science research about attitudes towards climate change and the remarkable thing is that religiosity is the dominant determinant of attitude. Hmm, it sounds like people who believe in things science can never support often apply the same to their attitude about climate change. Go figure.  In the Investment/Economics category, we have a focus on the misuse of Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) to represent the cost of adding wind and solar electrical generation to the electrical grid. Such misuse is widespread, yet investment managers are fiduciaries and expected to do proper due diligence in their security analysis. If they can so often be ignorant of a concept like LCOE, you wonder what other errors they have accepted in their thinking. In the Absurdity category we have the novel idea of "green coal" and a Canadian political leader backing down on carbon taxes after insisting they were necessary to save the world. The ‘Holy ...

  Experts I follow on the subject of climate science and energy policy As you'd expect, many people who come across my opinions on the subject of climate change and energy are outraged because they do not fit with the popular notions of what is true. Our knowledge systems have done a remarkably poor job on this subject but all the information is there for those who look. Having read widely on this subject for over two decades, I am extremely confident in my conclusions. For those who wish to learn more, I have assembled a list of some of the resource people and institutions I have considered. Here, for your consideration, is the list. Science Christy, John Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science , Alabama’s State Climatologist and Director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Lead Author, Contributing Author and Reviewer of United Nations IPCC assessments, Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. Served as a Contributor (1992, ...