Environment

The Wind Farm Money Pit

Wind Farm

According to a new study by University of Utah and Strata Policy (a think tank) researchers, the cost of wind power relative to what the government is telling you is up to 48% more than estimates. Moreover the subsidies for wind power generation that come out of our taxpayer pockets amounts to over $5 Billion:

In the US this amounts to an annual $5 billion per year in Production Tax Credits (PTC). Here is money that could have been spent on education, healthcare, defense or, indeed, which could have been left in the pockets of taxpayers to spend as they prefer.

Instead it has been squandered on bribing rent-seeking crony-capitalists to carpet the landscape with bat-chomping, bird-slicing eco-crucifixes to produce energy so intermittent that it is often unavailable when needed most (on very hot or very cold days when demand for air-conditioning or heating is high) and only too available on other occasions when a glut means that wind producers actually have to pay utilities to accept their unwanted energy. This phenomenon, known as “negative pricing”, is worthwhile to wind producers because they only get their subsidy credits when they are producing power (whether it is needed or not). But clearly not worthwhile to the people who end up footing the bill: ie taxpayers.

The wind generation business is less reliable, more expensive and must be backed up by conventional generation methods continually on standby. There are myriad other quirks in the industry such as killing things that fly, making scenic landscapes an eyesore and causing anxieties to nearby residents.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, Austrailia canceled all subsidies to wind-produced energy in that nation. The whackos in state and federal positions that dictate energy policy stateside have yet to realize how expensive and pointless wind energy production has become.

Summer Sunset

Summer Sunset

Our monsoon season isn’t just about thunderstorms and rain, although those are welcome and mostly pleasant, but also about how the setting sun illuminates the clouds of summer. We were taking the dogs for their dusk walk and we saw this beautiful array of textures and colors in the evening sunset.

I did not have my camera with me, but Bob had his pocket Canon Power Shot 140IS and managed to capture this image. Click on the image to enlarge.

Polar Bears Still Thriving Despite Greenbat Liars

bear party

Lies told by Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and others are not holding up to reality. The timetable for polar bear doomsday and other disasters just isn’t cooperating with the original schedule of events forecast by the Greenbat liars.

Jordan Candler, writing for The Patriot Post disclosed the polar bears continue to thrive:

In 2009, then-Sen. John Kerry said, “Scientists project that the Arctic will be ice-free in the summer of 2013.” In that same year, Al Gore reiterated the claim: “Some of the models suggest that there is a 75 percent chance that the entire north polar ice cap during some of the summer months will be completely ice-free within the next five to seven years.” Without ice, polar bears have a tough time surviving, and sadly we had to bid farewell to this wonderful creature a few short years ago because we failed to heed the warning. Actually, no, that’s not at all true. Not only has the Arctic retained a considerable amount of ice in recent summers, but polar bears are thriving. Earlier this year, Dr. Susan Crockford of the Global Warming Policy Foundation discovered, “On almost every measure, things are looking good for polar bears. Scientists are finding that they are well distributed throughout their range and adapting well to changes in sea ice. Health indicators are good and they are benefiting from abundant prey.” With roughly 25,000 polar bears estimated to be roaming the Arctic, up from 5,000 in the ‘60s, the alarm should be over. But it’s not.

bearfacepalm.pngAccording to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey, computer models suggest nearly one-third of polar bears could be wiped off the planet in 10 years as greenhouse gas emissions rise. Let’s get this straight: The same scientific lobby that warned decades ago polar bears would be extinct by now — but which instead grew in population — are now telling us that a significant percentage of bears could face eradication within a decade based on computer models. The same computer models that utterly failed to forecast the current 18-year-old global warming hiatus. That kind of logic is enough to make even a polar bear do a facepalm.

Alarmists Buy In To Solar Climate Influence

The Sun

Alarmists seem to be buying in to solar influence on the climate, but only when it suits their agenda and narrative. Ace of Spades posted an article yesterday, Scientific Paradigm Breaker Roils Academy, in which they note that climate alarmists are now saying that the current solar minimum is the reason that our terrible anthropogenic global climate change is being held in check. Yet the Greenbats will refuse to acknowledge that solar maxima have contributed anything to the environment. They cherry-pick the science to suit their insanity.

We have been posting about how the sun is the major influence on climate for nine years or so, and that sunspot count is correlated to periods of warming and cooling. There is stark evidence that numbers coming out of the alarmist community have always been “adjusted.” This includes (unfortunately) federal government agencies like the National Weather Service, National Aeronautic and Space Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. All of them are taxpayer-funded doomsday sayers in the quest of complete government domination of everything.

I pray that the next administration will throttle back most of the bullsh1t, but I have my doubts about that if the RINOs keep control of the nation. Plus, in light of recent SCOTUS decisions, we may never be able to recover through the judicial process. God help us.

Summer Traffic in Town

Main Street

Damsel took this photo of the main drag through town today on our way to an appointment at the clinic. There is only one car in motion in the two block long main part of town and most of the roadside parking is available. Just the way we like it.

The summer weather has always been abusive for the Snowbirds, who have largely vacated to their northern enclaves and is also a minor deterrent to tourism in town, but not to the extent of most businesses shutting their doors. People still come here in the summer, but only the hardiest of the road warriors. We still get a lot of biker traffic on weekends, even through summer.

These are the days, in the absence of the Snowbirds, where there is abundant parking at the supermarket and in the tourist district. After our visit to the clinic this afternoon, we were able to park curbside in front of a local merchant where we were making a purchase and when we stopped at the supermarket to get a couple of things, the parking was ample, the aisles in the store clear of the winter zombies and there was almost no waiting at the one checkout stand open today. How sweet the summer is . . .

Asterism

Asterism

Last evening, Damsel and I went out to watch a flyover of the International Space Station. The conditions were right for it to be a very bright and spectacular pass. As a bonus, we were also treated to a beautiful conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the western sky.

The flyover was everything we expected with the ISS appearing in the twilight to the north northwest and flying overhead at sixty degrees above the horizon. The magnitude of the spacecraft was very bright and registered at minus 3.6 according to SpaceWeather.com. We watch it until it winked out crossing the terminator (Earth shadow) well to the southeast of here, about three minutes after the initial sighting.

I was intrigued by the asterism, however, and went back inside to get my camera and a tripod to attempt to capture the stellar event. I got set up and experimented with various camera settings. The image above, even though slightly overexposed, shows the positions of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus as they appeared to us. When you click on the image to enlarge, you can see the earthshine-illuminated darkside of the Moon.

Canon SL1, 1/20sec., F4.0, ISO 6400 and 75mm focal length.

The California Drought

Drain The Delta

Anyone who has actually looked into the reasons for the current drought in California will understand that occurrences of dry spells have been common for the area over the course of eons.

It is left-wing politicians and the complicit media that have fanned this drought into a sh*t storm that they quickly blame on man-made (anthropogenic) climate change. In their book, the adage of “never waste a crisis” is repeated loud and often.

Image: One of many similar signs posted near I-99 and I-5 in Sacramento Delta country.

In a case of actual science, the folks at CO2 Science reviewed a paper entitled “Assessing the Uniqueness of the California Drought of 2012-2014″ which concluded that, as noted before, droughts have repeatedly hit the current drought area long before the evils of man-made carbon emissions. The review conclusion is ” . . . it would appear the answer is not so unusual, unprecedented, or unnatural, and there is no evidence to ascribe it to rising atmospheric CO2/global warming.”

We all know (and the left knows it too) that the issue is very poor water management in California. In the name of saving the endangered “Delta Smelt,” a two-inch fish, the politicians have steadfastly refused to allow water from the Sacramento River to flow to places where it is needed. The URLs of organizations visible on the sign in the image (click to enlarge) link to groups who know this and are working at the grassroots level to promote water flow.

As an aside, did you know that CO2 Science is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization? Donations to this anti-anthropogenic global warming organization are fully tax deductible. We donate to their organization not only to promote the truth about AGW, but to piss off the IRS, the Obama administration and all the Greenbats in general by getting a tax deduction for doing so.

There are others that fit the 501(c)(3) piss-em-off category. The Second Amendment Foundation, numerous Christian organizations, Military and Veteran support organizations and so on. We no longer have mortgage deductions, so to offset that, we tend to donate what we can to good charities who will promote our values.