The Excommunication of Susan Crockford

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The climate witch hunt against academics who don’t conform to the prescribed ideas continues.

NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t AC Osborn

Donna Laframboise brings shameful news from the University of Victoria:

Like geologist BobCarter before her, Susan Crockford has been stripped of her Adjunct Professor status by a university with which she has a long history. Why? Because she promotes facts and eschews climate activism.

In May, Canada’s University of Victoria (UVic) advised Crockford that an internal committee had voted to end her 15-year stint as an Adjunct Professor. Having undergone hip surgery in the interim, only now is she going public.

When the matter was last considered, the committee voted unanimously in her favour. What changed? Talks she was invited to give to schools apparently “generated concern among parents regarding balance.” That concern was “shared with various levels of the university,” according to an April 2017 e-mail from Ann Stahl, then chair of the Anthropology Department.

These vague accusations, leveled by an…

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Another Newsweek Conspiracy: ‘Greta Thunberg Snubbed For Nobel Peace Prize’ By Big Oil

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Well, there’s always next year or whenever. Arctic sea ice still doing OK despite all the false prophets of doom, including certain Nobel recipients.

PA Pundits - International

By Clay Waters ~

Newsweek reporter Rosie McCall offered a conspiracy theory as to how a 16-year-old environmental activist somehow failed to win the Nobel Peace Prize this year: “Greta Thunberg Snubbed for Nobel Peace Prize by Committee Run by Norway, One of the World’s Biggest Oil and Natural Gas Exporters.”

This new theory comes courtesy of a magazine fresh off breaking the news that opening tanning salons in urban neighborhoods were a plot to give gay men skin cancer, or something.

McCall wrote:

The Nobel Committee has surprised oddsmakers by not picking 16-year-old Greta Thunberg to win the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The five-member Norwegian panel instead announced on Friday that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had won the award, “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation, and for in particular his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea,” a statement…

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Electric-Car Owners Hard Hit by Massive California Power Shutdown

Smoke from a California wildfire [image credit: BBC]

Drastic loss of mobility. Recharging directly from solar panels is not an option either.

Tesla’s Elon Musk promises battery and solar solutions for the many EV owners who can’t charge their cars, reports Yahoo News.
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From Car and Driver

— Nearly a million Californians are now without power as the electric company deliberately shut it off this week, fearing high winds would spark wildfire.

— The affected area in Northern California surrounds Fremont, home of Tesla, and a great many electric-car owners who can’t charge their vehicles as usual.

UN may run out of money by end of the month

Have they already paid in full for the COP 25 climate conference in Santiago in December? If not, the Chileans should be getting nervous as this report says: ‘To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings.’

The United Nations is running a deficit of $230 million, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, and may run out of money by the end of October, reports France24.

In a letter intended for the 37,000 employees at the UN secretariat and obtained by AFP, Guterres said unspecified “additional stop-gap measures” would have to be taken to ensure salaries and entitlements are paid.

Italy’s “Lord of the Wind” gets 9 years for financing mafia

[image credit: beforeitsnews.com]

Everything was definitely not clean about this major renewable energy operator. One report said that ‘crime and corruption crept in at several levels’.

Italy’s “Wind King”, or the “Lord of the Wind” Vito Nicastri has been sentenced to nine years in prison for channeling profits from his wind power business to the Cosa Nostra, says OilPrice.com.

The Guardian reports that Nicastri was stripped of his companies and property back in 2013 during an investigation into his ties with the Sicilian mafia. The assets that prosecutors seized were worth about $1.7 billion (1.3 billion euro).

Since then, the prosecution has established that Nicastri had “close ties to Matteo Messina Denaro” and other “high-level” contacts in the Sicilian mafia.

Trump strips California of power to set auto emission standards

Los Angeles, CA

California was effectively acting as the national lawmaker by forcing carmakers to adopt its standards – or lose the right to sell new models in the most populous US state. It was enjoying the power of the role, until…

The White House has stripped California of its right to set its own vehicle emissions standards and banned other states from setting similar rules, reports BBC News.

The waiver allowed the state – America’s most populous – to set stricter standards than the federal government.

President Trump says the move will cut car prices and the impact on emissions will be minimal.

Wind farm refused over Southern Upland Way impact

Windfarm objection in Galloway

Let’s hope this helps to put wind farm developers off the idea of ruining scenery for profit, as they may end up just wasting a lot of time, effort and money on pointless proposals and court battles.

A wind farm appeal has been refused amid concerns it would spoil the enjoyment of a stretch of a popular south of Scotland walking route, reports BBC News.

Developer Energiekontor wanted to build 11 turbines at Cornharrow east of Carsphairn in
Dumfries and Galloway.

It appealed to the Scottish government over the local authority’s failure to give a decision on the plans.

UK stargazers to be treated to rare Harvest Moon

Image credit: farmersalmanac.com

The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon nearest to the September equinox, which occurs around September 22.

The UK is set to be treated to a rare occurrence of a Harvest Moon tonight.

The Moon will be about 14 per cent smaller in the sky than an average full moon, making it an especially rare “micromoon”, says the London Evening Standard.

Maine Farmers’ Almanac astronomer Joe Rao said the time it peaks will depend on the position of the moon.

Police to XR plotters : You’re nicked!

Police on the move

UPDATE: Police jamming drone signals at Heathrow airport

UPDATE 2: Bailed XR leader arrested again – at Heathrow

H/T The GWPF

Drama at Billy’s Cafe. “There we were, innocently having a coffee with the press, as you do. Then next thing you know – out of the blue – we’re getting cuffed and hauled off by the law”…said nobody. Seems like a fair cop.

Heathrow Pause says two of its activists have been “pre-emptively” arrested before they started flying drones as part of a climate protest, reports Sky News.

Activists have been planning to fly drones at Heathrow Airport tomorrow.

Latest eco-folly – Extreme E: climate change racing series

Electric SUV concept car [image credit: motorauthority.com]

Marketing meets climate alarmism in the guise of sport. Don’t mention the ‘carbon emissions’ of all the travel and transport between venues.

Williams development driver Jamie Chadwick is named as one of four women to drive in Extreme E, which kicks off in Greenland in 2021, reports BBC Sport.

Extreme E – Formula E’s sister series – aims to highlight climate change in five remote locations as 12 cars go head-to-head in electric SUVs.

“Racing in incredible locations, raising awareness for climate change… what’s not to love,” said Chadwick.

COP26: Glasgow to host UN climate change summit in 2020

Whitelee wind farm, Scotland [image credit: Bjmullan / Wikipedia]

Another two week edition of the fantasy waffle-fest beckons, as imaginary solutions to imaginary man-made problems are chewed over by about thirty thousand climate botherers aka delegates. Most of them will arrive from all parts of the world in fuel-guzzling jets – just like they do every year, wherever the venue is. It’s the make-work scheme that never ends. Who’s paying?

A major United Nations climate change summit will take place in Glasgow, reports BBC News.

The UK has won the bid to host the 26th Conference of the Parties, known as COP26, following a partnership with Italy.

Up to 30,000 delegates are expected to attend the event at Glasgow’s Scottish Events Campus (SEC) at the end of next year.

It is designed to produce an international response to the climate emergency.

The UK will host the main COP summit while Italy will host preparatory events and a significant youth event, as part of the agreement.

More than a third of UK smart meter users report having problems

Smart or not?

Beware energy firms bearing obsolete smart meters – or even up-to-date ones in many cases. Their record so far looks dismal.

New research suggests the number of people having issues totals around four million, with just over a year to go until the installation deadline, reports Energy Live News.
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More than a third of households that have had smart meters installed have reported having problems.

That’s according to new data from uSwitch, which suggests the number of people having issues totals around four million, despite the installation deadline being just over a year away and the rollout needing to accelerate.

Dorian becomes a Category 4 monster powering toward Florida

Credit: weather.com (31 Aug. 2019)

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UPDATE 1st Sept.: Dorian is now reported to be a Category 5 storm as it strikes the Bahamas.
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After an unusually quiet start to the Atlantic hurricane season, things have suddenly become serious. Uncertainty abounds but this could become ugly for south-eastern USA, Florida in particular. This report says ‘there were fears it could prove to be the most powerful hurricane to hit Florida’s east coast in nearly 30 years.’ Or it might not hit at all – at this stage, nobody knows.

Hurricane Dorian powered toward Florida with increasing fury Friday, becoming an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm but leaving forecasters uncertain whether it would make a direct hit on the state’s east coast or inflict a glancing blow, reports Phys.org.

The storm’s winds rose to 130 mph (215 kph) and then, hours later, to a howling 140 mph (225 kph) as Dorian gained strength while crossing warm Atlantic waters.

The hurricane could wallop the state with even higher winds and torrential rains late Monday or early Tuesday, with millions of people in the crosshairs, along with Walt Disney World and President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

UK Government announces £300m to accelerate greener travel – they hope

Ex-drone, somewhere in Siberia

Incontinent pigeons could be the least of pedestrians’ worries if any of these headline-seeking flights of fancy come to fruition. Election soon?

Funding will support new technologies including electric passenger planes, flying urban taxis and freight-carrying drones, says Energy Live News.

Up to £300 million of investment has been announced for the development of cleaner and greener forms of transport in Britain.

The government will provide £125 million of funding, which will be supported by industry co-investment of up to £175 million for new technologies including electric passenger planes, flying urban taxis and freight-carrying drones.

It is part of a new Future of Flight Challenge announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which will be delivered by UK Research and Innovation.

Giant pumice raft from underwater volcanic eruption makes its way to Great Barrier Reef

Coral reef [image credit: Toby Hudson / Wikipedia]

An example of how a volcano can help replenish coral reefs. Great Barrier Reef doomsters take note: ‘Associate Professor Bryan said this sort of event was occurring every five years.’

Drifting through the ocean, the sailors suddenly lost sight of water as The New Daily reports.

Surrounding their boat was a floating mass of pumice rocks — the result of an an underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga two weeks ago.

Queensland University of Technology geologist Associate Professor Scott Bryan said it “would have been a really eerie experience sailing into this sea of floating rock”.

“No longer seeing water and hearing the scratching of the pumice against the hull,” he said.

Known as a pumice raft, this so-called island of floating rock is gradually heading for Australian shores and is so expansive it can be tracked via satellite.

US blacklists Chinese nuclear firm involved in UK Hinkley Point C project

Planned nuclear power station at Hinkley Point

Another headache to add to the list for the UK’s struggling nuclear power ambitions, at a time when its coal-fired plants are closing fast.

China General Nuclear Power partnered with EDF to help fund a third of the £20bn cost of the nuclear power plant being built in Somerset, says Energy Live News.

A state-owned Chinese company which is funding part of the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in the UK has been placed on a US export blacklist.

The US Department of Commerce has placed China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) to its “entity list”, which effectively blocks US companies from selling products and services to the firm without written approval.

The world’s first solar road has officially crumbled into a total failure

Solar panel road [image credit: Wattway]

The rotting leaves didn’t help, says ScienceAlert. Neither did the local tractors. Solar panels should be angled towards the Sun anyway, but that kills the whole road idea.

In July, the French daily newspaper Le Monde reported that the 0.6-mile (1 kilometre) solar road was a fiasco.

In December 2016, when the trial road was unveiled, the French Ministry of the Environment called it “unprecedented”. French officials said the road, made of photovoltaic panels, would generate electricity to power streetlights in Tourouvre, a local town.

But less than three years later, a report published by Global Construction Review says France’s road dream may be over.

Energy firm Cuadrilla resumes fracking

Note the deep shaft

Another attempt to convince a so-far reluctant UK government that shale gas work is far from being the pantomime villain that protesters want them to imagine it is. Insisting that ‘tremors’ far smaller than allowed in other comparable UK industries merit stoppages is unreasonable to say the least.

Energy firm Cuadrilla has resumed fracking at its site in Lancashire, it has confirmed.

Drilling began at the Preston New Road site in October but operations were halted on a number of occasions due to underground tremors, reports BBC News.

No fracking has taken place on the site since December.

UK weather latest: Downpours set to last ‘until end of August’

Credit: BBC

What happened to the ‘unprecedented’, ‘new normal’ hot weather that blew in from north Africa for a few days, then blew away again? Or was that just the media and warmist climate pundits shooting the breeze for yet another opportunistic headline? In any case it looks as if the Great British Summer is now back to its usual erratic self, but becoming somewhat wetter than the seasonal average.

Thunderstorms and heavy downpours are set to hit the UK this week, as Brits face what could be one of the wettest Augusts on record, says the Evening Standard.

Severe thunderstorm warnings are in place for London and the south east on Monday, with the chance of flooding, travel disruption and power cuts, the Met Office warns.

Black Friday: Did Wind Farm Failure Cause UK Blackout?

Image credit: thecount.com

H/T The Global Warming Policy Forum (GWPF)

Some stories of Londoners stumbling around in the gloom or stranded on non-moving trains here. Obviously any emergency back-up either wasn’t there or proved ineffective.

Enappsys, an energy consultancy, said the blackout may have been caused by the unexpected shutdowns of the Hornsea offshore wind farm and the Little Barford gas-fired power plant, reports The Guardian.

Large parts of England and Wales have been left without electricity following a major power cut, electricity network operators have said, with a serious impact reported on rail and road services, including city traffic lights.